Anatole (Ah-nah-toll)

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Appearance

Anatole is a medium-built, caucasian man with brown hair. His main notable feature is the mask stitched to his face. The mask is white with three interlocking rings drawn on it. Despite the mask's lack of holes for the eyes or mouth, Anatole is still able to see and eat - with food phasing through it.

Drip and Accessories

Very simply dressed, Anatole wears a white shirt layered with a brown jacket as well as black trousers.  

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Weapons, Abilities, and Curses

Anomaly

Anatole's entire nature is abnormal, his transportation to the valley in the first place in particular. Time will tell the exact nature of this.  

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Personality

Anatole is a very paranoid and distrustful person. Upon first arriving in the Hub, he was offered hospitality and a place to stay by its denizens but Anatole rejected them all. Even after choosing to live in the cabin he would sneak around or stay in his room, avoiding the others - and denying their offers of BBQ. Since then, Anatole has only come to trust one person - Dankie - following their encounter in a blizzard, which also lead to Dankie's death.

History

Anatole Barnes (Born March 26th, 1978) was a Swiss poet. He is known as one of the many victims of the Parish of X cult. He was attending a university in Poitiers, France at the time of his disappearance and death in 2001.   He was born in Yverdon-Les-Bains, Switzerland, as an only child to Luis and Agnes Barnes. He grew up in a municipality named Grandson, raised as an atheist. At 17, his family moved abroad to France. He studied at the University of Poitiers, in hopes of becoming a paramedic.   He had begun self-publishing poems at 16, in an effort to earn some extra money. They became popular in the local area, being published in newspapers. At 19, Anatole was approached by a publisher regarding releasing a collection of his poems. He declined this offer.   In 1999, he had become affiliated with the Parish of X after a recruiter came up to him on the street. He quickly became very involved in the organisation, achieving Follower status within 6 months.   He was forced to participate in various "tasks" assigned to him by Servants and he has been connected to the various arsons committed by the cult.   Around this time, according to family and friends, Barnes had begun exhibiting strange behaviours. To the point that in early 2000, he developed severe paranoia and destroyed his mobile phone, leaving him unable to be contacted. Not much is known about what happened in this period.   In 2001, around the peak of the Parish, Barnes had arranged to meet up with his childhood friend, Adrian Brunner, at a restaurant. It is reported that he didn’t show up and after half an hour of waiting, Anatole called Brunner from an unknown number, likely a phone box. He had reportedly told Brunner that he should take the next fight back to Switzerland, as he didn’t want to see him anymore. Adrian described this conversation as “strange” and “completely out of character for him” when interviewed.   A few days later, a classmate contacted the authorities and filed a missing person’s report, claiming that the once lively Barnes would no longer answer his door and wasn’t showing up on campus. After a brief investigation, the police were unable to find a body or any trace of Barnes. Many of those who knew him speculated on what happened, ranging from him going into hiding under a different identity or simply committing suicide.   In reality, Anatole was dead. He had been undergoing the ascension ritual. However, after the parish's mask was sewn to his face, he panicked and lashed out at his captors. He was stabbed in his abdomen, thrown into the chambers, and left to bleed out in the dark.   When some once-hidden symbols connected to the Parish were found in his home by a family member, the investigation was reopened and Anatole was officially connected to the cult.   Because of his disappearance and subsequent connection to the popular Parish of X investigation, his poems surged in popularity and became widely beloved in French-speaking areas. A collection of his poems, Barnes: His Literature, was published in 2002. The publisher came under controversy when it was discovered that Luis, Agnes, and other relatives had not been paid their rightful royalties.   Twenty years later, Anatole had awoken in a realm named “The Valley'' by its inhabitants. It consisted of a central house, where many lived, a river, and a forest. He somehow hadn’t aged a day and couldn’t remember most of his past. He was still wearing his mask from the ascension, but he could see, eat and drink. The front design had also changed from the Parish’s logo to three black circles. Believing that he had been sent to Cauchemar, he disguised his panic while interacting with the others. He eventually managed to slip out under the guise of a camping trip.   He lived in the forest for weeks, living in a makeshift camp inside of a small isolated area, slowly burning through supplies, sustaining multiple injuries, and constantly paranoid that he would be found and killed at any moment.   Eventually, he was found by Sand and Strike. Assuming that they were affiliated with the Parish, he attempted to attack them with the little strength he had. After a brief altercation, he fled the camp, carrying only the medical supplies he had left and a pocket knife.   A brief search led Sand and Strike to find him by a large boulder, tending to his wounds. He eventually collapsed and was taken to the house, where he was brought back to health.   He had given the others a little of his trust but still had a sneaking suspicion. Accompanying Cea into a different dimension and helping tend to Sand’s injuries. He slowly started to salvage his memories, remembering the specifics of the cult and the horrific activities he had either participated in or condoned. He had been subconsciously scrawling the Parish’s symbolic code wherever he went. Being left alone with his thoughts often, his paranoia returned and he cut himself off from the others, beginning to think that if they weren’t affiliated with the cult - they were trying to execute him for his past. He rarely came out of his room for food when no one else was around.   He had left it in a horrible state, carving a big X into the ceiling, covering his walls in parchment containing scribbled symbols, and taping up the corners of the room; as well as holes in the walls he had created.   Eventually, he was found by the others during a barbecue, where he was tackled by kek and placed into a straitjacket. The others had destroyed his room, assuming that something was hidden under the X. A magician, Gaétan, had also peeked into his memories while he was unconscious, revealing his full name to the others.   After this incident, with nowhere to go, Anatole started sleeping on the couch and stopped speaking. He was afraid that he’d be killed in his sleep at any moment in that exposed location. But, all that ended up happening was being given a cup of cocoa by Pix. Although he thought the cup was spiked, he enjoyed it and was slightly happy.   Eventually, he started formulating a plan to escape the valley for good, scavenging through the house for supplies. He was found by Bucket and questioned. This resulted in Anatole lashing out at him, charging and attempting to attack him with an improvised throwing knife. He was apprehended and interrogated. After showing no intention of cooperating, Anatole broke free and ran out of the front door into the snowy night for the last time.   Wandering through the forest, he came across Dankie, who was limping through the growing blizzard. Their eyes were sealed by ice and they were holding a rifle. Anatole, after a brief altercation and confirming that they were unaffiliated with the Parish, took Dankie to the site of the camp he had previously hidden in.   He repaired the tent using the surgical suture he had remaining and lit the fire pit, letting the both of them rest.   They had a conversation, in which they both told each other about their current situation and past. They discussed the Parish, his belief that the others were affiliated, and the supernatural jacket that Dankie possessed. They ate a breadstick that they kept inside of their rifle. Dankie tells him of the jacket’s properties, including teleporting to a seemingly random place. Anatole expresses his need to leave the Valley, while Dankie attempts to persuade him otherwise. During this conversation, they reveal to Anatole that the current year was 2021. The revelation that he’d been dead for twenty years greatly distressed him, causing him to be even more desperate to leave; concerned for his family. Dankie attempted to console him to no avail. He burst out running.   Dankie, chasing him, shoots a bullet that flies past his head. At this moment, Anatole began to believe that they were also, in fact, a member of the parish attempting to keep him in his hell. They briefly fought, although not much resistance was shown from Dankie. After they both fell from an upward slope, breaking Dankie’s leg, Anatole lashed out at them, showing clear anguish and betrayal towards the only person they had once trusted.   After a brief speech from Dankie, he realises that they weren’t with the Parish after all. He breaks down and attempts to save Dankie, who had sustained multiple organ punctures during the altercation. Dankie, with their last few breaths, gives Anatole their jacket and asks him to put them out of their misery. He stabs them in the neck.   He eventually stood up, intending to finally leave the valley after one last look at Dankie; he failed to pass through the barrier. Realising his journey was fruitless and that the one person he had truly trusted was gone at the fault of his own actions, along with the rapidly plummeting temperature, he collapsed and lay face down on the snow.   Shortly after, a figure emerged through a portal, dragged away both bodies in a bag and disappeared. Anatole was never heard from again.

Goals

Anatole wishes to escape or move on from his past deeds, he really wants to go home.

Fears

Anatole fears that his past will catch up to him again.

Important Relationships

Moth (Creator)

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