Alias/Nickname:There’s only 1 nickname he answers to and that's EZ (pronounced Easy) given to him by his younger sibling.
Age: 27
Race: Human
Appearance:
Emmet is a human with average built and height of 5’ 6” making him shorter than most men in his line of work under Darius, one of the few Casino owners running Kenan. On his body are a number of scars, most faded to the point they are nearly gone and are in various places, though he’s managed to keep his hands and face almost flawless. After suffering so many broken bones, wounds and injuries Emmet has developed a knack for working through pain as well as healing the fastest a human can.
Emmet tends to be rather sharply dressed because his boss tends to believe his best workers’ appearances, even the ones behind the scenes, reflect back upon him. Thus for this reason, Emmet wears a white embroidered dress shirt with a propped up collar and large dress jacket with an insignia and decorations as seen in the image. The ring is a family heirloom from a past he merely remembers in passing, unable to give it up because of the sentimental value it holds for him. When in high emotion or thinking, Emmet tends to display his age old habit of smoking thus during his job, he’s usually seen with a lite cigarette already between his lips.
Social Status: Emmet is considered a lapdog (underling) however he’s not just a mere thug as his accomplishments have aided his reputation, making it clear he knows how to do his jobs and do them well. He tries not to directly tie himself to any certain groups but since Darius owns him, Emmet knows when Darius wants him to bark, he should, figuratively speaking.
Connections:
Family
Olivia Matthews-His younger, thirteen year old step sister who shares the same father and has drawn a certain sense of responsible from him. In her presence, he only shows the warm, 'angelic' and carefree brother who would do anything for his family’s well-being. The darker part she's never seen tends to be his more cold and icy personality, the side where he puts on a mask to do his job and does what he’s told no matter what.
Darius- Ex-casino owner, unofficial Kenan order enforcer in his own turf and a Kitsune demon. Other then that and hearing a tidbit about his origins being from Hell, Emmet knows little about the Kitsune's past. The demon and him has a vicious dislike of each other, a fact that is well hidden from his younger sister, as Darius is the cause of his current mess.
Juan-A mysterious human turned demon within Darius’s employment and been an unwanted mentor for Emmet after his powers started to emerge at age 22. Juan’s tastes tend to lean towards male companions and his preferences are shown very clearly in his subtle hits on Emmet, who he knows is completely straight. Despite that, Emmet trusts the demon since Juan has pulled his ass out of the fire enough to earn that much.
General Activity: During his work within Darius’s employment, Emmet started off as a package runner delivering goods and news for the fox early in his days. This progressed into becoming one of Darius' enforcers, charged with keeping order and killing the riffraff which has made him a hitman of sorts. Emmet’s both either worked alone or with a variety of Demons or Angels under Darius’s employment. In the last five years his main partner has been Juan.
Abilities:
*Note: Until recently, since he was 22, Emmet had only been able to access Dehydration and that was to a weak degree. Now his magic power and range has increased to three key areas which are earth based as he uses his Essence to reach out and manipulate it in a 3 yard (9 foot) radius all around him without the magic weakening. The farther the distance, the less power it has because it stretches his Essence’s range to its limit while the shorter the range then stronger it is.
Farther more, he’s only able to do one magic at a time due to inexperience. When switching from one to another, say Earth Manipulation to Dehydration, then all affects from the prior magic active instantly ceases. This means Puppets or other creations crumbles and Quakes stop to perform the other type of magic.
Earth manipulation: Due to the versatile nature of his ability to mold the Earth and like elements which are connected to it (Like natural metals, stone, and like), this magic is divided into three basic areas of what he can do with it. This is in no way a completely different ability but rather aspects of what is possible within this one magic. There is one note of importance: the more multitasking Emmet does then the weaker the effects and creations become. For example if he’s got a Puppet out and tries to direct a Quake then the Quake would be weaker than if he casted it alone, in addition the Puppet's abilities are weaker also.
Name Quake: Forcing his Essence in a focus point, his foot or hand, Emmet can stomp into the ground and send a shockwave though the earth itself. Depending on the concentration and his intentions, Emmet can make the effect center either on a single target at a distance to create a fissure right under their feet or a wide range effect that can send any land bound creature within a 9 foot radius flat on their ass.
Type Combative Range 9 foot Radius Duration 5-7 seconds, depending on strength Other info N/A
Name Earth Puppet: Able to shift earth into a creature of any shape or size, Emmet can either fight alongside or send his creation to fight for him. However this thing is a single command based being with only enough intelligence to carry out its duty independently in a fight and be a combat-able opponent for normal foes.
TypeCombative Range N/A Duration Until it's destroyed or Emmet dissolves it Other info Puppets are divided into 2 types, generic or specialized. Generic have only the basic of moves and combat abilities as small ones tend to have high speed but lack in power, the large ones are reversed in their weakness. Specialized however are like the very subject they are based off of with the same strength and speed in the physical sense yet they might lack certain abilities unique to the Race and individual, namely magic. Emmet’s only able to have one Specialized Puppet or 2 Generic Puppets out on the field.
*Decapitation is an instant kill causing the Puppet to crumble away into dust.
Name Mold: Similar to Earth Puppet, this aspect of Earth Manipulation isn’t forced on creating a Puppet that can act independently but rather changing the Earth elements around into items or different terrain. Effects can range from creating a rock wall to block an attack direction at him or one of his allies to creating quicksand right under the feet of his foe.
TypeCombative Range3 yard/9 foot Duration Varies- 1 sec to charge, simple can 2 sec to 3 secs as more complicated 4-5 sec Other info-The farther he has to reach with his ability beyond the 3 yard limit then the less effective and weaker his magic is.
NameTerra Skin: Using his Essence, Emmet can change physically his skin from flesh. He merely has to touch and absorb something Earth based, like non-artificial metal, stone, clay, sand or the like, in order to activate it. His body takes on traits of the material including the strengths and weaknesses.
TypeDefensive (sometimes Combative) RangeIndividual Duration Until dismissed Other info Other than exhaustion, the effect can be canceled by his own choice, large amount of magical damage, or if he’s knocked out cold. Once he does this, his physical state returns back to its original state before the change with wounds created still present. This ability is solely for Emmet and can’t be transferred to someone else. Only when he willingly deactivates it is it possible for him not to have to reabsorb the element to once more change his physical state, the other mentioned canceling options cause him to have to once again reabsorb the element and can put him at risk during the process. In addition, continuous activation of this ability would cause serious exhaustion in long battles so Emmet tends to only use it when he needs it.
NameDehydration: Emmet’s Essence can take away water within a body of his target, absorbing like the desert sands does water. Items can easily be dried out, turned brittle or dust depending on how much water is within them. This ability is rather painful as it not only dries out the skin, but also the muscles, nerves, blood and bone around where his hand or hands are touching. Skin to skin contact is fastest while clothing, depending on toughness and thickness, can slow it down by taking the effect’s damage instead.
Type Combative Range Close/Touching Duration As long as Emmet activates it Other info The longer the contact is held then the stronger the effect becomes until the victim becomes completely mummified (takes several hours) or contact is broken completely. The affects are heal able but depending on the length and damage, that might take some time.
Equipment:
Guns and Roses: A handgun and knife set, named by Olivia, give as one of Darius’s ‘gift’ for his birthday. Personally, it was a rather bitter gift in his option and it reminded him who held the bargaining chip in his loyalty and what he was forced to do to keep her safe. The pistol is a normal and average, pure black in coloring until you get down to the handle where Darius's symbol lies in bright ivory and the handle’s bottom is lined by gold. The knife has silver in the blade only as a rose carved with intertwining vines spanning up and down the whole handle below the hilt.
Personality: Like Mairyell's teenage agony years, it seems, lol. Hope Yosh appreciates the joke here! :p
Biography:
Emmet’s first really taste of bitter reality happened when he was eleven years old. His mother died as a result of a disease and in her wake left a mourning husband and son. He never got over it and that bitterness grew into a hollow feeling, his heart heavy and aching until his stepmother came into his life. The woman, Olivia's mother, was a childhood sweetheart that ended up marrying before his father and had the nerve to ask after Emmet's mother passed. For the next two years before Olivia’s birth they had bonded like a son and stepmother should’ve, namely since his father was continuously away for most of his life. Unknown even to his new wife, Mr. Matthews worked for a Demon named Darius as the hit man called The Coroner because every time he was sent, he leaves a body with a rose calling card in crossed over hands. Very few people know this, save for Darius and the dead victims, connection but if someone was to start investigate then likely the answer wouldn’t be so hard to uncover…sadly, it’s also a chance one would attract some unwanted attention.
For the year following to his eighteenth birthday were normal, his life average and free mostly of the struggles within what served for Kenan’s middle class. His mind focused on living his life and moving out, Emmet never knew his father’s bargain with Darius. The very bargain eliminating him from forced employment commonly offered by Darius and caused a domino effect that sent Emmet’s life spiraling out of control. Darius himself, escorted by his own hired hands came to his house to deliver the grievous news about Mr. Matthew’s untimely death. It was sound blow on Emmet which signaled the jackal to make his offer of a lifetime employment taking up his father’s void. Naturally things went sour the moment Emmet refused.
The Demon still aimed to collect his desired debt with or without the man’s permission.
Things turned ugly quickly, Emmet’s temper flared when he saw Darius’s frown, a quick hint to his true venom before one of his men turned to snatch a four year old Olivia. His step mother’s first instinct was to step between the monster and her daughter, a deadly idea in the end. The lower demon backhanded her with extreme force, sending her head against the table with a loud snap to end her life. It happened quickly and before Emmet could consider his action or their effect, his hand was already snapped up his switch blade and swiped at the nearest demon: Darius. His wrist was immediately caught in the Demon’s hand but not before he had managed to slice a thin, red line upon Darius’s fur. The demon seemed as surprised as he was for a moment. Olivia was crying in the background while the two stared at each other for too long. Finally Darius gestured for one of the thugs to remove his sister from the room and wait for him outside in the car, the man’s hand jerked only to feel Darius’s grip tighten in warning and painfully.
Once she was gone, Darius broke his wrist in one movement. Emmet’s scream filled the room even when the Demon pulled him in closely to warn him that if he did anything stupid then his sister would die horribly and her corpse placed at his door step. The last thing he was told, his arm cradled his wrist, staring after the bastard who took his sister was to wait to be contacted in a week.
From that point onwards, Emmet worked up from the lower ranks as a runner in Darius’s operation. In his early years, he ran packages, delivered messages and information and money collections for vandalism protection. All this time he was being blackmail by Darius’s threats over his little sister so he never failed a job. From time to time, usually on his time off, Emmet got to spend time with his sister both in public and Darius’s private residence. Always under mocking eyes. Emmet knew no matter where he and Olivia were, they were always being watched closely by Darius’s minions and others. Just in case he ever tried to make a break for with his sister. His magic didn’t appear until he was 22, Dehydration and a weak magic it was, only able to weaken the hand into a slight mummified appearance. That was enough to disarm his target while he left his mark, ending the man’s life. Things started to change and not for the better.
He started to edge into enforcing Darius' law and that’s when he was assigned to work with a demon, Juan. The blunt of the killing depending on Emmet while he learned the best ways to kill Angels to Werewolves, mostly by trial and error, and Juan's sole task was to keep him alive after things go sour. Needless to say, it’s not hard to realize where half his scars and wounds came from. If it wasn’t for Emmet’s magic and Juan's training over the years, it was unlikely he would've it to his next birthday after his magic appeared.
Speech Color: CadetBlue
Name: Olivia Alice Matthews
Alias/Nickname: Olive (Despite Emmet knowing the fact she hates nicknames and think she’s too old for one)
Age:13
Race: Human
Appearance:
Olivia’s height is 5’5” and weights at 112 pounds, her built slightly twig like and frail looking for someone her age. Most might see her as a delicate little thing but she is far from it. Her skin has a rosy cream color to it and her eyes seemed to cast slight innocent within them, giving them a soft glow. She normally has some type of flower within her light orange hair as a small token from her Uncle or Emmet. Olivia likes her haircut short.
Her outfit is usually what most teens her age wear and dependent on the weather. One of her favorite’s outfits is a colorful, ruffled tank top and either white shorts or slightly worn jeans, ending in blue jean tennis shoes. A pair of sunglasses is clipped to the tank top’s shallow v neck.
Social Status: Currently she is the unofficial adopted daughter of Darius, a Kitsune demon, who is one of the most powerful casino owners within Kenan. So she’s rather well off for a bargaining chip.
Connections:
Family
Emmet Matthews-Her 27 year old brother.
Darius Cain- A Kitsune demon, she calls the demon ‘Uncle Darius’ and acknowledges him as her current caregiver.
Aeris Kasio- Mother/sister, Aeris pretty much helped Darius to raise her.
Known Strangers
Juan- Unlike Emmet, she’s only met Juan ever so often and usually when Darius is around. She doesn’t know much about the demon. Only that he started to appear after Emmet’s 22th birthday, around the time Emmet's magic appeared, but according to Uncle Darius he’s there to help Emmet in his job. It doesn't help his presence gives her the creeps whenever she's found him...looking smugly at her brother, a shiver of knowing he's hiding something.
General Activity: She’s tasked with learning at the Kenan's Private Girl's School and living her life as an average pre-teenager. Every other weekend, Emmet tends to pick her up and visits for long hours on end.
Abilities:
Name Essence Retrace: Unknown to Emmet or even Darius, Olivia has been keeping a deep, dark secret. An ability which started to appear a year ago and only has grown in strength in recent months. Able to sample the Essence of any object, Olivia can slowly piece together its history and where’s been from the item’s point of view. From everyone's who's held to the places it's been, limited only by what was within its view, she'd can witness as far back as the items 'birth'.
TypeNon Combative RangeTouch Duration Direct Touch length Other info The longer she holds it and focuses, the more she is able to see. However any affects the item might have or hidden surprises aren’t affected or lower the risk. At this early stage she gives into fits of seizures and pain due to her lack of practice and control using this magic.
She can will learn more magic depending on the development of her current one.
Equipment: No weapons or armor.
Personality: Every Mairyell copy needs a mini Aeris... :P
Biography:
For as long as Olivia remembers, Darius has been her caretaker. A father and guardian, her unnatural edginess since she was four long had faded or merely sealed away, as he raised her within his own home. Darius had told her father was killed in a car crash, and mother, in a home invasion, while he was delivering his condoles for their father’s death. Darius said Emmet resented him because he sent their father out which explained the animosity between her brother and Darius, even when they tried to hide it behind closed doors. Emmet unable to provide proper care, Darius had said he felt it was his duty to ensure she was taken care since he felt responsible for her father's death.
Since she was young, Olivia merely went with the follow of things. Darius insisted, despite her protests, that she was home schooled though she suspected it was more because of loneliness then the one sided argument he believe it would be in her best interest. When she hit about eight, he finally gave in to her reasoning and allowed her to attend Kenan Private All Girl's School where she ended up with a small group of friends. Despite her experience with the better life within the city, she is a common and average girl her age.
It started a year ago when her ability kicked in. A friend had bought a thrift shop item, a jewelry box, which seemed to be made from wood and ivory. It was too pretty for her not to touch and the moment she did, a strange and powerful feeling had swallowed her up. Though that touch she saw the item’s whole history from the time it had been fashioned by the kind crafter, delivered as a gift and finally used as the murder weapon, bashing in some poor teenage's face just before it ended up in a thrift shop. Needless to say, Olivia was pale while she told her friend to return it. Since then, she’s been rather careful of what she touches.
So far, neither Emmet nor Darius knows about her ‘gift’ as she doesn’t think they would understand what it’s like. Or worse, believe it was inside her head. It wasn’t easy and a few close calls happened when it became stronger but now, she discovered a way to prevent it from happening. Namely by covering her hands with her gloves that have little to no negative history acts as a buffer against anything she touches, at least with her hands were he ability is most focused at. There have been a few instants before, namely with items filled with a violent or strong emotional history that she can't seem to be able to stop when she forgot her gloves. During these moments, to the name eye she appears to be seizing uncontrollably like the source is shocking her with a high voltage charge until it's complete or it's pried from her fingers.
Speech Color: Skyblue
Major NPCs
Name: Darius M. Cain
Alias/Nickname: Ex-Casino Owner, Kenan Enforcer, Fox
Age: 289
Race: Demon
Kitsune
Appearance:
Two tails instead of just one, currently.
height- 5'10” weight- 156 lbs.
Social Status: Ex-Casino Owner and well known for keeping order within his turf as well as Kenan time to time.
Relations:
Known
Pact holder- Szayeis (unknown/confirmed) Family bonded- Aeris and Olivia (adopted daughters) Employment- Emmet, Juan (ex) Associates/Allies- Lily, Hazumi TBA
Abilities:
Natural traits
Essence Scent: Able smell Essence, though he can't determine everything about an opponent. What he can determine is if they are stronger then himself, gender, race, where they might've been recently and even possibly if their magic has an elemental theme to it.
Passive
Name Shard Copy: All Kitsune have a key trait which distinguishes them among other demons and that is the sharp copy ability. Created when a Kitsune creates a pact with another, this makes a symbiotic and rarely trusting bound between the joined pair. It also provides benefits for both parties involved, a loyal servant and tool for one while the other gains a way to outfox death during his growth.
This ability, when active, makes one essence shard which holds a complete, inactive duplicate of the Kitsune's body at the time it was made. The husk has all the same capabilities and strength within that moment with a thin essence thread that travels from Darius to the shard, likely held by Szayeis. It's colored by bright green and white swirling energy, shaped like a diamond crystal that when looked closely at has a dark shape of a figure within. Only the pact holder could see within the crystal to glimpse the figure, a miniature look alike of Darius himself.
When Darius is killed, his soul is snapped back to the crystal and it turns a blackish purple that flashes off and on. In addition, a sudden sense of... loss will seep into the pact holder. This emotion is to alert the keeper that the Kitsune had died and will need release. When Darius is jerked back, his soul still retained his memories, personality, etc, before the move including the cause of death though his abilities before then are forfeited.
Type– Non-combative
Range– unlimited as long as there is a shard made.
Duration – until the shard is broken or the pact is severed.
Other info –
Thread line itself:
It's rather difficult to severe unless one was aware of the ability and the thread's existence. In addition the cutter has to usually be of greater or equal strength of the pact user, or the pact user must decide to break it him or herself. Namely as the pact is made with both Darius' and his pact holder's essence to create a rather strong tie to one another.
Szayeis' Effects
-Szayeis can easily avoid or seek Darius out as he'll always know Darius' location. Even if he's in hell and Darius' on the surface. However, Darius will not in order to keep his essence's presence from overwriting the shard's current data.
-Szayeis can sense Darius' emotional state, especially in the extreme, and though Darius can influence the signals some what they aren't completely flawless when Szayeis' involved. Lies, deceit and omitting key truths have a fifty percent of working depending on his pact holder's skill in detecting the truth among such things.
-The also destroys the pact when Szayeis allows the shard to be absorbed, broken or harmed in anyway. As long as it's safe, in a chosen manner of his choosing, then the pact is unbreakable and will continue to tie the pair together. To create a new shard, the old one needs to be used and Darius must use a great amount of his energy. Likewise, a smaller amount must come from Szayeis. Afterwards Darius is left weak and helpless to what ever demon comes along or protection is providing.
Darius' Effects
-Szayeis' condition is continually broad cast to Darius, sharing any pain received. A slightly attention tactic for the Kitsune causing him to become rather aware of a dire situation where he might end up losing his pact holder permanently. He'll be immediately drawn to his keeper's aid where usually a Kitsune will die trying to keep a pact holder alive, something affordable due to the shard ability.
-Darius can sense when Szayeis is lying to him. The demon's words could be as smooth as silk, flawless and perfect yet the fox's instinct will still go off. He can't pinpoint the exact place or in what manner however. Merely how many and the fact he's lied, Darius can brace for the worse and likely not be surprised if one these times he ends up dead by Szayeis' very hands. Recordings, information by another mouths, and such non directive methods are impossible to tell as they aren't coming directly from Szayeis himself.
-Darius can't create multiple pacts. Any attempt will always break his first, and Szayeis will know it.
Both
-The pact intention is to create a sort of trust between the pair. Most surviving Kitsune have a trusting bond with their pact holder and in turn, it influences and reflects on the abilities gained. Stronger abilities are gained much quicker in smooth, trusting and less abusive pacts. Likewise, lower level abilities are usually the first to appear in poorer ones. In addition neither one's free will is affected or altered when the pact is created which is why most Kitsune tend to be very careful of his choice in the matter. If neither can fulfill their side of the bargain, the pact can be severed by either physically harming the other. Though doing so tends to be rather painful for both briefly.
-Physically blood on Szayeis, intentionally or not, will break the pact. The same goes for Darius. Even in emotional rage and when the pact is severed, it can be established with another but the older benefits are useless until another is made. Even then, they aren't as strong as they should be. This doesn't include cause and effect, mental discipline/torture, or methods that don't draw blood or extinguish either one's life.
Name Regeneration: Like some races of demons, Darius has the passive ability to mend his wounds both in and out of combat continually. Since he lacks strength on pare with most demons his age, his kin are best known for their durability and difficulty in killing. Minor wounds like scratches and usually only a few inches deep will heal in less then a second. Wounds and gashes deeper as deep as few inches takes less then 2 while penetrated organs, broken bones, and vast areas of serious damage will take under 5 seconds.
Type–Healing Range–Individual Duration – Continually Other info – Two key things affect his healing abilities: damage amount and movement. The greater the damage and higher the movement, like in combat, then the longer the healing will take to reverse the damage. However, the less damage and if he's stationary then it would take less time. As long as his head isn't crunched or extremely damaged, he can regenerate his whole body if needed.
Name Telekinesis: Darius can do many things with this magic as its strength relies more in flexibility. He can create barriers by shifting large amounts of air and particles in front of him, shielding him from physical attacks to manipulating objects in his surroundings. He can easily toss a object whose weight is at least one ton and toss it accurately for five meters from his position. However, hitting is another matter. Levitation, push and pull, bind in place, manipulating, and even exploding an object that is within his eyesight. At his current level he can explode objects made of concrete rather easily though those along the caliber of steel is much harder.
Type Combative Range Within Eyesight and 15 foot radius from him. Duration N/A (Varies depending on what he does) Other info -He must be aware of an item before he manipulate it, as well as its location, before he can manipulate it. In addition he can influence the actions or puppet living creatures. The resistance is far too difficult, putting too much stress on his mind and could damage his brain killing him in the attempt. He can't affect objects already being manipulated by magic since it already took root and takes more effort, namely
Name Minions: Fox like creatures that are made from a related element to the current pact holder. Due to Darius' pact with Szayeis, the Western Lord, his minions take on a shadowy appearance and seem to have traits close to the breed of demons called Nightwalkers. Namely the ability to materialize out of shadows, shape shifting and some measure of intelligence. They are able to act independent, their minds are more like obedient and loyal animals, while taking telepathic commands from Darius.
Type–Combative Range–Wide Range Duration – Until it's killed. Other info – The foxes don't actually emerge from the shadows, rather they are shape shifters. Able to flatten themselves or take any shape imagined to blend into the background and shadows flawlessly. In addition they can take human disguises allowing them to pass off as humans on the outside though anyone able to sense essence would learn otherwise. These creatures strength range depending on the Kitsune's currently evolution stage, which for Darius is currently just above high level surface demons, making them a rather strong tool when the Kitsune doesn't want to get his hands dirty.
Name Essence Share: This ability, once activated, can be used to send essence through the pact they share. Darius or Szayeis can pour a continual or selective amount to one or the other over a set distance. This boost can increase the energy of the other which can increase their own reserves for use, much in the same way adrenaline does for humans.
Type–Support Range–Short (Less then half a mile) Duration – Depending on the Essence amount given and how fast Szayeis uses it up. Other info – The more wide spread the pair is, the weaker the effect. It's like traveling through a thread pulled tightly and the more taut it is then less essence can travel through it without risking it would snap. Due to Darius being the weaker of the pair, he has to be careful with how much he would let Szayeis have at once. Namely without time to regain what he's lost, Darius could die and the boost effects fade much quicker.
Personality: Some things are left unsaid.
Biography
Darius was born on the surface as a result of an attack on a teenage couple, the female the only survivor. Believed raped in the event she decided to carry the infant within her to term then give it up, a choice that would end her life and start his nightmare. When he was born, he ended up clawing his way out, being nothing more then a mewling little kit in Loom's back alleys. He was brought into a foster girl's abusive home, hidden and kept to be her secret friend. It was happily his most cherish memories despite the violence he watched in the name of 'love'.
He matured into a eight year old version of himself after those two years ended. He managed to return the love for the girl by ripping out her foster parent's throats, accidentally killing her during the conflict then vanishing into the world alone. All he carried was the very name she gave him: Darius. Her little Darius.
Years in the streets taught him to be quick and smart, avoiding being killed or eaten, as he managed to outlast the world. Mentally he aged yet there was physically little change while he scrounged around for new hiding places, all the time seeking someone who wouldn't devour him long enough to create a pact. A scream, panic scrambling and more caught his curiosity causing him to ignore his instincts to flee. In moment a nine tailed Kitsune snarled at the boy, his eyes gleamed with wicked delight, while his clawed hand took hold of Darius' neck scruff then hauled him off to hell.
His next four years were spent in damp, sticky, and rather alive place called the Wildlands. It was a game of cat and mouse, which his father, as he was told later, stalked Darius out for sport. Like he seemed to have done for many demons. Within that time, his human form was lost and all that remind was a monster. The day the Western Lord came was the day Darius had become rather careless, Tagaki's jaws finally found him and started to slowly devour the boy. He was still dangling from the maw when they both felt Szayeis approach. Chewed down to his upper torso and one mangled arm, Darius watched the two clash when the beast dropped him for the new prey, who seem rather amused. It was this point on that Szayeis raised Darius as his adopted son, less then a year later creating a pact with the mysterious figure that would last well beyond his childhood. He learned about his home during escaping Szayeis' lessons, spending time exploring and interacting with the residents, while his nature usually drove him right back to the Chimeric Citadel.
Szayeis seemingly expecting him each time.
During his surface years, he was involved with Kenan's early beginnings. A bustling, sleepless city whose future would nothing but sin, he clawed his own path into its territory and these actions would bring him into casino owner status later on. He drew respect not only from demons but humans as well, some angels even. Throughout his accomplishments Darius had visited his old home a few times where he would stay a month or longer, depending on when he could convenience Szayeis to return him home. Even with his agenda, Darius had kept tabs on the Western Lord whenever he learned about his surfacing from Hell so it was little surprise that the incident in Loom hadn't reached Darius' large ears. He also met a young Aeris who he grew fond of the more he spend time with her, a fact Szayeis used against the both of them.
During the Judas War, he tried to protect and combat Judas and his sword by defending Kenan. He managed, barely, to unit most the residents and the casino owners to keep the Gate Killers at bay. A small win compared to the death toll. When the war ended, it left scars causing him to leave his position as a casino owner much to everyone's surprise. Many stilled questioned the motives behind it. Several changes happened over those years from Szayeis' disappearance to Lily and Hazumi's academy, even helping Aeris coupe with being introduced to the surface.
Emmet's bloodline had been employed in his enforcement as peace keepers in his turf, this matter drew a stranger to his door with a particular interest in the family linage. His first instinct was to chase Juan Barrette away yet the an interested him, namely when he spoke of Emmet's bloodline being unusual. It wasn't until Liam had been attacked by a vampire did Darius allow Juan to come under his employment, mainly to learn why his enforcer hadn't been turned into one. Each time a new male child showed a magical trait, Darius was to pair them off with Juan and allow the two to work together. Many times Juan had kept his projects alive save for Raiden, Emmet's father.
When should've been a simple contract, twisted into something worse. He blamed himself really for bring a blood thirsty vampire, an over zealous 'ex'-killer, who ended up backhanding the woman and managed to snap her neck when he mistaken one of Darius' gestures for another. Next he knew Emmet had sliced him, ready to end it only to be stopped by his hand. At that point he had started to grow an admiration toward the boy which, with help from his sister, would develop into something like love. In end, he ended up adopting the young girl as his own. Later on, he ended up bring Aeris, who after a heated conversation, helped him to raise the child.
For now, he's content, but things are changing. He can feel it.
Speech Color: Silver
Name: Lillian Quarin
Alias/Nickname: Lily
Age: 800 (give or take some years...)
Race: Demon
Siren
Appearance:
Face
Eyes shift to a bright, glowing yellow when she's using her magic which often gives her victims and enemies warning like below.
Full body
Height- 5'11''
Social Status: Currently the Principle/Headmaster of Melody's Academy of Fine Arts.
Connections:
Family
Rex~ Spouse, the only one that keeps tight rein over her heart.
Students/Teachers
Thomas Finch Reates Saerne Aeris Kasio Samantha Rule Iris Ian Synder Timore Scarborough Olivia Matthews
Associates
Szayeis~ Currently, the pair are on rather ill terms after the event with Maroon and even more bitter as the Angel hadn't gotten in contact with her since. A fact she's moved on from and left behind, thanks to her Spouse. If any fragment of friendship could be salvaged from then, it would have to come from Szayeis' end as she doesn't aim to repair broken bridges.
Hazumi~ The Essence, as Lily calls her, currently is in a mutual if not reluctant working relationship. All tools need a master after all and while Lily loathes the idea, it was better then leaving the Essence to wander freely or risking another incident like Judas' War.
Darius Cain~ She knows he's in a pact with Szayeis, though his motives for being with the Western Lord is still a mystery to her. He first contacted her to Hazumi's intentions to reopening the Academy and even mediated their conflict while they came to a bitter agreement.
Others
Solus Grim~ Due to Maroon's involvement, she was sent to contact and deliver a message to the Bounty Hunter. Instead she ended up bring the man straight to Maroon as well end up getting her out of there before her life trickled away.
Abilities: Passive-Traits Sound Connection~ To say Lily has a knack for sound and music is an understatement of her abilities and talent even as a Siren. She can tell the tempo, pitch, vibration, direction and more simply by just listening to a source of sound, especially if its manufactured, recorded or natural. There is no sound that can elude her attention from the smallest breath to the loudest, sound barrier crack, which can have many perks to avoid being ambushed or deceived. Naturally she can also mimic an individual's voice by adjusting her essence within her vocal cords and box to make an almost flawless copy. Currently she's been practicing throwing her voice over extreme distances as well as smaller ones, aided by her magic, proving rather handy in keeping order in her school now without causing a scene.
Active Name Siren Song: Her voice, when empowered with Essence, can influence the emotions when heard. She can pull an individual anywhere from joy to fear with the melody of her voice, giving her an edge in tense situations. Though beings that are stronger will take longer to influence, especially angels and demons, which can easily allow them to silence her voice, ending the effect. Her magic starts low and subtly while it grows in power the longer she sings, filling the air and affecting all those who can hear her.
Type– Non Combative (usually) Range– Depends on the terrain and individuals Duration – Several hours, unless silenced Other info –Because her magic is influenced by her voice, Lily tends to use her violin to express her natural talents rather then sing as she rather be judged by her own merits. Very few have ever truly heard her singing voice as she's best known for her violin skills, a talent she used to help the school before the Essence slaughtered her students and nearly killed her.
Name Siren Scream: Putting her Essence into her voice, Lily can turn up her voice's volume and direct it at an individual or small group. Depending on the proximity, the voice's power could explode eardrums to stunning her enemies and tearing up her surroundings from cracking concrete to knocking targets off their feet, power dying out the farther her target is from her location. The more breath she gathers before release, then the longer her range becomes during the attack until the breath ends.
Type– Combative Range– 4 meters (12 foot plus) Duration – 3-4 seconds Other info – Distance is a key factor to affect her attack as it starts off strong and fades with travel, usually stunning at its weakest for a short time. It also travels in a straight line from where she starts and ends after 4 meters when released, starting off narrow and widening like a funnel.
Name Hot n' Cold: Lily can influence the temperature within her surroundings by changing the sound vibrations she emits from her body. Heating up merely means increasing the friction in the air which could result in setting things, people or herself on fire allowing her punches to pack more heat then normal. One of her preferred tactics is centering them in her hands then flickering a blaze of flames in her foe's direction like a flame thrower or engulfing her whole body, only lighting on fire the air around her for a limited time due to the fact she needs air to breathe or else she'll suffocate.
Cold is the opposite and all Lily needs to do is to slow the air and let it start to freeze. In moments the temperature can drop to below freezing and colder, allowing icicles to form within the affected area and breath to fog over the longer she continues the effect. She can all focus her cold into her touch, the air or even send ice spikes at her target if needed and keep a distance should close range combat provide too dangerous.
Type– Combative Range– Half a mile Duration – Varies: Area effect takes about 6 second for max effect and small, controlled magic like icicle or flamethrower takes 2-3 seconds. Other info –Heating the surroundings can increase the power of related elements, usually fire and heat based demons while weakening those more in tune with cold. Against elements outside hot and cold, her magic's effect will vary depending on the demon's power level against her own. Area effects take longer and start off subtly, gaining strength the longer she focuses on maintaining it while small effects take far less time and don't gain strength the longer they are used. Switching from one extreme to other can take time, usually leaving her open to attack, so usually she will only switch when her first isn't holding any affect.
Personality ...I'm gonna be honest, I'm skipping this frickin' part as I hate it.
Biography
Lily was a succubus and the second youngest of four fraternal quadruplet sisters, all heirs to Hell's Southern throne. Out of all her sisters, she lacked the motivation and desire to take up the throne but still, she was taught to fight since all the girls would be pitted against each when they came of age. It wasn't a secret Lily was the most pleased when the youngest, Daiyrisa, was discovered to possess the powers of Sedusa. No longer needed to fill a role she never wanted, Lily enjoyed the life she wasn't able to have before while her sister learned to rule.
Being a Succubus had its perks as she did what her kind did best, easily gathering essence from those foolish to show their weak underbelly to her. It had its moments and on the path of her fun, Lily had crossed paths with Szayeis. What started out as curiosity turned into closer association of chaotic proportions, one of intimidation and slight trust. She is one of the few people who know and has seen what he can do to an individual and likely more. She never knew when her life turned into ashes from the sweet nectar she had once loved, save that she found herself entering into the surface the first chance she got.
It was there she encountered a tamer angel. Red haired, graceful white wings and cocky strut, he had ensnared her heart which might explain why she kept flirting in and out of his many lives. The first time they were a pair of cocky teenagers who tested their abilities, limits and combat skills against anyone who crossed their path. There was danger and she even sent him to stand before a speeding car where his body was broken, left bleeding out. It was here he spoke her deepest desires, vowing to make them come true. She was relieved when he was able to be saved through the doctors and time itself. When he died of old age, he finally granted her freedom and even a job at the local library where she rarely encounter the angels or demons. There she spent a hundred years hidden away from the world while she seemed to change on the inside. Her succubus' tenancies had started to faded somewhat compared to when she emerged onto the surface.
Her passion for music and the emotions likely had stirred her evolution beginnings, and like any artist, filled her finger tips in her career to become a violinist. There was no one that didn't feel her love for her talent or few would pay for a piece of her soul's work. A right that was reserved for few individuals. Over the course of a great many decades, she had met him off and on again. Once as a cocky teenager who tried to make her plaything. Another a inner, turmoil student who she aided in avoiding the Council's attention. This last encounter stuck out most because in the end, his parents were bitten and became werewolves resulting in the Council raising him. It seemed like fate the little bird would never be free in the end. When he finally recalled his former lived, he apologized for his behavior which he proved was genuine when he helped her into protection status and principle of the school she had been feeding off. There was only one condition: she was to work for them. It might've not settled well with her, as she wasn't anyone's bitch, but it would protect her from angels, demons and even humans for the time.
Working at Master Melody's Academy had helped her to advance to a Siren over the following years since she was first introduced to it. She was frightened when Maroon, the tamer's latest lifetime, approached her during the events of Loom. Things went down hill from there while the seraph tried to unravel a mystery, her school the source of a massacre and then the cluster fuck between Szayeis and Maroon. The last person she expected to save her from it was Solus Grim, a disgruntle and antisocial bounty hunter who ended up scooping her then rushing out of Maroon's upper story mansion window. She owed him enough favors after and in her temper, took off. Naturally she just went in hiding after the massacre as a year later, Judas tore the world apart for 20 or so years. It was during those hellish years she met Rex, a chimera, in one of the refugee camps. She, among several demons, angels, chimeras and rare humans, had sought to escape Judas' genocide while they fled to Kenan. They fell in love and been together ever since, later on happily married. The war also introduced her to Darius, the Kitsune who held a pact to Szayeis, and his efforts against Judas.
It was shortly in the war's end when Darius contact her again. He had retired from his casino role and heard her school had been reopened causing her curiosity to stir. When she learned of the Essence's involvement, another long age war nearly broke before Darius stepped in and finally convinced the two it was better to work together. To this day, Lily still questions his decision to get involved as she worked to temper the Essence into something salvageable. Most would call her prejudice with her preference for humans and the reason she believed the fragments should've represent musical instruments which was much easier to learn to manipulate as it was something she was familiar with.
So far the arrangement has worked though in Lily's opinion just barely.
Name: Solus Grim
Alias/Nickname: Nekro
Age: His age is difficult to tell based on his appearance, so he has no truly apparent age. And he doesn't reveal his age either...
Race: First Generation Chimera
Appearance:
Solus Grim is indeed a strange fellow when it comes to looks. He constantly claims that he is human and yet he looks more demonic than most Demons, who prefer to select a more human form so they can blend in among the humans. His body for the most part is humanoid in nature, close enough to be human, yet his face, or his facial disfigurement, is what makes him stand out from the crowd, so to speak.
People like to refer to his facial appearance as that of “The Void Guide” himself, a mystical godly figure usually transcribed in religious texts. Though only as a reference for his difficult to describe facial features in a more simple manner.
His face consists of sunken in hardened flesh that has an almost rock like texture and strength yet the flexibility of human flesh. It’s structure reveals the man’s skeletal frame of the skull around the eyes and nasal cavity. He has no actual lips, but ones that appear to have been crudely cut out with a blade, creating a zigzag-esque line from one side of the face to the other. But even that is not the most interesting part about it. Green flames burn out of his eye sockets, nasal cavity and mouth almost all the time. The flames themselves are harmless to the touch.
His upper torso also has similar mutations, from the chin and down to where his abdominals begin, and down his arms until reaching the elbows. His flesh retains the similar rock like texture in that area, which also seems to act as natural dermal armour, protecting the vital organs while the limbs were ignored during the evolutionary process. The rest of his body retains natural human skin, perhaps the original flesh prior to his physical changes.
The man has a muscular, well-toned frame built for combat and punishment. His skin has a strange colour of ash grey. His right shoulder, is etched with a large glyphic tattoo from the collar bone down to half way down the bicep, that seems to emanate magical energies, only detectable by those with a keener and savvier eye of those with expertise in the Arcane. The man also towers at a tall 6 foot 2 inches.
He also has a set of large black wings that appear to be reminiscent of a Falcon, which he can hide inside his body at will. These wings have a total span of 22 feet. Enormous in comparison to the wings of even the largest spans that Angels wield.
His attire makes him stand out even more. He is always dressed in black, wherever he goes. And it’s always in a stylish black leather trench coat covered in more buckles and belts than a gimp outfit of a BDSM club patron, to the point where it looks like a very expensive strait-jacket. Whether it’s for weapon concealment or style is unknown, perhaps it’s for both. After all, an infamous hunter like him needs to look both intimidating and badass at the same time or just outright silly and impractical in some people’s eyes. Though little do those people know that that jacket is layered in thin Kevlar.
Underneath that, he wears a light Kevlar vest that can be easily concealed, even under a tailored tuxedo, to protect his vitals even more. The trench coat can’t stop everything, so that additional layer only adds to Solus’ sense of physical security. And below that all is a simple BDU t-shirt. Finally, adding to the outfit, a pair of baggy leather combat pants and steel toed combat boots to match.
Social Status: Solus’ true affiliation to any faction is truly unknown despite his infamy. 180 years ago, among Angels he was seen as a dangerous anarchist and terrorist, while Demons across Hell saw him as a powerful mortal who proved not only his mettle, but the true potential of Chimeric kind in a duel to the death against the now deceased Demon Lord of the North, Mephistopheles. Humans on the other hand, have barely heard of him. Those who have only know the story of how he singlehandedly defeated Mephisto, and before his disappearance, was one of the heroes who killed Judas, but even those legends are convoluted and blurred in the histories. Now-a-days, he's a myth, who disappeared after Judas' death, never to be seen again.
Relations: It has been 180 years, all of his former contacts are most likely dead.
General Activity: People once believed that Solus Grim intended to banish both the Angels and Demons from the Surface world, and his actual reasons, motivations and goals are still unknown to this day. And what he has been doing for the past 180 years is yet another mystery.
Abilities: Solus is both an incredibly powerful Necromancer and Blood Mage by trade.
His Necromantic abilities revolve around manipulating the dead, death, and the essence of the dead. Solus can also communicate with the deceased on some simple level – by taking what is left of their essence and containing it in a storage unit, and partial mixing that essence with his for a temporary amount of time – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge.
Many practitioners find a way to cheat Death one way or other, whether by becoming some form of undead creature or by bypassing their own ability to die.
Solus on the other hand, uses this ability to create monsters, raising the dead and twisting, changing the corpses into horrifying monsters that are bound to his will (The twisting and changing of the body requires a dash of blood magic). The monsters range in shape and strength based on the essence that was collected, the weaker the essence, the weaker the monster, and vice versa. Zombies are the easiest to raise and do not even require blood magic.
Solus’ Blood Magic abilities revolve around his own blood and the blood other living things. Blood is important in magic because it represents life force at its most basic nature. By capturing the evaporating essence of a dying body, Solus can dramatically improve the energy of his spells by linking them to the mana of the body. This augmented energy allows the spell to be more powerful but it is also more demanding on him, since he must control the fabrics of the spell and tie it simultaneously to the mana of the dying Soul.
An important component of Blood Magic is the essence in the results it can produce. The sacrifice can't carry more power that the essence it allows it to carry. In context, the essence makes the magic happen, if the essence is weak, it will barely help in the casting of the spell, with more energy needed to be of some use. If the essence is strong, it will produce a more powerful and volatile spell than anticipated, with less energy required.
Solus usually sacrifices his own blood to enhance his offensive spells, slowly weakening himself with each spell he casts. He does not use blood magic for conjuring or for rituals, but simply as a fuel. A fuel that kindles magic his essence simply cannot cast on its own, such as standard Arcane spells, or temporarily enhancing his own weapons, or drain the life force of others to heal himself in battle.
There are 4 different levels of power of such spells. Minor, Medium, Major, and Sacrificial.
Minor, Medium, and Major are as their name states. They feed on the amount of life force based on their name, taking a certain amount of energy from the caster in order to cast a spell of destructive or defensive equal to the amount of energy consumed. Minor spells need little life force, Medium spells need a decent amount of life force, Mayor spells need a considerable amount of life force.
Sacrificial blood magic requires a death of a living creature to cast. Where an Arcane spell would need 12 mages and a powerful pylon to cast it, Blood Magic could cast that same spell with a single sacrifice.
Solus is mostly against sacrificial spells using innocents as fuel, but he does use them with the life force of his dead foes as a method of gaining a vast advantage in a fight against a large wave of enemies.
Solus also has Angelic and Demonic powers.
His Angelic abilities appear to be that of a powerful battle angel, which are his great physical strength, seemingly endless endurance and fast regeneration, no matter the wound. While his demonic abilities are limited to not necessarily a power, but a physical mutation. At will he can spew a black tar like substance from every hole in his body, and shadowy tendrils appear from his back. This substance is a highly infectious demonic disease that mutates humans, angels and demons alike into seeming brainless, shambling monsters that spread this disease by drowning their victims by puking the same substance down their throats. Solus rarely, very rarely, ever uses this... ability. Mostly due to moral concerns.
Equipment:
Please take note that Solus CANNOT bring all this gear with him. He will have to pick and choose items out of his arsenal based on their weight and how much he can carry without losing his agility and mobility.
It may not look like much, but it's quite the work of art, a perfect example of human engineering, and a bit of magic. The "Maledictory" Eagle is a weapon of dark power, forged by necromancers, for necromancers. It's standard firing mode fires Depleted Uranium .50 AE ammunition with enough power to knock a demon's head right off its shoulders, while its more interesting, secondary firing mode, fires a magical round that does devastating amounts of damage, and upon hitting something, like a wall for example, creates an high explosive upside down crucifix effect, which leaves behind traces of the users blood. Though this firing mode saps Solus' life force (his blood to be more specific) in order to create the special rounds. The gun has a box magazine of 7 rounds. Strangely, despite it's size, the weapon weights in at hefty 22 kilograms unloaded. It's a mystery how Solus can hold it, let alone fire it accurately.
This beretta isn't exactly special like the Maledictory Eagle, as this weapon is as standard as they come. It can fire in full auto, and 3 round bursts, has a firing rate of 1100 rounds per minute and is fitted with a 30 round box magazine filled with 9x19mm Parabellum silver-nitrate rounds.
The Sledgehammer is a dual-barrel shotgun that can be fired single handed, and fires .410 Depleted Uranium slugs. Both barrels can be fired simultaneously, or individually.
This weapon is not only ridiculous in its appearance, but also in its sheer firepower. With all the barrels fired at once this beast can detach a human torso right off the pelvis. It also, like the Sledgehammer, takes .410 Depleted Uranium slugs, and can fire one barrel, two, and even four simultaneously. It has also be fitted with an enchantment that turns the fired pellets into superheated, molten metal shards that dismember demons, as well as setting them ablaze.
The XM109 is an anti-material rifle designed to be used against light armoured vehicles. It is chambered with a 25x59mm cartridge and has a maximum range of 3,600 meters (2.2 miles). Its feeding system consists of a 5-round detachable box magazine and the standard weapon weights 15.1 kilograms. Solus had it fitted with a Mass Mod to decrease it’s weight as well as modified the weapon with motors and gears to create a “storage mode” where the weapon collapses into a more manageable size for transportation. He also fitted the weapon with 25mm High Explosive ammunition, for the one shot kill effect against tougher demons.
The G36k is an assault rifle fitted with a 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge and a gas-operated receiver, with ZF 3x4º Dual Optical Sight, AG36 40mm Grenade Launcher and a Beta-C Drum Magazine that houses 100 rounds of ammunition. The original ammunition has been replaced with 5.56x45mm Ultraviolet cartridges, a new type of demon killing ammo that Solus discovered in possession of a mysterious organization called “the Illuminati”, who made their appearance 200 years ago during the “Loom Calamity”.
Weighing in at 92 kilograms, or 202 pounds, this hydraulically driven monster fires 20mm Depleted Uranium ammunition at 6600 rounds per minute with a muzzle velocity of 1050 meters per second, or 3450 feet per second. With its massive fully loaded ammo drum and power supply, it weights as much as a small car, and has the recoil of a jackhammer. Like with the Payload Rifle, Solus drastically decreased its weight and recoil with a Hex-Tech enchantment to make it more manageable to carry and fire, but even with the enchantment, it still weights too much to carry alongside other weapons except for a side arm.
A highly advanced Hex-Tech Vibroblade and the only one of its kind, it’s a weapon built to make clean cuts through even the toughest armour time and time again. The blade of the sword itself is a 16th century ceremonial Muramasa blade, made of reinforced steel and gold plating along the surface. The pommel and hilt are a Hex-Tech modification that causes the blade to micro-vibrate at an extremely high frequency through the use of an elemental enchantment, causing that bright green glow and the arching lightning beams along the blade.
Its sheath is a modified M4A1 Assault Rifle Receiver that functions as a quick draw mechanism. Pulling the trigger will fire an explosive charge that blasts the blade out of the sheath and into Solus’ sword hand, making his draws blindingly fast.
The Nekro Chains are a strange set of magical chains that appear from Solus' sleeves. Their origins are unknown. Solus normally uses them to capture and subdue his opponents, and at times, draw them closer for brutal executions, or simply throw them into hazardous environmental hazards. They also have necromantic abilities, but they have yet to be fully witnessed and evaluated.
A black hulk of a Ford Mustang Boss that is covered in 3 inches of steel and two M134 Vulcan Miniguns on the hood, and another one right beside the left headlight, emplaced under the hood next to the engine, this monster can out run anything with its V12 engine, hitting 180 miles per hour on straights. Though due to its weight and armour, it turns like a school bus, and Solus is forced to use the handbrake to drift it around corners far more often than he should.
A 3 story art-deco mansion hidden in the high ranges of Mt. Jigger, an hour and a half away from the outskirts of Loom, acts as Solus’ safehouse. It is virtually impossible to find, and the way to it is riddled with magical traps and shadowy monsters. It’s almost like a powerful necromancer’s lair in story books. Hidden from the public eye.
In the basement of the House of Grim lays a vault, a vault filled with wonder and death. No one but Solus knows what’s in there. And there is no visible way to open it…
Personality: He is a man who lives his life on the edge, and cocky with an ego the size of the Sun. But he has the skill to justify his egotistical nature and his undefeated and unchallenged streak as one of the most infamous and successful Demon Hunters in the world, both in Hell and the Surface alike. Though his ego only truly surfaces on the battlefield, where he will be throwing sarcastic and insulting remarks at any opponents with half a brain to both understand and get offended by them, with the sole purpose to piss them off just enough for them to start making fatal mistakes.
Most of the time however, he tries to maintain a stoic, fearless and professional image when conducting business. Whether it’s obtaining new contracts, getting to know new contacts, or simply purchasing equipment from his black market acquaintances.
The chimeric man is strong willed and a bit of a workaholic. When he sets his burning eyes on a goal, he will reach it, even if he loses a limb or two. And he almost seemingly lacks any idea of fear, like the emotion was just, carved out of his brain. Of course there are things that he fears, but he has seen so much horror in his life that very few things faze him. It just takes the right touch to get under his skin.
He is also very wise. Ask him anything, no seriously, ANYTHING. He knows the answer.
Biography: Solus only became well known 202 years prior, when he traveled beyond the Gates of Hell and into the Northern Realm with the intention of slaying the Demon Lord of Pride and War, Mephistopheles.
It’s a matter of asking any demon who hails from the North, they will tell you the tale word for word. But those who know it better, are Mephisto’s former advisors, who witnessed the battle between the two with their own eyes.
Solus ventured into Hell with a party of three other necromancers like himself, each possessed with an essence of a hellion.
Of course, the smell of human flesh in a place like Hell tends to attract a lot of unsavoury characters. The humans forced to battle the way through to Mephisto, though they have only scratched the surface of his vast armies. By the time Solus reached Mephisto, all of his party members had died. Though Solus only reached Mephisto by getting himself captured, and was granted an audience with the Demon Lord.
Knowing Mephisto's honourable warrior nature, Solus asked for the Right of Challenge, a right given to any warrior to challenge the Demon Lord (whichever one is currently ruling) in a battle to the death, a tradition within Mephisto's realm. While the other Hellions who witnessed Solus spout the Right verbally protested against it, Mephisto stood up, and scanned the human from head to toe with his eyes, then, to his minions' disbelief, requested that they returned the human's weapons, and that he accepted the challenge.
The fight between the two lasted for hours; they tirelessly and relentlessly engaged each other in combat and exchanged powerful blows while Mephisto's minions watched. After several hours of brutal battle, the two were covered in eachother's blood, and both severely wounded, it was when they both briefly stopped fighting just to catch some air when Mephisto said, "Join me, Necromaster. Join me and I could give you the Surface World, Immortality, anything you desire. You have more that proven your power to me. Join me, and we can rule the Three Worlds together!" Solus didn't even answer, but raised his sword for another blow, while Mephisto froze in shock, bewildered that Solus hasn't even bothered to consider his offer. Solus smashed his blade against the top of Mephisto's head, splitting it in two, slaying Mephisto right in front of his advisors and minions. The witnessing Hellions didn't even try to stop Solus as he didn't say a single word, and simply left the ruined Throne Room.
News of Mephisto's death spread faster than a forest fire, before Solus could even reach the Hell Gate, still clutching his wounds, the entirety of Hell, and even most of the Surface World has heard of Mephisto's demise.
It was 20 years later when he gained more infamy when he and a group of other individuals grinded Judas' paranoid campaign to a staggering halt. It is unknown who delivered the killing blow that killed Judas' spirit, though it is believed by many to have been Solus himself. He vanished soon after that, and hasn't been seen for 180 years...
Name: Szayeis(Pronounced Ss-Zay-is). Alias: The Chimera; Lord of Chaos; Lord of Shadows; Master of the Game. Nicknames: None, there is only one demon he will allow to call him any sort of nicknames, her name is Lily. Anyone else typically receives punishment for such. Age: While it is not common knowledge, Szayeis is over 5,000 years old. Species: Demon(Hellion). Sub-Genus: Nightwalker. Social Standing - Demonic Lord: Having ascended the western throne over 5,000 years ago, Szayeis has ruled the West ever since and as such is easily recognized by most demons. His status provides him a natural dominance over lesser demons as well as incredible influence within hell, and quite often beyond due to his extensive networking and manipulation of the inhabitants of Progaia, be they angel or human. Additionally, his status, when others become aware of it, alludes to just how frighteningly powerful he is and as such tends to warrant a certain degree of either fear or respect from those involved.
Appearance: The reference seen at the top of this sheet can be considered Szayeis' typical human guise, which can be often seen when he is masquerading on the Surface to accomplish his myriad goals and enigmatic aspirations. However, while that form is one of his favored appearances, it is by no means his true appearance. Afterall, Szayeis is a Nightwalker and as such is a shapeshifter. His 'true' appearance can be seen only when he enters 'Origin State' as otherwise he is more or less a shifting mass of living darkness and essence.
While this is all true, there is one trait of his that, for the most part, he cannot alter and this trait is his eyes. Due to his status as demonic lord of the West, Szayeis has, like all his predecessors, awakened(?) the infamous Eyes of Praestrigia which are depicted below. For further information, read on.
Personality: While I could go through and define the many facets of Szayeis' personality, I won't. You'll see eventually anyways.
The Old One: An ancient being of unknown race, though most seem to think he is a demon, who is sealed inside of Szayeis' essence. It is unknown exactly what, or who, this being is. However, it should be noted that from the few interactions that have occurred already, the Old One is allegedly even more overwhelming than Szayeis. It is some kind of miracle and genius that has allowed the demonic lord to keep the Old one imprisoned in him for so long.
Biography: Life is a cycle and Szayeis has fallen into the longest and 'final' portion of his. Having died with the correct rituals and been reborn many times, Szayeis is a highly evolved demon. His life has been very eventful, but really nothing to mention in his opinion. He has killed and he has tricked, he has assisted, and betrayed. Evolved and portrayed many persona, masks if you will, to the many who have shared his company. However, in all his time, he has found only several among his demonic brethren and sistren that he considers either equals or amusing individuals. One of these individuals goes by the name of Lily, another highly influential demon, and as of late he has taken an especial interest in the female demon. Last of all it should be noted that Szayeis is a demon of whim, tending to be chaotic, or chimeric, in his activities. He has, in the past, taken on large escapes. Such as the time when he managed to take over an entire library, which he now uses as a base. He has gradually been attempting to take over a variety of other libraries so as to give himself a chain of locales to organize his forces and use as head quarters and the like.
At the moment he is working with Lily, and his own forces. Additionally, he has taken a fancy to a particular group of beings, which he has been toying with for quiet some time now. He derives great amusement from this.
--Over the last year or so, Szayeis' affiliation with Lily has declined following her injury, his assistance, and then her subsequent disappearance. However, this is hardly the most prevalent detail of his more recent history.
During the conflict preceding the fall of the demonic gateway, Szayeis once again visited Progaia where he proceded to begin gathering his various minions and associates for some form of grand scheme. During his stay he did many things, including torment an old acquaintance, rescue a friend from mortal peril, play with the emotions of one of his toys by kidnapping his sister, Aeris Kasio, and finally entering Origin State and laying waste to Loom.
As he strode through the streets human and angel alike stood fast or scattered before him. Those who opposed him were devoured and those who ran...were barely luckier. With the angels unable to face him and humans failing to even hold a candle to his wrath, the lord walked from one end of Loom to the other where he stood before the Council's headquarters and promptly unleashed a horde of demons upon the entirety of Loom, blanketing it completely in his chaotic essence, and weakening the will of all within.
Then the emanation of the World's Essence struck him and he turned path, allowing his hordes to crush the angelic base instead. However, even with his quick traversal of the space he was impeded by one of Ioi's brood, a former(?) human named Aulder. The man stood no chance and so withdrew as the Essence of the Old One struck forth to protect its vessel despite its wish to harm those who inhabited its form.
While the obstruction was cleared, the Reclaimer, daughter of the same master Aulder served, struck at Szayeis' realm. This pulled him from the jaws of the ancient and into the clutches of Lautumiae, the Living; a being formed from the West and those whom inhabited it. Thus the Western realm escaped the binding chains of the Reclaimer and stood before her, subduing her with their sheer vastness, before returning to their prior state and restoring the Realm as it is known.
With his realm safe, though only for the moment, Szayeis retired to his castle, exhausted, after giving orders to the Nameless Aide. Since then the Aide has faithfully defended the realm while its lord regains his vitality and renews his essence. [Insert the happenings of the timeskip. Likely including a war with the Eastern realm, scuffles with other demons trying to invade the West while it's weak, and a multitude of plans being readied on Szayeis part. Daiyrisa assisted in his recovered quite considerably. It took Szayeis 6 months to be entirely able to function again. It took him a month to recover mentally and emotionally. Aeris is traded over to Daiyrisa at some point as a 'gift'.]
Flourishing in the chaos following the fall of Hell's gate, the Lord of the Western realm played the strings of a great many, though he knew that the state of anarchy, at least not this time, was unlikely to last. Thus he made the best of it, amplifying and feeding from the chaos of the world, pushing some to war, and some to yearn for peace. Manipulating the minds of men, angel, and demon alike to create as much conflict, as much destruction and torment as he could and then his actions ceased. For the last [insert years here] the Western realm has been silent and even its people have seen their lord not at all. Some wonder if another lord has usurped him, or if the imminent Szayeis has finally perished in his struggles against the one who dwells within.
There is dissension within the Western Realm, and much talk of a run on the Citadel. Who knows if the lord remains, or has perished. Either is possible...but which is more likely?
[Both angels and demons alike are unsure if Szayeis predates the fall of the angelic gate or not, this is because he is a shapeshifter and his only defining feature is technically his eyes. However, the eyes of Praestrigia have been possessed by every demon, hellion or otherwise, that has ever reigned over the western realm. It is thus difficult to determine if Szayeis is just an incredibly powerful 'surface' demon, or a hellion from before the fall.]
Demons of embodied shadow and darkness, nightwalkers are typically found in the western realm of hell where the sky is forever dark and no sun shines down on their shifting features. One of the few races of true shape-shifters, Nightwalkers are capable of changing their form with essentially no limits other than size, which is dictated by their individual power and/or how much they have assimilated, be it shadows, essence, or other sources of such. While able to near perfectly shapeshift to emulate any form they desire, nightwalkers have an acute weakness to things that emit powerful illumination, such as fire, sunlight, holy luminescence, and lightning. This has led to most nightwalkers being active primarily during the night time as most of their ilk would die under the harsh rays of the sun.
Having rather unique capabilities due to their shadowy make-up, nightwalkers are capable of controlling, traveling between, and outright assimilating shadows. One can generally identify the power of a nightwalker by noting what form they decide to take and whether or not they can exist in the sunlight without being harmed or otherwise altered by the rays. As such it should be noted that weak nightwalkers will perish in mere minutes under the light of the sun and will remain permanently damaged if they survive, whilst a considerably more developed nightwalker will only be weakened by the sunlight, decreasing its overall power until the light wanes and the sun dips beneath the horizon.
This brings one to a unique fact about nightwalkers. While all demons are weakened somewhat and are thus stronger during the night, this particular species actually becomes stronger depending on how dark a locale is. Thus, the less light there is, the more powerful a nightwalker will become. When night falls, even a weak nightwalker should not be underestimated as they will become at least two to three times more difficult to kill and a good deal stronger than before, allowing them to compete with the average demon and fend off minimally trained angels. The average nightwalker during night time is far more deadly as they become a force to be reckoned with so much so that the majority of human and angel kind have recognized nightwalkers of the average level and above as being “nigh immortal during the night.” This is largely due to a nightwalker's ability to assimilate shadows into their body, allowing them to effectively /become/ the darkness of night, closing in on their opponent from all angles, and devouring them alive without consequence.
Not only does this ability make them difficult to locate, not to mention damage, but it also increases the size that the nightwalker can reach when shifting forms, thus allowing them increased variability in their shapeshifting. Also due to their shadowy and incorporeal or intangible natural state, nightwalkers are essentially immune to conventional weaponry, be they guns, swords, or any other variety of weapon. In fact, the only material that seems to have any increased effectivity against them is gold, which can harm them even in their incorporeal state. It is not entirely known as to why this is the case, but it is theorized that it is gold's highly conductive state as well as the way that it reflects light, making it especially bright and particularly reminiscent of the sun.
They are capable of traveling through shadows or pitch black areas with ease, not having to move in the physical sense, but being able to effectively transport themselves from one place to another through darkness/shadows. While this is the case for normal, or conventional, weaponry, it should be noted that enchanted weapons have a higher chance of effecting nightwalkers as they are infused with magical energy and thus, in part, exist in the same space as their allegedly incorporeal bodies. Fire, light, 'holy', and lightning based enchantments tend to cause these demons the greatest damage.
However, a nightwalker's two greatest banes are in fact sunlight and what are referred to as 'despells'. These 'despells' are a class of magic that can deactivated or negate the magical properties of other spells, objects, or beings. Thus, when effected by a despell nightwalkers will lose their ability to become incorporeal shadows and will have to maintain some kind of physical form. Lastly among the typical abilities and traits of nightwalkers is the following, their cunning mindsets and their ability to manipulate essence. This ability varies in its use and largely depends on the individual, but it can be applied in any field from manipulating people's minds and emotions to warping their very souls to cause harm. The limitations and weaknesses of said ability depend on the individual nightwalker.
Moving from their traits and delving into their culture some very intriguing details can be found, first and foremost among these is that nightwalkers do not appear to hold the first demon, and second god, Lucy in reverence. The reasoning behind this is unknown and while there are a great many theories none of them hit anywhere near the mark. Moving on from this, there is a focus on treachery, intelligence, a strict understanding of the vague, mysterious, and unseen aspects of reality in nightwalker society. In fact many nightwalkers tend to give out a title rather than their name for they believe not only that names have an inherent power, but also that this chosen title is more of an aspect or trait that describes them more vaguely than their name does, allowing them a degree of anonymity.
As to their history and interactions with other demons, well, nightwalkers are typically a rather tight knit group and while many betrayals and the like will occur within their fold, they typically do not associate themselves with the majority of demonkind. The reason for this is unknown, but what is known is that it is not caused by either xenophobia or disdain. This mentality has made it rather rare to see hybrid nightwalkers who are a mixture of nightwalker and some other demonic race. In fact, their only truly prevalent interactions appear to be with the lord of their realm who they appear to have some sort of pact or magical contract with no matter if the lord changes or not. It is not entirely known what this pact entails, but it is very apparent that it does in fact exist. Beyond this nightwalkers keep to themselves, not intruding in the affairs of other demons or realms if at all possible.
While they are not very sociable in hell, nightwalkers seem to change somewhat when they venture to surface, something all nightwalkers can do effortlessly and without passing the gatekeeper due to their ability to transmit themselves through shadows the exception to this being especially powerful nightwalkers, whose essence signature is too large to slip through the cracks and seams of the boundary. Regardless, when on the surface to explore, hunt, or scheme, nightwalkers will interact with humankind quite often, either misleading, devouring, manipulating, or even befriending their ilk.
The presence of nightwalkers throughout human history points to this even more as in old myths and the like there are often described nightmarish creatures with no form, malevolent auras, and a wide variety of other traits that, if one does a bit of digging, seem to point towards nightwalker activity. In fact, one of the typical abilities of nightwalkers is that of nightmare creation where they enter the vicinity of their to-be victims, assimilate with the shadows of their surroundings, and utilize their essence manipulation to instil terrifying scenarios into the minds of their chosen prey. This has earned their kind another name and has led many demonologists to believe them a part of the demon classification of beings referred to as “Nightmare creatures”. These beings essentially feed off of the terror of their victims, dragging out their feeding processes for years whilst gradually killing their target through terrible nightmares. While nightwalkers are perhaps /capable/ of this sort of thing, they are not in fact nightmare creatures.
Moving on, it should be noted that while nightwalkers themselves are not nightmare creatures, they are capable of creating such. How one might ask, well quite simply by infecting humans with their demonic taint which will typically create one of three types of surface demons these being Shades, vampires, or Sollicitus. For further information on these demons one must do further research.
A detail about nightwalkers that has been hidden from the majority of not only the dwellers of surface, but from demon kind itself is that while they are indeed shapeshifters they all possess one form which is the truest expression of their essence. It is their Origin State, the state in which their power and personality is expressed fully. Szayeis, due to the influence of the Old One, aka Inaniae - The Primordial, precursor and father of all gods, possesses two Origin States one of which is the one he possessed prior to the being's influence, and the other which was the result of said insinuation. It is this form, which is his truest one. It takes Szayeis roughly 30 seconds to enter this form. Once he has entered this form he cannot exit it to utilize his Shattered Path and his abilities in his shadow state are hampered severely totally disallowing him shadow manipulation or large scale, or complex, shapeshifting aside from entering his human guise. It takes anywhere between five and eighteen minutes for his full set of abilities to return to him.
Appearance: When entering his Origin State, Szayeis' form will flicker between a dark shadow and a white silhouette, eventually settling on the latter and revealing a seven foot tall figure of billowing white flames. Markings of red, black, and a sickly green form on his arms and chest, shifting, yet remaining in place all at once. Darkness only marrs his eyes, forming circles in the white ethereal flames of his face, in which are still brighter orbs of white. He is, despite the color and brightness of his form, not blinding to look upon—but he is magnificent.
Baseline Abilities: This form is especially effective during the night under the light of the moon, particularly the full moon. Still, its power barely pales under the light of the sun, only wavering during the time of the new moon.
Likely one of the most bizarre aspects of Szayeis' Origin State is that it maintains neither an ethereal or physical state, remaining somewhere between the two. This paradox is perhaps one of his Origin State's most powerful abilities, as it allows him to shift between the extremes fluidly, even settling anywhere along the scale between the two. However, sacrifices are made depending on, which end Szayeis' form is closest to. Should he be more ethereal his physical blows will possess less destructive force and he will be increasingly incapable of directly interacting with physical objects and phenomena. Should he focus his form into a physical one he consequentially loses much of his grasp on the magical aspects of his form, making any arcane abilities severely stunted in power, scope, and general effectivity no matter the type.
As to the capabilities of the physical side of the scale, Szayeis becomes capable of dealing blows strong enough to rend through almost any mundane material, and shear through a good many magical, or enchanted ones at that—though this is influenced by one of this State's abilities. This tremendous strength is present throughout his form, allowing for high speed movement entirely unrelated to his Moon Eater abilities, and an astounding level of durability against physical assaults. In the past, whilst in this form, Szayeis could survive buildings toppling over onto his form almost without flinching and even remained relatively unharmed when struck with blunt objects. However, while in this form he is largely protected from physical assaults, Szayeis becomes weak to arcane ones. While the flames of which his body appears to be composed of can soften the blows of such attack by burning through the energy that makes them up, it does not counter the entirety of them.
On the other end of the scale is Szayeis' ethereal State, which allows for immense magical might and nigh immunity, but sacrifices physical prowess entirely. While he does not retain access to most of his shadow magics whilst in his Origin State, Szayeis, whilst nearer to this end of the scale, is capable of harnessing both his own magical essence, and that which is thrown against him. Primarily this allows for him to use Chaotic Rip or Sway in addition to increasing the energy burning abilities of his flame onto a physical scale. He is thus capable of generating these flames with his body as the source, after which he may project and move them about with incredible ease. An additional perk to his ethereal state is due to it being non-physical in nature most such strikes merely pass through him harmlessly. Conversely he may disperse his form so as to avoid attacks, though it does take him at least three seconds to reform, this being the optimal situation. Should he spread his form further it can take even longer and doing so too much will force him to reconstitute instantly, at which point he loses grasp of his Origin State entirely, exiting it for a time. Additionally it should be noted that while he is nearly immune to both physical and magical assaults whilst in his full ethereal state, he can still be damaged by holy magic, or weapons imbued with the favor of any relatively benevolent, or goodhearted being as these circumvent his defenses.
Similarly, Szayeis is not capable of shifting himself along this scale instantly, instead requiring at least a full two minutes to shift entirely from one end to the other. He may choose to shift partially, gaining reduced capabilities of both forms, but this has its own drawbacks, which go without saying.
The last, but most pervasive of this form's abilities are the white flames, which make him up. These flames eat essence, plain and simple. However, at their strongest they do not merely devour essence to fuel themselves, but devour matter as well. These flames do not cauterize wounds due to not technically burning anything, but instead shearing away material almost as if it is being dissolved on the atomic level.
Sway: An ability, which becomes more available to him the closer he is to the Ethereal side of the scale, Sway allows Szayeis, at its best, to freely generate his flames. Additionally, this ability allows him to guide and subtly reformat essence that comes into contact with his body. However, individuals with equal or greater magical might are largely able to resist the ability altogether. The higher the individual's skill in the manipulation of essence and its subtle nature, the less capable Szayeis becomes in regards to wresting that essence from their control and subverting it to his will.
Chaotic Rip: Utilizing the markings on his body, Szayeis is capable of forging weapons, armor, or additional appendages within 1 meter of his body as long as the markings remain in contact with his form. Most frighteningly, this ability also allows him to condense the flames of his Origin State into them, infusing them with a chaotic aura and causing potentially immense damage to anything they contact depending on the amount of flame they have internalized. At its strongest, Chaotic Rip disassociates a small fragment of the markings into the air somewhere around Szayeis at which point the lord will condense utterly tremendous amounts of flame and base essence into the tiny shard. When at its fully charged, this shard is capable of leveling cities. Plural.
Moon Eater: Both a general trait of Moonblood Wraiths, also colloquially known as Albino nightwalkers, Moon Eater is a Moonblood's passive ability to draw upon moonlight to fuel their power. This is the passive and most negligible form of Moon Eater as it possesses two other active abilities. The first of these allows a Moonblood to “lock” any and all shadow manipulation or abilities of any kind as long as it is not a new moon. The second of these abilities allows a Moonblood to move at speeds even greater than a nightwalker's Shadow traversal. These movements can be small bodily motions, or large ones used to traverse great distances. The stronger the Moonblood the closer this particular ability gets to being essentially instantaneous. There is however, one tell to a Moonblood utilizing Moon Eater, particularly the movement form of the ability, and that is the moon's light. The dimmer the moon appears to become in the sky, the more the Moonblood is drawing on this ability, and when they are to use the movement ability the moon will flicker, either drastically, or subtly depending on the amount of movement that is carried out.
A result of Inaniae's corruption, Szayeis possesses a second Origin State, which is a manifestation of the darker aspects to his personality--most of which were catalyzed via the aforementioned being's presence within him. Unlike the Origin States of most nightwalkers, Szayeis' Shattered Path is almost entirely tangible. In addition to the physical body of the form however, there is a massive circular shadow, which covers a surface as most shadows do, but in a radius far eclipsing the size of his 7 foot tall body. This shadow extends roughly 8 meters radially with his body as the epicenter as long as it is projected two dimensionally.
Entrenchment: This relates to the shadow's ability to slow things that are standing atop it by pulling them into its depths. This ability acts much like quicksand, but it can be avoided by moving quickly and with great force over the surface of the shadow. While the movement of the shadow's Entrenchment is like quicksand, its consistancy is reminscent of tar, sticky and extremely difficult to get out of. It should be noted that, for the most part, this shadow will not materialize however, it is in fact capable of such, though certain capabilities will cease to work during its materialization. This ability appears to correlate to Szayeis' manipulative nature as he is easily capable to entrench others in his madenning schemes and delusions, allowing him to easily control their understanding and reaction to him.
Endless Consumption: This ability is simple and relates to the previous capability, "Entrenchment", and is typically activated allowing it to chain in with some of Szayeis' more physical capabilities whilst in his Shattered Path. When things are pulled into Szayeis' shadow area they can be consumed. While normally there is a limiter to how much Szayeis can hold within his ethereal shadow body, this ability, while in Shattered Path, is active allowing him to endlessly consume essence to improve his physical capabilities, his ability to shapeshift when exiting this form, and to fuel any of his magic. This trait relates to his insatiable lust for power, though the reason behind this lust is unknown.
Constriction: This ability is applied in a spherical area that follows Szayeis' physical body and is inherently linked to the demonic lord's shadow. When in a circular format, Szayeis shadow has a 6.5 yard radius. There is an invisible hemisphere which surrounds the lord's physical body, with its boundary always being of the same radius. Within this area Constriction is active. Constriction causes anyone within the 6.5 yard hemisphere to be physically limited in some sense depending on their method of locomotion. Any being with wings finds that flight becomes impossible within the constriction area, making aerial assault effectively impossible. Humans will typically find their movement speed decreased somewhat, which is felt as a crushing gravity on their bodies, as if the atmosphere within the area was different than what is outside of it. Szayeis can freely control who this ability effects, allowing allies to be unaffected by it, while enemies will be terribly limited by the crushing force of his embodied will to control. - - - - - - -
Moving on from Shattered Path's non-physical capabilities, this form also greatly increases the output of Szayeis' physical body allowing him to achieve great physical feats. The base level of speed alowed is blinding while his strength is at least enough to lift trucks and crash his body through buildings. However, likely the most amplified of these abilities is Szayeis' durability, which has become such that a building could collapse ontop of him and he would remain mostly, if not wholly, undamaged. This is because while in his typical ethereal state Szayeis is nearly impossible to damage. Additionally, this durability relates to Szayeis' unbending will and persistance to keep going. The real kicker in relation to Szayeis' physical traits is that while his regeneration is decreased, this and all of his other physical traits become more and more powerful as he consumes essence via his shadow's Endless Consumption ability. This, among the rest of its traits, make Szayeis' Shattered Path truly a force to be reckoned with.
Furthermore, while his Shattered Path does not have many physical abilities, there are a few that should be noted, they are as follows:
Essence Inversion - Aspect of Ruin: By pushing his influence from his body in an area and then rapidly pulling in non-living essence, Szayeis is capable of then slamming any portion of his body into the essence deprived surface and causing an eruption of physical force to tear the structure apart. This ability can even be utilized on air to send enemies flying with a sort of force push. This ability relates both to a Sharvalli he has assimilated and to his chaos aspect.
Ruina – Aspect of Amplification: By focusing essence in any portion of his body, Szayeis is capable of temporarily amplifying his physical characteristics to reinforce his blows or his ability to defend against them. Additionally, he can utilize essence pulled into his body via Essence Inversion to further amplify his blows and/or create a personal shield of sorts over the surface of his flesh.
Essence sense: This is an ability that most nightwalkers can develop and it is what allows Nightwalkers to detect essence signatures so well and to see even in the absence of all light. Basically nightwalkers can both smell and physically see essence, allowing them to locate and even define the details of a creature's body simply by detecting and analyzing their essence. This ability is particularly strong in Szayeis' Shattered Path due to the fact that his does not possess eyes.
Vibration sense: In addition to his Essence sense, Szayeis has also developed an ability to define forms by way of vibrations which are released in his surroundings. This ability is more or less an extremely advanced version of echo location.
Demonic Abilities: It should be noted that, due to Szayeis being a demonic lord, he has enough power to last for a very long time in combat.
Nightwalker Physiology: As a nightwalker, Szayeis is capable of shapeshifting, possesses enhanced senses, can devour other shadows to increase his own essence-mass, can travel through shadows, and has a weakness to fire, light, and holy magic. In terms of shapeshifting, Szayeis is capable of turning into almost anything, be it animate, sapient, or otherwise. He is a master of this ability in addition to being of a high enough power that he can not only assimilate other shadows, and travel through them, but actually sense through these shadows during the nighttime, in a dark place, or upon closing his eyes. His hearing and vision are far beyond that of a human, as he is capable of seeing even in complete darkness, and can hear sounds beyond the scope of normal human hearing. He also possesses parascopic vision and a 200 degree visual radius, rather than 180 degrees. Additionally, like all nightwalkers, Szayeis is capable of tracking essence, being able to differentiate between people's essence signatures and trail them over long distances.
It should be noted that, in addition to his normal nightwalker traits, Szayeis possesses some abnormalities in his make-up. This is due to the fact that he is the nightwalker equivalent to an albino. This is one of the reasons that Szayeis' true eyecolor is white, as otherwise this would not be the case. Additionally, Szayeis' true Origin State, possesses white shadows, as contradictory as that may seem. Due to his albino status, Szayeis is especially sensitive to light and if it were not for his tremendous power, it would do severe damage even with several brief moments of contact. Oddly, albino nightwalkers possess less of an aversion to holy magic, though this is compensated by their heightened weakness to light and fire. One of the advantages gained by this essencial mutation is Szayeis' especially potent essence senses and manipulation, which allow him to detect individuals worlds away, in addition to being able to manipulate the essence of others when in contact with them.
Incredible Intellect: Szayeis is, as one would expect of a demon over 5000 years in age, both very intelligent and quite knowledgeable. In particular is his nearly eidetic memory and incredible analytic prowess, which is something of a gateway to his incredibly manipulative nature. He easily picks up on verbal, contextual, and physiological cues, allowing him to predict, and more easily coerce others to the paths he chooses. This also reveals his propensity for learning, which is exceptional as he learns at a rather heightened rate, making it quite easy for him to pick up on things.
Possession and Demonic Influence: Szayeis, like all demons, is capable of influencing the essence of others via contact with his own, but unlike most he is also capable of possession. In relation to the former, an individual only needs to be within his presence, though this can take some time if he does not intentionally attempt to influence the given person. When done intentionally, Szayeis tends to sire vampires rather than the other two forms of surface demons that Nightwalkers can create--known as Shades and Sullicitus respectively--which will more often than not lose some measure of their sanity in the process. While his influence can effect those merely in his presence, Szayeis cannot simply possess someone as a matter of being near them, rather he must either conquer their essence via direct physical contact, or enter them into a locale of complete, natural, darkness. The latter is the more effective method, though the former becomes easier depending on the potency or general power of the individual, be it of essence or of will.
Dread Permeation: An ability acquired through Szayeis' practice of never quite killing his victims, leaving their essence in an often permanent state of terror. Due to the sheer amount of beings he has devoured in his lifetime, Szayeis' presence, should he not control it, has the amusing side effect of causing near absolute terror, or at the very least anxiety or disgust in those exposed to it. The dread generated by this ability is enough to drive most into madness or send them into a frozen state of mind numbing terror.
Magical Abilities:
Essence Manipulation: Like many elder nightwalkers, Szayeis is capable of manipulating essence, both for magics, within himself, and that of others if direct contact is established and maintained. His expertise however lies in the manipulation of essence within both his constructs and his body. While the lord might wish to cast magics of elemental make, he much prefers to reinforce and alter his own form, rather than manifesting effects external from himself. Beyond this skill is of course his aptitude to manipulate the essence of others, given the proper circumstances. This ability not only allows the demon control over the surface demons he spawns, but makes it possible for the demon to create chimera or avatar. This proficiency in the movement and molding of essence allows Szayeis a great amount of magical flexibility, primarily as it allows him to externalize his essence to latch onto nearby materials/elements and bend them, in part, to his will.
Shadow Manipulation: A combination of a Nightwalker's composition and Essence Manipulation, this ability allows Szayeis to assimilate, manipulate, materialize, and generally utilize shadows as tools of a sort. Unlike normal shadow, or darkness, magics a skilled Nightwalker is capable of transmuting their shadows into actual materials almost as effortlessly as they exist. It is theorized that they do this by changing the essencial traits in their shadows and fueling this drastic change with their own internal essence. In this way Nightwalkers are capable of transmutation-type magics utilizing base devoured essence and shadows to a degree that would take almost any Human magus decades, if not lifetimes, to master.
Skills and Learned Abilities:
Extensive Knowledge: Due to his considerably long life, Szayeis has a deep understanding of both the physiology and psychology of angels and humans, in addition to at least a portion of the many demonic races.
Rift Generation: Szayeis, through a series of elaborate preparations can create what are known as Demonic Rifts. These rifts often require weeks of preparations with various items and a large quantity of essence to open. He is capable of opening Greater Rifts, which are created by linking the warps caused by the opening of demonic rifts after a large series of them have been opened. Szayeis is among the last few demons who know how to create these portals, though nowadays they are largely pointless as one can get to Surface, or Heaven, through the Gates. Szayeis learned how to create Rifts from the now gone FleshShaper.
Name: Mairyell Kasio. Alias: Blood hound and Sanguine Nicknames: Mai. Age: 224. Species: Partial Chimera. Sub Genus: Human-Vampire. Relations: Ally to Mary and friend to Solus. Appearance: It should be noted that Mairyell's eyes are typically a purplish blue, as his original eye color was blue, but his vampiric one is red, causing an odd mixture of pigments. He also has night vision from his vampiric traits, not to mention that the hungrier, or angrier, he gets, the more red his eyes will become. He stands at around 5'11, making him fairly tall, and he weighs around 160 lbs.
Social Status: While Mairyell has no real status or standing in the social hierarchy of any of the three races when it comes to politics, he is a rather well known individual, lending him a sort of notoreity. Thus people will sometimes offer to help him, or will come to him for assistance. Basically he's a well known hunter, though one who doesn't distinguish between races, and only between the alignment and intentions of the individuals he hunts.
General Activity: Mairyell spends his days fighting, surviving, and generally just experiencing the world. He tends to travel quite a bit and has an interest in the shifting of the times. Beyond that he's a rather enigmatic individual when it comes to purpose so it's hard to really pin him as anything in particular.
Personality: Changed by the last 200 years, Mairyell's temper and personality have been quite refined, turning him from an angry strong willed young man to a focused and in control elder, though only in mind. Having lived through the anarchy of the gateway's fall, the war of Judas' reign, and now the relative peace of the new world Mairyell has had plenty of time and experience etched into his brain. He's learned a great deal and put more than enough effort into his own self control, making him a somewhat more calculating man, though still he remains very instinctive in his nature, tending to trust his gut and his senses. Having largely tempered back his powerful thirst with his mastery of Brisn, the vampire has gained a solid hold on his sanity, though it's clear that the suffering and turmoil of the last 200 years has somewhat warped his mind and thus his outlook on life as well.
It is in this way that Mairyell is both a calculating and reckless man, appearing to rush into situations almost purely for either the thrill or the benefit of himself or those he deems to protect. Like in his youth, Mairyell is still an avid defender of innocence and those who are too weak, or too naïve to protect themselves. In fact nothing bothers him more than people abusing their power or flaunting their corruption out in the open and he has a tendency not to tolerate such folk anymore than a lion would tolerate prey nipping at its heels.
Always ready for a fight, but cautious of his opponents, Mairyell has an odd tendency to look like he is enjoying himself the whole time. He fears seldom, if at all, when it comes to his own life and so he has learned that it is better to enjoy every moment you've got. After all, this world we live in is quite the dangerous place, and he knows it better than many. To keep him sane, he's developed a strong sense of humor and gotten a hold of his once short temper, now instead tending to show a wry, or amused, smirk throughout most situations, no matter how dire. Still, if one were to look into the chimera's eyes, they'd see a very different picture painted. They'd realize that while he smiled on the surface, the mind of a predator worked behind the scenes, analyzing the weaknesses and strengths of its prey, and considering the best, and simplest, plan of action.
Despite this trait, Mairyell much prefers to just take it easy rather than go all out, so in that facet he tends to do just that until it seems necessary for him to really pull out the big guns, so to speak. All in all he's a bit of an eccentric fellow, though he's also what some might just call 'the cool guy,' or 'the tough guy,' only difference is he's the real deal. Any chivalry or kindness he shows is likely honest, rather than in mock or jest. He has little time to waste something as valuable as that, and anyone who he deems suitable for such treatment is a lucky sod indeed, as the vampire takes few allies, and even fewer friends. Such is the way of one who has watched what they love be torn from their powerless grasp as Mairyell has...time and time again. So, despite the time, his heart is still scarred deep inside, but at least now he bears these scars proudly and without regret for what happened in the past. For to him, those events so long ago were what shaped him into who he is today, and for at least that much he is grateful.
While he certainly does not seek it, Mairyell strongly desires lasting companionship as due to his potential lifespan he can no longer live out his life as a simple human, which at some times he would prefer. While it seldom occurs Mairyell is capable of incredible amounts of loyalty and dedication to those he cares for. When he puts his mind to something his now age old stubbornness rears its head, making him an immovable wall or an unstoppable force depending on the circumstances.
Mairyell and his sister were split up by who Mairyell has come to know as Szayeis, one of the demonic lords, the same demon who was responsible for his mother's death...and his own vampirism. He took it hard, initially becoming frozen with shock after which the appearance of two vampires sent him over the edge, forcing him into a rather terrifying destructive state that drove him to first annihilate one of the two vampires and then a werewolf who arrived soon after, though he had some help from a certain Solus Grim. Following this, Mairyell was reunited with his mother and transported to a place of his childhood. From there he has trained and caught up with his mother.
After the training with his mother, Mairyell sought to visit hell and the Western realm, but to no avail as he couldn't even pass the boundaries of the domain. Annoyed, but unperturbed, Mairyell sought out Solus, who happened to be planning a trip to the dangerous place. Requesting his assistance, the two eventually trekked into the destitute realm, through the space between realms, and eventually arrived at the outer border of the Western Lord's Domain. Entering and trudging past the myriad inhabitants and even a few of the wardens, the two managed to near the Chimeric Citadel, but it was there that they were repelled, driven back by the castle itself.
Angered, Mairyell bid Solus ado, thanking him for the effort and his time, as he departed. With rage in the pit of his stomach and determination on his mind, Mairyell went on what some might consider a massacre. However, none could easily get in his way, as he almost purely slaughtered demons, though the few angels and humans who got in his way found themselves either ignored or quickly rushed off to the hospital.
Eventually he was stopped by Solus, who had recently returned from hell, having continued his visit after Mairyell had left. It was a good thing that Mairyell was tired when the hunter came, though the two still caused enough damage before Mairyell subsided and they disappeared into the murk of the city and away from prying eyes. It was from then that the two became tremulous allies and eventually friends. Alongside the demon hunter, Mairyell's abilities blossomed even further and before he knew I he was fighting on par with the infamous Solus Grim, at the time known as the Necromaster.
However, after their 50 or so years of escapading about, hunting demons, and dealing with a myriad of other strange and interesting situations, Mairyell and Solus separated ways both feeling it was time they give it a break. Solus went onto do his own business whereas the vampire wandered the world. In his travels he saw even more than he'd seen with Solus, but it was things of a different nature...mostly.
It wasn't just the lands around Loom that had fallen into chaos, it was the whole of the globe. In fact, it was as if a plague of destruction, depravity and depression had spread from Loom to envelop the whole of the earth. It was somewhat humbling, but it also saddened Mairyell greatly and for a time he grieved for the peace that had been lost in the world.
However, one can only grieve for so long, and so eventually his humor expanded and the world became a carnival of freaks and hilarity in his eyes. It was insensitive, but for a time it was the only way he could get along without losing his mind to the chaos which infused his surroundings. He was intent not to be defeated by it and his efforts were not in vain. With each innocent person he protected and with each malicious presence he killed, be it an angel, a demon, or a human he gained notoriety of his own. No longer did he ride on the names of others, not that he had, or did, care much for publicity, and so he began to be known by several monikers. The two most prolific among them being 'Blood hound' and 'Sanguine' with the second being most widely known.
Since then he's been ab it bored...so he headed back to where it all started, Loom, in search of an old friend...Solus.
Plenty has occurred, but you'll find out exactly what later.--
Demonic Abilities:
Drastically Enhanced Physical Aptitude: As a human infected by demonic influence, Mairyell's physical strength, stamina, durability, speed, reflexes, and instincts have all been amplified greatly. His vampiric nature causes him to be capable of throwing, or lifting, the equivalent weight of a large truck, though not a semi loaded with cargo. It'd be fairly simple for Mairyell to break down brick walls and still possible for him to cut through iron and mos softer metals. His speed in comparison to a human is exceptional, but remains in the area of being physically traceable by the eye, but not by much. His durability, normally, is not too much greater than a human's and it is not as if he could block a sword tip by just standing there. However, when it comes to blunt-type weapons, Mairyell takes little damage from them unless they are strong enough to break through a brick wall. Capable in his regenerative properties, Mairyell is able to survive all by the most fatal blows, those being to his head or his bloodcore, though damaging his heart or other organs still forces him to more purely focus on his regeneration, and typically to retreat.
As to Mairyell's senses, well they are incredibly enhanced, but it isn't like you could make loud or high pitched noises to mess with his hearing, this is due to the fact that his senses are magically enhanced, not physically enhanced. This magical enhancement is, however, passive, but can weaken when the amount of blood his body holds is lessened. His sense of smell could be compared to that of a bloodhound, except greater, allowing him to track things from almost any distance. In fact, he can actually smell someone's blood through their muscle and flesh, which can be very disconcerting, especially when he describes someone as 'tasty', which he tends to do only in jest...or to mess with people. His vision, last, but not least, could be described similar to a bird of prey's, allowing him to zoom in either for fine detail, or for enhanced range from afar. He, as a human, does not have to move his head, or cock it to the side, to see better though. Lastly are his reflexes, which simply put, should not be fucked with.
Beyond this, there are some weaknesses that should be mentioned. For, while Mairyell will not be killed by it, light does weaken his vampiric abilities somewhat, and causes his blood magic to not be as exceptional. Additionally, sunlight will force him to use more blood, as it is essentially constantly regenerating his body when he is exposed to sunlight, given that he isn't shielded from it. Another unique aspect of Mairyell's brand of demonic affliction, is that while most vampires only possesses two 'bloodsucking' teeth, ALL of Mairyell's teeth serve this purpose. Last, but not least, is the fact that Mairyell's blood can hold a variety of intriguing properties depending on the circumstances.
Bloodcore: In the center of his chest, over where his heart is, Mairyell's body sports a ruby-red crystal-like biological structure. This is the primary mutation of his vampiric affliction and is his most fatal weakness, not to mention the cause of his once abnormally high metabolic rate. Essentially, Mairyell's bloodcore stores any blood that he ingests, and while it will keep him from dying should he lose the majority of his gathered blood, it also serves as a dangerous weakness. The Bloodcore takes blood directly from Mairyell's body, but while it was once a hindrance in this way, it is now a helpful tool. Due to the fact that the structure seems to have no true limit to how much blood it can store, Mairyell is now capable of feasting and feasting to fill the gem, which he seldom does now, and then filtering the blood through himself, using the core as a filter and a storage for his blood related abilities. In this way, Mairyell has been able to almost entirely curb his hunger, though it took some help from his now fully developed Brisn to do so. Destruction or removal of his bloodcore will surely kill him and damage, while it will eventually heal, is excruciatingly painful. At this point in time, Mairyell has trained himself to protect with with several thin elastic coates of semi-coagulated blood. The blood can harden if stress is applied to its surface and he can still manipulate it. Still, it is not in anyway an ultimate solution for this fatal weakness.
Malice State: Possessing a weaker amplification level than Bloodlust State, Malice was created by Mairyell as a go between where he can amplify his focus through adrenaline and the manipulation of his own essence. By balancing himself partially with Brisn and his own willpower, Mairyell is capable of briefly amplifying his blood manipulation and awareness. This tends to last for only 5 or so minutes before knocking him unconscious, weakening him, or sending him hurtling into the currently uncontrollable Bloodlust State.
Bloodlust State: When Mairyell remains in Malice state for too long, deprived of blood, or significantly angered he will undergo a terrible transformation into what has been termed Bloodlust State. This state is more or less caused by intention psychological or physical stress and it is not something that Mairyell, even given 200 years, has been unable to fully harness and control. When entering Bloodlust state the vampire's body will release the last of the stored blood within its Bloodcore, this blood will flow over the surface of his flesh, coating his entire form in the crimson liquid. However, unlike 200 years ago, this transformation does not cause the blood on the surface of his body to harden, for instead it becomes dense and will harden when contact with his body is imminent. Even more terrifying is the fact that it will begin to de-solidify several moments after contact in such a way as to disperse the force of blows outwards across the surface of Mairyell's body.
In addition to this change, all of Mairyell's teeth will enter their feeding form, wherein they all become sharpened like the canine teeth of a human or dog. His body will form a second coat of blood over Mairyell's shoulders, back, and extending off of his tailbone into one long tail. This tail will be composed of a multitude of spines, which at first are invisible to the eye due to the uniform color of his blood. When required, the hard second layer of blood upon Mairyell's back will gather at the bottom of his shoulder blades near his spine and erupt outwards forming his characteristic crimson wings, though with one notable difference: Claws. At the end of each elongated 'finger' that make up his bat-like wings there is a wickedly curved talon.
While within this state Mairyell's eyes will remain crimson and copious amounts of essence and adrenaline will pump through his body almost endlessly. His sense of pain is greatly dulled and his regeneration is accelerated considerably so that any damage not to his brain or bloodcore will not kill him. He is ravenous and considered largely unstoppable as his already demonic physical capabilities are amplified one step further. Normal metal bends, concrete shatters, and human bone and flesh can be easily pulverized.
For the duration of his episode, Mairyell will be barely conscious, only able to acknowledge the fact that he is in Bloodlust state and that he is in great peril. His surroundings are blurred and indistinct to his conscious mind while his animalistic subconscious kills and devours all in its path, regardless of his wishes. Once the transformation is begun it cannot be halted unless he dies or is given significant amounts of blood very quickly. Mairyell's relative power level in this state is comparable to the highest tier warden and he should be stopped at all costs as otherwise he poses a serious threat to anyone within the same city.
Blood Manipulation and Traits: The chief ability granted to him through his vampiric nature, Mairyell is capable of manipulating his blood on both the macro and micro scale, making him, at this point in time, an incredibly skilled and dangerous combatant. While this would at first seem akin to water manipulation, one should keep in mind that Mairyell's blood is not normal. In fact, depending on whether he is channeling his human or demonic essence, the blood will gain several traits. Regardless, Mairyell is able to shape his blood however he wishes, as well as being capable of shifting it between a solid, a liquid, and a mist or fog-like gaseous state.
Mairyell's blood has two general types of traits he can apply to his blood, namely demonic traits magical traits(human). The demonic traits he can imbue into his blood are that of acidity and poison, allowing his blood to essentially destroy physical or biological structures.
Black Blood is the result of Mairyell increasing the amount of demonic essence in his blood of his own blood. This particular brand of blood has become so dense with the demonic aspect of his essence that it appears black. The properties of this blood are its increased acidity and density, allowing it to take stronger physical and magical attacks when solidified. This ability takes more effort (essence and/or blood) to maintain and is thus more taxing physically and/or magically for him to utilize. While the normal acidity of his blood can burn through wood after a time and can easily burn through flesh, black blood can begin to melt metal and weaken somewhat.
Blue Blood is what occurs when Mairyell imbues his blood with his more human essence, infusing it with Brisn, giving it healing and absorption related properties. As such, this blood is able to absorb other essences, or magicks, allowing it to become infused with even more properties if the situation allows. Beyond this the traits of his Blue Blood are that its acidity is decreased from its norm, making it only able to slowly burn through skin, and do little damage to stronger structures, though it would weaken wooden things at a slower rate.
Magical Abilities:
Brisn(Blue energy): Mairyell is capable of manifesting a water-blue energy with properties reminiscent of its elemental color. This magic has one simple ability, and that is the ability to absorb other energies. However, it is capable of effecting only living beings and elemental energies, thus it is weaker against non-elemental varieties of magic. Its effects on both living beings and elements is essentially absorption, but in two very different manners. When applied to a living being, this absorption will occur on any wounds, essentially 'absorbing' them from the body and thus healing them. When effecting elemental energies it will pull them into itself, amplify them slightly, and retain some of the properties. After which, the Brisn can be utilized to blast back the element, though both this and the healing does cost the user magical energies, as all magic should. There are likely other uses for this magic, but at the moment this is all Mairyell knows. He is not yet very capable with this magic. When Mairyell utilizes Brisn, his eyes go from a purplish coloration to a blue one, becoming increasingly lighter blue with every use, or the length of use. After a few minutes, the blue coloration will begin wearing off. This is similar to his use of 'Blood' magic, as that will cause his eyes to redden. This magic is also a strong deterrent of demonic essence making it especially effective against demons. In fact the stronger the demonic essence in an individual, the more powerful Brisn tends to be against them.
Skills and Learned Abilities:
Combat: Having fought to survive and for some enjoyment, at times, for the majority of his now lengthy life, Mairyell has become quite skilled in this field, lending him a hefty amount of experience in this field of expertise. In addition to this his world travels have shown him a myriad of combat styles, magical types, and combat methods of ridiculous variety. In fact, he at some times will even say he's seen every type of combat style under the sun. After all, he's been alive for 224 years. Thus he can be likened to something of a master of street combat and mixed martial arts. To him, everything goes and hold back only when necessary.
Appearance: Timore prefers to war scarves along with neutral colored T-shirts and jeans. Metentis can be found wrapped around his left arm, his ring on his right ring finger, and his necklace around his neck. He has an earring in each ear and they are typically small triangles or small diamonds with no crystal or the like to speak of.
General Activity – Musician: As a Musician at the Academy he spends his time in class and socializing here and there. He also loves to just find a place to play.
Personality: Oh, you'll see.
Biography: All you need to know is he's grown up with a passion for music, and magic, all his life. Beyond that it's only notable that he has no family to speak of, though no one seems to know that, and that he is a bit of a troublemaker. He joined the Academy only recently and thus has yet to really make any friends.
Equipment:
Fulcrum: A necklace purchased from at a shady establishment for enchanted, or anomalous, items, Fulcrum has the passive ability to absorb nearby emotions and essence. With minimal skill and individual can draw forth these things from it and use them for their own purposes. Fulcrum can be used in a more active fashion to actually sap emotions from people consciously, but this process is incredibly gradual and only works through pulling at the essence of those nearby. The object cannot work on anyone thirty meters from its location. Prolonged exposure its effects can cause mood swings, depression, apathy, and emotional exhaustion.
Metentis(Harvester): The instrument given to him by the Academy a few years prior to his moving to his apartment near its location. This instrument is always kept spiralled around his wrist and it has several essential methods of use. Timore can use it as a whip, allowing it to become a dangerous implement that he can channel his essence through so as to instigate a severing effect on any essence it comes into contact with. When it is kept around his wrist, Timore can channel his essence through it with incredible precision to instigate different notes, which can influence the emotions of others. In this state it is capable of invoking only two major emotions in those it effects, and Timore will be incapable of deciding who its notes are directed at. The two emotions are fear and love.
The third use is the traditional method that the intrument can be utilized, which is by unwinding it from his wrist, straightening it out, and allowing it to temporarily become rigid. In this state it acts much like a mixture of a flute and a saxophone, though the music it produces is much more akin to a flute. In this state Metentis is in what is nearly its optimal form and thus it can manipulate the emotions of the listener(s) to varying extents depending on the skill of the user. Metentis' final form is instigated by feeding it emotional energy, and raw essence, allowing it to become considerably larger in both thickness and length, and act as an actual snake does. In this state the instrument's mentality becomes quite apparent and it can, to some measure, act on its lonesome.
In terms of Metentis' personality, the instrument is a ravenous deceiver, considering people to be as a winery is to wine, worth something only for the emotions they produce. Its creators marveled at how coherent the serpent's mind and thoughts appear to be, but in actuality there is quite a bit of chaos that goes on in the instrument's twisted little mind. However, many of the personalities held within it have agreed to cooperate with the one who refers to itself as Metentis, as this particular being –who was once a demon-- seeks almost solely to feed them as a whole. Yet, secretly, Metentis wishes to escape the instrument's form and regain his own body, something that has so far been a slow and grueling process. In terms of communication, Metentis is capable of speaking with Timore telepathically and verbally through the mouth of the flute. Metentis has had several players over the years, but all of them have, thus far, succumbed to various ailments, be they mental or otherwise. However, the instrument thinks that it's current wielder, Timore, holds much promise....
Praecisio: The concealed form of his not so inconspicuous weapon, this ring is in actuality an enchanted weapon, which has shifted its shape to its master's will. It is actually a rather dangerous curved sword, which feeds on the blood of those it cuts. While the blade is plainly demonic in nature, it has no aura to speak of unless it has recently been fed. When it has been fed the blade will cause others near it to feel uneasy.
Physical and Mental Capabilities
Athletic Physique: While he does in fact enjoy playing his instrument, Timore makes it a point to stay in shape and thus goes to the Gym tri-weekly as well as practicing mixed martial arts at a nearby establishment. Still, he is no Olympic athlete, but he does possess a considerable amount of stamina and an above average level of physical strength and speed.
Genius Flutist: Having studied, and played, the flute since he was young, Timore has a passion, and a natural talent, for it. Thus he has gained quite the level of skill throughout his years, allowing him to now play somewhere between a skilled musician and a professional.
Sweet Talker: In short, Timore is an exceptionally charming young man and is very good at getting people to think that what he wants them to do, was their own idea (and furthermore that it is a good idea). He is well acquainted with the opposite sex and how they think and happens to be a very intense hopeless romantic.
Physiological Knowledge: Having grown up with a doctor for a father, Timore was often asked questions and taught about human biology. Thus, over the years, he has gained a considerable amount of knowledge in said field both through his father, and through his own research in more recent years.
Magical Skills:
Essence Flow and Differentiation: While no mage, Timore does have some magical talent, allowing him to subtly manipulate the flow of essence both inside his own body, and in his direct vicinity. While he is not capable of too many magical feats, he can amplify his own physical attributes through manipulating the flow of his internal essence, as well as being able to cause some basic phenomena in his direct vicinity. Specifically Timore is able to create pulses or generate a push or pull utilizing his own essence. Timore, through his unique synesthesia, and ability to manipulate the flow of essence, is capable of differentiating between different types of essence. This allows him to recognize the use of different forms of magic within a half a mile or so, but only if it is fairly strong. The closer it is to him, the easier it is for him to sense. Additionally, he can typically tell someone's race as well. He could learn how to read people's emotions through this ability with time.
Magical Synesthesia: Born with this, Timore has lived his life learning to cope with this strange trait. To specify what exactly it does, Timore's synesthesia allows him to not only see essence in colors around him and other people, but it also allows him to hear emotions in people's voices. Timore's sight is much more potent than his hearing, likely due to his body's attempt to cope with the bustling environment of society. Still, because of this, Timore prefers to stay away from places with massive crowds.
Name: Reates Saerne. Alias: The Cheshire; Graph; Anomaly; and of course The Vanishing Butterfly. Nicknames: Ates, Erne, “You madman,” “That crazy professor,” and other endearing monikers. Age: 101. Apparent Age: 36. Species: Human. Relations: Champions of the Enlightened and the following:
Peskay Genno: Reates met this intriguing, but somewhat odd, fellow in a bar a few months back. Since then he and Genno have accompanied one another on several hunting excursions, if you will. He stays in contact with the man for both of their sakes and since they met Reates has acted as a sort of go between for Genno and the Academy, the middle man if you will. The two get along well, though Reates can get along with most, and could be considered friends. However, Reates doesn't know too much about Genno just like no one knows much about Reates or his personal life...for the most part. Lately Reates has noticed that if a certain Kasuto or the Champions of the Enlightened are mentioned, Genno will tend to go absolutely silent, or trail off mid-sentence. Reates has also noted some odd things in regards to Genno's essence when in combat without his glasses on. Granted, he has been unable to understand what it is he is seeing and as such has more or less dismissed Genno as a unique type of chimera.
Kasuto: Reates, while not having met Kasuto in person, has had light dealings with him and his organization. He is intensely interested with the man and his followers. In fact he has a particular interest in the island that Kasuto's organization uses as its base of operations as it is rumored to possess an abnormal amount of aberrations on it. Additionally, Reates has long since realized that Kasuto does not seem to age past his thirties or forties, though he is not sure why, he is determined to figure it out as he believes that the man may have discovered a method to immortality, something he himself is seeking.
Hazumi: Essentially only aware of one another in passing, Reates does not tend to keep Hazumi as company. However, he does find her rather intriguing due to the fact that he can see the many many different energy signatures, which make her up. He finds her intensely pleasing to look upon, but has, as of yet, not made any obvious attempts to garner her attention in any meaningful way.
Lily Qarin: As the principal of the Academy she is obviously aware of Reates presence and mannerisms. Their relationship is decent at best as while Reates is generally fairly easy to get along with she tends to be more reserved in her tendencies meaning their personalities don't mesh all that well. Nonetheless she allows the majority of his antics as long that they have some express purpose and are primarily aimed at the betterment of the Academy's students, and perhaps even staff.
Abstractis: His...pet swarm of sentient butterflies, Abstractis, or rather Abstractis Imperialis Veritisi as is its full name, is an anomalous being who can essentially perfectly camouflage itself. Abstractis is essentially always with Reates in some manner, though most are never aware of its presence due to its ability to make itself essentially invisible and beyond the almost entirely beyond the sense. Abstractis enjoys Reates company, though it often remind Reates that some of his activities and intentions are ridiculous in nature.
Additional Appearance Info: Reates stands at 5'11 with a hardy, but not overly muscular, build. He is considerably strong, but not abnormally so. He almost always wears a wry grin on his face accompanied by an mischievous, and amused, glint in his eyes. He walks with an enigmatic air of self confidence.
General Activity – Professor and Hunter: Reates is effectively a teacher and a hunter of renegades, criminals, and aberrations. He studies aberrations, and apprehends or kills renegades or criminals that he comes into contact with. Sometimes he will even take mercenary-esque jobs, or assignments from the Academy itself, to take out specific individuals.
Personality: An eccentric of magnificent proportions, Reates has the tendency to gesticulate quite expressively as well as using terminology and other such figures of speech that will fly over most people's heads like wind around a moving object of any manner, or you know...birds and flying mammals like bats. He is generally cheerful and tends to display an almost disproportionate enjoyment of people's company despite their personality traits with few exceptions. In fact the more abrasive the personality the more fun he tends to have when confusing and generally bothering them with his incredibly, and somewhat intentionally, heavy irish accent and outlandish use of references –often referring to personal experiences and inside jokes that no one would get unless they'd been there.
Reates is, on top of being excessively, and almost obnoxiously eccentric, a decidedly enjoyable manipulator. However, unlike most manipulative individuals, Reates does not generally use his manipulative abilities to harm other people unless it becomes entirely necessary. In fact, most of these traits are used to figure people out. Sort of an indirect psychoanalysis of people's habits and internal mechanisms, allowing him to easily understand people through how they react to his actions, some which may seem entirely random. Aside from this Reates can be described as a good humored individual, both in terms of comical statements, and in terms of his general outlook on life and behavior.
While hardly a facade, Reates, in private, is more often prone to an odd mixture of seriousness and amusement wherein he displays a distinct habit of talking to himself or his pet(s) Abtractis Imperium Veritisi. While Reates is indeed incredibly intelligent he can, at some times, be quite forgetful and oddly it appears that he forgets things almost on purpose. When asked about such he generally confirms that he can force himself to forgets things by more or less losing focus on said thing for a certain duration of time. Others who have tried to replicate said behavior typically fail, suggesting that in some way he is lying about the execution of said process, or is in fact just fucking with people to begin with, which is also quite likely.
Reates is generally beyond angering and will remain calm in almost any situation due to his excessive practice in doing just that, not to mention his Renegade hunting tendencies. Reates has a tendency to feel sympathy, or even empathy for those who have lost one or more loved ones quite dear to them, especially to illness or other unnatural means. When it comes to the three other races Reates has essentially no particular bias towards any of them. He believes that humans, demons, angels, and chimera are inherently equal in nature, and should learn to get along. In fact while he tends to endorse personal freedom and individuality he does advocate for the improvement and maintenance of the current governmental structure that has been established.
Any further information shall be apparent IC as if I keep going this will become exhaustive for other's to read.
Biography: His mother dying at the time of his birth, Reates was largely taken care of by his uncle as his father, Varen Saerne had been badly, and permanently, disabled in the purifying war led by the nephilim many years before his son's conception. As such his fairly eccentric, and exceptionally rich, uncle brought him up, teaching him the ways of his trade and eventually passing on to him the famous Art of Athriohm. However, this is not to say that his childhood has little bearing on the man he has become for while his interactions with his father were few and far between they left a deep impact on him to this day.
His father, formerly an army conscripted mage and Practitioner of the Art, was afflicted with a rare disease caused by the body's rejection of foreign essence. This disease, known as the Waxing death, kept him bedridden, but ironically prolonged his life considerably, as it does to all its victims. This illness is typically one which inflicts human-angel hybrids, or rather gray angels. It is the result of the body's incompatibility with demonic essence, so instead of the victim become a chimera they are rendered essentially immobile as the essence propagates itself endlessly throughout their body, giving them a lifespan closer in length to that of a demon's while simultaneously rendering them more or less inert from the incredibly painful process and continual rejection by their immune system and the essence of their body.
As such Reates father was often unable to properly communicate with him physically. However, due to his guardian angel heritage he eventually fostered a bond with his son that was strong enough that it allowed the pained man to communicate telepathically. It later became apparent that he had also been able to do this with his mother and uncle as well, explaining why his caretaker often visited the man and simply stood there silently staring at the bed and its occupant.
When he was able, Varen told his son stories, often from his life, that were to teach him lessons. Overall his father was a kind loving man, though certainly a tortured soul by the time he finally expired at the age of one hundred and thirty. Despite being twenty six, Reates was changed by his father's death and while his generally cheerful personality remained, something else took root in him. He was happy that his father's suffering was over, the man's soul deserved to rest in the void, but...part of him was not satisfied by this. He didn't want to accept that fate had simply allowed such a wonderful man as his father to suffer for so long and without great cause or reason. It was unfair.
This eventually led to some rather questionable projects, which Reates took up first in the interest of increasing the abilities of the medical field even further through magic, and escalated to outright experimentation with life. Still throughout Reates remained resolute to solve the issue, find a cure for illnesses such as the Waxing death. No one else should have to suffer such a fate and even fewer should have to watch their loved ones slowly wither away in both body and mind. Still what he was doing was taboo for Practitioner's of the Art were not meant to experiment with life, for it was the realm of the divine to play with such forces.
It was thought by the Masters of the Order of Anriohm that to tamper with life was to play a god, and that eventually it was bound to corrupt. In some ways he was right, but in no way did the young Practitioner believe him and so his experiments continued. As they escalated Reates' uncle became more and more suspicious of his nephew's behavior. He had almost become a recluse, though he did go out here and there to hang out with friends or acquire new materials for his studies.
When the boy was gone he would often check in his study and lab to see if there was any residual essence that told of activities that a Practitioner ought not to partake in. Every search failed...until one night Reates, having driven himself into a somewhat manic state, stormed out of the house and forgot to replace the myriad seals that kept his true work place away from prying eyes. Nathan, his uncle, thus found himself walking through something of a portal, or rather an advanced arrangement of matrices, which connected two locations through some very powerful magic.
While Nathan had surely practiced and mastered some rather outlandish forms of magic in his day, what he found past the gateway nearly drove him to retching, after which it almost caused a mental breakdown. Rattled, but now having prepared himself the man rose back to his feet, having fallen to his knees, and looked upon his nephew's workshop once more.
Arranged and ingrained into the walls of the large chamber were a multitude of cages, some empty, others occupied by various types of creatures –some of which he recognized only from books, which cataloged beasts from the plane of hell. However, most disturbing were the wide variety of widely varied Aberrations. He had seen several on field expeditions, but never more than one at a time. Here however, there were at least fifty or so unique specimens. The specimen on their own were not however the problem, rather it was the lingering essence within.
The essence told a gruesome tale of pain...suffering, and biological transmutation. Deeply disturbed by his findings, Nathan left the chamber and decided to initially say nothing of his finding, instead doing his best to close to gateway so that Reates would not realize he had left it open. He loved Reates, he'd raised the boy as he would have his own son and so while his beliefs contradicted those of his nephews and he knew that in all rights he was supposed to report him to the Masters, he could not. Instead, after mulling it over for some time, he made preparations to confront his nephew.
After several days of weaving wards and creating various protective artifacts, Nathan confronted Reates, revealing his knowledge on the younger man's experiments. Reates reacted with force, attempting to bind his uncle, but not to wound him. After an exchange of magical might and a string of his uncle's best attempts to calm him down, Reates eventually gave his last close relative a chance to speak. He was grateful that he heard him out for it seemed that the older man, now having hit roughly the same age as his older brother, Varen, his life prolonged through magical means, intended to help his nephew rather than hinder him.
Nathan planned to take the fall for Reates, something he would have never asked Nathan to do. The mage was left speechless at Nathan's willingness to sacrifice himself for him and so he initially declined. However, Nathan insisted and so the two concocted a rather elaborate plan.
Reates was to notify the Masters of his own activity, but instead call it Nathan's whereas Nathan was to, for a few weeks prior, participate with Reates in his experiments, tainting his own essence and the chamber itself with his essence so as to misconstrue the Masters as to the perpetrator of the heretical procedures. On the surface it appeared simple, but in truth it was a quite complex scheme as the Masters were sure to realize that they had been tricked, so Reates and Nathan would have to continue to uphold the charade to some extent, with Reates revoking his vows before the Masters out of shame for his uncle and an unwillingness to continue his craft due to the man's dishonorable actions.
It would appear to them that the boy was taking the fall so as to save himself from the possibility of corruption in the future, while in truth he would only be revoking vows that he had long undone through his own ministrations. In this way he would disappear off their radar entirely, making it appear as if he eventually died of natural causes whereas his uncle would be purified of his abilities and laid to rest. His name, or the name of their family, would not however be dishonored as theirs was the lineage which originated from the great Vaihrn Katela, who eventually changed his name to Saerne in an effort to isolate himself from his former family.
Their operation went almost perfectly, in fact the only variable they were unable to deal with was how Reates was to save his research. However, Reates himself managed to do just that by creating a secondary lab with more or less identical creatures. The speed at which he worked to do so was impressive and so it was ready when necessary. As such the Masters never managed to truly destroy his work, though Nathan knew nothing of this and truly thought that Reates had abandoned the order in an attempt to honor his death.
He was wrong. To Reates the necessity that his uncle must die for his alleged crimes against the Order of Anriohm was evidence that the order itself was an outdated relic, a belief he had fostered for quite sometime. Now that belief had been justified.
Driven by the death of his uncle, Reates began to make preparations to one day wrest the Order from its hinges and cast it out of the world entirely. This goal was one he knew he would have to spend much of his life to reach, so in the interest of such the man began to break even more of his forsaken vows as he began the quest for immortality. At first he made little progress, but eventually he found a way to at least prolong his own life, a technique that many a Practitioner had used throughout the ages.
With this he essentially ceased aging around the time of his 36th birthday. From that day on he continued his experiments, making sure not to forget why he had started them, while he added to his repertoire and began attempting to essentially transplant anomalous properties between entities. He has been studying this and methods to treat formerly untreatable illnesses, both biological and magical in nature.
So far he has succeeded in finding a cure for the Waxing Death and several other more minor, less severe illnesses. He has been duly compensated for his contribution to magical medicine, though he doesn't tend to flaunt such achievements. In the last 60 years Reates activities have been notable in two fields. The first of these is his extensive research into aberrations and anomalous artifacts. He has successfully been able to replicate the properties of several minor and rather useless anomalous artifacts and his demonstrated such in several conferences. He has still been entirely unable to synthesize, replicate, or transplant the anomalous properties of Aberrations, much to his chagrin. The other half of his activities have been focused in gaining himself a masters degree in teaching and also the hunting and capturing of Renegades. He has worked closely with the Champions of the Enlightened and Master Melody's Academy for the Fine Arts. In the last eleven years Reates has served as a professor at the aforementioned academy, teaching three separate classes to the students of the Academy.
His activities and the growing knowledge of his name has begun to alert the Order of Anriohm to the likelihood that he is not only alive, but still very much a magic user. This is something he is painfully aware of and is working on. One can only hope that his plans in regards to the Masters have come a long way since their conception.
In regards to his reputation among the Academy's students he is often called the school's local eccentric. While he is well known for his rather strange mannerisms and behavior, he is also known for his general patience and willingness to help, rather than hinder, any given student's learning process. He has even gone out of his way to assist select students in the interest of achieving their goals. While some would call this favoritism it is more that most students don't directly request his help and so more often than not don't receive it, likely because they're boring or just downright afraid of him anyways.
Miscellaneous: Reates has a distinct interest in japanese culture due to their extensive legends on demons in ancient times. He also finds some of their media to be quite tasteful. He has the tendency to hum this song, for example. He is also quite interested in his own Irish heritage and the Gaelic, and Celtic myths and folktales related to such. He can even play a decent fiddle. Reates teaches Philosophy,
The Art, as it is called by those who practice it, is what one might consider magical science as it relies on fundamental laws and patterns that exist in reality. Through their mimicry of these patterns in both symbol and movement alike Practitioners can draw forth he same results that the natural patterns would instil. Rather than simply manipulating their own essence, as angels do, or sacrificing the essence of others, Anriohm, as Practitioners are known, memorize, modify, and bring together the patterns of their world, forged of their own essence, to draw forth the unbridled power of the world's own life-force. While this makes them no more powerful than an angel or a demon, it can certainly elevate them to the same tier. However, this is only achieved through long years of study and meticulous experimentation to reap experience from their activities.
The Art of Athriohm is, despite the turning of the times, largely a secret to the average individual and is kept in the shadows of society, only taught between master and student, passed down through lineage or simply between those who are chosen. Regardless, the Art is something coveted by its Practitioners, though not in a negative light. Rather, the majority of Anriohm are ever limited by the power of the oaths they take upon being inducted into the Practice of the Art. It is through their secrecy and these oaths that the Art remains largely without abuse by humanity, and untouched by angel and demonkind alike.
Capabilities: The scope of the Art's abilities varies greatly with the Practitioner, as each has their own specialties not to mention knowledge base, which more or less dictates what they are capable of doing via their Art. Some Practitioners prefer to focus on the Weaving aspect of the Art, making them similar to alchemists or enchanters in practice, as they draw forth the properties of objects and phenomena and imbue them into other objects, or even themselves, to create miraculous tools, armor, and weaponry alike. Other Anriohm will specialize in the making of sigils, letting them draw forth the forces, or elements, of nature to create effects and properties, rather than draw them from pre-established entities or objects. This allows them both to utilize what most refer to as seals, to temporarily condense their desired effects into a symbolic representation of the movements of Essence which create them. These can then be triggered by their will or even a set of predetermined circumstances.
While certainly the two are similar, their difference lies in reliability, as Weaving is more predictable though its potency pales in comparison to the potential of Sigils. As if to balance the two disciplines, Sigils are more difficult to make, and their practice more complex, making them inherently more powerful, taking less effort to reach such heights than Weaving would require. However, the difficulty comes from the mental focus and memory required to precisely create sigils. This is why many Practitioners stick to weaving, gaining them the title of alchemists or enchanters, while the more daring take to Sigils, earning them the title of Mage.
Functionality: While it is not common knowledge as to how the Art functions, and why it does so, over the past 200 years there have been a number of Practitioners, spearheaded by a man known as Vaihrn of the Sigil, who have largely uncovered the nature of the Art. With the creation of the ruling Chimeras, Dorin Katela's notes, and the results of the destruction of the last gate Vaihrn and his disciples managed to discover that the Art of Athriohm, as its 'founder,' supposed, was not created by man, or any other race. Rather, the Art was merely happened upon by chance, though its formation into what it is today was largely through the ministrations of its founder. Thus, in the book of Vaihrn's life work, it is simply stated that rather than a purely magical practice, the Art is instead the study of the nature of creation. In this way, Practitioners of the Art, known as Anriohm, are scientists, though they not only experiment to verify, but they also utilize their findings to assist, or in rare cases deter, society. They utilize their knowledge to mimic the forces of nature and creation, but only to an extent, as in their Oaths it is stated clearly that they are never meant to seek godhood through their Art.
Oaths, Taboos, and the like:
“Forces outside myself who hold thought within them are beyond the scope of my wishes to bend and know around them.” This Oath specifies that the Practitioner will not manipulate the essence of conscious living things, such as the three races, though this includes chimeras as well. The oath does not explicitly state that the Practitioner will not bend or modify their own essence, though many take it to mean such.
“The void, unreachable to us borne outside it, should not be drawn within the fold beside it. All within and those between and beside, should restrict their contact with this force that does deride. Draw not from its depths, and cease all thought of traversing, for it is not a place to go, not for I or those beside my person.” This Oath is sworn to restrict Practitioners from drawing the emptiness of the void into the world, and to stop them from entering it themselves. Through this they are also not allowed to seek gods, or other such entities who might dwell beyond their own world. Additionally, if those who take this Oath find another who has broken it, or intends to, they are to stop them from doing so if it is within their power.
“While there are few words to speak to make my life less fleeting, I will not seek to find and reap the seeds that offer us eternity.” This Oath dissuades Practitioners quite strongly from seeking eternal life, though it does not state that they are not to lengthen their own, nor does it state for how long they are allowed to do so.
The use of the Art on Living Things is essentially taboo.
The use of the Art to create life is taboo, the study of such is not, though it is frowned upon.
To seek eternal life, immortality as it is called, is a taboo. This is also to make it far more difficult for the Art to be abused as the less time one has to dedicate to the learning and mastery of such, the less likely they are to achieve power enough that it would corrupt them.
The Order of Anriohm: In short the Order of Anriohm is an organization with the sole purpose of isolating and regulating the use of the Art of Athriohm. It is led and administrated in secrecy by a council of masters who are simply referred to as, well, The Masters. It is this organization, or cult as those few outsiders who know of it tend to call it, who make sure that use of the Art does not become widespread. This is due to their firm belief that man is not yet ready to handle what more or less amounts to the power of creation and destruction.
Any individual who defects from the Order without first having the masters remove their ability to practice the Art is typically hunted down and killed. Alternatively these individuals are imprisoned if they cannot be killed or their abilities are sealed. Generally their abilities are sealed only if they are not considered an overt threat to society at large. This group's presence exists all over the Progaia and is strictly human, as no member of another race is allowed, or necessarily able, to practice the Art. Additionally, it should be noted that while their presence is worldwide, their members are comparably few in number.
Abstractis Imperialis Veritisi: As a whole Abstractis is an astute, if not somewhat blunt personality. The butterflies that make it up move with purpose, though they too must feed like most of its more mundane cousins. The swarm is generally rather friendly, but do not have any real sense for the concept of personal space, causing them to often land on people, though they will often have no idea that the butterflies are their due to their tendency to camouflage themselves. Generally a helpful existence, Abstractis will often do errands for Reates, though they prefer to be around the man, partially because he is their primary source of sustenance. Abstractis' personality can be described as blunt, intellectual, and rather serious. The being does not have a very human sense of humor...for obvious reasons though it does have the tendency of laughing at people due to what it considers their antics.
Aberrant Biology: Abstractis is a sentient swarm of butterflies possessing a hive mind intelligence. It identifies as a singular consciousness, which is shared throughout the entire swarm. While butterflies certainly do not have brains or nervous systems even vaguely large enough to support human intelligence, they are nonetheless as intelligent as any of the other races. In fact, the swarm can be considered to possess an IQ of roughly 170 or so. Each individual butterfly in the swarm is capable of disguising itself through apparently unknown means as they can not only alter their physical coloration to perfectly match their surroundings, but the butterflies can also alter the very texture of their bodies making it virtually impossible to tell the difference from a butterfly and brick wall. Last, but certainly not least, it should be noted that these butterflies have essentially no essence signature, mostly due to the fact that their bodies are basically essence insulators, preventing any essence from escaping their forms. Abstractis is, also, by all rights telepathic and unlike their companion can easily speak into people's minds. However, their mental presence is rather...dainty in nature and so they can be blocked out or ignored, though they can generally initiate mental contact likely due to the fact that telepathy is their primary method of communication. The swarm is also capable of intentionally changing its coloration and they do not gain the physical characteristics of the materials, or things, they are mimicking in appearance. When members of the swarm are killed the swarm loses intelligence and/or knowledge due to their hive mind. For a reference to their normal coloration see Reates' reference at the top of this CS.
Rystreim: A much lazier being then Abstractis, Rystreim tends to either follow Reates around or lay somewhere comfortably warm and take excessively long catnaps. Now don't let this fool you, Rystreim is about as sentient as Abstractis if not slightly more intelligent. However, the feline has no reason to demonstrate such and much prefers to just lie around. Also unlike Abstractis, the cat can speak aloud despite its obvious lack of vocal cords. Likely due to its crystalline structure, Rystreim can very easily totally repel psychic contact making it very difficult to speak to for the butterflies. In fact, the cat has the tendency to block out the swarm's pyschic frequency, making it deaf to the being's mental voice. Rystreim, like most cats, is moody and will change its mind about something abruptly and without warning. This means that Reates has several claw and bite marks from recent attempts to pet the cat. In short, Rystreim's personality can be described as lazy, temperamental, and easily annoyed.
Aberrant Biology: Rystreim is roughly the size of an average tabby cat, but is composed almost entirely of crystal with the exception of several portions of its body, namely the tip of its tail, its eyes, and the very core of the bluish crystal that composes its form. The entity's eyes are completely white and appear to be composed of some kind of energy, their coloration changes when it is exposed to excessive heat, cold, water, or fire. The tip of Rystreim's tail is formed from the same whitish energy, which reacts the same way as the eyes with the exception of the fact that a small smoky energy constantly drifts from it. The very core of the aberrations body appears to be a strange mixture of reddish viscous liquid and the same white energy, which constantly churns within her.
While it is fairly mundane at room temperature and when not exposed to water, fire or any temperature outside of a comfortable range for a cat, Rystreim tends to react rather violently when exposed to the aforementioned. When exposed to water or extreme cold Rystreim's crystalline body will emit a light from its core that will refract off of the hundreds of thousands of facets of crystal that make it up causing it to become blinding to look upon. The light energy that is generated is so intense that it actually emits natural heat, burning most anything within a 2 foot radius of the cat's body. The light also appears to superheat the crystal, partially liquifying Rystreim's form. This causes her to become roughly two times more flexible than she is normally.
Conversely, when exposed to intense heat or fire Rystreim's body will absorb the heat and, through an unknown process, convert it into electromagnetic energy after which point its body will emit several powerful magnetic fields that range between 1 foot to 10 meters in radius. Magnetic objects within this range will be violently energized with electrical energy and tend to melt from the sheer heat of such unless particularly sturdy. Contact with Rystreim's body will cause mild electrical shocks or electrocution depending on its mood. Needless to say, Reates does his absolute best not to allow the cat to become agitated by excessive temperature change.
Equipment:
Glasses: Due to Reates possessing what is commonly referred to as 'The Sight,' by Practitioners, he tends to wear these specially adjusted glasses so as to filter his essence vision. He can activate or deactivate various filters or types of essence via small influxes of, well, essence into the glasses. This allows him to filter through various systems of essence. The primary reason that Reates fashioned these glasses is the fact that his Sight has developed to such an advanced stage that it becomes difficult for him to focus or remain aware of the physical nature of his surroundings after roughly ten minutes of unfiltered visual input.
The Faraday Pair[Magitech 'Gauntlets']: Faraday, a name which refers to Reates' pair of magitech gauntlets, comes from the traits that the gauntlets possess; first and foremost their ability to easily extract or replicate essence from non-organic things within 40 meters of their location. These 'gauntlets' are composed of a mixture of magical energy gathered and distributed via sigils inscribed on Reates hands and forearms as well as plates of iron and silver which are held around the aforementioned body parts via complex magical and electromagnetic fields. As mentioned these gauntlets are able to extract essence from non-organic things within a certain radius. However, the essence extracted is specifically related to the traits held by the given object(s). This essence can then be easily transplanted or modify whilst suspended around Reates by the gauntlets. The Faraday can also pull essence to them as long as that essence is not bound in seals, though they can only pull the essence to themselves and then rapidly expel it away from themselves much like electricity is attracted and repelled from a Faraday cage.
Pendant: A lost artifact made new, this pendant, once known as the Pendant of (de/a)'ttachment has been somewhat re-purposed by Reates. Whereas its ancient purpose was to seal, access, create, or unlock sigils and other such magical barriers regardless of their complexity it now holds another unique ability. While its original abilities are dampened somewhat and require essence and considerable focus from the user, aka Reates, the pendant now acts as a conduit and repository for essence and more specifically a set of sigils which allows Reates to connect two given locations –typically his lab and another desired locale-- at will.
Physical and Mental Capabilities
Enhanced Biology: It should be noted that Reates is, first and foremost, a mage, and thus not a physical combatant. However, due to the essence that he constantly channels through his body he is slightly more resistant to damage than a normal human as well as being faster than average and agile when he needs to be. He is decently strong, but not abnormally so. Lastly Reates body ages much slower than the average human and he is slowly integrating further sigils and the like to reduce his body's decrease in regeneration and cell mitosis. The essence that is channeled through his body would make him something of a beacon to anyone who can sense essence. However, due to his pet(s), Abstractis Imperium Veritisi, his essence does not leave his body as it should. Instead the butterflies consume it to feed themselves, or store it within his pendant, rendering his essence signature comparatively average in terms of human mages.
Excessively Knowledgeable and Intelligent: If you hadn't gathered this already, Reates is exceptionally intelligent and, largely due to his innate curiosity, very knowledgeable as well. He has knowledge in topics spanning from the ancient history of birdhouses and their origin, to the various inhabitants of the Wildlands of hell. However, his primay focuses when it comes to knowledge happen to be on the general physical and energetic biology of the four races, those races being Angels, Demons, Humans, and Chimera. In addition to this he has knowledge in various Scientific disciplines, magic in general, and the properties and behavior of various Aberrant beings/objects.
His knowledge of the aforementioned types of biology and the general study of Aberrant beings and objects can be considered his primary focuses, with the others being very important, but slightly less the current focus of his research.
As to Reates intelligence it can be described simply as his incredible aptitude to store and recall information as well as process various forms of newly learned material quickly and the creation of new ideas more or less on the fly. One could say that Reates has made it a distinct point to think on his toes. He does this in essentially every interaction he engages in, testing people's reactions to various mental or environmental stimuli so as to further his understanding of the psychology of the races in addition to their biology.
Universal Toolbox: Partially due to his unorthodox nature, and secondly due to his intellect, Reates is very capable of turning almost any number of objects in his vicinity into weapons or useful items. He does this either by extracting, modifying, or combining their essence or by simply using the objects themselves in a variety of unique ways to assist him in any given situation. As such Reates has taken to calling the world, or just his surroundings, a 'Universal Toolbox,' and has thusly dubbed this ability to use these 'tools' by said name.
Psychic Aptitude and Telepathy: Reates is fairly able when it comes to his mind and has developed some psychic aptitude. While he is not a psychic powerhouse he is capable of extending his psychic presence to notify individuals of his location and he is also very good at erecting psychic or mental barriers against intrusion. Conversely his offensive abilities are extremely limited and tend to be based in crude brute force or small clever tricks. Generally he is unable to pierce the psychic defenses of any individual who has mental resistance above the baseline average human who does not practice magic or meditation. Beyond this it should be noted that Reates is capable of telepathic communication between, primarily, willing individuals. He can however handle communicating with no more than three people, not including himself. He can send out a generalized mental impression or message, but if one's mental guard up then these messages will not pierce, thus revealing the limit of his abilities.
Magical Skills:
'The Sight': Like his some of his ancestors, Reates is able to see essence, but unlike his predecessors his Sight is passive, meaning that he cannot turn it off at will. His Sight is also so developed that he can see the very make up of the sub-atomic particles and various forces that make up a given object, entity, or being. The detail that he can ascertain and the amount of information input that this causes is considerably higher than any human, including Reates, is generally capable of processing for any prolonged period of time. Reates, having been born with the Sight, has gradually adapted to it and as such is able to use it unfiltered for roughly 10 minutes after which point he will have to close his eyes or he will suffer from a form of shock due to sensory overload. If used for longer than 10 minutes, Reates can actually black out from the sheer stress that the sensory input causes his brain.
Environmental Awareness and Magical Attunement: Due to his ability to physically perceive essence via his eyes, Reates has developed an additional ability to detect it via a sort of sixth sense which does not rely on any of his other five senses. This ability extends for roughly two miles in every direction, his body being the epicenter. When in motion Reates is capable of detecting and mentally visualizing essence within half that distance (one mile). Finally when in combat or in close proximity to considerable amounts of essence, or generally overwhelmingly powerful individuals, this ability is dampened considerably allowing him to only sense within the space of roughly two city blocks. When in situations that require intense amounts of concentration or mental attention Reates is only able to sense up to 50 or so meters around him.
Practitioner of the Art: Due to his prolonged lifespan and thus the multitude of time he has had to practice the Art of Athriohm, Reates has become what many would consider a grandmaster of the Art. He is beyond proficient in the use of Sigils and Weaving and as such can be considered exceptionally masterful in his magical abilities. Partially due to his somewhat inherent understanding of essence, derived in part from his Sight, he is largely capable of something that most Practitioners do not dare attempt, namely the utilization of essence that one has no prior experience with handling.
Aberrant Manipulation and Psychic Fortitude: Reates has developed the ability to extract anomalous traits and/or essence from objects and aberrant organisms. While he is unable to infuse these traits into other objects or organisms he can amplify them and use them in weaponized forms. This is an ability that no Practitioner in recorded history is capable of, though records of Athriohm himself are fragmented and largely untranslatable making it very possible that he too was capable of such a feat. Reates is also exceptionally resistant to memetic and psychic assaults delivered from both natural and anomalous sources allowing him a unique edge against such things. If there is one type of anomalous trait that has rubbed off on him it is probably that he is abnormally able when it comes to interacting peacefully with aberrations almost regardless of their typical level of aggression. There are of course exceptions and this ability is not universal to all aberrations.
Appearance: As a nightwalker, Crow wears no true garments, though he is often in a human guise and as such tends to wear clothes along these lines. Beyond this there is a key detail to his the humanoid variety of his demonic form which should be brought to mind, and that is the presence of the many smoky tribal markings that run over his form. Among these are those that dwell on Crow's face, these lines serve as his mouth and will move in response to his mood to form expressions as if he had a true mouth. Additionally, while these markings do move when he speaks, his actual voice can be emitted from anywhere on his body, and typically resounds from the whole of him, bouncing sound waves in all directions as he speaks. Some have even stated that after he has been speaking for some time in this manner that the sounds become much like the clamor of a murder's wings and voices alike.
Personality: A lazy opportunistic bastard, Crow is much like many nightwalkers in that he would prefer to feed easily and at his leisure rather than work for his place in the world. Nonetheless, there is a strange compulsion rising in him to do just the opposite, to take chances and work for his own gain. Much like the carrion bird whose name he's taken as moniker, he is a cunning and bright individual who has a tendency to collect things that he thinks hold value or are merely interesting to look at. Unfortunately for some, this happens to include living creatures, though with these he is far more careful so as not to be easily traced. Another similarity with his namesake is his cautious nature as he believes it prudent to be as such in a world where the three races have come as close to equals as they have ever been.
When it comes to conflict of the violent sort, Crow prefers to avoid it as he much rather settle things with intellect than brute force. Still, when it all comes down to it he'll throw a punch...or a fireball or two, so to speak. As a nightwalker he's a rather disloyal fellow, using people for his own ends with few exceptions. Still, there are those who catch his interest, he'll keep them around for awhile...or forever, turning them if they amuse him enough. Still, he's not one for grovelling and dislikes having 'mindless servants' or 'minions,' preferring instead to have comrades and allies. He's said that a friend is more valuable than someone willing to die to please you, such beings are boring and not worth mention or praise. Oddly, having someone who can disagree with you is something of a flaw when it comes to planning and when asked why he still allows such elements into his schemes he tends to answer that there'd be little challenge in it otherwise.
When it comes to his preferred activity, one must look to things that require little physical effort, but demand a great level of mental focus, for Crow simply loves a good game of strategy and tactics. He adores games like chess, and on the darker side of things, he loves mind games. Still, even when he is thoroughly enjoying something there tends to only be a lazy smile upon his face, rather than an outright maniacal grin like one might expect. This is mostly because he strongly believes in restraint, at least when circumstances allow that is. Last, but not least, Crow is not one to anger easily, in fact a great many believe him to be without anger, though possessing the faculty for annoyance of course. While he is certainly a master of keeping a cool head, somewhat due to his dabbling in philosophy and the way it has effected his perception. The truth is however, that Crow is as capable of being angered as any other being, it's just that it takes a helluva lot to get him there, though I'm not sure exactly why anyone would want to go to such a place.
Biography: Waking as if from a deep slumber, Crow entered the world in mind, where he had already existed in essence. The Western Realm was his domain, the place from which he originated. However, he had little wish to stay there under the tyrannical rule of their lord, someone that he held no small measure of disdain for, though he knew not why. Gathering those few who agreed with him, as well as a few other demons, the black sheep traveled to Surface only to find that the Western Lord's influence, the touch of Szayeis, lingered and danced in the middle realm as well.
Annoyed, Crow kept to the shadows, feeding and congregating with his comrades and takin territory in the name of their lord without really meaning it. They were rebels, invisible guerilla fighters in a war that did not exist anywhere, but in their minds. Peace however, slowly settled over Progaia and Szayeis' malignant, and annoying, presence dwindled. The West closed, though it was always open to its native inhabitants, be they nightwalker or otherwise.
Holding little affection for the barren West, Crow spread his metaphorical wings in Szayeis absence and came into his own. Over the last 100 years he has accumulated the resources and manpower equivalent of a small army and with it he has created an outpost of sorts in each city he deems of importance. However, it is upon the ruinous landscape of Loom's resting place where he has set up his base of operations, where what one could call his gang functions. Here there have been erected a myriad of strange structures. On the outside they appear normal, but within their geometry seems...non-euclidean, alien and without logic. Still, while Crow could be considered the head of a decently sized gang, he and his associates are more businessmen than they are thugs.
They conduct business slyly and in secrecy when possible. They do not apply force or rule through sheer fear, but strive to gain their hold through more intellectual means. It is as if Crow plays chess with his comrades, but each of them a knight in his eyes, rather than mere pawns.
Demons of embodied shadow and darkness, nightwalkers are typically found in the western realm of hell where the sky is forever dark and no sun shines down on their shifting features. One of the few races of true shape-shifters, nightwalkers are capable of changing their form with essentially no limits other than size, which is dictated by their individual power and/or how much they have assimilated, be it shadows, essence, or other sources of such. While able to near perfectly shapeshift to emulate any form they desire, nightwalkers have an acute weakness to things that emit powerful illumination, such as fire, sunlight, holy luminescence, and lightning. This has led to most nightwalkers being active primarily during the night time as most of their ilk would die under the harsh rays of the sun.
Having rather unique capabilities due to their shadowy make-up, nightwalkers are capable of controlling, traveling between, and outright assimilating shadows. One can generally identify the power of a nightwalker by noting what form they decide to take and whether or not they can exist in the sunlight without being harmed or otherwise altered by the rays. As such it should be noted that weak nightwalkers will perish in mere minutes under the light of the sun and will remain permanently damaged if they survive, whilst a considerably more developed nightwalker will only be weakened by the sunlight, decreasing its overall power until the light wanes and the sun dips beneath the horizon.
This brings one to a unique fact about nightwalkers. While all demons are weakened somewhat and are thus stronger during the night, this particular species actually becomes stronger depending on how dark a locale is. Thus, the less light there is, the more powerful a nightwalker will become. When night falls, even a weak nightwalker should not be underestimated as they will become at least two to three times more difficult to kill and a good deal stronger than before, allowing them to compete with the average demon and fend off minimally trained angels. The average nightwalker during night time is far more deadly as they become a force to be reckoned with so much so that the majority of human and angel kind have recognized nightwalkers of the average level and above as being “nigh immortal during the night.” This is largely due to a nightwalker's ability to assimilate shadows into their body, allowing them to effectively /become/ the darkness of night, closing in on their opponent from all angles, and devouring them alive without consequence.
Not only does this ability make them difficult to locate, not to mention damage, but it also increases the size that the nightwalker can reach when shifting forms, thus allowing them increased variability in their shapeshifting. Also due to their shadowy and incorporeal or intangible natural state, nightwalkers are essentially immune to conventional weaponry, be they guns, swords, or any other variety of weapon. In fact, the only material that seems to have any increased effectivity against them is gold, which can harm them even in their incorporeal state. It is not entirely known as to why this is the case, but it is theorized that it is gold's highly conductive state as well as the way that it reflects light, making it especially bright and particularly reminiscent of the sun.
They are capable of traveling through shadows or pitch black areas with ease, not having to move in the physical sense, but being able to effectively transport themselves from one place to another through darkness/shadows. While this is the case for normal, or conventional, weaponry, it should be noted that enchanted weapons have a higher chance of effecting nightwalkers as they are infused with magical energy and thus, in part, exist in the same space as their allegedly incorporeal bodies. Fire, light, 'holy', and lightning based enchantments tend to cause these demons the greatest damage.
However, a nightwalker's two greatest banes are in fact sunlight and what are referred to as 'despells'. These 'despells' are a class of magic that can deactivated or negate the magical properties of other spells, objects, or beings. Thus, when effected by a despell nightwalkers will lose their ability to become incorporeal shadows and will have to maintain some kind of physical form. Lastly among the typical abilities and traits of nightwalkers is the following, their cunning mindsets and their ability to manipulate essence. This ability varies in its use and largely depends on the individual, but it can be applied in any field from manipulating people's minds and emotions to warping their very souls to cause harm. The limitations and weaknesses of said ability depend on the individual nightwalker.
Moving from their traits and delving into their culture some very intriguing details can be found, first and foremost among these is that nightwalkers do not appear to hold the first demon, and second god, Lucy in reverence. The reasoning behind this is unknown and while there are a great many theories none of them hit anywhere near the mark. Moving on from this, there is a focus on treachery, intelligence, a strict understanding of the vague, mysterious, and unseen aspects of reality in nightwalker society. In fact many nightwalkers tend to give out a title rather than their name for they believe not only that names have an inherent power, but also that this chosen title is more of an aspect or trait that describes them more vaguely than their name does, allowing them a degree of anonymity.
As to their history and interactions with other demons, well, nightwalkers are typically a rather tight knit group and while many betrayals and the like will occur within their fold, they typically do not associate themselves with the majority of demonkind. The reason for this is unknown, but what is known is that it is not caused by either xenophobia or disdain. This mentality has made it rather rare to see hybrid nightwalkers who are a mixture of nightwalker and some other demonic race. In fact, their only truly prevalent interactions appear to be with the lord of their realm who they appear to have some sort of pact or magical contract with no matter if the lord changes or not. It is not entirely known what this pact entails, but it is very apparent that it does in fact exist. Beyond this nightwalkers keep to themselves, not intruding in the affairs of other demons or realms if at all possible.
While they are not very sociable in hell, nightwalkers seem to change somewhat when they venture to surface, something all nightwalkers can do effortlessly and without passing the gatekeeper due to their ability to transmit themselves through shadows the exception to this being especially powerful nightwalkers, whose essence signature is too large to slip through the cracks and seams of the boundary. Regardless, when on the surface to explore, hunt, or scheme, nightwalkers will interact with humankind quite often, either misleading, devouring, manipulating, or even befriending their ilk.
The presence of nightwalkers throughout human history points to this even more as in old myths and the like there are often described nightmarish creatures with no form, malevolent auras, and a wide variety of other traits that, if one does a bit of digging, seem to point towards nightwalker activity. In fact, one of the typical abilities of nightwalkers is that of nightmare creation where they enter the vicinity of their to-be victims, assimilate with the shadows of their surroundings, and utilize their essence manipulation to instil terrifying scenarios into the minds of their chosen prey. This has earned their kind another name and has led many demonologists to believe them a part of the demon classification of beings referred to as “Nightmare creatures”. These beings essentially feed off of the terror of their victims, dragging out their feeding processes for years whilst gradually killing their target through terrible nightmares. While nightwalkers are perhaps /capable/ of this sort of thing, they are not in fact nightmare creatures.
Moving on, it should be noted that while nightwalkers themselves are not nightmare creatures, they are capable of creating such. How one might ask, well quite simply by infecting humans with their demonic taint which will typically create one of three types of surface demons these being Shades, vampires, or Sollicitus. For further information on these demons one must do further research.
A detail about nightwalkers that has been hidden from the majority of not only the dwellers of surface, but from demon kind itself is that while they are indeed shapeshifters they all possess one form which is the truest expression of their essence. It is their Origin State, the state in which their power and personality is expressed fully. While this form is universal to all nightwalkers, it is not identical between individuals due to the fact that its appearance and abilities originate from the personality and true nature, rather than from their species.
Demonic Abilities
Enhanced and Magical Senses: Due to his cautious and lazy nature, Crow has developed the ability to see in sphere of 40 feet around his person for the majority of the time, even when in his human form. Outside of this sphere he can still easily detect essence signatures and the like. Additionally, like most nightwalkers, he is capable of tracking people down via their unique essence signature. This ability is however, not absolute unless the individual he is tracking has entered his sphere of influence once. If any other form of their essence enters his field he can still track them due to it having the same 'scent' so to speak. His ability to sense the use of magic and generally individuals of higher than average power is as good as most nightwalkers. Thus, the more powerful someone is the easier they are to track, and vice versa. Additionally, he can detect locations where magic is being used in excess, the stronger the magic, or the more essence it requires, the easier it is to locate and track. Within his sphere of influence, Crow is capable of detecting the exact potency and power of an individual regardless of attempts to conceal such.
Shapeshifter: Quite able in the realm of shapeshifting, Crow tends to use his in a more supplementary manner, using extensions of his true shadow state to create substance in the midst of his illusions. However, like all nightwalkers, he is entirely capable of altering his physical make-up entirely to his will as long as he has the essence or shadows necessary to do so. However, while many nightwalkers use their shapeshifting to give them an ethereal state and to increase their size, Crow primarily uses his to increase the density of his physicalized form. This odd choice has caused his human and demonic humanoid forms to be either very solid, or very energetic. As such, he essentially packs more power into his body than would otherwise be possible making his physical attacks and abilities rather...explosive in their potency.
Demonic Influence: While the essence of most nightwalkers brings into being vampires, Crow is capable of creating both Sullicitus and Shades, both of which are exceedingly rare types of surface demons. Beyond this he can actually manipulate the essene of those he influences, further mutating their demonic affliction and turning them into even more bizarre, or even more powerful, surface demons. This is of course through the combination of his demonic influence and essence manipulation. Lastly it should be noted that Crow has complete control over his influence, meaning that he cannot accidentally afflict someone or change the nature of their essence, though he can pretend to. This, along with his essence manipulation actually allows him to conceal his own nature as well.
Possession: While Crow is capable of possessing people via direct contact, he can also access them through mere contact with left behind essence. This does not allow him to possess them from long range, but it does allow him to locate them no matter where they are, and if there is enough lingering essence he can access their senses and even influence them via illusion and mental manipulation almost as if he were there.
Lazy Intellect: While Crow is effectively a genius in his own right, capable of incredible analytical feats, and possessing a great deal of intuition, he is at the end of the day quite lazy. As such, he can be tricked through the manipulation of his laziness and he will more often opt out of violent situations, or take the path of least resistance unless absolutely necessary not to.
Magical Abilities
Essence Manipulation: Truly one of his most powerful tools, Essence Manipulation is likely the ability that Crow has focused on most in his 100 years of life so far. With it he is capable of inducing powerful hallucinations and illusions by influencing the essence of his surroundings and through that the individual. He can also do this directly however, doing so makes it easier to detect. Additionally, Crow's mastery of this ability is such that even half a second of contact is enough for him to cause a powerful sensation of pain or discomfort equivalent to being hit in the gut by a professional boxer. With the assistance of his demonic influence he is able to make himself even more persuasive than he already is, making him especially good at reasoning and convincing people to his own ends.
However, unlike most nightwalkers, Crow's abilities in this field do not stop there. In fact, he is even capable of something that many humans, and certainly the secretive practitioners of the Art would be quite jealous, or indeed angry, of. He is able to mimic the natural patterns of nature much like the Art of Athriohm. It is unknown exactly how he acquired this ability, but it could be attributed to the fact that he murdered and consumed several practitioners in his time, likely assimilating both their knowledge and abilities respectively. His abilities still pale in comparison to a skilled practitioner of the Art, so he has taken to manipulating the smaller particles, atoms, and molecular structure so as to minimize the scope of his abilities. This allows him to mimic elemental manipulation and a great many processes that would otherwise force him to exert far more effort than he'd prefer to.
While it limits his own magical capabilities a great deal and temporarily deactivates many of his racial abilities (such as shapeshifting and a good deal of his enhanced sensory capabilities) Crow is actually able to completely mask his essence and can furthermore isolate individual strains of essence within his own. These abilities allow him to actually mimic the essence of anything that he has devoured, though typically he can only accurately mimic the essence of humans due to the pure nature of angelic essence and the difficulties involved with obtaining it. However, he can take the form of, and mimic, the essence of an angel for a limited period of time, typically around ten minutes, though he has done so for twenty, an act that did not go without its dangers.
Skills and Learned Abilities
Hand-to-hand Combat: One could consider Crow a strange mixture between mixed martial artist and street fighter. His fighting style tends to be lazy, but still packs an incredible punch, focusing on his natural durability and essence amplified physical attributes. However, when he feels like trying, or is forced to do so, he can become a frightening martial adversary, making him quicker to react and counter, as well as to generally beat his adversary to a pulp.
Human and Demon Psychology: Having worked with humans and demons so much in his life, Crow has grown accustomed to their psychological functions, allowing him to better interact or manipulate individuals of said races. Angels however, are another story and he considers them more difficult to bargain with, or convince. Thus he tends to not deal with them much, if at all, when possible.
[Profile of Captive #138128 has been rendered partly declassified due length of time that has passed since the captive escaped The Alexandria correctional facility {six months} and also due to the decision by {name redacted} that captive #138128 is not a threat to Egyptian National security. The below profile is a compilation of information taken from psychological analysis performed by Dr. {name redacted} along with any intelligence collected by the General Intelligence Directorate {GID}. And reader please take in mind this is not a wholly complete profiling of Captive #138128 due to his generally uncooperative nature and complete lack of record keeping in regards to his birthplace and alleged military service.]Name: Rhett Vorster
Alias/Nickname: N/A
Age: The captive stated he was 23 years old, though the captive looked well over 40, further medical tests concluded that he is indeed in his mid twenties.
Race: Human {Afrikaner/Boer}
Appearance:
Height: 6'3
Weight: 205
Hair color: Black
Eye Color: Muddy red
Body Type: Muscular
Other notable traits: Thick black beard and mustache to match his thick accent, along with scars covering most of the Captive's body. The origins of these scars are endless, ranging from bites from animals and men, to bullet holes, to deep cuts, most likely from machetes. The majority of them show evidence of not being tended to with proper medical care when they were first wounds, resulting in infection which shows as the scar tissue appearing in a rather dark brown pigment. Along with these scars are a series of small marks on both of his arms. Judging from their locations being rather close to his veins, one can assumed these are injection marks, most likely stemming from heroin.
Social Status: Captive #138128 alleged that he was a former soldier and was a mercenary when he was detained at the border.
Relations: Captive #138128 states that he has no living relations
General Activity: It was stated by the Captive that he had been working as a hired gun throughout southern and central Africa before moving up to Egypt. Since his escape approximately six months ago there have been no reports of his recent activity.
Abilities: Allegedly, Captive #138128 states that he is a former kommando and has been fighting in bush wars for his entire life. If this is statement is true then the captive has around two decades of combat experience and should be considered a highly dangerous and effective killer. Specializing in Guerrilla warfare.
When interviewing the Captive he let us in on a “secret”. Other, more prosperous countries usually sell or dump their old military hardware to the war torn Central and Southern African states, including his. Due to these countries being too decentralized to effectively organized their military into separate units carrying out different functions. Many of these soldiers perform many duties at once. From driving military hardware to serving as snipers or explosive experts. Our Captive here is one such man. Boasting that he can using anything kind of military hardware, and can take it apart and put it back together again. Making him highly adaptable to most environments he is put in.
Finally, after giving the Captive a thorough medical examination we've concluded that-for lack of a better term- he is a walking vaccine. Captive #138128 has been exposed to a highly unusual amount of disease, even for a man of southern African origins, of which clean water and sanitation is hardly guaranteed. We theorize that the Captive had been exposed to and lived in filth for most of his life with supporting evidence coming from his scars that showed signs of severe infection before healing.
Equipment: Despite stating that he was proficient with all forms of military hardware, he was detained with little to nothing. An ancient revolver with hardly any ammo, and a machete used for cutting through the thick jungles of the bush. And more likely, other people. When he escaped he managed to take back his machete but left the gun.
Biography: Captive #138128 states that he was a member of the Rhodesian military, a now defunct government that portrayed itself to be the safe haven for White Africans, the majority of which are Afrikaner's and Boers. In reality though, a severe manpower shortage put the government into desperate measures; putting children in the army to carry out front line fighting. Our Captive was one of those child soldiers and was a soldier from the age of seven to 21. Other than his statements regarding his skills the captive refuses to state anything regarding his tour of duty. African Governments are not known for good record keeping when their still relevant and when Rhodesia fell around a year ago. All possible records were lost.
Agents at the General Intelligence Directorate considered heading to the region to search for clues. But decided it would be a fruitless endeavor. Central and South Africa is a no man's lands riddled with wars. Angels don't go there, Demons don't waste their time and Men just die there.
Fortunately for our Captive, He deserted his post before the country fell. Stating that he shot his commanding officer in the head before spending two years traveling through the Continent before arriving on the Southern Egyptian border, where he was detained after a struggle. He was transferred to the Alexandria Correctional Facility before making a rather crude escape involving fighting his way through the guards and breaking out of the front gate. The head of security for the facility has since been replaced. Evidence points that he smuggled himself on one of the cargo ships at the Alexandria Port, though which one he got onto and where he is now is a mystery and frankly of no concern to us any longer.
Personality:Psychological summary from Dr. {Name Redacted}
Psychological profiling from Mr. Vorster had proved difficult due to his generally un-cooperative nature to speak to me or share any of his life. Thus I had to piece together a picture of him from his various statements, behaviors, moods and body language in order to give as true of an assessment as possible. Though I must admit that it is as best incomplete and anyone reading this should be well aware that Mr. Vorster's psyche is far from pieced together.
To start from the very beginning: Mr Vorster has lived a very traumatizing life. Taken from his home at a young age and trained to fight and kill. We've heard these types of stories countless times before. Frequent beatings, abhorrent living conditions, and of course the had living conditions of a soldier that children simply can't adapt to. Of course, Mr. Vorster was no normal soldier, he was a bush soldier. Fighting in conditions that most soldiers would find unacceptable. With little to no medical care and most likely a disregard for his safety by his superiors. Child soldiers are little more than meat shields unless they prove themselves efficient killers.
Mr. Vorster proved to be one of these. Assuming the man isn't exaggerating or outright lying, Mr. Vorster proved himself to be a very capable fighter at a young age and was allegedly put into more intense fighting zones. His exposure and participation to an almost unreal amount of violence in his childhood reflects on his personality; he's highly anti-social, violent, expresses a desire and love for combat and badly tempered. I had to be careful with my questions and conversations with him, else he break out into a rage. Which having witness many a time, is not a pleasant thing to see.
What is surprising about Mr. Vorster is his mental psyche in general. Most child soldiers who live through these wars are diagnosed with severe PTSD, often having to take medicine for the rest of their lives. Mr. Vorster is different, suffering no major symptoms and expressing little to no remorse for his actions. Possible sociopathic signs to be sure, but whether or not he is actually a sociopath remains inconclusive.
This isn't to say that there isn't signs of trauma. Mr. Vorster occasionally has nightmares, or what an average persona would consider nightmares. He once told me he had a dream about a particularly nasty gunfight that took place in the bush when he was a boy. I asked him if the nightmare made him frightened. He smiled and said that he “was scared then, but not anymore”. To summarize, he has dreams about his soldiering day, but it doesn't seem to affect him much.
But he hasn't come out of this completely care free. Mr. Vorster is a rampant alcoholic. So much so that we've had to give him small doses of wine due to the withdrawal being so severe; hands shaking and irritability within hours and immense pain comes soon after. It seems he hasn't gone through most of his life sober, which at first was probably forced upon him as a child by his commanding officer to keep him under control (a standard practice among African militaries using child soldiers).
Alcohol wasn't the only thing they forced upon him. The needle marks on his arm implies heroin use as a boy. Also probably forced on him by his superiors. He was also most likely given what is refereed to as “brown brown” a mix of gunpowder and cocaine used to keep the boys dependent and awake for battle. His past drug use seems to be one of the few things Mr. Vorster is openly ashamed of as he almost always changes the subject when brought up and insists on wearing long sleeve shirts to hide the needle marks on his arms.
Finally in conclusion, Mr. Vorster has a severe aversion to people, particularly men, from touching him. Our first scheduled appointment was delayed when the guards escorting him put their hands on his shoulder and he reacted in a rather hostile manner. Breaking the first guard's hand and the other's nose before being restrained. Since then people have been rather careful not to get too close to him. His reaction to women touching him, though not nearly as hostile, is far from pleasant itself. I had placed my hand on his own in an attempt to make a connection with Mr. Vorster, but he quickly drew his hand away and crudely informed me not to touch him. Which I consented to but couldn't pinpoint exactly the reason why. He seems to have trouble making connections to other people and outright rejects anyone who attempts to do so. This could stem from possible sexual abuse as a child (such things aren't uncommon among child soldiers).
All in all, i'm rather saddened that he escaped the facility. As he was an interesting (if incredibly frightening case). And though I never got a glimpse of the abuse he suffered as a boy due to his stubborn nature. Part of me is happy that I never found out.
Name: Noel Yang Alias/Nickname: "Noel Nightly" was his Porn Star name, "Lady Face" was his name when he was still at the Academy Age: Twenty Six Race: Human Appearance:
Has a slim, feminine body. Thin and lithe but with the right amount of fat and musculature that he certainly is not skeletal. Not the beefiest, but he's stronger than he looks. For a human, anyways. Social Status: A graduate of the Master Melody’s Academy for Fine Arts and one of their better students, but has long since been dropped of their radar two years after his graduation. However those with certain interests may know him from several pornos as well as musical numbers, where he provides his expertise for various situations. Relations: Most near family are deceased, though he knows he has some distant cousins who may be aware of him, though he hasn't gotten out of his way to know. Has some fans from his media work but generally doesn't answer their calls, a few fellow travelers who may know him/have worked with him, and he has a small but notable reputation among those who have need of a bard/actor/human with an Essence. General Activity: Noel tends to do whatever job he finds that he feels would suit him. He's done some time as an "Escort" as well as an actual bodyguard (With a ridiculously low bodycount however), tends to just show up, help the situation however he can, and leave before people start asking him to stay. He does seem to be the wanderer type, though he's recently begun trying to travel with a group. The life of a lone wanderer isn't as fun as he imagined, and would like companionship.
Abilities: Physical - Noel isn't really a body worker, though he does make it into a habit to take care of it. Keeps himself clean and smelling fresh, and tries not to get too unhealthy or sick. He's actually pretty strong for someone with a lithe frame like him, but he's still pretty scrawny. He is rather athletic in that he's quick with his feet and has very good hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and situational awareness. Decent at picking up subtle cues as he's always looking for them. He also prides himself on his voice and his ability to copy any sound he hears, right down to the volume and accent. Some may think that his voice is magical for the sounds it can produce, but no, that's just him.
He's very good at hiding himself and others if need be. If for some reason he finds himself in a fight, he's not much for fisticuffs, but give him a solid stick or staff and he'll show off some of the martial arts he learned back at the Academy. Not really a fair fighter seeing that he'd lose a fair fight. Very good at throwing things however, be it furniture he can pick up or even proper throwing knives and such. Also knows how to handle a whip or chain with frightening efficiency, but this takes more in the form of how he can somehow form knots and lassos rather than any damage he does with them. Noel has picked the lute as his instrument of choice, but also has some experience working with other stringed instruments, the keyboard, and a drum set.
Magical - Noel's magic could be simply called "Illusions", but this would need more elaboration.
Noel's magical ability is more accurately called "Psychomancy", or the Divination of the Psyche. For some, these seems to only be illusions. But it is more than that. It is the ability to control and change one's mind, spirit, and soul. Psychomancer can create a Wide Concentration to cast their spells over a large area, or Focused Concentrations to hit single target with much more power. The emotions of the caster as well as their target also is taken into account for the effects of the spells, as each as their own strengths and weaknesses that must be understood to be utilized to it's fullest efficiency. There are many spells in Psychomancy, and the following is what he is capable of preforming himself. He can do additonaly, more powerful spells, but they require the use of his Instrument.
Telepathy - The simplest and likely first spell a Psychomancer will pick up. Telepathy is basically reading the mind of someone. the mind is a fickle thing however; rarely does it actually speak in complete and understandable phrases. Indeed when a novice first uses Telepathy for the first time, they may find that everyone's thoughts are usually rambling run-on sentences. But with enough time, even a novice can begin to make sense of someone's thoughts, translating it into something with meaning. This is especially helpful for communicating outside of languages, more so once the novice begins to learn how to speak to others using their Telepathy. Instead of words they can translate their own thoughts into others. Sometimes they end up a rambling mess, but again, training allows them to fine-tune it into a more understandable messages. However, Telepathy has a range dependent on their level of ability. Most novices don't have a range further than a ten-yard radius of their current position, and only within eyesight. But as they become more skilled, they can read minds at a further distance in every direction.
Illusions - For more educated mages, many would associated Psychomancy with primarily Illusions, and while there is correlation, Illusion is simply another trick up Psychomancer's sleeves. Illusion is also known as "Perception Manipulation", as they are not merely image tricks. Most Novice Psychomancers will begin learning Illusions first by using a spell that will save their lives many time in the future: Invisibility. Basically, they will use their magic to manipulate a person's visual perception, causing the mage to disappear from their sight. This works well on most creatures who use sight as a their main means of finding people, though creatures using different means would need to be affected by different spells. But illusion allows the mage to do that; a advance illusionist can do more than turn invisible, they could make it so that their entire existence disappears. their scent, gone, the noise they make turns to silence, even their touch no longer registers. Thanks to Illusions, a psychomancer could potentially do anything, and leaving none the wiser. But there is a flaw; for all their potential, illusions ultimately do nothing at all. No matter how powerful the illusion, now graphic or detailed the illusion is, it is ultimately nothing. Some can be creative and cause the enemy to cause more damage to themselves using Illusion, but Illusions themselves do no physical harm, and even the mental damage can be recovered from.
Equipment: Noel carries a staff five-feet in length (just a little bit shorter than he is) that can he separated at the middle to create two smaller staffs 2 /12 feet length each. It serves as both a walking stick, a tool for measuring, and a weapon for self defense. He also carries a kukri, though that was a gift and he doesn't use that for fighting. Much.
Hibiki (Instrument in image) - Noel's personal "Fragment". On it's own, it's capable of emulating the sounds of other instruments, often used to accompany Noel's own singing. Though bulky, it weighs next to nothing and is nearly indestructible (At least Noel doesn't mistreat it enough to figure out what can break it). Often wrapped in a thick cloth and carried on Noel's back when not in used.
Fragment Abilities:
Theme Music Power Up - Simply as the title entails. Using Hibiki's powers, Noel can create inspiring music for his allies around him, each one getting something that makes them confident and feel more powerful. It's not merely moral support either; it literally does physically and magically strength his allies, allowing them to preform feats that they normally couldn't. Affects all allies who can hear him.
Psychomancy Spells - Not exactly an innate ability of Hibiki, rather it's used as a strengthening catalyst for Noel's own magical abilities. Only needs to be possessing Hibiki to use these spells, and they do not disrupt his Theme Music Power up or the Heal Bell.
Pathokinesis - Also known as Emotion Manipulation. Pathokinesis is essential to a Psychomancer, as it allows them to control not only their enemies, but also their own emotions. Certain emotions allow for a better efficiency with their magic, while others will debilitate it. Pathokinesis can also be used to cause the enemy to become reckless or turn against each other, or to bestow confidence in your allies and alleviate their fears. Pathokinesis is considered one of the more controversial magics in Psychomancy, and while it can still be officially taught, many in the world will be uneasy to know that you could potentially control their emotions against their will. The effects of Pathokinesis are usually temporary, but they can provide a spark to cause someone to succumb to a pattern of emotions thanks to the caster's manipulations.
Doppelgangers - A variant ability of Illusions, however Doppelgangers have the advantage that they can be used on opponents no matter what level their wards are since the spell is targeted at the caster instead of their opponent. Doppelgangers allow a mage to create multiple copies of themselves or others. Like illusions, these doppelgangers are incapable of causing any physical effect, though with enough Essence one can emulate the effects. Doppelgangers are easy to dismiss, but also easy to see through; typically a solid blow will cause the Doppelganger to vanish unless the mage constantly pumps energy to maintaining the illusion, but each doppelganger requires a constant upkeep of energy, as well as the base cost to cast the spell. A weak doppelganger to last a few minutes won't take much energy, but more realistic doppelgangers for longer time is a skill largely reserved for advance Psychomancers. Psychomancer themselves can discern Doppelgangers using telepathy, as doppelgangers do not have any thoughts.
Precognition - Considered the pinnacle achievement for mages who are skilled Wide Concentration magic. Precognition is a telepathy variant that allows the mage to detect their opponent's subconscious; those subtle cues that the mind sends to it's body before the body reacts. Precognition allows the mage to be able to understand instinctively what their opponent is about to do, from combat to the poker table. Precognition occurs when the Psychomancer is Synchronized with their opponent, meaning that their thoughts are one. Synchronization is achieved mainly when a telepathic link is created between the mage and the target long enough that the mind of their opponent is assimilated into the mage. This intimate connection is often achieved between close individuals, but Emotions play a large part of how one's Precognition occurs. To be the source of one of the mage's basic or hybrid emotions allows for a greater chance of Precognition of the emotion itself is in it's highest form. Thus there needs to be a certain understanding between the mage and their target, an understanding that requires an open and accepting mind, but at the same time the mage must be capable of manipulating their own emotions appropriately to use Precognition to it's fullest.
Scry - Considered the Pinnacle achievement for mages who are skilled in Focused Concentration magic. Scry is a unique spell that allows the mage to be able to create what is known as an Astral; their own minds freed from the restraints of their body. A Scry is capable of using their Astral to go into places their bodies cannot, and in their Astral form their Psychomancy power is increased exponentially. Scry can also be used to see and find something in the world regardless of location; often scrying will be used to find lost artifacts or people. But Scry has it limits. While the Astral form is powerful, it must be near it's body; without it's mind the body is an empty defenseless husk. Should the body be "killed", the Astral form will be trapped, and without a body to feed energy off of, the Astral will fade. The Astral form itself derives energy from the willpower and mage blood of the body, as well as the Astral's spells. The more spells the Astral uses, the less time they have to remain in that form before they must return to their body; if they run out of energy before they reach their host body, their Astral form is destroyed, as is the mind that created it. Even Scrying is not safe; the further away an opject is, the more energy needed to find it. Scrying as a form of searching itself uses much more energy than an Astral projection does, causing the scenes found during scrying to be come short, more so the better hidden the subject is.
Dominance - Unlike Pathokinesis, Dominance is an almost illegal variant of Psychomancy. It is more commonly known as memory manipulation; it allows a mage to manipulate the memories of their target, either by diving into their minds and discovering information kept hidden in their thoughts, to to alter and hide memories to change their personalities entirely. Dominance is a powerful ability of master mages, requiring a godly amount of Concentration, Willpower, and Training. But with enough of the three, Psychomancer can potentially puppet any sentient mortal being. Even if the Dominiance does not take over for any reason, the power of Dominance itself is enough to shatter any Ward, leaving the victim exposed to further attacks. It's power has it's own drawbacks of course, such as the Essence required to cast and maintain the spell, as well as the fact that Dominance can only occur in close physical relation to the target; further ranges require additional energy for an already high-energy spell. Dominance Mages must be closely guarded, and apostate Dominance Mages are often hunted down and executed before they use their magic for evil.
Heal Bell - Hearing the music from Hibiki allows Noel's allies to recover from their injuries and withstand any pain they're suffering. The strength of the healing is exponential; at the beginning, it can't heal much. But the longer it plays, Noel could potentially make his allies immortal with a extreme healing factor.
Fragment Personality: Noel becomes very idealistic to the point of suicidal naivety. So inspired by his own power, Noel would think that he could take on the whole world, dropping what he's doing to tackle the problem he's facing. Unfortunately, this also means he's not playing Hibiki and now has lost the power it grants him and to his allies, while also putting him on what could be considered a suicidal charge filled by his own ignorance to weakness. He will jump head first towards any problem without a strategy or even a thought in his head, merely acting and doing whatever he can with his given momentum.
Personality: Will show in IC.
Biography: Noel's history first began at the academy. When he first started, he had parents; two fathers, with a mother no where in sight. It was never very strange for Noel, simply something that he has learned to be normal for him. Of course, normal for him isn't so normal for everyone else. At the Academy Noel was a good student; never cause much trouble, tried his hardest, did was he was told... But trouble tends to find him and Noel, not being the passive type, never let any slight against him go lightly. If it wasn't for his parent's homosexuality, it would be for his appearance, or his "nerdy" demeanor. But Noel was raised to be a strong boy, capable of handling any situation. Or at least, that's what he had to become one day. He returned home to find the brutalized remains of his fathers sprawled out on the floor and walls. The horrific matter of their deaths suggested that demons or monsters had come and ravaged his parents, but the graffiti written in their remains suggested that their deaths were a hate crime.
Since that day Noel skirted the line of having to become a mature young adult to becoming a broken and traumatized child. It was around this time that he had begun to master his Fragment, Hibiki, and used it powers to simulate his mind. He used it to ignore the horrors he saw and to try to continue living without fear and regret. He worked harder on his school work to make himself feel superior over others, but the stress of trying to be the best made him rely on Hibiki's magical effects more. While he was ultimately successful, becoming one of the top graduates of the Academy, it was an empty victory for Noel. After graduating, he simply began to travel the world trying to figure out what he was doing with himself. He mostly worked for the Academy in hunting renegades, using his abilities to charm and close in on his target before taking them out, or at least setting them up to be taken out by other graduates.
Due to his looks and his charisma, he had tried to take up acting. Of course, it wasn't always so cut-and-dry as to simply land a job as a character in a movie or some such; he had to start from the bottom, which meant working in porn movies. And he did well. His feminine appearance made him quite a catch for some producers, and has starred in many types of movies in various positions. Even after he started making a name for himself in the movie industry, he still participated in pornos due to it's atmosphere. A sort of casual work place that occasionally allows you to dress up in fetishistic outfits and screw your co-workers. Additionally, he helped him with his job with the academy, using his new found fame to cozy up to targets before eliminating them. It also helped Noel avoid working for the academy; he'd claim that he's undercover with whatever act he's involved in at the time and may or may not actually get some work done. He wanted to be away from the Academy, live his own life however it came (in)to him.
It was a nice life, but soon Noel sought to be on the move once more. He felt that as much as being a porn star was an enjoyable and profitable experience, he was wasting his skills and abilities just working in movies. After amassing a small fortune for himself, he retired from the movie business and began a traveler, looking to try to help solve whatever problems happens to cross his path. Occasionally he'd mention his affiliations with the Academy if it helps with his duties. He has made quite a few friends along the way, and tries to convince them to accompany him in his Knight Errant ways. He may just be a human in this chaotic and mad world, but hoping and praying is for the powerless. He had power, and aimed to use it.
Damon
Name: Damon Alias/Nickname: Dark Matter Age: 77 Race: Hellion Demon Appearance: Social Status: There might be some rumors about him, but for the most part he's a nobody. Relations: None in particular. Some people might have heard of him and he is sort of being hunted down for being a Renegade General Activity: If Damon isn't absorbing things for their knowledge or materials, he's going about as Dark Matter, helping the weak by giving them weapons he makes from the knowledge he obtains.
Abilities: Absorbing - Damon's base ability. In his original form, he can consume objects whole and gain the knowledge of how to create and become said object. For living, sentient beings, he also gains their memories, often with greater clarity than the person themselves. The Absorption is done physically, as Damon literally eats the object and practically kills them in the process. Damon can absorb anything, even things most people consider inedible such as bullets and poisons. There is very little that Damon cannot consume and eat.
Those things being incorporeal things, such as gasses and plasma. Additionally, the Absorbing process is a deliberate action, not something that happens subconsciously. Simply inserting something into his body does not mean he is eating it. It means you are stabbing him. Damon's control over his Absorbing ability makes it incapable of acting on it's own, great to ensure that he doesn't harm something without meaning to, but also makes him vulnerable to more mundane means to damage him, such as bashing him over the head when he's not looking.
Shapeshifting - Using the knowledge he gleams from his Absorption, Damon can transform his body into things that he had absorbed, or with some creativity, take on partial transformations. Additionally, Shapeshifitng is really his only form of interacting with the world, as he's an amorphous blob otherwise. His Shapeshifting is reliant on "Matter" that he's consumed however; he cannot take on the form of something that his body does not have the right matter to create. Typically however he is capable of creating bone-like appendages which can take the form of things like hands, blades, spikes, armor, and other "Natural" limbs.
Converting - What Damon considers to be his most prized ability. Using his Absorption ability, he can take the matter he consumes and convert it into a different type of matter he has consumed. This allows him to create potentially anything out of everything, so long as he has Absorbed it at some point in the past.
Equipment: The only real thing he owns is the white mask on his body. Despite being a mask, it's not an accurate representation of his head. He doesn't have one. The mask itself is useless to him, however others who wear it will, if Damon is willing, be able to see into Damon's mind and the memories that he has absorbed over the years, which they can take for their own uses. He also typically has a large amount of Matter within his body for on the spot Conversions, though he will be more than willing to absorb more if he needs to make something big.
Personality: Will show in IC
Biography: Born in the depths of the underworld, the creature who would later be known as Damon had originally one purpose, one meaning to his existence, and that was to consume knowledge. His very existence was tailored made to eat off the remains of the dead, to preserve their memory for others who wish to use it. There were many like the creature known as Damon, all in different forms and functionality. The creature who would be known as Damon was itself a very successful memory keeper; always present at the sight of great cataclysms, eating the carrion of the fallen before they can be claimed by others. The creature would hide, never truly being involved in the acts of killing until much later. And it was through it's success that soon, the creature began to think. It began to wonder, and the first thing it truly did with it's new found sentience was give itself a name. A name that was not too far off from what it was. And so the creature called itself Damon.
Much of Damon's life was spent in the underworld. Between the petty conflicts of the demons who reside there, Damon began to make use of his knowledge that he had gathered over the years. He began to learn, and teach, and when he has too, sell the things he knows for things he wants. He than began to realize the potential of his power; that he could learn anything from anyone who consumed. If he were to somehow say, eat the body of a powerful demon lord, he could learn how they obtained their powers. But he also knew the futility of trying to kill one himself, and the pointlessness of waiting for it to happen. No, while he certainly planned to use his powers to the fullest, he had to do so in such a way that increased his ability, not simply steal it from others. This simply act of self-improvement would later, and unexpectedly, lay the foundation for his ideals.
Between scouring the fields of battle for the corpses of others to consume the memory and matter of, Damon sought knowledge in text and education. But the underworld was fairly lacking in such things, and to find it was to have it for a great price. Damon sought to escape the underworld and go to the place known as the Surface, where knowledge can be obtained more freely. And after many deals and betrayals, Damon escaped the underworld to the surface. It was only a different type of hell than the one he lived before, but a different life is somethings better than the same one.
Damon initially spent much of his time seeking knowledge in places called "Schools", of for the more pompous, "Academies". Damon was not always invited, but he did his best not to get in the way. He learned that he could not absorb knowledge from books the same way he could from people (That is, eat them), so much of Damon's time was spent reading. He would occasionally watch and learn from others, often on a whim, but found himself attracted to those who, as others would consider them, have "Noble Ideals". To defend the weak and such. Initially Damon dismissed these notions, under the idea that the weak were often used to bolster the strength of others. To defend them instead of defeating them would be a waste of strength. But after much deliberation, Damon realized that once, he was weak. Barely a sentient slime who simply lucked his way into existence, whereas others have fallen for reasons behind their control. Damon found that much of his existence was beyond his control, and this bothered him. He did not like the idea that someone out there with no knowledge of who he was controlled the aspects of his life. And that they did the same for others. Damon wasn't entirely sure what he was getting to with this thought, until one day while traveling to another academy to learn from them, he found what he wanted to fight against.
As Damon was sneaking through the forest, he saw a group of winged humanoids addressing a crowd. The winged humanoids had who Damon recognized as a demon in their clutches, and were going to execute the demon on the charges that it had killed one of their own. However, the crowd seemed tense, as though that they did not want this to happen. Damon did not know the context of what was occurring; he knew that someone was to die. The Winged Humans seem to want vengeance against the demon, but the others did not. And Damon did not sit idly by to allow it to happen; before the blade would struck, Damon emerged from his hiding spot and attached the executioner. He stabbed the winged humanoid repeatedly about the head and shoulders, killing it as the winged humanoids, the demon, and the crowd were caught up in the chaos and confusion. Damon defended himself, slaying two more winged humanoids, before eventually being held back by the demon and taken away from the field of battle.
Damon and the demon than managed to escape the chaos, were Damon learned of what had happened. The Demon was a guardian of a town of humans, who ensures that no other power bothers them, be it demonic or angelic. The group that Damon attacked were angels, who sought to spread their beliefs and influence to the town. The demon warded them off, and when they tried to force their way in, the demon killed one, thinking that it would cause them to flee. Instead, the angels unleashed their power and called for the Chain of Vengeance. Unable to stop their numbers and sudden strength, the demon submitted in hopes that the angels would not harm the townspeople. He was to be executed to satisfy the Chain of Vengeance, but Damon's interruption put a stop to that. But it was not over yet. There were survivors, who surely would now return with greater numbers and a thirst for blood due to killing more of their kind. Were Damon younger, he would have fled and left the town to it's fate. But he had a different idea.
In the end, Damon did manage to leave the town a slightly better place than it was before, though he also took on the mantle of a "Renegade" demon due to slaying the angels who came to enact their Chain of Vengeance. Damon stayed hidden during those times, but when he appeared, it was often when the weak or the poor needed the help of a hero. Knowing that his name would attract those who seek to destroy him, he used an alias: Dark Matter. Using his knowledge and ability, he helped those who he came across, so that they would have the power to chose their own fate instead of having others make one for them against their wishes. Dark Matter did not so much fight for others as much as he had given them the means to fight for themselves. He empowered others, which gave him the feeling of power and a sense of goodness in him. And when it came to pass that he learns that people are abusing the power he gave them, he would return to take it back and punish the abusers. Dark Matter never affected settlements large enough to truly spread his influence, but in the whispers in the shadows, one may hear of the being known as Dark Matter, who may help you when you least expect it.[/hider]
Name: Zeki Glaedwine Alias/Nickname: The Devil's Broker Age: ?? Race: Demon-Possessed human Appearance:
Social Status: Well known business-man in Loom Relations: Allies/nuisance to Crow General Activity: Zeki's a business-man always interested in making new deals, for money, and for the chance to syphon Essence off of anyone whose willing to make a deal. He'll go to great lengths to get whatever is wanted. His main goal seems to make as many deals with new customers as possible. Equipment: Cell phone that never leaves him. He answers the phone religiously; he once answered it while a gang tried mugging him. Cane- Zeki always carries a cane, partly out of fashion, partly as a weapon.... mostly out of fashion. On the bottom of the cane is his insignia, his primary way of stamping in battle. Stamps- A small piece of paper with his insignia on it, he always carries a few in his inner suit pockets. Abilities: Contract Stamp - Zeki generally fights by inserting his own essense into others through the use of insignias that bond with the target's surface. Once that's done, Zeki can use it for a two different options. Generally he uses it to give a power boost to his allies, using his control to increase their magical potency, but when he himself has to fight, he uses it to drain the essence out of his opponent, the insignia starts taking over their essense, and sending it back to him. Whenever an opponent dies with a stamp on him, their essence is transferred back to Zeki. Removing it involves damaging the surface that it's on. Putting it on inanimate object doesn't drain essence, but lets him move the object, within reason. For example, he can't lift overly large objects. Insignia Creation- Holding contact with an individual, Zeki can also create an insignia on them without his cane or stamps. He dislikes doing this, as he sees it as dangerous. Insignia Shot- Aiming the bottom of his cane at an object, Zeki can fire a stamp that, upon hitting imbues itself on his target. Motion thief- An area of about 20 feet that is located around Zeki passively slows down motion of other objects, inverse with how fast it is. Using this technique is very draining, and Zeki can't use it for long. For most people, they only notice a slight decrease of movement, taking a little more energy than normal to go as fast. For very fast combatants, it steals alot of their speed. Very able with cane fighting- Using as little movement as possible, Zeki parries his opponents and attempts to break bones with his cane. He doesn't wildly swing, going instead for counters, and precise strikes. Much experience- Zeki's seen alot of different things in his life, and that's given him insight on a broad amount of history. New technologies still surprise him, but things such as ancient fighting, and tactics, and things of that sort are boring to him. Ancient hand-to-hand doesn't go so well against him. He's more familiar with Hell than Progaia, and knows more about Progaia than the Angel's realm, which he sadly admits he knows little about. Ubiquitous presence- Due to the amount of contracts he's made in Loom, as long as he is in Loom, his essence appears invisible. Insignia (easter egg)-
Personality:Zeki always is looking for something new. While he's often playing around, he often seems bored with events, and only joins in if he claims it caught his attention. He's constantly seeking out something new and innovative, and constantly griping about boredom. He hates having too much free time, as that leads to him getting bored as well, so he keeps himself very busy, never doing the same thing for too long. The only constants in his life are his deals. Zeki often shows up unexpected, and takes a particular liking to harrassing Crow, in the hope of Crow having acquired something new and interesting in his collection. As a businessman, Zeki is straight to the point, and doesn't let his customers wiggle. He knows what they need, and will do whatever it takes to convince them they need it. Any deal that ends with him signing a contract, Zeki often feels was a success. His fellow demons often heckle him about making bad contracts, often getting just enough essense from them to survive, and constantly getting weaker, but Zeki pays them as much mind as he does anything else that bored him. Biography: A long time ago, before Judas's attack, a man was desperate for a cure. He was a businessman who had sought wealth his entire life, before contracting a disease that was destroying him. Doctors couldn't heal him, no amount of magical expertise would help either. He had no family, and was afraid of what awaited him, and of losing his vast wealth. He wanted a little more time to set his affairs in order, and have his wealth secure. In a desperate bid, he contacted a demon, wanting to make a contract with the demon. The demon saw a chance to escape from Hell, and agreed to extend the man's life another 10 years by giving his essense to the man, and afterwards, when the man was dead, his body would be used by the demon. The man agreed, and the demon merged with him. The demon did not expect life out of hell, having interacted with humans, but never having dwelt on the surface. He loved it, and wished all demons could. He slept within the man, and watched his trade, his business, and his life. He became enamored, and when teh contract was up, he kept the life he had watched, he became a businessman himself, using his supernatural powers to deal with those around him. He loved enjoying every new thing, the stimulation of learning what was around him became his purpose in life. He loved it as he lived.... but with the demons immortality, and he kept living. Life became less enthralling to him, things became dull, and he traveled, and then that too became dull. Zeki desperately scrambled for the feeling of newness again, btu could never find it. THe feeling of boredom came, and unbearable feeling, and Zeki quit travelling, the time it took was way too much time to be bored. He settled down, diving to keep himself as busy as he could, and divert the boredom.
Real Name: R. Alice Grim (maiden name is Genno) Age: 217 years old Apparent Age: 27 years old Race: Human
Social Status: None. She used to be an uprising star pupil under Solus Grim's tutelage before she was kidnapped and disappeared off of the grid. None of her friends or family (save for one uncle) are alive anymore. She has no identity nowhere in any form, which makes her an illegal alien crossing borders.
Relations: Being isolated for 200 years in a lighthouse with nobody but ghostly essence beings for company looking to depart to the Void after they get over themselves... tends to destroy most people's relations.
Uncle; Former Caretaker; Teacher. At this point, Ralice no longer remembers her uncle as she used to. The man would constantly be on her mind, but after being abandoned (from her point of view) when he joined a cult, she cut ties with him, emotionally and mentally. It's not that she can't remember, but just chooses not to. She's long realized that sometimes, despite how wonderful things may have been between you and them, you just have to let some people go because their own lives just don't sync with yours and to force that would invite adversity into their souls, and yours.
Teacher; Partner; Lover. No force in Heaven or Hell, or all in between, can separate Ralice from Solus for long. From the moment she first interacted with him, a kernel in the corner of her soul was born, and it has grown rapidly the more she engaged with him. Despite appearances, personality, and life goals, nothing about Solus repulses her, albeit that doesn't mean he can't piss her off. Call it what you want. Love at first sight. Soul marriage. Whatever. It's just her story and she is going to write its ending.
Appearance: White skin, green eyes, dark brown hair with a blond highlight on the ends. She is fairly lithe and limber, shorter than most other women, and has an unusual (sexy) gait that resembles the way a cat saunters across a dark alleyway. She normally wears all black clothing, tight-fitting, with a long coat to conceal her weapons and tools. Upon a closer inspection, her clothing are dark blue, which, contrary to popular opinion, actually works better for night time operation than pure black does.
But unlike Solus, Ralice knows how to dress down to relax and enjoy some time on the couch...
In far more casual settings, she looks like any other ordinary citizen in the modern world. Blouses, dresses, lace, her sense of fashion grows as opportunities present themselves.
Personality: Will demonstrate in IC, but her primary quirks are shown below. -Inane (yes, inane) Determinator -Heavily Buried Heart of Gold -Certified Zero Fucks Giver -Hair Trigger Reactions -Whimsically Mnemonic
Biography: It's complicated.
I'll spare you all the horrifyingly gritty (and boring) fluff and just pump out a rosey handful of sticky need-to-know's. At this point in Essence, there really isn't any public knowledge on Ralice, especially since it's been so long since her youth. Like 20 decades? Oh, and the reason she's such an OLD human despite not having some kind of immortality cliche is simply because an aspect of the Abstract kept her from aging for some purpose in an evil scheme. I dare not utter his name here.
-She was born and raised by her mother and father in Thorpe, a town 1 mile from Loom and near the base of Mt. Jigger and Jiggerbark Forest. Her mother cheated on her father, left with some moustache-twirling merchant because this is fiction, just bear with me. Her father didn't take this kick to the nuts too well and eventually, used his daughter for various unfatherly purposes. When he had enough of her (and a lack of money due to other vices), he sold her to the corrupt madam of the town's seedy brothel.
-Some years pass, and at a questionably young age, Ralice is given over to a depraved noble. Fortunately, her uncle, Peskay Genno, returned from the warfront and discovered the ugliness of Thorpe. Assuming his role as governor and sheriff (a positioned retained by his family), a series of purges commenced. Though this was after he took his niece out of the noble's custody and started raising her on his own.
-Some semblance of normalcy returns to her life under her uncle's care. Unfortunately, demons generally do not give a twisty twitter about human lives, especially a demon trapped in a soul stone. Passed down like a family heirloom from the get-go, the Genno family had been slowly become corrupt, even with Peskay away doing his soldier thing. It tried to destroy what he and Ralice were trying to rebuild, but in the end, depravity consumed them and much ado about lust became a distant, awkward memory.
-More years pass, and Ralice has blossomed into her teenhood, not as fucked as she used to be, but still fairly demented. In her spare time she took to motorcraft, learning how to build and repair them. Otherwise, she aided the town's militia as one of her uncle's officers. It is at this point that the two enter Essence's story, meeting Solus, Hazumi, and a bunch of other oddities as a nefarious flesh construct (the overwhelmingly disgusting HodgePodge) decided to mow down Thorpe on its way to Loom.
-After the victory, Genno and Ralice took Solus to his house to heal there. It was an interesting experience. How was it interesting? Well, there was this kinky red pool... and the rest is too foggy. Anyway! Pree soon after this, Judas Iscariot pops out like a Gainix Ending begging to happen. Everyone goes to fight him at Loom and there was this Sword thing that gave characters GM rights and Solus killed some Illuminati bitches, and Genno joined this stupid ass demon cult. And then people got fellated into the Sword and lots of destruction, wow. So scary. Much sad. Wow. Essence ending.
As for Ralice? She stayed at Solus's house, lazing around in her underwear and mooching on cheetos, bored shitless because the telly only had three channels: static, louder static, and off.
-Then Daddy... that's Solus, by the way... came home and was going to boot her ass out. But then she pulled some womanly antics to get to stay and be his student. Which didn't work. So she begged. That didn't work. Then finally she snapped and Solus just totally slapped her shit, after which there was a small shred of humanity in him that spared her. And then Training from Hell commenced.
Not literally from Hell. That would have been taking it far too easy on her.
-Fast forward some time after Essence Season 1, into the next RP that got curtailed for some reason. Ralice has become Solus's star pupil, and fellow demon hunter. He takes her on a soul-searching string of missions, one of which ends in burning down the old brothel while saving the lives of innocent people infected with HIV.
-Fast forward some more, and this creepy-as-hell demon (but not a demon) aspect of the Abstract named Itzal Slyre (crap, I mentioned his name!) ambushes Solus and Ralice on a mission, winds up pedonapping her, much to Solus's chimeric angst. He's lost his precious student, possible love interest, and continues on, slowly becoming a vessel of eldritch proportions.
-Fast forward (I like that word, don't I?) 200 years into Essence 2 (or 3?) the New Age, and... a series of convoluted evil plots begin, pitting Solus against some unknown badass named Kasuto. His life for Ralice's. That's Slyre's deal.
-It turns out that Slyre took Ralice to a lighthouse and she's been there for those 200 years, during that time, serving as a guide to people who died with mental problems and such. Basically a Ghost Counselor, after which they are ushered to the Abstract. Normally this doesn't happen but Brom (the good side of Slyre) is a nice guy. So Solus ends up getting to visit her, they have much happy, and he vows to save her some way.
What's going to happen then? Stay tuned. Also, Ralice is pregnant with Solus's dirty baby.
● 'Tactical Tats': In her isolation, Ralice developed a new aspect of enchantment. Whether or not it is truly original or new isn't the point. It's just her ninja way.
Inspired by the way the runes carved into the inside of her body works like circuit boards, she figured out how to let simply her fingerprints enchant an object with a specific power. The tattoos are full of information and also serve as channels for her inner essence. This boon is completely tailored to Ralice and does not work with complicated (or new) enchantments without changing the tattoos. It only works for her type of equipment, however, it is possible for her to enchant an object of a new type if she has touched it and if it fits certain qualifications.
1. (Dis-)Assembly: Affects objects that only function due to the unification of multiple small parts, such as with guns, swords, vibrators, etc. Her hands emit a spherical radius that can affect such objects with a yard. Parts beyond this range are pulled towards it slowly (up to 3 yards away) and speed up as it gets closer. The speed at which things can come together is extraordinarily fast, but is based on how she'd do it herself at the time. That means if she's untrained in that weapon assembly, or is sleepily sluggish or drunk, or whatever, then the rate is affected, too. While the parts are fusing together, they phase right through solid matter, organic or otherwise.
The main function of this enchantment is to let her temporarily break her weapons down into parts, hide them on her person, and silently 'summon' them together instantly for use. Contrariwise, the reverse can be useful if caught in a sticky situation, and even enemies using unprotected weapons like her own can be suddenly disarmed with a surplus of parts in their hands if they let her get too close and personal.
2. Spatial Reposition: Affects objects that, if made of small parts, are whole and its design is meant for being held with one or two hands. The object is fixated in place and focuses a point of gravity anywhere on itself, which in turn affects Ralice's center of gravity, as if there were no other gravitational sources. As long as she's holding the object, she can rotate herself in any direction, and the strength with which she can move is equal to how she would be able to move her own body with her own heft.
The main function of this enchantment grants an extra knack to her acrobatics and agility, especially in CQC where she could be disarmed if an enemy took advantage of perceived carelessness on her part. On the other hand, she can unleash some very powerful melee attacks with enough swing that she normally would not get on the ground. This basically adds a whole new dimension of combat for her to master.
3. Garb Grab: Affects objects meant to be worn, such as a shirt, pants, jacket, etc. The objects must be made of some kind of fabric, but things made out of harder material (such as like shoes and zippers) would not work. The point of contact(s) on an affected object randomly tighten and constrain the person wearing. For example, if Ralice touched a person's shoulder area on their shirt, it would randomly tighten and loosen, thus mess up their performance until they've cleaned her fingerprints off. Additionally, the chance for these random 'grabs' increases as the person moves about and generates kinetic energy. If there are multiple points of contact, they act independently of each other.
When Ralice's hands are near one of these points of contact (and she is sensitive to their exact location when close by), she can activate the 'tight' and 'loose' states at will. CLothes will often bear the type of trauma that they are designed for, but Garb Grab strongly tests these limits in ways the designers didn't think of. It is thus very likely for Ralice to completely rip off someone's clothing with a single, determined yank. On the other hand, personal use at home sees her going through a lot of pants because at the end of a long day, she can't be assed to take them off like a normal human being would.
● 'Handguns': Her brand of handguns changes frequently based on her mission and mood. For the most part, she carries four of them; two in holsters, and the other two hidden unassembled somewhere on her body. She carries 2 extra magazines per firearm and each one usually carries 6 to 14 bullets.
● 'Shotguns': Ralice's love for shotguns knows no bounds. She regularly carries at least 1 hidden unassembled in her clothes somewhere. When she needs an extra punch that her handguns can't deliver, she often tricks her opponent into coming closer, cornering her as she feigns helplessness. Then all of a sudden, they're sucking pellets right into their mouths.
● 'Sniper Rifles': Every now and then, a mission calls for some long-distance fighting, much to her distaste. Ralice relishes in CQC, but has seen the sense in sniping a target so as to avoid disadvantageous situations. Movies would have you believe the lone sniper takes his time, carries his weapon in a case, and slowly, romantically assembles everything together before the final squeeze comes. Not Ralice. She is more prone to moving about, coming in close mid-range, and assembling the longer reaching weapon as needed, then putting it away just as quickly.
● 'Runic Riposte': Ralice has a large set of runes carved inside of her body, on all of her bones, organs, tissues, etc. They were meant to turn her into a demon's host that could not fight back, but things turned out well for her in the end. Now the runes are employed to give her the ability to absorb magical spells that are directed at her and launch them back at the caster at twice the speed and intensity. Although she suffers no negative effects from any of the spells' intentions, she still has to endure an almost debilitating amount of pain while she channels the power. There is no limit to how many times she can do this, but the more she does uses this ability without giving her body time to rest, the harder it is for her to recover from the riposte.
● 'Field Scan': A very simple analysis spell that requires a cessation of movement as it quietly and efficiently draws in all information in the surrounding environment, using the castor as a focal point. The amount of time Ralice spends casting the spell determines the range and how much data she gets. In other words, a 10 second spell, when compared to a 5 second spell, will have covered more range and gathered more data. The spell also computes all of the figures gathered into an easy-to-understand mental layout in Ralice's mind, but it is still up to her to determine what is the best course of action based on the results. After the spell ends, the analysis results become applied to her senses for half the time she had spent gathering the info. This means that the data gathered stays updated while she acts out her plan. Unfortunately, having to both act and possibly make re-decisions on the fly greatly penalizes ANY of her actions chances to succeed.
● 'Dispel': One of the most basic counter spells that has an edge against active magic. It can be utilized in a number of different ways, depending on how Ralice wants to proceed. The first way is to simply cast the spell on an area and either wipe out magical effects, or contest the magical effects if it has a source supplying it. Her ability to use this spell is unnaturally strong, but she does not have the magical dexterity to differentiate between positive or negative magical effects on her allies and enemies. A second way is to cast it with a preemptive intention, whether as a shield that wards off magical attacks as they make contact with her or as a carefully laid trap that is sprung as soon as someone casts a spell in its area of effect. No matter how she chooses to casts the Dispel, after she gives up some of her essence (blood, skin, hair, etc.) to cast it, any effort to maintain it saps her stamina greatly. Her Dispels last forever once cast, but no matter the distance, they will tax her body. And at any given moment, if an opposing magical force is too much for any of her Dispels, she can choose to eliminate them to save herself.
Appearance Short and slim, with just the right amount of curve in her hips and chest. Long, black hair that stops just at the bottom of her bottom. Brown eyes so light they're golden, and often rather lifeless looking. She has a preference for dark, rich colored clothing. Skimpy sometimes, but mostly just anything she feels shows off her body. Or being nude, that's a preferred option, really.
Social Status Not quite on top, but starting to near it. She likes positions of power, and knows how to work them, but feels no need to be in charge of everything.
Relations *Every five or ten years she gets a new human minion to worship at her feet. Currently it's a very handsome man in his early thirties named Bryce. *She's got a nice 'working' relationship with Darius. Mutual beneficial to the both of them.
General Activity For the first hundred years or so she spent traveling about. The last hundred or so has been a little more stable. She tries to avoid doing work if at all possible.
Abilities Subtlety is, surprisingly, more her style when it comes to use of her abilities. Keeping the darker parts of her on low profile has enabled her survival for a long time and she isn't about to give that up with a flashy show. Or telling everyone exactly everything that she can do.
Mind reading Only surface thoughts, for the most part. But if someones mental state is compromised enough (say drunk or the like) the deeper delving can occur, though still not the whole of the mind is available to her. Deeper delving can be noticed, and is often the case, and those of strong enough mind can prevent her from gaining too much information or misdirecting her.
Vision constructs Along with being able to read someones mind, she's able to cast hallucination into peoples mind. Only those strong enough of will can see through them.
Induced Euphoria Can make a person feel happy, and conversely sad. Affects are only temporary, sometimes lasting between an hour to ten at the most depending on closeness to Masha and if she continues. It's basically like getting really intoxicated, but without the nasty side effects.
Equipment *Like her humans, she has a rotation of cats as well. Though the cats she actually cares for, unlike some of her human companions. These she'll keep until they die of old age. At the moment, she currently has a slim little tabby Jack who she's had about three years now. *A small assortment of mortal run business that she just pretty much uses for the income of them. As well as a few homes/apartment complexes as well.
Personality Masha has a really hard time forming stable relationship, especially ones that don’t benefit her in anyway. She’s narcissistic, ego-maniacal, and cruel to a fault. Her normally lackluster eyes will spark to life if something awful for someone else is soon to happen. She’s sadistic to and extreme taking almost pleasure from the pain that she inflicts on others though she she has to really like you to do it herself, instead she uses other people to do it and sits back to watch as her victims are tortured.
Biography Masha was born in New York, New York in September 1903 to immigrants from Russia and Lithuania. She was the third child and only daughter, her middle brother died in early childhood, her mother when she was five, and finally her older brother when she was a teenager. Her father basically all but legally adopted her brother's best friend Sergei at that point and made it rather blatant that he thought that Masha should end up with him at some point.
Personal life choices, which she isn't very inclined to talk about very much, lead to a life full of addiction. Alcohol, drugs of varying sorts (though her preferences were always for opiates), sex, and the hint of violence (to others).
In the fall of 1927, just after her twenty-fourth birthday, she met a very charming older man who altered her life drastically. Before morning, she found herself no longer mortal and instead, very happily a vampire. Masha spent the next seventy years or so with Sergei, travelling and getting to know the new world she'd found herself in, until he died of old age in his eighties.
In the late 90s, she finally decided it was time to settle down at least a bit more permanently. She went about establishing business that she was more directly in control of than she'd previously been, including a true speakeasy and a small clothing boutique. This lead to needing more help than she was used to needing and a mutually beneficial partnership was formed between her and one very foxy demon.
On the generally whole though, Masha keeps to herself. Because unless there's something in it for her, she's not normally interested in jumping in to help someone. But she will, even if it's for a future favor. She likes having people indebted to her after all.
For the last thirty years or so she's been working in Crow's organization.
Age: Apparent: 22 Actual: He was alive before the First Great War.
Race: Original Angel.
Appearance: Face:
Armor(helmet long gone): [img=http://essence-of-the-world.weebly.com/uploads/1/9/8/0/19808675/4387934_orig.jpg] His wingspan is 17 feet long, and his wings are primarily black with clusters of white feathers left. Social Status: Renegade. Pretty much everyone wants him dead. Relations: Everyone who didn’t want to kill him is probably dead.
General Activity: Search for the remaining members of the Angelic Council, and kill them. Kill any Demons he finds along the way as well, along with any anything that tries to stop him.
Abilities: As an Original Angel, Lucien possessed more than one power. However, due to the Demonic Virus inside of him, he’s limited to a very powerful, but also Archaic, form of Battle Angel. He has complete and utter control of his body, able to turn anything, even a drop of blood, into a weapon, and heal himself in a matter of minutes or seconds, depending on the severity of wound. Provided that the wound isn’t instantly fatal and he’s conscious enough to do so. Also, he can’t grow new limbs.
Equipment: His sword. His armor. That’s about it.
Personality: Will show IC
Biography:
Lucien was born during a time when Angels were immortal (in the elven sense. You know could still be murdered, but didn’t age beyond a certain point.), and they were at an uneasy peace with Demons. He was alive when things turned to war, and he is one of the few survivors of the Great War. The reason he hates and hunts down the Council, or the Cowards, as he calls them, is simple. They tested their Demonic virus, supposed to give the Angels and edge of the Demons, on his daughter. It did the opposite. Weakened her, and turned her wings black. And when the Demons were at the gate, getting ready to break in, the Council needed a scapegoat. Lucien’s daughter was used. ‘Her wings turned black because she betrayed us and let the monstrosity at the Gate in!’ they claimed. And the other Angels believed them. They executed her without a trial, right in front of a restrained Lucien. Before Lucien could do more than scream, the Demons broke down the gate. In the Chaos, Lucien killed his daughter’s executioner, before being forced to flee with the rest of the Angels to the Surface. There, the Council decided to set themselves up as minor Gods.
Lucien was imprisoned in Onyx as soon as they could come up with an excuse. In this case, he wiped out a small human city fighting a Demon.
In the hundreds of years that followed, Lucien very nearly went insane. Luckily, they let him out before that happened. Hell’s gate was breaking, and they needed everyone who could wield a sword. Even him. To ensure he didn’t do anything stupid, they promised to kill his daughter (or, her reincarnation) if he did anything they didn’t like. That plan was shot, however, when all hell broke loose. Lucien started killing Council members.
This has been going on for two hundred years. There are still more Council members left alive. And even now,he’s being hunted by anyone who wants to make a name for themselves, or punish the Renegade.
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Name: Mary
Alias/Nickname: N/A
Age: Apparent: 18 Actual: 218
Race: Human
Appearance: Five foot 4 inches, eyes are a solid black orbs. There are various scars over her body, some seeming random, others seeming disturbingly purposeful. Oddly enough, they never go above her collarbone.
Social Status: Apprentice to *insert Merlin’s character’s name here*
Relations: Everyone she knew is dead. She’s currently an apprentice under Lazarus.
General Activity: Study under Lazarus.
Abilities: While this ability is not Mary’s own, it deserves mention. Mary has been bonded with a creature, known as the Abyss. This creature consumes the souls of any Angel, Human, or Demon that dies with in a mile radius of Mary. The radius is increased with each consumption.
Equipment: TBD
Personality: Will Show IC.
Biography:
Before being dragged, kicking and screaming, into a world of Demons and Angels, monsters and magic, Mary was a simple college freshman. She was learning to become a small animal veterinarian. Of course, that all changed when she was kidnapped on her way to visit her parents (divorced, both single). Because Mary had attracted the attention of a Demon Lord known as ‘Sir’, he sent two of those who serve him to capture her and bring her to him. Why she was chosen, she doesn’t know. But that matters little when you’ve been kidnapped by two vampires. When the two got in an argument and subsequent fight, Mary managed to escape.
She ran away, only to run into another vampire, an angel, and a human with a rather nasty sword. Long story short, her captors tried to take her back. They were killed violently by the vampire and the human, much to Mary’s horror. However, she was far from being safe. An ascended werewolf arrived, managed to implant Mary with the Abyss, before being killed by Solus, who had killed the werewolf’s partner and then followed the werewolf.
Longer story short, the Abyss was contained inside of her mind by Solus, at the expense of nearly driving Mary insane and assuredly driving the Abyss insane. Mary was then supposed to leave through a magical portal (Mary in no state of mind to question exactly how that worked), and be relatively safe in Scotland. Only it didn’t work that way. Mary and her protector were separated, her own portal got hijacked, and rather than going to Scotland, she was dumped straight into Sir’s hands.
What followed was two centuries of experimentation, with Mary mercifully comatose and kept alive (if immortal) in a figurative cocoon of spells. During these two centuries, Sir managed to remove the old Abyss (mental trap and all), and add a new one. One more…kind, to it’s host. When Sir decided Mary was ready for ‘field testing’ he released her and woke her up in the ruins of what had been Loom, where she was found by Lazarus, a week ago.
Alias/Nickname: The Last Gatekeeper. Keeper of the Balance.
Age: Apparent: 24 Actual: She was ‘born’ around the same time humans were created.
Race: Gatekeeper.
Appearance:
Human form:
Stands at 5ft 8in, Green eyes.
Demon:
Angel:
She shrinks down to 5ft 3in in this form, with the same colored eyes, with three rings (Grey, Red, and a pearl) on her right hand.
Social Status: Well known to some, unknown to others, hated by some…its complicated.
Relations: Most people who actually knew her are dead. Those who can recognize her may hate her, like her, or not care, depending on their feelings about what she did to the Essence of the World.
General Activity: Explore the world.
Abilities: General Form change-Luciana can change between any of her three forms, as it suits her. Sixth Sense- Luciana can sense humans, chimeras, demons, and angels in a 10 foot radius. Human
Resilient-She’s more resilient to damage. Things that would kill a normal human being don’t.
Demon
Insubstantial- In this form, Luciana isn’t a single demon, but rather hundreds of thousands of tiny ones, all controlled by a hive mind of glowing blue ones. Her form can change, split into many forms, grow short and squat, or tall and skinny, or make weapons of herself, at her whim.
Sharpen- The demons in an area combine all of their claws and mandibles into something that can actually do damage and be used as a weapon.
Consume- The demons swarm an object, devouring it. Flesh and muscle take seconds, bone takes half a minute, stone takes a minute, steel and above take several minutes to hours, depending on what the substance is.
Angel
Summon- Luciana summons one of three individuals in this form.
Human(grey jewel):
Richard- A human who took the arrival of Demons(two hundred years ago) badly, losing much of his sanity. Richard believes he's on a mission from God to strike down every fiend of Hell he finds. This includes Humans with even a hint of Demonic taint in them. He killed most of the Gospel 'heathens' he finds as well, because they strike down Angels. The Angels being servants of Heaven, and thus, God. He spotted Luciana in her Hellion form, and tried to kill her. Luciana didn't appreciate that, and he didn't seem placated when she turned to her Angel form. However, she didn't want to kill him. Thus, Richard was dominated and captured.
Powers: Despite his madness, Richard does possess real power. It's mostly a magical resistance and a remarkable ability to see through illusions, but he can imbue his shield with 'holy' energy, blocking most magical damage done to it. And, obviously, extended life. He can imbue his limbs with that same energy, making him a match for any Hellion. His weapon is the last thing he imbues, slipping through most magical shielding and armor with ease.
Angel(Pearl):
Ezekiel- Ezekiel was once a loyal Battle Angel to the Council, serving it the best of his ability, even when the Hordes of Hell came to Loom and Angels were dying all around them. He still believed in their leadership, even fighting off the infamous Kinslayer to protect the trio he had attached himself to when Loom fell and they were all scattered. He believed in them even when he threw himself at a Demon had very little chance of beating and surviving. The Council had to survive. So he fought this demon. Nearly died, but he killed it. But the Demon had to get it's last laugh. It cursed him with petrification(much like the human myth Medusa). The Demon died before the curse could be completed, so Ezekiel became a living statue. Without the Council members to guide him(Them having ran far away to survive), he wandered. And he found the Keeper of the Balance. The Council painted her as evil incarnate, so Ezekiel attacked her. Luciana didn't want to waste time killing him, so she dominated and captured him.
Powers: As a living statue, Ezekiel is natural more resistant to damage than others. His strength and speed and flight ability are undiminished as well. However, his repairing as a Battle Angel is slightly...different. Rather than be like most Angels, he has to put together the chunks and pieces of himself he loses. As long as he has pieces of him that are more than just dust, he can put himself back together.
Demon(red jewel)-
Rachel- Rachel came to the Surface after the Gate was so thoughtfully broken down by that mad human, Judas. She just wanted to see what it was like, really. What she found was the structured chaos of humans, sprawling all over the surface of the planet. She just found pure chaos as the forces of Heaven and Hell fought, and Judas made a little army all of his own while another human tried to stop him. She didn't care. What she did care about, however, was all the free meals running about. Humans are such emotional creatures...and when emotions failed, she could always drain their life force. Various emotions powered her spells, and life force was just pure energy. It was a perfect situation for her. Until that inquisitive bitch The Keeper came poking around, finding her in the center of a settlement that seemed to be drained of emotion. Before she could even offer an explanation, Rachel was dominated and trapped in that damn ring.
Powers: As stated above, Rachel feeds on emotions. And, when those are in drained, the life force of whatever her tendrils are touching. She can drain someone's anger, lust, hate, happiness, whatever the emotion is, she can make it disappear, consuming it. When she has turned her victims into emotional husks, she wraps a tendril around them, draining them into literal husks. She uses the emotions to power her spells. Naturally,different emotions power different spells. Anger, for example, powers offensive spells, while Love powers defensive spells. Her tendrils can be used as weapons, in a pinch, and if she has enough time she can drain the life force from someone. If they're unsuspecting..or just don't care.
Equipment: Her twelve string silver harp which has only five actual magical abilities. Shockwave: By dragging her fingers across the strings, Luciana can send out a shockwave to send anyone too close flying back. Dissipates after 6 feet. Shield: By playing this tune, Luciana creates a magical shield. By slightly changing the tune she can change it’s form. Dome, small shield, large, etc. The longer she plays the stronger it gets. Calm: By playing this tune, anyone who hears it loses any aggressive emotion. And calms down. Of course, the emotions could come straight back when they can’t hear it anymore. Combine: Luciana creates a golem to fight for her out of whatever materials happen to be around. Earth, water, cars, trash cans. Whatever works.
Heal: Luciana plays this tune, and can heal wounds. Obviously, the worse the wounds, the longer she plays.
Personality: Will show IC
Biography:
Luciana knows five things about herself. 1. Her name is Luciana. 2,3,4. She should be dead. Once for each form. 5. She can play a harp she’s never seen before remarkably well.
Other than that, all Luciana knows about herself is waking up in the ruins of a city, all but a few memories gone.
Now, while Luciana knows almost nothing about herself, the rest of the world knows quite a bit. She was the Gatekeeper for the humans, one of three powerful individuals, tasked with keeping the Essence of the World safe, and keeping the worlds from intermingling. Obviously, during the first Great War, that failed, as Heaven’s Gatekeeper was killed, and the Angels were forced to live in the Surface. Luciana tried to force them back into Heaven for years, attempting to restore balance. She failed in that too.
Things only got worse when Judas got his hands on the Essence of the world. Thus, Luciana was forced to fight against increasingly impossible odds, to try and get to the Essence before someone as bad as or worse(if that was even possible) than Judas got their hands on it. The war happened. Hundreds of thousands died. Luciana kept pushing. Eventually, they reached Judas, and killed him. Unfortunately, the Essence was corrupted by Judas’ constant meddling and foul presence. Any hope of returning the worlds to what they had been was gone. But, she could create a new balance. Give humanity a bigger fighting chance in what was to follow. Luciana convinced the Essence to disperse, but not without a cost. The Essence was made from the essences of two Gatekeepers. A third was needed to give it enough power to disperse. Her race wasn’t needed anymore. She was a relic of an old, dead Era. So she did what was needed. She sacrificed herself and helped uplift humanity. That was two hundred years ago. She’s supposed to be dead and gone, forgotten.