Name: Daniel Constantine.
Appearance: Artist, because I may be too lazy to learn how to draw, but I'm not too lazy to give credit where it's due!
Bio: Daniel Constantine was born to a wealthy family which got rich off of hunting monsters and researching the supernatural. They have their own estate a few miles outside of the capital, and many servants. Their name is known throughout the circles of minor nobility, as they are often hired by the nobility to take care of problems. They were once prominent even among the highest of nobility, but fell when his grandfather's uncle was discovered to be a vampire. This man was known as Julian, and while his body was slain, some still whispered that they saw his spirit from time to time.
Daniel, like his forefathers, trained in the art of killing monsters and supernatural creatures, and like his forefathers, contracted out to various nobles and corporations who needed problems resolved. He spent his whole life looking up to his older brother, Tolan, who often worked with him. Together they even ended up rescuing Daniel's present day wife, Soție, from, of all creatures, a vampire. Naturally though, all good things come to an end, and when Daniel turned twenty four, Tolan went missing in a mission for Aegis corp. Daniel spent two months searching for any trace of his brother, only to be told by Aegis corp that he had died. With no body to show, and not even a shred of his clothing or otherwise to remember him by, Daniel swore to himself to find the creature that slew Tolan, and slay it, so as to prevent such a powerful creature from living on to murder more people.
During this time, he read up on the history of his family to look for any sign of monsters that preyed on hunters specifically. While he found a few possibilities, he stumbled on the historical accounts of his uncle. Finding mostly sympathetic accounts, and knowing the power of spirits, he went to The Library to test his capacity as a holder. When it proved positive, he slipped away and used an old witch's ritual to summon the spirit of Julius to him. Julius, thus, became part of him, and immediately warned him of an impending attack that would kill his wife. He had seen it as a spirit approaching the family estate.
His family estate was attacked, just as Julian said it would be. While his wife survived thanks to Julian's warning, it was very clear that the attack was perpetrated by humans, targeting him and his wife specifically. Thus, to keep the rest of his family safe, he left for The Library with Soție, knowing that he owed them one anyway. In exchange for protection and sanctuary for Soție, he offers his services as a trained intelligence gatherer and mercenary.
Besides. He had to learn more about who his brother's killer was, and while Aegis Corp was not cooperative about such a thing, The Library might be more than happy to give him any potential leads as he sniffed out potential problems for them. A mutually beneficial relationship.
Branch: Intelligence. Daniel is a monster hunter, if he wasn't good at intelligence, he would be out of work.
Holder: Rook.
Spirit: Julius Constantine, AKA "Uncle." Julius was born roughly two hundred fifty years ago. He became a vampire, and was hunted down and slain by Daniel's father after he started to slip about the family estate. To this day, nobody is certain why, as no servants were slain. History told a more sympathetic tale, more like Frankenstein's monster, than the truth of it: Julius simply doesn't consider people in general as having any basic value. A person has to prove they worthiness in order to gain his admiration or respect, or to be spared from his lust for blood. He wears a masquerade of sophistication, and takes an interest in the arts. Coincidentally, he wears a pale white mask, and often keeps a human skull around which he named Whiskers. It is quite possible his only friend.
Weapons/Spells:Război Ciocan: A light, two handed warhammer made out of silver, with a permanent red blood stain on the stabbing end of it. It can be used as a blunt weapon to break bones and cause extreme pain, or as a piercing weapon to get through heavy armour. Silver is a traditional weapon against supernatural creatures, though auspiciously, vampires are exempted unless you drive it into their heart. This one has been passed down the Constantine family from generation to generation, and although originally thought lost, Julian was kind enough to just...
Hold onto it. With his chest. It's in mint condition otherwise, he swears.
- Blood Price: Using this ability, Daniel's eyes turn silver, and he gains a bonus point of agility per person he is facing, up to a maximum of 40% of his agility. (So at 10 agility he cannot gain more than 4 bonus agility to start with, even if there are more than 4 enemies.) This agility wears off after two posts, though each person slain (friend, foe, or neutral) in the area increases the length of the ability by one post. This is limited by the amount of POW he has. (40% of his own power is his limit. Behaves the same as his agility limit.) Once the ability wears off or when he stops using it, he grows extremely fatigued temporarily, and inflicts an agility penalty on himself based on the number of allies/neutrals/enemies slain, up to a maximum of 40% of his agility, for three posts. After that he cannot use the ability for another two posts, as he still has to regain his strength to use it again.
Each person he personally slays using this ability also costs him in his own life force: As a blood tribute to Julian, who expects something in return for his services. The wounds sustained are up to GM discretion, with more powerful enemies causing greater wounds to Daniel. As a general rule of thumb though, killing more than six regular people or more than three people equal to his own strength should be enough to cause him to cough up blood and wheeze in pain. More than five of his own level of power should be enough to wrench or outright break a limb.
For obvious reasons, if he switches to another weapon, this ability will cancel and give him the penalty attributed to it.
Valkyrie: A large mechanical crossbow, generally used to do as much damage to one specific thing as is possible. It takes one post to actually reload it, and it cannot be fired while moving... At least, not accurately. Julian especially seems to show a dislike for this weapon, though he has fashioned what he likes to call his own special recipe for it. Needless to say, this crossbow can also destroy locks or blow through certain kinds of material due to its empowered properties from Daniel's power. (Note: "certain kinds of material" are things like drywall, or thin layers of wood. Not concrete, and he certainly couldn't blow apart a five hundred year old tree, though he could do quite a number to it.)
- Hypnotic Bolt: Each crossbow bolt gains +30% of Daniel's POW score in terms of piercing and damage, and causes the target to become feverish and hallucinate. They also have a chance of becoming non-hostile, or perhaps even cooperative, with Daniel, assuming they aren't screaming in pain from the bolt. The poison lasts for two posts and remains in effect even if Valkyrie is switched out for another weapon. Targets with a high POW or SPI score resist this effect better. Notable, if Blood Drinker's active is used on the target while the poison is in effect, Daniel will poison himself and start having feverish hallucinations.
Amusingly, if Daniel hits a target that is vastly inferior to himself and it doesn't die instantly, it may start referring to him as its master or mother. Julian likely infused it with his own hypnotic powers, and while they don't fully manifest against targets with supernatural strength or mind, that diluted effect turns out alarmingly well on weak little humans.
Daniel may only use this ability once per mission due to its intrinsically high cost. Any further uses causes a permanent 10% drain on his POW for the rest of the mission, which can stack up to 100%. If he tried to use the ability after that, he would die from blood deprivation.
Due to the size of the crossbow, it takes one post to actually coat the poison on the bolt. Overall, if he were to try and use it in rapid succession, he would have to wait one post to reload, then another post to coat the poison again.
Blood Drinker: An unusual weapon to be certain, it is a short sword with a red tinge to it. In the dark, it even glows dark red. By itself it holds no real special properties, and Daniel would be better off using Război Ciocan in melee. On the flip side, this is the weapon to be used against the last target in a room, or when committing to an up-close-and-personal assassination. Coincidentally, of his three weapons, this one is the one Julian is most fond of due to its lack of silver or piercing properties. Fancy that!
- Sanguine Embrace: Daniel cuts his hand open as an offering to satiate Julian, and then attempts to plunge the blade into the body of a hapless victim. The stronger the victim, the greater the amount of life force Daniel restores from any wounds he may currently have. Daniel also steals the target's POW stat. If he has damage to his POW stat from Valkyrie's active, it will heal that first. After that anything over and above is excess he gets to keep for two posts before the thrill of stealing someone's life ends.
This does not remove the penalty effect from Blood Price, as that does damage to his agility. It can however heal the damage caused by it.
This can be used each post, but failing to kill someone when used causes this ability to go on cool down for three posts, and will cause Julian pain... Though whether anyone cares if Julian is in pain is up for debate.
There is a cap on the amount of temporary POW Daniel can receive from this ability: 20% of his maximum POW. (At 10 maximum that means he can have up to 2 bonus for 2 posts.)
Skills: 0 free.
WeaponATK+ (Rank 1): "One hit, one kill... It also makes restraining victims easier."
CritPOW (Rank 1): "The desperate fight harder than anyone to survive."
Wallflower (Rank 2): "Wait in the shadows for the right moment to strike."
Stats: 0 free.
Other: Artist for the picture I used for Julius Constantine. Again, because credit should go to the artist. I'm evil, not... You know...
Eeeeeevil.