Assigned Nemesis At Birth: Barsamin of Chald
My birthday is the last day of March and to honor myself I am posting one of my own favorite OCs every day of March: The OC Jubilee.
Barsamin looked to the blue sky between the crowding towers. “A god announces himself.”
Serriden was struck with reverent awe, which was the only possible reason she was blushing furiously. This lasted until the first raindrops fell heavy and cold upon her veiled head. Thunder cracked, the heavens broke open, children shrieked and fine ladies ran for shelter; a cry of wonder ran up and down every street of Sintamani as they turned to mud.
“So we’re just going to turn up soaking wet?” called Serriden over the torrential downpour. She held her pole carefully so that the lantern would not swing as she walked, its candle safe beneath a tiny tin roof.
“You looked at your umbrella and your candle,” Barsamin reminded her, “and you made your choice.”
The Hall of Wisdom was guarded by women in impractical gold-shining armor wielding impractical gold-shining maces whose faces were all painted blue. They came out to the edge of the stairs, shielding their eyes to better see the sudden shift in the sky, but then they saw something yet more strange. Barsamin ascended the sacred stairs aglow with the sheen of lightning, his leaf-green cloak upon the wild wind, his eyes sparking behind his glasses as he returned their wonderment with a stern gaze and a stern voice: “The God of the Storm seeks an audience.” Serriden came up behind him with a nervous smile, dripping.
Yeah, so, admittedly... he wasn't always that cool.
Barsamin of Chald was not the son his wealthy, ennobled mother had been hoping for: small, quiet, shy, plays with girls and not other boys... surely no potential for him to ever become a god like his uncle. Still, when Lord God Vahagn decided that most of his useless family had to go, everyone except his sister, she did ask that eight-year-old Barsamin be spared. So that's the only reason he's alive: as a personal favor between a God of Secrets who's especially unhinged even as Gods of Secrets go and his vain little sister. And now, at age 16, he's being married off to the crown princess two countries over whether he likes it or not. He's not even sure whether he likes it or not. Being subject to the telepathic powers of his uncle has made Barsamin unwilling to entertain rebellion.
If you've been reading the previous few entries, you may be wondering: "is he gay?" Of course he's gay. And his thoughts and feelings are so thoroughly repressed from fear of divine judgment that he doesn't even know that's a thing. Luzcrezo Veraldo and Ismyrn Galatti tumble out of the carriage and think: "oh, that boy is gay." And Luzcrezo manages to kiss him inside of five minutes. I, personally, would not recommend Luzcrezo as a starter boyfriend, but... it's a start.
Rashk, who deceitful but never wrong, has foretold that Barsamin will do both great and terrible things. He's being set up to be a successful villain by his own family (if you can call the people who murdered your dad "your family") and the one who's expected to pay the price is his bride Katarosi. Hayr of Tokhar is also completely, utterly convinced by Rashk that Barsamin is destined to murder him, though the poor mountain boy can't even begin to understand why. Barsamin himself would never have considered himself even remotely capable of killing anyone, even in self-defense, until suddenly...
There's a bit of dark irony to the fact that Barsamin's guardswoman, Oseni, and his bratty younger cousin, Kapriel, have definitely killed more people than he has by the time Kapriel is a teenager, but all the moral drama is focused on Barsamin and the other two seem quite at peace with themselves. Then again, neither Oseni nor Kapriel have ever accidentally killed anyone in a flash of anger; for them it's always a calculated decision. After being burdened with the deeply, compulsively violent Star of the Storm, Barsamin struggles to keep its raging power locked up inside him and not let even one spark go loose. You'd never guess, not in a story about queer trauma but: this does not work. What was once a quiet, timid boy is fast becoming a spectacularly dangerous young man.
In theory, Barsamin and Katarosi should go together perfectly, but Barsamin finds himself much more drawn to the company of her lively little sister, Houri. He also makes fast friends with Ismyrn Galatti, instinctively sensing something alike in the dark corners of her soul. He resents his little cousin Kapriel and finds him deeply annoying, not appreciating just how much Kapriel does in fact care about him. The priestess Serriden is head over heels in love with him and he emphatically has not noticed. The defining relationship of his life proves to be Hayr of Tokhar, in what began as a chance meeting on the side of a lonely road. The husky mountain boy and the small and slender nobleman together choose to defy Rashk's warnings and see where life takes them.
“Barsamin!” Hayr bounded across to him and pulled him into an embrace. “Glory to the Will, I was so worried!”
The smaller boy seized up in wrath. “So I come back to find a dead Alk in the middle of a burning city, and you were worried about ME?” He reached to touch the scar down Hayr’s
face which would require quite an explanation indeed.
“Oh,” Hayr answered in the same scolding tone, “are you really going to tell me you weren’t in mortal peril even ONE time?”
Barsamin looked aside. “All right, once, yes, I suppose. A little. I’m fine.”
Hayr pulled him into a kiss without any concern for who might be watching or what they might think; surely everyone had other matters to attend to. When he at last let go, Barsamin blushed furiously and looked down to his newly muddy shoes. “... Remind me of this the next time I am tempted by some half-clad desert god.”
Barsamin is not good with children. As an older man, he is unclear how or why the responsibility of teaching so many of them has fallen to him of all people. However, he has learned to productively channel his violent impulses into defending the vulnerable; there's hardly a safer place a child could be than under his direct protection.
Barsamin... might be evil? He's violent, he's jealous, he's resentful, his loyalties are torn and unstable. But Hayr sees something as bright and pure as white lilies in his eyes.
Vibe music:
Raiden Shogun battle theme
Control the Storm
The Chaldics are a Fantasy-East-Asian culture who immigrated to Tarim and now speak Tarimin, but they retain a lot of Asian cultural signifiers. Hence, I felt boss music for a specifically Asian lightning deity is perfect for him. The lyrics of "Control the Storm" are... not subtle, and relevant.