[CHAR] The Soil of a Man's Heart (Edrik Pedrone Vs. Shashous-Throth)

[Doc Doctor]

Shashous-Throth

Full Name: Shashous-Throth

Nickames/Alias/AKA: The Magna Pater, Salmu Pulhu (Sumerian)

Age: 1,707

Gender: Male

Race: Primeval Vampire

Lifespan: As long as it can continue drinking blood. It doesn't age when it sleeps for years in-between large meals.

Appearance: A piebald monstrosity with slime slicked flesh and no hind legs. Its only limbs are two long, winged arms and a powerful tail. It has four claws on each forepaw, with the middle one being eight inches long and capable of slicing through muscle like tissue paper. The beast's head is mostly a jagged maw with oily, unseeing eyes on top. It has a sharp, hollow tongue which can extend three feet from its mouth and act as a siphon to suck in blood. From snout to tail base, it is a little less than eight feet long. The tail is twelve feet. It weighs in at about six-hundred pounds, as much as a tiger.



Abilities

~Limited flight. Due to its wingspan and body weight, it can only fly for a maximum distance of ninety meters and remain aloft for little more than a half minute.

~Tremendous strength and speed.

~Keen hearing and sonar. It's echolocation has a maximum distance of 6,700 meters and can detect objects moving at half the speed of sound. Anything faster than subsonic it can detect via air pressure gradient.

~Heat pits: Can detect the heat of organisms.

~Tongue: Can draw in blood through a wound like a vaccuum. It can also squirt or spray blood and bile. The bile is not acidic.

~Can squeeze into any opening that it can fit its head through.

~Capable of entering a state of metabolic stasis which can last for decades. It retains spatial awareness during this "hibernation" and can awaken at will.

~Sense of smell: It can track down others thousands of kilometers away just by smelling them on the clothing of its prey.

~Intelligence: Is far more clever that it looks. Can grasp (but not speak) all languages.

~Can quickly regenerate from wounds by consuming blood and flesh. The amount of mass healed is proportionate to how much is consumed, I.E one pound of food to replace one pound of damaged tissue.

~The membrane of its wings is tougher than Kevlar.
~Its body mucous and saliva contains anticoagulant, cytotoxic, and bufotoxic properties. Those whom it bites or claws will suffer gradual necrosis, unstoppable bleeding, and fast-acting, nightmarish hallucinations.
The speed at which the bufotoxins take effect depends on how close the wound is to the head, ranging from several minutes to several seconds. It is immune to its own toxins.
The mucous functions also to mask its scent.

~De Vermis Mysteriis: It may use its "true eyes" by shutting down its other senses. Those who see the "true eyes" will, each time they go to sleep, enter a trance and begin moving in the direction of Shashous-Throth, wherever it may be. They will awaken at the time they normally would, such as a few minutes for a nap and several hours for deep sleep. It is a passive curse that has no immediate negative effects unless the victim is entirely under the influence of the Magna Pater's hallucinogens, in which case the victim will immediately lose their mind from fright. If the bufotoxins haven't taken full effect then the victim will feel an intense fear which escalates in accordance to the strength of the already terrifying hallucinations. Looking into its "true eyes" for too long can result in the victim's body becoming riddled with cancer at a later period in time, I.E developing prostate and skin cancer two years after the encounter. It takes roughly several seconds of eye-to-eye contact (does not have to be constant) before the dormant cancer cells begin taking root.


(A lesser, juvenile vampire)

Behavior: Shashous-Throth is what one would first think of when the word "monster" comes to you in the dead of night. It makes no noise, has no mercy, cannot be reasoned with, and lives only to drain the blood and devour the flesh of all living things it can bind within its greasy wings. It enjoys all manner of prey and is especially inclined to go out of its way to find children. But it is shy, and it despises the light. Shashous-Throth prefers to remain in damp pitch-blackness, where no eyes can spy it and no light can fall upon it. When outside of its primary lair it lurks around graveyards, occasionally squirming through the wormy soil to feast upon the dead and decaying when no live meat is available. It will frequently impregnate victims with its brood, keeping them alive for many months until its malformed young emerge. It will eat both the victim and the young, doing these things not for food but to purposefully inflict prolonged torment. The few who come into contact with it and live may never be the same as they had been before, for above all else it is a creature of persistence. Even if one leaves the Magna Pater, it will never leave them. A variety of lifelong physical complications and psychological ailments can stem from a meeting with it and it never stops pursuing its prey, even if they move far away. It will also track down any living thing that leaves its scent on a victim. This leads to the Magna Pater consuming the families of those it hunts, along with anyone those families had come into recent physical contact with. Though one may travel often and abroad, once the Magna Pater has chosen a victim their fate is inevitable. It could take days, weeks, months, even years, but eventually on some cold and moonless evening one will awaken to see a sticky face with dead eyes peering through their bedroom window.

History: Once in a millennium is a creature born into this world, a living horror known as the "Magna Pater". The prodigal ancestor, the true genesis, the harbinger of loss, ancient and terrible. Only one has ever lived at a time, for it is greedy and does not abide its own kind, but always has one lived. In Sumeria it was worshipped as a cruel deity to which countless sacrifices were made. In this lifetime does a special one exist, the most dreadful of its kind to have ever been. Even the most vile of devils would balk at associating with it. It haunts the secret places deep below ground, amidst a lichen hellscape of death and graverot. It slumbers upon a towering mountain of soggy bones, reigning over its decaying empire on a haphazard throne several thousand lives thick. Those who enter this wretched domain, where the blue sky transitions into a black void, do so at the risk of becoming yet another skeleton upon which the Magna Pater may sleep, with their loved ones soon joining them.

Theme Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6asBlPR6Be8

[ShidenBlades]

Edrik Pedrone

Dresden Files Based character ported over for roleplaying. If you are familiar with the series than you will know exactly how this guy functions.

FULL NAME: EDRIK PEDRONE
NICKNAMES: NONE.
BIRTH DATE: UNKNOWN.
ETHNICITY: WHITE
RELIGION: NONE.
OCCUPATION: INVESTOR.
PLACE OF BIRTH: NEW YORK, NY, USA.
PLACE OF RESIDENCE: New York, NY.

APPEARANCE;

Height: 6'2”

Weight: 174 .lbs

Edrik Pedrone has the lean body of a runner and carries himself with confidence. His hair is a raven black and always kept slicked back away from his bright blue eyes. Edrik is often seen wearing expensive suits and named brand clothing. While he personally doesn't care what he wears he understands that people are often judged simply by the way they look, so he makes sure to take meticulous care of himself. A quirk of a smile can almost always be seen, as if he knows something you don't, which may be true considering what the man is. When he speaks it is often quietly, as if he is telling you a secret. He rarely raises his voice or lets any emotion crack through his calm exterior.

PERSONALITY;

Edrik needs order, he is dominant and normally the quiet type, but when does speak he needs people to listen to him, and he tends to be the thinker. He looks forward, he doesn’t care about what happens now, in the present time. He is extremely judgmental and while he might not always vocalize his displeasure he will not forget it. Edrik is a good listener even though he doesn’t care much for how others feel, heis good at observing others and learning from them.

On the flip side, Edrik can be naive at times, believing his own abilities and knowledge will pull him through whatever he faces. When he does anger he looses his cool violently, reaching out to punish what angered him. He is also not a forgiving person, if you've crossed him he will remember and he will come back for revenge, on his terms. Being Edrik's friend is not easy, if he judges you an idiot or incompetent he will not bother to give you the light of day. Edrik respects power in one form or another, be it mundane or magical in its nature and he is always striving to acquire more.

EQUIPMENT;

Cane/Sword - Edrik often walks with a very ornate cane. This cane hides an enchanted sword in its depths. With a twist and flick of his wrist a long thin silver blade can be revealed. The sword has been enchanted to help cut through magical defenses as well as for strength and durability. The Cane also serves to help Edrik focus and control his earth magic, helping the magic to be more precise, controlled and powerful.

.38 Special Revolver - While not fancy, this gun is reliable, which is exactly what Edrik needs when more sophisticated guns tend to break and jam around him.

Pentacle Necklace - The pentagram is the symbol of Edrk's faith and he has as much belief in it as a christian has in the cross. This could very well make creatures weak to 'holy' effects based on faith shy away from the necklace when its shown.

Leather Bracer - This is somewhat of an oddity for a man that dresses in the latest fashions. But on Edrik's left wrist is a leather bracer that has copper woven through it. The Bracer is enchanted to aid Edrik's water evocation, specifically his defensive minded spells.

Fathers Ring - His fathers special ring, its is simple silver with a black diamond at its center and thirteen smaller white diamond set around it. This ring does not help with evocation magic, but it does aid Edrik with thaumaturgy rituals designed to summon creatures.

ABILITIES;

STRENGTHS:
Arcane Knowledge: Edrik is a wizard, knowledge is his forte. As one might expect, he is incredibly knowledgeable about different creatures, artifacts and powers in the world.

Fencer: Edrik is an exceptional fencer, even just dabbling in it. The years have allowed him to slowly become skilled.

Magic: Edrik is able to tap into the natural energies of the world and shape them to his will, albeit with effort. Edrik is capable of both evocation and thaumaturgy. As far as evocation is concerned, he can use all five classical elements with extreme proficiency but is exceptionally skilled in both Earth and Water magics.

Wizards Constitution: Despite popular belief Wizards are not frail old men, not generally at least. Edrik recovers from wounds and sickness just a little faster than your normal human. Edrik will also live longer than a normal human, while he is not immortal he will live for a very very long time.

The Sight: Edrik has learned to open his third eye, perceiving the magical world in great detail. The downside is that anything seen with The Sight can never be forgotten and is always vivid. The problem is that the human mind isn't always good at processing what it sees. Emotions and and relationships shine like webs. Energy pulses. Dreams and nightmares boil in the air. The past, present, and future have a little hoedown right in front of you. It's hard to make any sense of it.

Soulgaze: Edrik has the ability to gaze upon another persons soul directly – but only the first time they make more than a moment of eye contact, and only if that individual has a mortal soul and the aren't shielded or protected in some other manner. This is a double-edged sword, just as he sees into someone else they see into him. This is to see each other as they truly are, each person bares their true-self to the other getting a full measure of who each other are and what each is truly capable of. (This is something we work out before hand in a PM.)


MAGIC:
Magic is life's essence. It is generated by living things, and may be thought of as akin to the concepts of Odic force and prana. However, the human heart and soul is also powerful source of magical energy. There's more magic in a baby's first giggle than any fire that a wizard can call up. Emotions are a kind of channel for magic, a path to carry energy to a practitioner.

Casting a spell as a three-step process. The first step is to gather energy. The second is to shape that energy with one's thoughts and feelings for achieving one's goal. The final step is to release the energy in the intended direction. It's like using a firearm: first one must load ammunition (gather energy), aim the weapon (shape the energy with intent), and pull the trigger (release the energy).

Mortal magic is done in one of two ways; evocation and thaumaturgy.

Evocation
Evocation is the most direct, spectacular, and noisy form of magic, or sorcery. It can only happen in direct line of sight. The evocator would have to be in the same room as their victims. This type of magic is what is mainly used in direct combat situations. The ability to use it without ritual allows more focus on combat than anything else. It usually works best with a focus depending on the skills of the wizard.[While it takes a while to learn a new evocation, it has the advantage of being able to be used on the fly.

Many refer to evocation as "Quick and dirty" magic. It usually draws directly from the wizard's will and is turned loose without benefit of a guide or limit. It is dangerous and difficult but it is useful for throwing around a lot of energy. That energy is usually manifested in one of the classical elements as described below.

Air: Air is the element of motion and freedom, and most of its key effects are motion-based: powerful gales to knock over foes or throw object around, the movement of objects to the wizards hand, or shields of swirling air current to push harm away.

Earth: Earth is the element of stability, gravity, and grounding. Ultimately, everything rests on the earth, and its practitiones take advantage of thi face by calling up protective walls of stone, shaking the ground underfoot, and keeping themselves stable regardless of the surrounding circumstance. Earth is also the element that governs magnetism; earth mages often use this to their advantage, strengthening or dampening magnetic fields to achieve various effects.

Fire: Fire is the element of consumption and deconstruction, and it is the first resort for those who wish to deal massive carnage to their foes. Besides the classic image of the fireball-throwing Wizard, this element allows for a more subtle range of effects, allowing a wizard to apply or remove heat from an object or area and to melt small objects like locks or other barriers.

Water: Water is the element of entropy and change. Its chief power is changing the state of things, as water tends to do: eroding, dissolving, disrupting, decaying, dispensing, disintegrating. While many people wouldn't consider water to be a very damaging element, you have to think about the kind of insidious damage water does: dissolving stone, rusting metal, warping wood- even pummeling or s icing if it's a high-pressure jet of water. It can also flood, suffocate, assist in chemical reactions, and so on.

Spirit: Spirit is the element of the soul, the purest expression of will. In a way, it's the most ;basic of the elements – the translation of the wizard's raw desire into energy – and its presence tends to transcend different traditions of magic, being a core element in every one. Spirit effects tend to manifest as raw kinetic power, and even bend the energies around people and object to make them appear invisible.

Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgyis the process of creating magical links between objects or people. Magic flows through one object and is attached to the other. Is it often said "As above, so below. Make something happen on a small scale and feed it enough energy to happen on a large scale." Most thaumaturgy requires something to connect the object being used to the greater object, such as blood, hair or nail clippings, etc.

Thaumaturgy is the safest, most reliable method of doing magic.

Thaumaturgy sets up the Construct physically and allows the Elements to act as a lens through which theWizard then focuses his power. Because the Wizard doesn’t have to keep his construct in mind as he casts (because it’s right there in front of him), he can concentrate more on his casting and thus produce much more stable, more subtle, and stronger effects. Thaumaturgy also allows the Wizard to draw power from sources other than himself: bound spirits, forces of nature, or the assistance of others. Over time, the effects of Thaumaturgy are more powerful than those of Evocation: while a blast of fire may injure, a ritual curse can leave you and your offspring crippled for generations.

Most of the traditional spells found in tomes, or those passed down through schools of sorcery, are basically Thaumaturgy. If you follow the recipe of the spell and feed in the power it requires, the spell/ritual will work. Of course, some recipes are going to be more complex than others, and may require the use of rare/expensive items and elaborate preparations.

WEAKNESSES:.
Hexing: Mortal spellcasters and technology just don't get along. When the spell start flying the tech starts frying. Objects made post WWII tend to not last long around wizards that start casting spells. Cell phones, cars, computers, and just about anything with a computer chip in it will cease to work in a Wizards presence. This means that taking Edrik to a hospital when he is injured simply isn't possible, unless you want to risk the equipment near him malfunctioning and people dying.

Fatigue: The more a wizard uses magic without resting the more fatigued he comes, both physically and mentally. The bigger and more powerful the spell that faster the wizard becomes fatigued. A wizard, if drawn to much, can actually kill themselves or, more often, render themselves unconscious because they are unable to cope with the stress magic puts on their bodies.

Backlash & Fallout: Sometimes a wizard draws more power than they can safely control. When this happens one of two things generally happen, the wizard sucks up the uncontrollable power and suffers the effects physically and mentally, becoming much more fatigued than he would have if he successfully cast the spell. This is known as backlash. The other option is fallout, in which the Wizard lets his uncontrolled energy explode out around him for some undesired effect, while this saves the wizard from Backlash it puts everything and everyone around him in danger.

Down and Dirty: Evocation is essentially combat magic. It cannot be used for the more fine things that require time and preparation. It mainly does two things; attack and defend.

Never Forget: While a Wizard Sight is a powerful thing, the things they see with it they remember forever. With perfect clarity. The psychological effects this has on the human brain can break a lesser person. If Edrik were to see something incredibly horrible with his sight it would stay with him forever, possibly driving him insane.