Name: Atlas
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Appearance: Standing tall at 6'5", and weighing around 250 lbs, Atlas's brawn was forged from years of constant fighting and surviving as both a mercenary, and later on as a raiding commander. His hair is the color of tempered fire and long, typically disheveled and hanging past his shoulders, although when tidy and clean it is voluminous yet delicately straight. It serves as a warm frame for his cold angular features and pale skin marred with pink scars, the most notable being a horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose, and three downward disfiguring jags extending from his left cheek and down to his neck, stopping right above his jugular. His eyes, when they had color, were a lifeless emerald, but now he wears a sea blue sash inscribed with magical sigilia since he lost his vision.
His body is entirely muscle and also riddled with scars, when it can be seen. Atlas's armor, unique to him, was specifically designed by D'Cerf's renowned blacksmiths to suit his particular fighting style. His obsidian shoulder plates are layered six deep for each arm, and concave in an arch so that they form protection all the way to the ends of his bulky triceps, the layering allowing for maneuverability. He also dawns a thick midnight black cloak that extends to the back of his thighs. These attach to an earth gray concave breastplate made from finely refined steel, cut diagonally by a leather utility belt fit with six throwing knives clasped from his right shoulder plate to his reinforced leather belt/groin protector also adorned with three more utility pouches carrying miscellaneous items useful on the field of battle. His arms are unfettered by armor save the obsidian plated elbow to hand guard on his left, used for leveraging his weapon and deflecting incoming attacks, and his right hand is almost always bandaged up for grip on his blade. His legs are scantly protected, the knees down covered by his steel greaves worn over breathable hemp trousers.
Reference for ArmorRole: Raider Commander/ Vincent's Body Guard
Interests: Atlas has only one real interest: fighting. He's been doing it since a young age, and its developed his uncanny reflexes and absurd strength and remarkable will to survive. This being said, he is not fond of a slaughter, rather he seeks a strong opponent he can unleash his ferocity upon. He trains obsessively in between his duties. However he is not just a meat head, he understands the shadowy treachery of politics. and the subtle flows of battle and where to apply his tactical prowess.
Skills: Fearsome in battle, Atlas is quite known for his ferocity and blood lust on the battlefield. There are few battalions that could maintain morale after seeing him cleave the legs off a horse with his over sized blade. Being brought up basically on the battlefield since the young age of six, Atlas was fighting with adult sized equipment when he was younger, which caused him to become accustomed to blades larger than himself. At first physically impossible, he now has titanic strength which he utilizes to wield a
massive blade capable of cutting a man clean in half. His speed, reflexes, and instinct are as equally impressive which means he can't be easily taken off guard. Also, during times of warfare, he picked up other skills from his various comrades, aiding his versatility, skills such as; knife throwing, basic herbology,swimming, archery, pick pocketing, and some pyrotechnics. Elevating to Raider Commander introduced him to tactical thinking and a familiarity with the depths of combative magic and how to economically make them effective with regular combat. Since he lost his vision he has also been able to "see" everything around him, elevating his regular senses and developing a sort of sixth sense which can detect anything from magical energies/auras to hearing faint pulses beating in the lurking shadows.
Sixth Sense: This ability allows him to sense magical energy and magical auras present in souls and spirits. The magic essence of the world provide the "haze" which he can now see. He has learned to capture these sensations and become familiar with them, even coming to the point of detecting colors unique to a spirit or soul. There is a limit to this. Solid states of matter become opaque points in his "vision", haze that he cannot see past. Gases, liquids, and living beings provide the transparent haze which he can look beyond, and pure magical energy being accumulated in the act of spellcasting would be the most visible, and depending on the power of the spell, could sometimes even be detectable through a wall. Also, many bodies casting spells in a close proximity could cause a cacophony, making it hard for him to distinguish what's what and whom is where. Besides colors in spirits and souls, all other magic perceived operate in a monochromatic scale.
Schradinger
And for the range, the haze kind of imposes its own limits. If someone was far enough away, they would be indistinguishable from the "background" magic of the world around them, and being unable to see most magic through solid objects would also impose its own range restriction. I think the biggest thing that would make it potentially OP would be the ability to see through walls at will, so once you take that out and refine it down to the core of what you want, it becomes an acceptable ability as far as I'm concerned.
That's my idea, yes. :) Though to put it even more simply, matter (or even more specifically the magic it contains) imposes haze, rather than distance. Gases impose the least amount of haze, liquids somewhat moreso, and solids become almost entirely opaque. If he were looking through a vacuum devoid of any matter or magic, his vision would be crystal clear for as far as that vacuum went. Or if an object were somehow made devoid of magic, he would see through it as if it wasn't there. Does that make more sense? My hope is that by explaining it that way it will have a good enough base that all the strengths and weaknesses won't have to be completely explained, but can still be extrapolated fairly easily based on how the ability itself functions.
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Nemaisare
If you want to include the colours, Milieu, while I quite like the monochrome idea of Schradinger, actually, that whole concept is nice. If you like the colours, it'd be a pretty simple step to go from monchromatic to giving each magical presence a shade of colour. If I'm reading things rightly, the haze of magic is kind of like a mist/light/sensation, however Atlas would be sensing it. And mist and light can be quite colourful. It'd probably be a more subtle thing, and kind of an only out of the corner of his eye(or at the edge of his awareness, fleeting and gone if he focuses on it). So it could make perfect sense to sneak colour in that way, and have him slowly working his way towards learning how to 'see' the colours and understand them, from what started out as monochromatic.
Although he himself doesn't practice or study magic, he does know the activation phrases to the runes inscribed upon the sash across his eyes. There are three with distinct functionality;
Rune of the Seer's Enlightenment: This rune will immediately reverse the effects of a hex or curse afflicting Atlas's mind or body. The drawback to this is that he is more susceptible to elemental magics for a time.
Rune of the Seer's Vengeance: This rune gives Atlas an even higher threshold for pain. He enters a berserk state which augments both his strength and speed by inhibiting the limits of his own muscles. The drawback to this is that his body could suffer permanent injury from the stress it causes, and even cause death.
Rune of the Seer's Grace: Invokes healing magic to hasten regeneration of damaged tissue and broken limbs, and has the capacity to bring one back from the brink of death. The drawback being that the user has to enter a comatose state until the healing is done.
NOTE: Each sigil has the magic of the one who inscribed them stored within, and they are only good for a one time use.
Personality: Atlas has changed over the years, although the core of his personality has always remained the same. From a young age he was flippant and unrefined, speaking his mind with remarkable bluntness even in the presence of the Nobles who had hired him for his services. He used to take pride in being an instigator, challenging opponents fearlessly, or even recklessly. This caused him to get into a few scraps that almost ended his life. However, Atlas has always had a remarkable and indomitable will, that has maintained its composure through even the most grim of situations. It's a love for the dance with death that is the root of all his predilections, although since he's become a witch comfortable among the ranks of the D'Cerf, and especially since he lost his vision, he is more reserved, gentle, and quiet. His ability to speak his mind plainly is always present along with the bottled up blood lust waiting to surface. It is this repressed want for combat that makes him seem like a beast underneath his composed exterior.
Biography:
From the early age of six, with no parents, no home, he was forcibly conscripted into military service for one of the smaller covens during a power squabble. He was at first, merely a decoy, a disposable soldier the coven was hoping to utilize and not pay. Ironically, his small size saved his life, and caused a lieutenant to take notice of his sheer luck. From then he was equipped with a long sword picked up from an enemy corpse, although too big for him to wield effectively, he trained everyday with it. From decoy to messenger, Atlas scampered across the field avoiding incoming arrows and fireballs to deliver orders and messages to the ranks within. By the age of nine Atlas was rooted in the life of a mercenary, surviving each battle, and forever training with a blade too big for him to effectively wield. Lieutenant Gatts had taken the boy under his wing, keeping a watchful eye and even sometimes ensuring Atlas's survival. He could sense something underneath the boy's thin lanky frame, something that not even the bloodshed and death on the battlefield could break.
At the age of eleven he gained a position in the Vanguard in Gatts' battalion. There was a particular battle in which Gatts had sacrificed himself for Atlas, sheltering the boy from a wave of flames blasted at him by enemy witches. The roasting human shield told Atlas to survive, to keep fighting. Atlas picked up his friend's claymore and used it to cleave the witches to bloody pieces.
Travelling from battlefield to battlefield, training with bigger and better swords, his fighting technique began paying off as Atlas hit puberty and grew into the towering adult he is today. He honed his skills as he kept surviving, and kept killing. Each company of witches he found temporary residence among, he managed to make unique and endearing friends along the way. There was Lestrade, who's precision was unmatched by anyone in all the covens with a throwing knife. He could hit a rabbit between the eyes from 50 yards with one eye closed. Lestrade met his end battling against a horde of hungry zombies.
Then there was Elise, an amateur aquamancer who, besides knowing how to manipulate the properties of water with magic, taught Atlas how to swim in deep lakes. She espoused it was important, and that in the future, swimming would be as common as knowing magic. Impaled on a lance, she died from friendly fire after she created a fog from the morning dew to enshroud the battlefield, giving their forces a tactical advantage.
Neferty was an odd fellow who knew how to combine powders and magical residues to create small explosives and fireworks. He said that once he was done with fighting in these wars he would go into business, creating a whole host of theatrical displays for covens and their crowds to marvel at. Neferty sought to get so rich, he'd be able to settle down with maybe, two or three wives, and dozens of kids. His life force was snuffed out by a group of bandit pyromancers whom attacked their company under the employ of the enemy.
Atlas continued to roam and fight until he was 21, finding permanent employ and patronage among the D'Cerf coven when their raiding unit had tried to rustle some money out of him after an excursion to do the same thing to another coven. Easily dropping three of their best men, the raiding commander took the opportunity to make up for his losses, recognizing the strength Atlas wielded and the way he used his giant blade to defend against magics and deliver devastating blows. Atlas accepted the invitation, because he was never before offered a place within a coven, and the D'Cerf were the most powerful and stable within the land. Their army, the Ebon Enders was the most reputable in the realm, and their Raiding regiment was always active. He was also curious about the mysterious occult embroiled in the deeper magics unknown to even the most studious of scholars. This curiosity eventually led to devotion for his new found family, and he enjoyed his position among the raiders, riding out with diplomats to secure tax "donations". When the diplomats were refused, Atlas always made sure to clean out the coffers by force. It was fun, and directly engaging in the coven power play introduced him to some worthier opponents.
Particularly, Atlas enjoyed the friendship of an old seer who was well known at Castle Moonshearth for her abilities in clairvoyance and specialty in runic engravings. Madame Castilly and Atlas became close friends. He never sought her for her readings or magics, simply her batty wit and blunt sincerity. It was something he could relate to when the pontificating and rhetoric became distasteful.
At the age of 27 Atlas took over the title of Raider Commander when the previous commander elevated his own status to the Noble House. The next year was when Atlas lost his vision. During a raiding excursion that was diplomatically unsuccessful due to the emerging internal strife within the D'Cerf which other covens saw as a rare opportunity to advance their own dominance, Atlas and his raiders took a coven's castle by storm, plundering their coffers. That was when he was hit with a curse of blindness during their retreat, and he wasn't able to reach a healer fast enough.
The vision loss became permanent, but over time, with the help of Madame Castilly, he found that his other senses had improved, and he even gained a sixth sense which could detect the magical essence permeating his surroundings. This was particularly useful.
When he turned 30, that was the day Madame Castilly had died. The loss was terrible for Atlas, and further mystified by the way she spoke during the days leading to her death. She told him of the times to come, of the changing tides threatening to drown the D'Cerf in their own blood and folly. Her dying frame had even seemingly channeled the soul of his long deceased friend Gatts. She told him to survive, to keep fighting. She gifted him with a sash to cover his lifeless pale eyes, engraved with runes she told him he would need in the coming days. "Beware of the Crimson V", another eerie message foretelling the arrival of Vilicus.
He continued to train after her death, continued to keep his skills and senses sharp, her warning replaying over and over in his mind. Raiding became obsolete as the splintered factions couldn't take decisive action out of fear of the changing times. He was "elevated" to a simple bodyguard, becoming even more familiar with the politics that he loathed so much. Swinging his sword was simple, dismembering a man was straightforward, but this incessant pandering for favor, and rhetorical jargon he couldn't stomach. What Atlas didn't want, was the memories he forged with Madame Castilly and other friends in these halls to be torn asunder by some foreign force.
And on the day that they marched in, their flags emblazoned with a crimson "V" sigil, their leader concretely relaying a threat through the guise of peace and unification, that was the day that Atlas decided upon his convictions. His blood boiled, his frame shook, the inner beast without eyes thirsted.
He wanted that man's head.
