[AZRITE] LOWE, VLATKO

[attr="class","agar"]The first thing that gets noticed when looking at Vlatko would be the thin white cane that is attached at his wrist by a just as simplistic white leather band. Nothing fancy. In fact it could almost be missed, if he wasn't very clearly using it as a method of getting around.
His eyes are a beautiful crystalline yellow, much like that of zircon. Although clear, the truth of the matter is that they are blind - or mostly blind. His vision comes and goes in waves; some days he can see without any issue and others he will be able to see nothing even in the brightest of lights. It can last minutes or even weeks and Val never has any warning to when it will come or go.
Due to where he grew up as a member of the Azrite Tribe, Val's skin and over-all complexion are rather pale. Since being out of the cave systems he once called home helped to flesh out his color a little, though he is still almost milky white in complexion. Devoid of tattoos and markings and even, somehow, scars his skin is completely smooth and soft to the touch.
Val's hair color too, follows the almost ghost-like scheme of his people. A soft blond almost white it's cut in an asymmetrical pixie cut with one tendril hanging down past his chin on his right side. It is soft and easy to maintain and even the cutting and trimming is rarely a hassle. Often he hacks at it himself, though he's been known to ask for assistance in doing so by friends and family.
When he was introduced to slightly more modern clothing Val found himself pulling toward textures the most. Although he ended up mostly in monochromatic colors by default, he likes the feeling of everything he owns and will wear nothing else. Strangely this means he ends up dressing almost semi-formally almost every day. A white button up shirt, black suspender knee-length shorts, and a pair of fingerless black gloves. Perhaps most strange of all however is the mere notion that he takes the trouble to tie a real tie each and every day. He spent weeks learning the correct feel of the motions to settle it just right and there is almost never a day when it looks sloppy.
He is not very tall, barely the height of your average fourteen year old and weights about the same. It isn't very unhealthy however, he's simply small for his age. With his soft voice and otherwise babyface added to the height of him Vlatko is often mistaken for someone much younger. He gave up ages ago trying to correct anyone.

[attr="class","agar"]Even when standing still, Val can be found quietly tapping at the floor with his cane. It's less because he need to see, and more out of a simple nervous habit that the stone beneath his feet might suddenly change. (And, in caves often filled with digging Pokemon this was a true hazard.) On occasion the quiet click of his tongue - the ability and use of which he picked up from his bat Pokemon - can be heard as well. It is rather annoying to most and he has been snapped at for it more than once.
Vlatko is a rather soft-spoken and shy young man who has trouble speaking up and asking for what he wants. Part of this is because of the language barrier. Although he learned his native tongue from the time of his birth he was forced to learn the common tongue alongside it and when he was brought to Richitev he was told it was all he would be allowed to speak. While it has been years most still scoff at his accent and he's found that it's best to not speak loudly - especially in crowds when there is no telling who might be listening.
Although he enjoys the quite of the nighttime, Val is unsettled in his current home in the darkness. The sounds of the city mixed with the energy of non-tribe people and Pokemon leave him at a much larger disadvantage when mixed with his flickering vision impairment. Still he loves being able to see the glittering lights when his vision is working and nighttime outings to parks with his Pokemon are a common occurrence.
He gets flustered easily around people he likes; either in enjoying their company or actually crushing on. He also gets flustered when upset (and the flush of pink across his pale skin is a sight to behold) so trying to decide on just what is making him flustered can be a little hard. He loathes being teased and bullied and might even burst into tears if done too much. An unfortunate side effect from childhood, mixed with hormone levels of being a teenager.
Despite all this, however, Vlatko is actually rather happy. He loves to laugh and experience new things when given a chance and finds it rather hard to hate much of anyone unless they push him too far. He is against the idea of full assimilation, wishing that his people could be left alone. He cannot, however, muster up the strength to fight back as he simply does not posses that type of personality.

[attr="class","agar"]Matvey ♂ - Ekaterina ♀
Hedwig Lowe ♂ - Zita Lowe ♀

Being born blind isn't completely uncommon in the inky darkness his tribe - though more often than not it was only the elders who eventually lost their sight. When he was born Vlatko's vision was completely normal. He was a happy, healthy child with seemingly no differences to anyone else his age. By the time he was five however his vision began to swim from time to time - small moments of flickering between one movement and the next. Unsure how to explain what he was feeling he said nothing to his family; his young age was yet another issue with trying to get the point across.
He began spending more and more time hanging around the elder dens as he grew up. Listening to them speak about their aches and woes he picked up many a useful tidbit of information on how they navigated in the darkness. It provided useful as by the time the boy was eight he was unable to see at lest half of the time.
By the time his parents realized something was wrong no one knew what to do. Thankfully his tribe was kind to him; his disadvantage was still manageable (and he hadn't been born a girl.) It became commonplace to gently nudge him back on track if he looked lost though he rarely needed it. The darkness was calming to him and the stone of the cave had been worn away from centuries of those walking there before him.
On one such day he wandered into a cave system not readily explored. Although he could see going in his vision swam before he managed to make it out and the strange walls and stone beneath his feet caused the boy to begin panicking just a little. He would be lost in the darkness forever - no one would come to find him. As Vlatko felt his hope slipping away a small chirp in the darkness reached him and he found himself with a small Zubat nuzzling his face as the Pokemon perched on his shoulder.
Zaahir saved him that day, and from then on the two were never apart. He became Vlatko's eyes when he didn't have any.
Eventually Noir joined the two of them and Vlatko never felt alone, nor hindered by his flickering blindness. It was from the two of them that he leaned how to click his tongue just so; listening to the vibrations in the air to paint a picture.
He was ten when the representatives from Cyal managed to worm just enough of the idea into his parents head that they could cure his blindness. That in Cyal - in Richitev with it's modern wonders that those of the Azrite tribe could only dream of - there was something that could "fix" him and he could truly live.
Vlatko hated the concept; he was fine with his blindness and his way of life. For days he fought with his parents begging them not to send him away. In the end the promised miracle won out and he was promptly shipped off to a strange new land to live with people he didn't know and a country that didn't really care for him.
Upon arriving upon the foreign shores he was promptly given a surname and three Poke Balls. One for Zaahir, one for Noir, and one with the small, newly born Woobat that they gave as a gift in an attempt to win him over. While he adored Wei (nicknamed Poof because of how fluffy she was) he found it crude and cruel to keep any of the three within their balls.
The foster family he was set up with hated him. They made it clear from day one that he was there only for them to earn their paycheck. By the time he was thirteen he'd been set up with a new family. While the Lowe's treated him much better than his previous "family" they were still cold and distant enough from him that he has never once felt like he's wanted or even at a place he can call home.

[attr="class","agar"]Too shy and soft-spoken to speak up about his beliefs that those on Evter should be left alone and allowed to do what they choose to do, he often bottles up the moments of pain he feels upon learning of another newly assimilated tribe member. While Val cannot deny that the modern wonders on Cyal are wonderful he can't feel happy over the need to force everyone to turn the way of the mainland. In his eyes they are not always right, nor are their ways better.
He would probably drop dead however should someone ask him to join the Rebellion. He doesn't have the guts to fight back nor the personality to do so. Instead he watches from the sidelines and listens. Wishing for a day when he might return home once more.