Username RuinInRed

Player Profession: Outside of the game, Ruin was a corporate engineer, specialising in arcology design and construction. The game provided an escape from her technically-demanding job, and allowed her to indulge her more creative impulses and flights of fancy, free from the spectre of the bottom line that ruled most corporate arcology designs.

An atheist in real life, she chose to be an angel in the game primarily on the basis of aesthetics, but now that the game world has become real, she is beginning to experience an inner conflict between the hard-science of what had once been the real world and the new - to her - forces of faith and divinity. Looking for God - whether to honour or supplant - may become more than a metaphor for her.

Her job was a demanding but very well-paid one, and whilst having less time than some to spend on the game and her character, she compensated for this with the liberal use of cash-only items, bolstering her gains and her powers during the times she was able to devote to the game.

Character Role: DPS, Crowd Control

Alignment: 500

Appearance: A slight and slender creature wrapped entirely in an ornate white and gold metal shell, resplendent with eight shining gold wings of light reaching far behind her, it is clear that Morningstar is not human. The intricate halo glowing behind her close-helmed head provides a further clue, should one be necessary, and golden light spills through the eye-holes of her Masque, as final punctuation. It is just possible to discern that Morningstar is - or prefers to be - female from appearance alone; some subtle shaping of the breastplate and the general impression of her Masque’s face are the only visual clues.

Her voice, however, is unusually resonant, particularly given her relatively small stature, rich and clear and undeniably female. It has an odd half-echo to it, and the perceptive might deduce that she uses a minor cantrip to alter the sounds in some way.

Should her armoured skin be broken, damaged enough that it fractures and peels away - or should Morningstar deem it expedient to unveil herself - what lies underneath fits very few people's idea of 'angelic'. The higher Morningstar levelled her racial classes, the more inhuman that inner form became, and now what lies beneath is a twisted mass of pulsing red-raw meat, tortuous purple arteries and organs of indeterminate function throbbing beneath straining membranes, baleful and lidless eyes glaring at everything and nothing, jewelled pins and golden rings driven at random through her flesh...all in all, a far cry from the 'divine' outer shell.

Race: Angel, ostensibly a servant and agent of the divine.

Racial Levels:

Angel [15/15]
Archangel [10/10]
Principality [10/10]
Dominion [10/10]
Seraph [5/5]

-Job Classes:
Wizard [15/15]
Archmage [10/10]
Herald of the Host [5/5] -
Artificer [10/10]
Architect of Creation [5/5] -

Abilities:

Seraph

Call of the First Circle – Morningstar invokes the divine power resting within her, summoning forth lesser angels from the lower Circles to do her bidding.

Angels, Archangels, Powers, Thrones, Principalities and Dominions all joyfully answer the clarion call to arms.

Thunder of Heaven – Morningstar causes ten great spheres of incandescent plasma to erupt into being, splitting into innumerable smaller globes and arcing to far-distant targets, immolating them – and considerable portions of their surroundings – in solar fire.

A barrage from celestial artillery, the world shakes with the thunder of heaven.

Judgement – Morningstar is Heaven’s will Incarnate. White lightning scythes an area clear of life, and all that remains of those who succumb are statues of petrified salt, gleaming in the unforgiving sun.

Judged and found wanting, the salted earth shuns the sinners.

Grand Entheogenesis – Heaven moves through the Seraph; the mightiest of holy spells come easily to their lips, buoyed by their essential nature as beings of Good.

Herald of the Heavenly Host

Herald of the Heavenly Host – Morningstar’s power is the solar reflection of Heaven, and in her puissance she may command even the greatest of the Host to leave the Throne and work at her side.

Seraphs and Cherubim descend the Golden Stair at the Herald’s call and bathe the world in wonder.

Mandate of Heaven - Morningstar is Heaven’s will Incarnate. For any member of the Host to stand against her and her commands is unthinkable.

Mortal summons are a holy duty, but the Mandate reigns supreme. No chains will bind, no portal bar, no beguilement hold.

Miracle – Close up even the most grievous of wounds, restore health and strength to a broken people, part the sea. Greater feats than mere magic can easily command are the province of Miracles. NB: I will only use Miracle in major ways (ie likely to have an impact beyond fluff) with the approval of the GM. Couldn’t very well have an angel without the ability to make miracles, but I’m acutely aware of the potential for abuse.

When mortal artifice and mortal magic fails and falters in the face of evil or apathy, there does the miracle-worker make their stand.

Gates of Heaven – The Pearly Gates lead Morningstar to an extraplanar haven, there to rest and recuperate should her campaigns in the mortal realm take their toll. She must at least survive her combat in order to sketch the Gates and pass through them.
To gaze upon the very Gates of Heaven is to glimpse paradise.

Canonization – Morningstar’s benediction grants the target an aura of holy light inimical to all things evil, and boosts their attacks with holy fire.

Blessed are the Saints, who come bearing the golden heresy of truth for all to see.

Architect of Creation

Creation – Morningstar is an artist, and Creation itself her canvas. With this, she is capable of reshaping entire landscapes to her will and whim. From the moving of mountains to the most delicate filigree fretwork on a fantasy castle, as the Architect she can make and mould the land as she will.

Factory-Cathedrals – Let lesser artificers toil in grimy obscurity or cluttered workshops, let them know the tyranny of the production quota and the monotony of endless days on the assembly line. Not so here; the factory-cathedrals raised by the Architect are things of beauty and power, turning out sanctified automata and artefacts to shape and ease the world.

Supernal Flaw – To improve the world, first one must see its flaws. All non-organic things fall under its spell, and the Architect as a consequence is able to inflict considerably increased damage to them whilst the Flaw is active.

Equipment:

Name of Item: Sceptre of the Host
Appearance: A slender ivory field-marshal's baton, impressed with tiny glimmering golden laurel leaves and engraved with an exquisite golden angel figure.
Description of Item: Morningstar's favourite item, the sceptre bolsters divine magic and has a chance to rip control of enemy angels away from their summoners. The level of angels affected is contingent on the wielder's own, and the levels of their racial classes. Its glow is holy, and cuts through even the most impenetrable darkness, magic or otherwise.
Downsides of Item: Restricted to angels; it cannot be wielded by mortals. Even then, command of the Host is reserved for the very highest Circle; whilst lesser angels may hold the sceptre, they will receive continuous damage as a rebuke for their hubris.

Name of Item: Distance-Hungry Ring
Appearance: A slender golden band set with eight burning diamonds
Description of Item: The enchantment laid into the foundation of this item drains a portion of the mana purposed to enemy teleportation magics. The functional effect of this leeching is to force a slight delay on enemy teleportation powers, and a second enchantment provides warning to its wearer.

Name of Item: Infinite Flask
Appearance: An ivory-and-gold pitcher.
Description of Item: Even the driest desert holds little fear for a holder of an Infinite Flask. This useful little artifact never empties, providing sweet spring water in perpetuity.

Name of Item: Armour of the Herald
Appearance: A set of heavy, elaborate armour, designed to fuse with and modify the naturally-armoured forms of the angels. Morningstar has customised it heavily from its original, rather plain appearance, turning it into a glitteringly ornate riot of gold and white that draws the eye with its intricate filigree-work.
Description of Item: The Herald's armour halves the chance that enemy attacks will disrupt its wearer's concentration when summoning angelic forces. It also cuts received physical damage by 20%.

Name of Item: Masque of the Herald
Appearance: Created by Morningstar, the Masque complements the Armour of the Herald. It is shaped in the form of a serene, youthful face in lustrous white and gold, merging seamlessly with Morningstar's armour.
Description of Item: The Mask provides Morningstar with a small boost to her charisma. Post-Yggdrasil, this means that the mask replicates facial expressions consonant with her emotions and speech, although it is naturally very clear she is not human.

Name of Item: The Glass-Smith's Ring
Appearance: Created by Morningstar, the ring is a slender band of platinum and diamond twisted together, the curves of metal and gem drawing the eye.
Description of Item: An arcane resonator for some of Morningstar's favourite spells, this little ring bolsters the power and range of its wearer's vitrifying magics.

In-Game Backstory: Outside of the game, Ruin was a corporate engineer, specialising in arcology design and construction. The game provided an escape from her technically-demanding job, and allowed her to indulge her more creative impulses and flights of fancy, free from the spectre of the bottom line that ruled most corporate arcology designs.

An atheist in real life, she chose to be an angel in the game primarily on the basis of aesthetics, but now that the game world has become real, she is beginning to experience an inner conflict between the hard-science of what had once been the real world and the new - to her - forces of faith and divinity. Looking for God - whether to honour or supplant - may become more than a metaphor for her.

Her job was a demanding but very well-paid one, and whilst having less time than some to spend on the game and her character, she compensated for this with the liberal use of cash-only items, bolstering her gains and her powers during the times she was able to devote to the game.

Although angels were Good and Holy, the aberrant exception to most NPCs' revulsion of heteromorphic races, they were still counted amongst that number by the game itself, and thus were prime targets for many other players. Morningstar was no exception, particularly since, during her initial forays into the game, she preferred to play solo.

Angels, however, in particular the lower ranks, were never meant to fight alone, and after several abortive attempts to go solo, Morningstar caved to the game's system and found a small group of nine other angel players, banding together for mutual support - the clan that became known as the Sephirot, after the Judaic concept.

Whilst initially brought together by the hunts against them, the Sephirot members found a shared joy in the roleplaying aspect of the game. To be the divine envoys, the harbingers of light and hope the angels were portrayed as in the game's lore, however, the Sephirot first had to be strong, strong enough to counter the hunts.

Heteromorphs in general had several strategies for surviving in that time: the Sephirot focused on strength and knowledge - the one feeding into the other until, collectively, they were a very prickly proposition indeed. It was very hard to kill the Sephirot themselves whilst countering waves of lesser angels and a continual barrage of spells and powerful racial abilities.

The Sephirot never became an official guild, remaining at ten players, resonating nicely with the symbolism of their name and largely preventing factionalisation and splintering. They explored far and wide, and were generous with their coin and their favours in the field of information, holding fast to the belief that knowledge was power.

Over time, the various members specialised; Morningstar became the clan's artillerist, raining down divine and arcane doom from on high, and later their strategist, coordinating the lesser coterie of angels they controlled. Staying true to their roleplaying roots, the Sephirot campaigned as high-level leaders of the angelic Host, frequently in the vanguard against evil events and guilds, but always fading back from the limelight once the job was done - recalled to Heaven, in their own cant.

In truth, their more sporadic style of play was necessitated by their jobs; many of the original Sephirot were skilled employees, their talents in demand. To make up for their lack of playing time, the group was well-known to liberally use cash items, closing the gap and cutting - as much as possible - the wearying grind of levelling, combining this with copious information bought, found or traded into a lethal combination.

Time was the downfall of the Sephirot, and to a lesser extent the advent of the Guild system. Players were promoted in real life, or married, settled down, found other interests and hobbies and slowly drifted away, particularly since the Guilds both reduced the need for defenders of the weak and made outright conflict with many of them unwinnable for a small ten-member clan, stockpile of supreme items or no. The Sephirot played the game for a long time - since they lacked the numbers to be a side on their own, they became the tipping points, the pressure which tilted events one way or another, but something of the wild freedom of the earlier days had gone and their choices seemed lesser.

Eventually, only Morningstar was left, a solitary Herald where once ten had stood, roaming the empyting worlds of Yggdrasil even unto the final night.

Cohorts

Callis, the Prince of the Dawn – A radiance second only to the Morningstar herself, the cherubim blazes brightly, six sweeping wings of rose and gold bearing him aloft. Castellan of the Castle Arcadia, he commands the regiment of gilded Radiant Servants that man the citadel’s defenses, and where Morningstar soars aloof he is to be found in the thick of the fray, carving a bloody swath through his enemies with a thousand gleaming blades and trusting to his ensorcelled heavy plate to weather any retribution.

Alexis, the Queen in Clockwork – Whilst Callis serves on the front lines of the heavenly Host, directly defending the Sephirot, Alexis is quartermaster and chatelaine of the Sephirot’s dimensionally discordant barque Castle Arcadia. Altogether quieter, more meticulous and far more averse to the limelight than her counterpart, she arguably holds the greater power; her silver keys open gates from the Castle to many realms, and her benedictions have saved many a lesser angel from their final dissolution.

Final Note

Flying into the final sunset of Yggdrasil, with the flying barque Castle Arcadia crumbling in the background.