Donatien Sauvenay

in-game information

basic information

name — donatien sauvenay
age — 26 27
gender — male
birthday — august 20
sexuality — heterosexual
religion — atheist
marital status — single

height — 6'2"
weight — 170 lbs
hair color — brown
eye color — blue

languages — French (native), English (fluent), Dutch (fluent), German (advanced)
likes — the smell of leather, cigars, winning his cases, turtlenecks, expensive food, checkers, opera, baths, champagne, ballets, well-groomed persons, people of good breeding, lobster
dislikes — loud rock music, people treating him like a child, casual t-shirts, flip-flops, dirty fingernails, being corrected, cartoons, steakhouses, any type of fast food, flies in his house
theme — "Plane" by Jason Mraz, "Black and Gold" by Sam Sparro

post-pulse

2010

1/14: Started posting.

1/15: Got back in touch with his sister-in-law. Visited her in Paris.

1/22: Discovered his father had bequeathed his pawnshop to him. Decided to run it.

3/22: Assisted force groups in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

4/17: Visited his brother's grave.

5/01: Attended the opening night of Les Misérables in London, England.

5/10: Went out to dinner with Allegra for old time's sake.

5/27: To attend the Point de Suture Tour in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

6/07: Found out Allegra was missing.

Fell out-of-contact as he began to look for her throughout Paris.

6/16: Found by Aimée Montague in Paris.

6/23: Received the vaccine against the zombie virus.

7/07: Visited Yvonne Rousseau.

7/19: Fought off infected to save himself in Amsterdam. Received second-degree burns on his right calf.

8/10: His house is destroyed in the windstorm.

8/11: Moves into a family residence in Paris, France.

8/20: Turned 27 and fought off the returning infected, yay!

9/05: Due to Cupid, fell in love with March for 24 hours.

11/30: Sold the pawn shop to an undisclosed buyer.

2011

1/1: Rang in the New Year by himself.

background information

history

Donatien was born to humble beginnings in a small town called Liévin, located in northern France. He remembers growing up fairly happy with Marc, but always having been a more bossy figure than his older brother. When Donatien wanted attention, he received it - and if not, he demanded it more angrily. Ever since he was young, it seems Donatien was very stringent with control, becoming angry if his playmates interrupted whatever plan he had in his head. He cooled as he aged, and by the time they moved to Paris, Donatien was thirteen and a much gentler version of the spoiled little brat he was when he was a toddler.

He was not much interested in music. Though both Sauvenay brothers were forced to take music lessons, Marc excelled at violin while Donatien unwillingly practiced oboe. He made his parents let him give it up after a trying year and instead devoted his attentions to school. Despite his sometimes caustic personality, Donatien made friends easily (some off-handed natural charisma, his parents figured) and was fairly popular among his classmates, not to mention he carried excellent marks throughout his academic career. It was in this way that they settled any disputes between themselves: Marc was the dreamier musician, and Donatien was the practical scholar. Through this, they avoided any rivalry.

Donatien applied out of the country for university and was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania, with a double-major of Communication and Rhetoric, and Law and Legal Studies. Away from his family for the first time, Donatien had rocky beginnings at first; although he did well in his classes, he had trouble integrating himself into the American lifestyle, but as with all things, Donatien managed to manipulate the situation to suit him. Playing up his identity as an intelligent French man, he had his own slew of girlfriends, compared to Marc's steady girlfriend Yvonne Rousseau (and later on, wife).

After graduating and passing the bar exam, Donatien immediately applied to law school, relocating to Paris, France to spend more time with his ailing mother. When she finally passed away after a long-term battle with breast cancer, Donatien buried himself in getting his license in an effort to distract himself from his loss. In order to be fully admitted into the bar, Donatien worked to receive his CAPA; in another two years, he was finally an official attorney. In an effort to distance himself from Paris, Donatien relocated to Amiens, a commune in Picardy, northern France.

Life passed fairly easily alone in Amiens; Donatien occupied himself with taking cases as he pleased and saving the majority of his earnings. He lived in a quiet apartment that betrayed his occupation and salary, and he chose to dress rather humbly for a new attorney ascending the occupational ladder. Life, as it was, seemed fairly good. Donatien made sure to make time to visit his family, and it was during one of these visits that the outbreak occurred.

With the emergence of his powers, Donatien quickly made an assessment of his situation and seeing that he had already failed to protect his father (he was one of the infection early on during the pulse, and Donatien had lacked the knowledge to properly help his father), teleported himself to Saint-Quentin. Unfortunately, the city quickly fell to the rapidly-increasing population of infected, and Donatien was forced to evacuate. He moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands, quite possibly the most extreme change in living situation he has made, and worked on trying to recover from the knowledge he had, for once, not been in control.

personality

Donatien had always been a rather serious, morose fellow, preferring to mope in his own corner than spread his disease of unhappiness around. His type of humor is sardonic and usually at the expense of another's pride, and when he smiles, it usually has to do with being proven right. He is a bit like a lion in that: prideful, powerful, and always moving with distinction. Always thinking before he acts, every motion he makes is premeditated with a purpose. There are no accidents in Donatien's life -- only "coincidences" and what he manipulates to suit him.

This is not to say he is a bad guy; after all, he is the type of person to cherish his friends. But he knows how to employ the power he has to protect the people he cares about, that is all it is. Towards friends, he is supportive, nearly gentle, and attentive; however, he is still just as prideful and takes any snipe, in jest or not, quite personally. Vindication against a friend is still not as harsh as it would be against, say, a stranger, but Donatien would be sure to put them firmly back in their place with his own means.

He has relied on intimidation tactics for as long as he can remember. He rarely follows up on his words (the boy does retain something of a conscience), but he is always willing to make a hefty threat to get what he wants. This has been something that has followed him from not only primary school but even to his life as of now - the way Donatien sees it, the world has become especially cut-throat. The kindness he has within himself is tucked away where few can find it; to survive, he capitalizes on his lion mentality: take what you can take, make no mistakes, be the king.

Donatien is aware of what change has taken place over the outbreak: before, he had been controlling and perceptive, but not to the extent he has evolved into. Before, he had been willing to make amends, to allow mistakes; but now, Donatien feels there is no room for a failure. Even if he is unlucky enough to make an error by some twist of fate, he refuses to try to dwell on it. He accepts it and moves on. It's this grieving mechanism that has helped him recover after the death of his older brother Marc and his parents, as well as losing contact with his sister-in-law, Yvonne. When people cling onto death, he becomes irritated with them.

What Donatien likes to be is in control. This is what drives him the most.

powers

teleportation — Should he wish, Donatien can appear instantaneously in any place at any moment. However, this is incredibly draining on him in relation with the distance; the maximum he can do at any given moment is about half the circumference of the world. Once completed, he won't be able to teleport for a few hours.

psychic intimidation — Automatically instills fear in his opponents through contact (mental, vocal, or visual) -- rendering them unable to act due to irrational fear. It works primarily through eye contact, but he is also able to send subliminal mind messages, manipulate their perception of him so he is frightening to look at, give them a creepy smile... anything he does is multiplied a hundredfold.

the king's roar — The sheer volume of his voice can shatter glass and crack concrete pillars -- in its full potential, it could possibly destroy buildings by using the pitch of his voice's sound waves to match the natural resonance of an object and thus, disrupt its structure. It employs the same type of physics that breaking glass with a high-pitched note. Due to his power, Donatien's vocal range has expanded to four octaves, including middle C, allowing him to do things like break down buildings.

relationships

family

Jean Sauvenay — His father, who died in the outbreak. While he also ran the famous pawn shop, his primary passion was that of his career as a doctor. Father made bank to support all those private music lessons, you see. He was always very supportive of Donatien's academic endeavors and was rather proud his younger son chose such a difficult profession. Deceased.
Corentine Sauvenay — His mother, who died of breast cancer. She used to be a journalist for Le Parisien, and Allegra's father, Tomáš, was her close associate. Donatien was relatively close to her, and she was the one who taught him all the tricks to card games. Every woman he meets is compared to her.Deceased.
Marc Sauvenay — His older brother, died in outbreak. They were not particularly close, but they got along at their older age better than they did growing up. At the time of his death, Marc could be considered one of the people who knew Donatien the most. Deceased.
Yvonne — Marc's widow. Considers her something of a sister. He feels this undue need to protect her in place of his brother, and she is easily one of the closest people to him at this point in time, if not the closest herself. He tries his best to keep an eye on her without seeming too obvious, and it is probably only her that can soften his rather mean personality.

friends

Allegra — Something of a childhood friend, even though he is seemingly indifferent towards her. He cares a lot about her well-being and exercises a brotherly type of presence in her life, though he has never scolded her or shown any interest in what she does. However, he hopes she knows better and recognizes what he does for her. They met through family and hold in mutual disdain the times they were forced to perform together. The fact she's missing is visibly affecting him more than he cares for. Missing.
Greta — A woman on the community. She seems level-headed, and though without a currently useful purpose in his life, she is interesting to speak to. At least someone here has a thinking mind. Please do not mention the skittles, Greta.
Sita — More of Yvonne's friend than his, she's useful for her connections and a talented ballerina. He enjoys watching her on stage, if that means anything.

employees

March — Already employed by the Sauvenay patriarch before Donatien stepped in, he is just as cocky and hot-tempered as Donatien is cool and controlled. Their similar ages also contribute to their constant clashing. He's a watch-maker who, for some reason, has showed more interest in this part-time job than actually working on his practiced art. The only reason Donatien hasn't fired him is because he's very good at appraising items correctly and an excellent salesman.
Aimée — A young university student who was just recently employed (after begging Donatien for the job). She's not the best employee simply because she gets swindled a lot/ Donatien feels a sort of uncharacteristic responsibility for her, even though she's more trouble than she's worth. Donatien tries his best to treat her curtly, but lately he's be genuinely concerned about her and finding in himself an uncharacteristic soft spot for the blonde.

acquaintances

Alexandrine — Just a girl he met when he was younger in Paris. If he were any other person, maybe they would have been friends, but... Donatien is Donatien.
Christine — Yvonne's younger sister. He met her at the wedding and spoke briefly, but he hasn't had the inclination to do more than carry on the acquaintance.
Sharon — Sharon is his neighbor. While she enjoys a fairly low-key type of fame, Donatien doesn't see his friendship with her benefitting him in any manner, and so for the most part, he ignores her. NPC.
Theresa — Every so often she comes in to pawn off her ex-husband's things. Donatien finds it a bit funny, but true to his nature, has yet to really say anything to Theresa.
Tristan — He's rich and fabulous in a straight way. Is annoyed by him more often than not; they don't hang with the same crowd. NPC.

old flames

Celeste Lenoir — His first serious girlfriend, back when he was eighteen. They've lost contact over the years. She is something like his first love, and she was the first girl to ever beat him in a game of checkers. A quirky type, a la Katy Perry.
Jocelyn Bernard — His college girlfriend, who put up with his wandering eye rather well. She was a nursing student and a studious, serious girl. She was married last year, and Donatien even attended her wedding. You could say that they parted on good terms.
Simone Pilat — Donatien's most recent ex-girlfriend, from about two years ago. She was actually someone he met in law school, but their similar ambitions pitted them against each other too often. From what he knows, she didn't fare too well with the pulse. Deceased.

trivia

• He has sense of respect from people who come from hard beginnings.
• Donatien has his computer mostly for show and Solitaire.
• The Bible is his favorite book, though he's not a practitioner of any faith.
• He's liable to laugh in someone's face if he finds out they're religious.
• His vice is drinking. He probably would be considered an alcoholic.
• He keeps a fairly well-stocked wine cabinet. His personal favorite is a Charles Heidsieck Champagne from 1981.
• Donatien drives a gunmetal gray Vauxhall VXR8 around Amsterdam. Destroyed in the windstorm on August 10, 2010.
• Surprisingly, he is able to cultivate a relationship. He's has three serious girlfriends and seen countless others.
• He can still play the oboe, but he doesn't practice actively. His skills are probably rusty.
• That's not a dimple in his face; it's a scar he got from gouging himself when he was a kid.
• His English is British-accented because he was taught by someone from England in collège and lycée.
• Donatien is not a fan of celebrity gossip and most conversation like that turns him off.
• Growing up, he wanted to be a journalist like his mother.
• His decision to pursue law was influenced by the American film 12 Angry Men, adapted from the play of the same title.
• Donatien enjoys card games, and he is especially good at poker. He is hard to read.
• Most of the women he has dated have beaten him in some sort of game, which is why he became interested.
• He prefers to take on crime-related cases, because they are the most interesting to him.
• He had only been practicing law for about two years and just recently admitted to the Bar completely when the outbreak hit.
• Donatien lives in a one-bedroom apartment that previously was owned by his parents.

places he's been

• Liévin, France ▬ hometown
• Marseille, France ▬ vacation
• Nice, France ▬ vacation
• Paris, France ▬ current residence, attended law school, work
• Normandy, France ▬ vacation
• St-Tropez, France ▬ vacation
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ▬ attended university
• Amiens, France ▬ former residence
• Amsterdam, Netherlands ▬ former residence
• London, England ▬ attended a performance of Les Misérables

Categories: Paris, France | Characters