<![CDATA[Zelda Universe Forums - Characters & Resources]]>

<![CDATA[Zelda Universe Forums - Characters & Resources]]> http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/ en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:09:07 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/images/zutemple/misc/rss.jpg <![CDATA[Zelda Universe Forums - Characters & Resources]]> http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/ Velius Vereor http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102672-velius-vereor-new-post.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:24:46 GMT *_Name:_* Velius Vereor *_Nickname /Alias:_* The Harbinger. *_Occupation:_* Being a Harbinger. Sometimes includes adventuring, retrieving children from wells, rescuing kittens from trees and other miscellaneous oddjobs of that sort. *_Age/Birthdate:_* Name:
Velius Vereor

Nickname /Alias:
The Harbinger.

Occupation:
Being a Harbinger. Sometimes includes adventuring, retrieving children from wells, rescuing kittens from trees and other miscellaneous oddjobs of that sort.

Age/Birthdate:
Velius is about 116 years of age.

Apparent Age:
Being a demi-divine being, his life span is much longer than that of everyday mortals, though he can appear as any age he's been at will if desired. He usually appears in his matured adolescent form, mid-twenties.

Gender:
Male.

Race:
A Harbinger, one of the mixed hybrid races of an ancient world. More explained in the "History" section, as it may come off as a tad lengthy.

Height:
Appears to be 6'1" in height.

Weight:
Appears to be 165 lbs in weight.

Eye Color:
A bright, exuberant gray, which in the sunlight, it may come off as silver. In his empowered form(s), his eyes may radiate with the bright blue energy he possesses.

Hair Color/Style:
His hair is a dark brown hue with streaks of white. His hair is long, reaching to his shoulders when straightened, sometimes hanging over his eyes. When his energies are channeled, the white streaks occasionally glow as well.

General Appearance:
He appears to be an average human male, minus the eccentric and strange armor and weaponry that is unique to his race and origins. Another oddity about his appearance would be the tattoos on his body, that are permanently embedded upon his skin, not with ink, but with the energy from his race's history. A circular symbol begins on his chest that surrounds two inverted triangles which also surround strange runes and markings. The circle breaks in five directions, a strand of the mark going out to each limb, and up his neck, across his face.

A picture of Velius in his regular armor can be seen here:

A picture of Velius in an more action-y pose:

Weapon(s):
Velius has one major weapon that consists of his entire arsenal. The Greatsword he carries needs no other name, it's a truly exceptional work of weaponry that only Velius may wield, bonded to the spiritual energies within him. The Greatsword, in its entire form, is roughly about 4 and a half feet in length. The metal that makes up the blade is a righteous and impervious metal, immune to just about all other elements such as fire, lightning, etc. The blade is a lustrous steel hued, with a tint of blue. However, the hilt resemble wings, spiked and pointed. The blade is separated in two pieces, that connect at the hilt, a talisman levitates in the space between them.

However, when Velius removes the talisman upon his will only, the sword splits in two, becoming two one handed twin blades, one being slighter heavier and longer than the other, the large piece of the Greatsword. Velius switches to using two swords in most situations when he concerns about using accuracy, fighting more than one opponent, and easier maneuverability.

Armor:
Velius has three sets of armor/clothing that he wears depending on the situation.

Traveler:
Velius is usually seen sporting a dusty green cloak with a hood, and that covers his Harbinger clothing, a heavy-robe like apparel, which has no sleeves and reaches down to his knees. A silver metallic belt goes around his waist, though it is on the outside of all of his clothing, keeping his clothes in place. Under his Harbinger robe is a black set of pants and a tunic, regular clothes. He wears heavy black boots as well, leather, though they are of Harbinger design. The ultimate of all footwear, extremely sturdy yet incredibly comfortable.

Guardian:
When Velius is in danger or notices others in distress, he focuses his energy, performing a quick meditative spell as his energy pulses outward form his markings/tattoos, half of his Harbinger armor appears over his traveling clothes. Two metallic shoulder plate armor pieces appear, the right one appears to be a silver-like gryphon or eagle figure with the opposite is reminiscent to that of a serpent or dragon. Gauntlets appear over his hands and metallic armor appears strapped over his thighs and shins, finally a angelic breastplate that is colored black and silver, bearing some gold. The armor is crafted of the same righteous and indestructible alloys and metals his swords are made from, and some of his armor pieces even house other powers for him to access. A talisman also appears on the back of his cloak, as if it levitates on his back. When needed, his Greatsword will appear and he then wield it.

Devastator:
Velius' last armored form, and always the most cumbersome but most powerful, he becomes engulfed in the spiritual energy he contains, the remaining pieces of the Harbinger armor appears, including: A silver and winged helm with a visor is donned upon his head, heavy legplates appear over the original armor, large metallic warboots appear over his feet and the rest of his energy pours into the armor, allowing greater strength than usually. This form however is rarely used, for it sacrifices a lot of speed (which he prefers most of the time) and it consumes a lot of energy. The longer he fights with his full armor, the more exhausted he will be when he finally dismisses it. The armor will disappear if Velius is almost to the point of passing out.

Carried Possessions:
Velius carries a traveling pack that has a leather strap that slings over his shoulder and rests by his hip. Inside he usually keeps food, water canteens, maps if needed, miscellaneous objects that he finds in his travels, and another large ancient looking talisman that he uses to find others of monumental power, to see if they have Harbinger blood in them.

Powers/Magic/Skills:
Velius only has one type of magic that he has himself mastered, and that is the ability to call upon his weapons and armor from their energetic homes, although his talisman also helps him channel that energy. Once in possession of his weapons and donning at least half of the Harbinger armor, he may now call upon the various powers sealed within his protective gear.

Energetic Empowerment:
Velius has a strong and mystical force of his origins, his people in his body. This energy is what allows him to summon forth his armor and weapons, but it also has other purposes, some used for fighting and others aren't.

For example, Velius can direct his energy to his right hand and have it make his hand radiate with the energy, bathing the area around him in a short radius in blue illuminating light, to see through darkness, etc. He can also direct this energy into his blade(s) or his armor, allowing the magic to repel incoming attacks to the best of their abilities. With a swing of his blade, he can send a disk shaped blast of the magic essence towards an opponent, to have it hit them with a brutal concussive blast.

Intense Swiftness:
Velius can focus his energy into his muscles, allowing him to sprint long distances in a matter of seconds, swing his blades extremely fast, jump an incredible distance (Usually about 20 ft high or horizontally). However, this is a very dangerous technique and if used too much consecutively, it threatens to tear his physical body apart from the overloading power. When Velius is moving so fast, to him he is just going a normal speed, but everything around him is slow, distorted.

Supreme Strength:
Velius empowers himself in a different technique, increasing how hard he can swing, punch, etc as well as how much he can lift, how strong he can push, etc. In this form, his skin even becomes much more protective, much harder to pierce or bruise, his bones nigh unbreakable in this form. When in a running charge and depending on how durable an obstacle is, he may very well just run right on through it. However, his form of energy use is dangerous if used too long, as with the Swiftness technique, it is most wise to use this as little as he can.

Elemental Empowerment:
In this form,Velius focuses his power on the elements around him, whether it be the air, the ground, nearby water or fire. He is limited to these four, as they are the most abundant and the easiest to work with. Velius has to be near the element he wishes to absorb, and either needs to touch it with his hand(s) or his blade(s). For example, he can set himself aflame as well as his swords if near fire, not harmful to himself of course, or call a gust of wind to knock down his opponent with each strike of his sword. Velius however cannot keep this element powers for long, as his own energy from his body slowly destroys the foreign elements, and he must do the process over again.

Abundant Ailment Alleviation:
Velius may call upon this ability, his energy centers within the core of his body and frantically searches to find any form of ailment, whether that be a cut, gash, broken bone, bruise, burn or even a poison and works to heal the Harbinger. Velius, if in contact with an ally, can touch them and shares his healing energy with them, though the results would be far less effective than if it was the Harbinger.

Harbinger's Harmony:
This is an incredibly rare occurrence that isn't even is Velius' control. When in a strenuous confrontation, and Velius has been battered and bruised and bleeding long enough, the Harmony might surge throughout him, restoring his full Harbinger abilities; meaning the previous spells and abilities may all be used at the same time and without limitation.

Once synced with the Harmony, however, Velius may lose track of whom he's fighting and why, and very well may go on some sort of rampage; something he fears and would regret from the remainder of his long life. The Harmony synchronization may last only a minute, or to an hour, it differs for how strong the Harbinger is and how badly beaten their bodies have become.

Limits:
This energy is not always under Velius' total control. Because of the incident, his powers have been dramatically weakened to the extent where he cannot use more than one of his abilities at a time. Also, he may intend to call upon one of his abilities in a certain situation, but it may backfire, granting him to use of something he didn't wish for. Example, someone is running anyway, and he wishes to get Intense Swiftness; instead he is granted the Supreme Strength. That sort of thing.

Another limitation to his talents is his energy's pure strength. As mentioned before, some of his abilities severely drain his body of strength and fatigue him relatively quick as long as he continues to use them. This forces him to be ever mindful of how he manages his powers each time that he uses one of the powers.

Battle Strengths:
Velius, being a Harbinger, is very skilled in resolving conflicts, both physically in a fight, and verbally in an argument and debate. Point being that he's skilled in finding the weakness of his opponents by analyzing their fighting styles and their temper, personality, etc. He basically assesses how they react to his actions, and counter-reacts in a way to throw them off balance.

Velius is also very adept in close combating fighting, especially with both forms of the Greatblade. His armor can react against magic attacks or to some extent physical ones if he times his energy usage correctly, and sometimes his powers certainly allow him an upper hand in a battle over his opponent.

Battle Weaknesses:
Velius' limitations and his random power selection certainly make matters worse for him when he desperately needs assistance, like when he needs to get away fast and can instead throw boulders or something like that. Also, his second armor set allows for agility, versatility and such, but doesn't cover too much of his body and it is very lightweight. Strong blows from large weapons would certainly send Velius flying if it were a good hit and connected well.

Also, Velius needs to be careful of how much power he uses and how frequently in his attacks and maneuvers. If he uses too much too quickly, he will drastically exhaust himself before the fight is over, and that would certainly be terribly, since he can never count on his Harmony power.

Personality:
Being a Harbinger, Velius has been raised with a strong passion to do good and fight all that is evil in any world - his or another. He never rashly jumps into a fight however without observing to see who seems like the more evil one, or who is the morally wrong. In a fight, he remains calm, collected and decisive, no hesitation. He doesn't let his nerves or fears get the better of them, when the matter at hand needs to be dealt with.

When it comes to acting socially, Velius is often chivalrous as well as compassionate. He would happily listen to a problem that someone is having and offer his advice or assistance if they needed and/or wanted it. He has a high respect for those who share the same values he does and little to no respect for those who conflict his way of life.

Likes:
Velius enjoys the company of those that are like him, respectful people. He enjoys the beauty of nature and its peacefulness, as well as how much he prefers helping those who need him, being there for people, etc.

Dislikes:
Velius dislikes the obvious opposites of his preferences, he doesn't quite like loud and boisterous folks, those who are corrupt and despicable, the womanizers, criminals, etc.

Fears:
Velius has a heightened sense of the world as well as the supernatural, so there is little that he hasn't seen or does not understand, he looks at the world with an experienced and logical sense. There are things that are new to him however, of which he may not understand and may fear. He always fears his power going out of his control, and harming himself or the others around him who may be innocent.

Virtues:
Being a Harbinger, Velius has been raised with a strong passion to do good and fight all that is evil in any world - his or another. Doing the right thing, being good, don't steal, all that kind of thing. However, Velius is willing to sacrifice his virtues temporarily for the greater good, for an example a kill one to save one thousand scenario.

Vices:
Velius has the tendency to judge people on first sight, and determine whether they are morally righteous or corrupt without truly getting to know them, basing it on what he merely sees. Velius also hates lying, and he often finds himself telling the blunt and absolute truth to avoid telling a lie, something that may work out well for him in sticky situations.

History:
The history of the Harbingers is a long and strenuous one. It all began with a land created by a family of omnipotent and divine entities; Gods and Goddesses of course. These Divinities not only created the lands, but divided each of it amongst themselves. Each God or Goddess hailed and reigned over a province of the world that they had created, and the various people worshiped them, paid homage to them. This continued for centuries throughout existence.

However, the Divinities grew tired of these mortal pests always bothering them with their inferior tributes and unholy sacrifices. It was finally decided amongst the Gods and Goddesses to create a plague that would kill a great majority of these mortals. It of course worked, but those that were skilled in the mystical and magical practices were either immune to the plague, could defend against it or even heal the plagued mortals that it struck.

These mortals knew that the Gods and Goddesses have forsaken them, left them to rot. For that, they banded together, and demanded satisfaction and compensation, meeting with a council of the Divinities, in their sacred forest atop a mile high cliff. However the omnipotent masters did not grant a cordial audience to their inferior companions, and destroyed those foolish enough to try and reason with them.

Even more enraged, the mortals created a massive army and launched an assault upon the forested cliff to destroy the home and sanctuary of the Gods. Also infuriated at this desecration of hallowed ground, the Gods fought back and a bloody war continued with the two races. During this massive conflict, a group of humans splintered from the army and formed a cult. The Legion of the Lamenting was created, and through their dark magic and research, tried to find a way to ultimately kill a god.

After years of experimentation and trial and error, the Legion finally had a working theory. They had lured one of the lesser and not so powerful Divinities, offering a giant tribute of extremely potent wine and a virgin maiden to be the one there when he accepted. The consequences were not as the cult expected, but it worked just as well. Poisoned and tainted magic wine did not work at first... but after the god had laid with the maiden, he lost his immortality, making him vulnerable to the powerful magic properties of the wine.

The cult then captured this fallen god and began to study him, examine him, even dissected him, to find out that upon death, he combusted into an explosion of pure spiritual energy. These cultists were affected by the magical blast, an the energy seeped within them and turned them into something more. Something very powerful. These crazed and semi-omnipotent beings went insane with their ridiculous amounts of stolen power and went on rampages throughout the nearby villages and towns, killing all in their path, destroying the forests and the earth, tainting the water, and more atrocities.

The rest of the mortals soon grew aware of this new calamity and sought the Divinities out for help. The Divinities at first wished to destroy them for asking for help after attacking their sacred home... but they too were also scared. These cultists had done the unthinkable, the impossible. They had managed to utterly destroy a god. They decided to help and ally with the humans and assist them to defeat this terror. The Gods and Goddesses had decided to do the same their fallen brother had, but more beneficial. By laying with the powerful men and women of the human alliances, they made a Pact of Peace with them, and their offspring were something pure and righteous. The Harbingers.

These offspring of the most talented sorcerers and warriors of the human alliance and the Gods and Goddesses made a human with such divine powers, but their immortality was slightly hindered. They had the abilities of a Divine One, but not the endless lifespan, though it was incredibly long. These Harbingers were tasked and trained by the Gods to destroy this new calamity and kill the cult while the Gods repaired the lands and the humans repaired the cities and civilizations.

So another new war began... along with the birth of Velius. After two or three years after the New War began with the Legion of the Lamenting, Velius was born from a warrior god and a powerful magister woman, his mother and father. As soon as he was old enough to adequately wield a weapon and control his divine energies that surged within him, he was grouped with his other Harbinger brethen to be trained in the ways of battle, justice and righteousness.

After his years of training, Velius had been sent to investigate strong cult activity with a group of other Harbingers. It however, turned out to be an ambush and using magic runes and talismans, they caught the Harbingers in a magic-draining trap, slowly destroying their energy and sealing it away in the talismans. Velius expended most of his energy in a desperate attempt at escape and succeeded, taking one of the talismans with him. He fled, his other Harbingers had perished.

It took him years again as he was on the lamb, slowly unlocking pieces of the talisman's powers and regaining some of what had been taken from him bit by bit. This is still in work in progress and Velius continues to wander the land, searching for a way to regain his full power and end this brutal war that threatens his homes and his peoples' existence. ]]> Eve Sneak http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102672-velius-vereor.html Kage http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102639-kage-new-post.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:34:26 GMT Before I start off, I want to say that (A) I know my character might need some polishing, (B) This is my first EH character I've made, so let's be a little lenient here, and finally, (C) I would absolutely positively love for you guys to give any advice you have. That said, I humbly present my character Kage. ~

Name: - Unknown
Nickname /Alias: - Kage
Occupation: Aimless Wanderer
Age/Birthdate: - Unknown, think three or four digits.
Apparent Age: - Around 25
Gender: - Male
Race: - Human – or something a lot like it.
Ethnicity: - Japanese
Height: - Around 6 feet two inches.
Weight: - Around 160 lbs.
Eye Color: - black
Hair Color/Style: - black

General Appearance: - A black Kimono, and a blue cloak over that. Wears Geta (Japanese Sandals) and a bucket hat striped blue-and-black (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist). Rather shabby and unkempt. There’s almost always a lazy half-smile on his face or a huge grin.

Weapon(s): A staff and Daisho( To swords; a katana and wazikashi.

Armor: None.

Carried Possessions: Besides his staff and Daisho, nothing.

Powers/Magic/Skills: - Kage has three unique abilities. (1) He is able to make himself intangible and invisible, although, for some unknown reason, his eyes and mouth are left both visible and tangible. (2) He can survive virtually any physical attack except for a thrust through the brain. He can, of course, be killed by magical means. (3) Any part of his body is still animate even when separated from the body, and can easily be reattached.

Limits: - Any separated part of his body cannot move more than a half a mile from his body, and because of the drain his abilities have on his energy, he cannot have continual use of an ability for more than a few hours or he will pass out.
Side-Effects: - All of his abilities take a incredible drain on his energy, which accounts for his eternal laziness.

Battle Strengths: - Kage is very quick and agile despite his laziness, and is very skilled at swordfighting and hand-to-hand fighting.
Battle Weaknesses: - Kage is rather weak physically. He is also terrible at defending himself and so he rarely goes throughout a fight without loss of a limb or two.

Other: - Nope.

Personality: - Very laid back and incredibly lazy. He’s incredibly cheerful and optimistic, although he can be serious now and then. He’s also rather anti-social.

Likes: - Bread( Especially Muffins), Money, Mushrooms, and wolves.
Dislikes: - Badly made muffins, people, work, being clean.
Fears: - Physical activity, cleanliness.

Virtues: He is just, slow to anger, compassionate, and, ahem, chaste.
Vices: Lazy, gluttonous), occasionally greedy, and occasionally cowardly.

History: - Kage grew up in a small village in Japan. He was orphaned at the age of three. An old man had compassion and raised him. Upon turning thirteen, the man discovered the Kage was special. The old man himself had special abilities of his own, and he taught Kage how to hone his talents as well as teaching him swordmanship. The old man passed away when Kage was twenty. Kage left his village and took to wandering, challenging and defeating many. He soon discovered that he did not age. He continues to wander, searching for opponents to defeat.

And, uh, I think that's it. ~ ]]> Tsukuyomi http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102639-kage.html Character: Luca Mercury http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102627-character-luca-mercury-new-post.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:37:42 GMT Since both my characters are now actively RPing, I decided to make my next one - introducing Luca Mercury, master thief and rogue!

Name: Luca Mercury

Nickname/Alias: He usually prefers to be known as Mercury. He considers it his 'work name', though he does not mind his friends to call him Luca.

Occupation: Mercury is a master thief, and he considers himself to be a rogue in general, but of the good kind.

Age: 26

Gender: Male.

Race: Human.

Height: Luca is not overly tall; he stands at 5' 6".

Weight: He is light, with an average build, weighing approximately 138 lbs.

Eyes: Luca's eyes are a deep blue. They gaze casually and easily at the world, giving him a relaxed and friendly look, yet remain curious and inquisitive. His eyes wrinkle at the corners slightly when he laughs and smiles, which is often. There is a twinkle in his eyes that tells of his confidence and easy personality.

Hair Color/Style: His hair is a simple dark brown. He keeps it several inches long, enough so that it ends just above his brows and over his ears. It is loose and thin, but neat and tidy.

General Appearance: Luca is not particularly tall or largely built, but he uses his smaller stature to his great advantage. His shoulders are neither broad nor thin. His torso, like the rest of his body, is lean and athletic. Toned but not muscular, he takes care of his body with regular work outs, but not with the intentions of buffing up - instead, he simply keeps in shape, focussing more on stamina than strength.

His face is content and he always has a small smile on his lips, often breaking out into huge grins. His face is average in its proportions, and unremarkable, which helps Luca blend into crowds and not be particularly memorable.

He is an easy going person, which comes across in his confident, relaxed stances. He can feel at home anywhere, instantly leaning against something and getting comfortable. He always looks confident, calm, and relaxed, with an amused look in his eyes, as if he knows a joke that he's not sharing.

He wears two sets of clothing - his regular attire, and his 'work' clothing. His regular clothing isn't pretentious, but clean and smart, usually consisting of tan suede pants, high, soft leather boots, and a dark blue tunic with lighter blue trimmings. He wears a brown leather belt about his waist, over the tunic.

His work attire, which he wears if he is planning a theft or some adventure of his, is instead composed of very dark grey clothing. In place of high boots, he wears soft shoes which end at the ankles, giving him more flexibility with his feet; the shoes have tough soles, which gives him better traction and grip. His pants are loose and slightly baggy so as not to hinder his movements, and are made of a soft yet tough fabric, which does not rustle when he moves. He wears a jacket of the same material; it too is slightly baggy, cinched about the waist with a black belt, also of the material. The end of the arms have fingerless gloves attached to the underneath of the wrists, so he can slip them on and off quickly and not have to worry about dropping them. The palms of the gloves are tough, allowing a strong grip (most notably for climbing). When they are not in use they are tied loosely to his wrists. About the neck of the jacket, there is a loose material which Luca can lift to cover the lower half of his face, with drawstrings at the back.

Luca has a bag containing his equipment which he wears on the belt of his clothing (regular or work), on his left hip. On his right hip, he wears his small dagger in its sheath.

He also has a tattoo on his right shoulder blade of a caduceus (image). He had this done because it is a symbol of one of the gods of thieves (Hermes). It marks him as a thief, and he wears it with pride.

Luca's voice is not particularly deep or melodious, but is easy and relaxed. He talks calmly and confidently, and almost naturally puts the listener at ease. He has no particular accent.

Weapon(s): None. (Though Mercury carries a small knife, it is not used as a weapon.) Luca does not involve himself in fights, choosing instead to flee and escape if he is found or chased.

Armor: None.

Carried Possessions: Luca carries an assortment of equipment, both during his everyday activities and during his work. He carries these in a pouch at his waist, attached to his belt (whichever he happens to be wearing). This pouch is his Bible, and he would never willingly go anywhere without it. It contains:

-- a roll of velvet, which in turn holds his extensive set of picks, which progress in size for locks of every size.

-- small paper packets of substances for varying uses, including (but not just) smoke packets, for diversion or attracting attention; a gel like substance which reacts with water violently, acting as an acid and burning violently (Luca keeps small vials of water for use with this substance); powders with differing effects, from tranquilizers, to powders to induce sneezing or temporary blindness, etc.

-- a small roll of strong nylon rope. Though not particularly long at only 20 feet, he can use it effectively for short climbs and other uses. Its smaller length allows it to be stored easily.

-- a grappling hook; this is a small, intricate contraption which, at only five inches long, can be stored with great ease. The beauty of this device is that at the flick of a catch, three strong metal claws are released, which helps with its storage. It has a small hoop at its end, through which the rope can be looped and tied.

-- a small glass-cutting tool; collapsible, this tool unfolds into a V shape, each arm 6 inches long. The main arm has a suction pad on a swivel joint, which can be attached to the glass. The other arm ends in a small diamond tip. The tool is used in two ways. For a circular hole, the sucker is placed on the glass, and the tool is rotated on the swivel joint. The tool can cut a circle hole of up to roughly 8 inches radius (or a hole 16 inches wide). The other method for use of this tool is simply grasping the tipped arm and using it manually - this method is best used cutting squares and rectangles, or other rough shapes.

Luca also carries a small knife. He wears it in its sheath upon his right hip, on the belt - like the pouch, he wears it at all times. It is a simple thing, coloured black, and double edged, with no special properties at all. At 4 inches long, its only purpose is for cutting and slicing objects; it is not a weapon at all, but is instead carried and used as a tool in Luca's line of work.

Powers/Magic: None whatsoever.

Skills: Luca, as a master thief, has many skills and talents at his disposal. Easy and charming, his charisma can be employed to his advantage, often acquiring information and details he can use in his plans. He is an extremely confident and affable person, and finds it easy to get along with and adapt to the crowd he's in. He is also an easy, practised liar.

He is very dexterous, deft and quick with his hands and his movements, which gives him his skill in lock picking, which he has perfected. He is also extremely good at pickpocketing, able to slip in and out of someones pockets or purse in a blink of an eye.

His agility is extraordinary, as his stamina. He has trained each to their limits over many years. He can sprint over short distances with ease, but his particular preference for escape is scrambling over rooftops and through quick, short alleyways. He excels at climbing, and can scale most buildings with no problems.

Mercury is also extremely lucky. He uses both his good fortune and his great agility to slip out of danger, which aids him greatly when he needs to make an escape from pursuing guards.

He is also good at sneaking about, keeping quiet and moving with great care. He can usually disguise himself and often hides amongst groups of people. He does this using his astounding confidence and people skills, assimilating himself into a group with little trouble.

Battle Strengths: Effectively, very few. Luca would has virtually no means to attack a foe, and nor would he like to, as he's firmly unwilling to take a life. However, his agility, speed, and dexterity would be highly effective in evading and dodging attacks. He also has a strong will to live, which would no doubt bolster his attempts to avoid being hurt.

I an only imagine that, in the case of a battle, he would need to repeatedly avoid an opponents attacks, and (if absolutely necessary) to use his agility to get close enough to his opponent to hit them (probably somewhat clumsily) with a rock or something heavy, in the hopes of incapacitating them. Mercury would never draw his knife on another, not even with the aim of simple injury.

Battle Weaknesses: Mercury is almost completely vulnerable in a fight. He has no armor, no weapons, and no way of defending himself from attack. His moral code means he is unable to slay or severely harm an opponent, even in the face of threat to himself. He could also become overconfident in the face of a threat, putting himself into danger.

Personality: The first thing most notice about Mercury is his confidence. He is a very relaxed, easy going person. His confidence is incredible; he isn't afraid to take chances, and he's extremely flirtatious. He'll flirt with any women he meets, simply because he enjoys it - even if the woman's lover is present. He considers himself a bit of a ladies man, flirting with them for the simple enjoyment of it. Despite his flirtatiousness with women, Luca respects them as equals, and completely abhors the mistreatment of women, and is weak for the 'damsel in distress' - something that has, more than once, gotten him into trouble.

Luca often comes across as arrogant or cocky, but he is not. His confidence is simply his driving force, and he believes he is absolutely up to any job, any woman, or any challenge.

He is, despite his profession, an honourable man. He has a conscience and a strong moral code. He doesn't steal from those who would suffer for it. He is even kind and generous for a thief; he has no problems spending money because, at the end of the day, it isn't his. He often gives to the poor and needy, though not excessively so - he keeps enough to ensure a high standard of living for himself.

He isn't greedy - he simply steals for the fun of it, and he loves a challenge. He has even made several incursions just to see if he could, with no particular goal in mind. It has occurred to him - and others - that with his skills, he could do anything and go anywhere. He has been invited to become an assassin many times, but the thought of killing repulses Luca. He has never taken a life, and he has vowed that he never will. He'll steal anything that catches his fancy, but his favourite saying is, "There is honour among thieves."

Mercury has a vast sense of humour, and is able to brush off jokes and insults with great ease, for he knows his abilities and takes great pride in them. However, his pride and his honour can be his downfall. He will not take smears to his pride or his honour. He considers an oath to be of the highest importance (which is why he is loathe to make them), and would never break one - another of his sayings is, "If a man's word is meaningless, what value have gold and silver?"

Luca loves to have a good time, and enjoys his work thouroghly; he often taunts the guards that chase him. He has even waited for them to catch up before dashing away again - further evidence of his confidence and astounding luck.

Likes: Stealing; a challenge; gold; treasures; women; his drink.

Dislikes: Having no gold; fighting; poor living standards; authority, particularly those eager for his imprisonment; harlots and whores; greedy people; merchants; assassins and killers.

Fears: Imprisonment. As a thief, Mercury's greatest fear is to be locked up. He needs to roam the open lands, to see the starry skies, to steal the finest treasures. To be locked in a tiny room would be the end of him.

Virtues: Honour, pity, and mercy.

Vices: His pride; distressed women (he feels compelled to help them); over-confidence.

History: Luca was born into a well to-do family. He often tells a woeful story about how he became a thief, telling of his family's downfall at the hands of a greedy baron, who raised and raised the tax until there was nothing left, at which dramatic point, Luca chose his current profession, vowing to steal from the greedy, selfish, and wealthy, and help the poor. This is a lie.

The story he tells less often is that, as a child, his family was set upon by a band of travelling brigands. They killed his parents, capturing him and his sister. Mercury escaped, but was forced to leave his sister. Seeking help, he stumbled across a fabled thief, who took him in and trained him. Becoming a thief became his new goal in life, but he would always have his sister in his mind. Bits and pieces of rumours would float to him. She had been sold as a harlot, working in various towns and cities, and the present day Luca searched for her still.

This too is a lie, one he uses if his first tale is discovered or he needs something more dramatic - it is usually saved for women.

The truth is that Luca simply grew bored of doing nothing. His father, a landowner, simply wanted Luca to follow in his footsteps, but that wasn't good enough for the young Mercury. He wanted to see the world, and experience its wonders for himself. He had always had a way with words, and his confidence was vast from childhood.

One day, while bartering with a merchant for a trinket, he grew angry with the man's refusal to lower the price. He stalked away, but still lusted after the small bronze piece. Unwilling to ask his father for more money - his pride at work again - he fumed silently, until finally, nervously, he simply walked past the stall and picked it up with ease. Walking stiffly from the marketplace, he ran home after turning a corner.

Despite the fear of being punished for what he had done, the act of theft had revitalised his dull life. And so, he had the bug for it. For a year he would steal and pinch that which he wanted, perfecting the art of picking pockets. Finally, at 16 he decided to leave his home town. Setting out with his meager belongings, he changed his surname, inventing the new Luca Mercury. He moved to another town, continuing his quick fingered crimes, challenging himself further and further.

For many years, he'd challenge his wits and his skills, developing more on the way, joining a 'guild' of thieves - albeit an unofficial one - learning what he could, improving his already potent skills. Working on his agility and stamina, he challenged himself to be the greatest thief ever. He would never settle for second best.

And so, to this day, he roams from town to city to village, looking for riches, challenges, and excitement. ]]> Stryder Aedernis http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102627-character-luca-mercury.html Damien http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102623-damien-new-post.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:38:25 GMT Name: Damien
Occupation: No fixed occupation, tends to pick up odd jobs as he wanders from city to city but is rather unskilled.
Age/Birthdate: 19
Apparent Age: 19
Gender: Male
Race: Angel
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 140 lbs
Eye Color: A muddy, turbid brown color that's rather unremarkable, but look somewhat friendly if they give off any impression.
Hair Color/Style: Skunky blonde and wavy, cut in a rather messy, shaggy style in short layers, the bottom-most reaching to his jawline. Has a cowlick in the front that never seems to want to stay down, no matter how much he wills (and excessively gels) it to.

General Appearance: Damien is neither cherub nor like an adonis from a classical Michelangelo canvas, and cuts a rather gangling, tall, lanky figure that slouches because it's most comfortable for him and would more so belong to a lazy college freshman majoring in general studies with a nickname like "Pizza Face" than an angel. His face is neither handsome nor particularly unattractive--the best way you could really describe it would be to say it's "average", and still rather youthful. He gives off the appearance of having yet to grow into his features, and has a slightly bigger than normal nose, thin lips, and eyes set a little wider apart. He has a somewhat strong brow with decently trimmed eyebrows, and his face is longer than it is wide. His chin and jaw are a bit weak and not particularly overtly masculine or mature looking. His first set of wings were stubby, pathetic, irregular-shaped things too flimsy to support flight and too embarrassing to pull out in front of the other fledglings--they have grown since then into more functional things, but are still not the perfectly plumed kind that one would expect from an angel (at least they're white, he often says.) Sometimes they make his back itch when he retracts them. He has large, skinny feet and hands, and fair, more or less smooth skin that sunburns quicker than most. He has never been able to grow more facial hair than boyish peach fuzz.

While in Heaven, Damien sticks to wearing the standard toga, leather belt, golden sandals, and laurels behind each ear. On earth, he likes to sport old, comfortable, worn-in t-shirts (often band t-shirts, thrift store, or rummage sale items), similarly old and battered jeans, brown leather sandals or well-worn white sneakers, and a blue South Carolina Tar Heels college windbreaker he feels helps him blend in more. He carries an off-brand backpack with his few possessions, covered in buttons and stickers of various places he's been, with the straps loose so its weight sags comfortably on his shoulders.

Weapon(s): A slingshot, which he feels is rather pathetic and not worth pulling out, made of oak. The pellets are simply old, hard acorns. He's attempted to purchase a gun, but has always been too afraid to follow through and hasn't got an ID to prove his age.

Armor: None but his cloth kneepads and a helmet he occasionally wears when skateboarding, but feels is too dorky to be seen in.

Carried Possessions: Inside his backpack (described in appearance), Damien has a scuffed old red Walkman, repaired countless times with duct-tape, with a skip button that tends to stick; an assortment of CDs collected from yard sales all over the United States; a thermos with a slight leak, some pens, a spiral-bound notebook he sometimes likes to jot down thoughts or notes in, covered in band stickers; and a few changes of clothes which, when lucky, he scrounges up enough change to wash at local laundromats. He also carries a threadbare, fabric fold-up wallet with a few useless membership cards, whatever cash he may have on him, and a library card that is the only proof of his identity. Buried underneath the clothes is an old gray Gameboy Advance he picked up at, yes, a yard sale, and he has a small collection of games in cheap plastic cases to go with it. He carries a blue, mesh-and-fabric South Carolina Tar Heels ballcap for the days when he simply can't tolerate his cowlick any longer. If he's got some extra cash, he tries to keep at least one package of batteries in his backpack, but has always been afraid of them getting damaged and leaking acid all over his things. His backpack often smells of half-finished food.

Powers/Magic/Skills: As an angel, Damien has decently serviceable wings that can fly for short distances and/or medium altitudes. He also possesses a few holy talents. If he visits a church or other holy location, he is able to return to Heaven with God's permission.

Blessing: Damien possesses the power to heal small wounds, minor illnesses, and injuries, by using a specific prayer. He needs to focus to perform this, and then clasp his hands together, speaking the words earnestly and with genuine and selfless care for the person, plant, or animal he wishes to heal. The prayer takes about a minute to recite, and he cannot perform it repeatedly without tiring himself in the process.

Sanctify: With a different prayer, Damien is able to bless a certain area or building (or if he wishes, a person), and make it holy for a limited period of time (at most, two days.) This blessing protects the area or person from any manner of dark or sinful magic or power. It can also purge an evil or demonic spirit from a person or place. Depending on how long the blessing lasts, this skill will consume more of his energy.

Battle Strengths: Being a holy being, Damien is unharmed by gunshots and most mortal wounds that would kill a human, as well as lesser dark magics and curses. He can fly for short periods of time, and his wiry body possesses some strength, but not much.

Battle Weaknesses: He's awkward and often clumsy on his feet when under pressure, and does not possess much in the way of offensive magic or physical dexterity or power. He's not really very sure how to fight; his punches are sloppy, and he sometimes does not know where he should hit to make an effective blow. This leads him to waste a lot of energy punching someone in their sturdy shoulder when he should have gone for, say, the vulnerable Adam's Apple of their throat. More powerful dark or sinful magic can harm him and require him to flee or return to Heaven injured.

Personality: Damien is not your typical angel. He can't carry a tune when singing, and harps and bows have never agreed with him well--he'd always hurt a finger on either. He goes through life feeling as though he's the butt of most jokes, and therefore has become rather mellow, jaded, and skeptical of any luck that comes his way. He has low expectations and takes little seriously. He's awkward around girls, but tries to pretend he's not. Feels most at home around earth, because people are more "average", he thinks, and he can fit in better. After about seven years on earth he's fairly well assimilated into the culture, especially the teenage culture, but still finds some habits and other things about humans strange or incomprehensible. He's unused to kindness and can be easily flustered, but often tries to hide it and play things "cool" and not looking too eager. Damien speaks slang to even the most dignified of audiences and when he gets excited, he has trouble controlling how quickly or loudly he speaks. He gives off the impression of a grungy teenager slacker, and is well-aware of this perception others hold of him. Someone can easily endear themselves to him by not judging him in this way right off the bat. He doubts his own merits and has low self-confidence, despite the image he tries to project of a more laid-back, socially competent young man. He likes to sometimes try to act older or more mature and manly than he is.

Likes: Video games, burgers, rock music, television, skateboards, girls, cars (despite never learning how to drive), movies, magazines, thriller novels, pizza, tea, cocoa, sugar, Dance Dance Revolution, thrift stores, dogs, cities.
Dislikes: School, math and science in particular, artificial sweeteners, bullies, snobs, over-priced things, trains, elevators, car horns, car alarms, broccoli, beets, socks, harps, bows.
Fears: Being rejected (especially by girls), being judged, being the worst.
Virtues: Modesty, honesty
Vices: Overeating, laziness

History: He was an angel named Damien, and he had always felt there had been rather a mix-up between babies when he was being named. He was an ineffectual angel, been told he would never amount to much, and had been that way from the very start; when all the other fledgling angels had been practicing their hymns and stringing their harps, he was getting his fingers tangled and squeaking off-key, and tripping over his own sandals (just learning to strap those things had been a monumental chore--like shoe-tying, but with pointy metal buckles.) Something about him just always "screamed" average, and in a world of flawless divine beings, he always stood out like an awkward sore thumb. For many of his childhood years, he tried to ignore this--ignore it even though it stared him in the face each day, thwarted him in nearly every effort, followed him around like a tiny, personal stormcloud. He grew miserable and yet tried to stay chipper for as long as he could manage, until finally, someone noticed.

Damien did not, actually, get an audience with God when the day came. But he was assured that the big man upstairs was very sympathetic to his plight, and yadda yadda, some heartening jabber they put together for his sake. But he at least got a brief sit-down with an Archangel, and a decently comfy cloud to sit on during it. The blonde, chiseled superior angel sat across from him, pulled out some impeccably clean reading glasses, and a file that materialized out of thin air. He spent some minutes skimming it, with the occasional half-interested "hrrm".

"I see that, perhaps, you have not been particularly happy here in Heaven, Damien, my boy," he said, without much feeling. "This seems somewhat contradictory, seeing as how this is... well, Heaven, the eternal paradise and all. Even if this place is meant for humans, angels are normally quite content here as well. Most don't know much else beyond this place."

"B-beyooond, sir?" his twelve-year old voice cracked.

"Yes, Damien, beyond--Earth, the living world, inhabited by humans and all of God's other creatures. Some angels have spent time there. We believe... perhaps you would like to spend some time there."

"M... me? You'd let me go...? Even though only a couple angels get to...?"

The archangel gave him a small smile. "Yes, Damien, we will let you go. He has decided it."

Damien was not sure what he could expect on earth, but even so, for the first time he could remember, he was thrilled. He was getting a chance to start somewhere new, where he could possibly fit in, and a chance to see a world few of his kind had seen and experienced in person. That made him different... and in a good way. He couldn't wait. He had no belongings aside from the clothes on his back, and after some further discussion with Michael, the archangel who had first talked with him, he soon learned that his clothing would not be well-suited for earth life anyway. He was given a small wad of bills, and directions to seek out some kind of place called a "thrift shop". They would become his new favorite sight, more welcome than a fluffy cloud or a bright patch of sun. They guided him and left him in a small city in South Carolina, where he would start his first day, as an angel on earth.

He has seldom wanted to go back to Heaven since. ]]> Altamira http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102623-damien.html Armelle Trudeau http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102476-armelle-trudeau-new-post.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:15:39 GMT Image: http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d57/boilingpotofacid/Armiessigcopy.png *Name:* Armelle Trudeau *Nicknames:* Armie, Arms *Age:* 19 *Birthdate:* December 13, 1905 *Apparent Age:* 22

Name: Armelle Trudeau

Nicknames: Armie, Arms

Age: 19

Birthdate: December 13, 1905

Apparent Age: 22

Gender: Female

Race: Human

Height: 5’ 7” (170 cm)

Weight: 118 lbs. (54.5 kg)

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Relevant Family:

Father – Harry Trudeau
Mother – Marie Trudeau
Sister – Sophia Trudeau
Paternal Grandfather – William Trudeau
Paternal Grandmother – Ruth Trudeau

Appearance: Armelle’s skin combines the darkness in her black father with the pale tone of her white mother. This results in a warm, light brown complexion. It’s soft and unmarked by blemishes or scars. Her hair is in a style resembling a bob cut. She habitually wears hair clips to keep it up and out of her face. Her mixed parentage has made her hair somewhat wholly, yet curly. It doesn’t shine easily, is climate-dependent (frizzville), and soft to the touch. Her face structure, less like her skin, is dominated by her father’s side. She has a heart-shaped face and profound, obscure eyes. Her eyebrows curve in a way that make her seem naturally laid-back. She has a wide, round nose that sits above fairly generous lips. She enjoys wearing a bit of mascara or blush on suitable occasions.

Armelle has a trim figure. The bones in her neck easily protrude when she puts the slightest tension on them. Her arms are positively tiny, showing neither fat nor muscle. She has subtle curves that aren’t particularly defined, yet still evident. Her bust is small and hardly even visible in loose clothing. In contrast, her legs have much more muscle, while still appearing lean.

Like her fellow peers, her style is a subtle act of rebellion from the strict, feminine Victorian generation that preceded her. She loves to wear tube dresses that end at her knees and put very little emphasis on her bust. Her clothing usually contains violets and blues, with a fur or rain coat for the chilly weather. Underneath, she sometimes wears stockings or an underskirt. She wears high-heeled shoes whenever she goes out.

Armelle dressed for dance—one of the rare
occasions when she doesn’t wear a coat.

Weapon(s):

Revolver – Black-steel-plated handgun that can fire 6 rounds. It has an overall length of 10¼ inches (26 cm) and a weight of 1.7 lbs (.77 kg). It’s hidden in her coat or under a fold in her dress.

Armor: None

Carried Possessions: A series of old purses to wear whatever outfit she dons. Her cigarettes and cigarette holder are kept there.

Powers/Magic/Skills: Being very much earth-bound, Armelle has zero magic or paranormal abilities. This will most likely change in the future.
Limits: All of them.
Side-Effects: None of them.

Battle Strengths: Thanks to her years dancing, her legs have a lot of endurance and can run and work for hours at a time. She can be rather creative when she decides to escape from a fight. She’s a pretty accurate aim, and can comfortably shoot a person from at most fifty feet away moving at most twenty miles an hour in a straight line.

Battle Weaknesses: The faster or farther away a target is, the less accurate her shots are. Her accuracy also decreases the more heated the battle gets. That being said, Armelle is utterly inexperienced in battle. She’s only encountered a few physical fights in her life and will progressively be improving once she discovers the Dome. The excitement of battle, especially involving magic, would also make her nervous and clumsy. She has poor upper body strength. She smokes regularly and comes from an era where they didn’t know the health risks for it, so she’s much more lagged physically than she knows she is. If she’s forced to stop smoking, she’ll start going through severe withdrawal symptoms even within a few hours after her last cigarette.

Personality: Armelle is a natural extrovert. When first meeting her, one would probably get the impression that she doesn’t shut up; she’s able to find many things to talk about, even with strangers. She’s not the type to talk at people, however, and often pauses to see what the other person has to say. She has a good sense of humor, and smiles and laughs quite easily. She’s very trusting of others, sometimes to the point of borderline gullibility.

Although she warms up to some people very quickly, she somewhat distrusts white men in general. Other than some pleasant exceptions, Armelle hasn’t had many positive experiences with Caucasians. She’s much more comfortable around white women than men, largely thanks to her mother’s influence. If a man acts kindly towards her, however, she may believe there’s some ulterior motive. It won’t take long to gain her trust, however, and she’ll become much more social as it happens.

She loves dancing more than anything. Performing is a wonderful adrenaline rush for Armelle. She has very few problems with stage fright. While her favorite music is jazz, she’ll also dance the more traditional waltzes and the like. Other than dancing, cigarettes are her best friend—or so she thinks. She’s been smoking for years and is very addicted to them. She doesn’t drink nearly as much. Considering her body weight and how little it would take to get her drunk, that’s probably a good thing.

Being a social dancer, Armelle can’t stand being still or alone for long periods of time. She also has some hesitations with romance; her bad luck with boys in the past has put her under the impression that she’s undesirable. While romantic attention is flattering to her, she almost expects it to be insincere or fleeting.

Armelle has very little patience and acts impulsively at times, both to her benefit and her expense. Mostly at her expense. Seldom does she double-check her plans before she executes them. The only exception to this would be when facing authority. She’s rebellious by nature and will likely break the rules if she thinks she won’t get caught, but when confronted by an authority figure she will argue and resist as little as possible. This is due to a deep-rooted paranoia that authority figures of any kind will try to target her family if she disobeys. Their health is the first priority to her—especially her father, who’s most at risk. She would dread nothing more than the death of a family member. She is fiercely loyal to them.

Overall, Armelle is an optimistic woman, but she does have her breaking point. She will bottle up her emotions behind a mask of contentment to the point where any little trigger could set her off. If they’re sad emotions, it’ll be abundantly clear that something’s bothering her. She’ll behave like an unlit fuse—not completely there. Tears can come at any moment, especially if she thinks on it constantly. She also often cries when she’s excessively frustrated or angry. This is usually short-lived, however. It’s difficult for her to stay mad at something or someone for long. She lacks the capacity for vengeance.

History: When kendo champion Souta Matsumoto accidentally died in the prime of his life, the Zen Master arrived to announce his next step.

“The good news,” said the Zen Master, “is that there’s a life available for you immediately. You can be reborn right away and pick up where you left off.”

“Very well.”

“The bad news,” the Zen Master continued, “is that she’ll be a 20’s flapper woman.”

Armelle was born in Montreal, Canada to Harry and Marie Trudeau at the beginning of the twentieth century. She grew up speaking French and to this day has a weak French accent. With her father being black and her mother having runaway to elope with him, her family was socially nonexistent. The only work Harry could get were various odd jobs throughout the day and night. He quickly realized his salary was too tight to provide for a child, and looked for alternatives.

A few acquaintances introduced him to a popular gambling den, which offered craps, blackjack, and roulette. His most-played game was roulette, which he lost miserably at on his first few tries. He swore off gambling after he had to come home to his family without any money. However, a man named Bernard Willis, who happened to run the roulette table, approached him to propose a deal. Using magnets, he was able to manipulate where the ball landed. He would help Harry win as long as he got half of the revenue. In reluctance and desperation, Harry agreed. As promised, his winning rate improved greatly. He was able to not only feed his girls, but buy them new clothes and other luxuries.

Oscar Croze, the owner of the den and leader of his own gang, began to smell a rat. To quell this, Bernard and Harry agreed to purposely lose more often and take away a fraction of the earnings from before. Though it wasn’t as profitable, it still added much-needed income for the Trudeaus. Harry was able to keep this up for about seven months, after Armelle turned two years old.

Oscar’s teenaged son, Éric, eventually found the magnets in the ball and board. Instead of issuing a manhunt immediately, he switched the magnetized ball with a normal one and let Bernard and Harry come to the den that night as if nothing had happened. As the games went underway, Bernard soon realized what was wrong. He badly wanted to warn Harry and help him run away, but had to act as if nothing was amiss. Oscar kept his eye on both of them stubbornly. They were trapped. In a last-ditch effort, Bernard passed a drink to Harry with note under it. Harry excused himself to the restroom where he read the message: “He knows.” No sooner had he registered it than he heard Bernard’s screams from the next room. Harry hastily broke the glass against the wall and ran back into the room. Oscar was clearly attacking Bernard, but was blocking Harry’s view of him. Harry struck the broken glass against Oscar’s head in an attempt to save his partner, but it was too late. Bernard had been stabbed and killed. Harry escaped before the rest of the gang arrived. He rushed home, told Marie of the danger they were in, and packed their things.

They fled to Mont-Laurier and squatted on an abandoned flat. As Harry had even less work, they resorted to selling the clothes and trimmings Harry had bought for them. Oscar’s gang had been inherited by his grieving son, so they had to stay rather invisible. Four unstable years passed. When Armelle was around six years old, she began dancing. She spent most of her time looking through the windows of the local ballroom, watching the dances and imitating them. She entered school at age seven, shortly before Croze found out their location.

The next two years were rough. The flat was vandalized, attacked, and almost burned down several times. Harry had to start keeping a shotgun around, and Armelle was forced to miss school some days in order to stay safe. Croze refused to loosen his grip.

They finally had enough, and when Armelle was nine years old, they moved to Ottawa. Even though Harry didn’t want to put more people in danger, his parents convinced him to move in with them. Grandpa William and Grandma Ruth also watched over Armelle, allowing Marie to relax a bit more. The young girl’s new school taught only in English, and she quickly had to learn the language while doing schoolwork for it. Marie had another daughter, named Sophia, when Armelle was 12. Although she was discouraged that the baby was demanding everyone’s attention, Armelle helped take care of her little sister. This was also around the time she began smoking.

As she entered secondary school, Armelle gained various friends, despite being biracial. She developed crushes on several boys, but they were all unrequited and many times they simply ignored her. She began to take dance classes after school, and sometimes even shirked her schoolwork to stay at the ballroom. The Roaring Twenties ushered in new styles everywhere—in appearance, clothing, values, and music. Armelle soon became a true-blooded Jazz Baby. She fell in love with jazz, the blues, and ragtime and learned new dances like the Tango, the Fox Trot, and the Charleston. She cut her hair short, much to her mother’s dismay. Having little money, she learned to sew together old rags to fit the new style.

On her way home from school one day, a few members of Croze’s group attempted to kidnap her. She struggled and screamed loudly, attracting the attention of several pedestrians. In the chaos that ensued, she was able to escape. Harry was horrified. Deciding Armelle was old enough, He and Marie finally explained who Croze was and what happened in her infancy. He used that week’s salary to buy her a revolver, making her promise to keep it with her at all times. After she graduated secondary school, she stayed in the house much more often, putting her dancing on hiatus and learning how to aim. With Marie trying to raise her youngest daughter in safety, Armelle began to feel like a shortcoming who would only be used as a hostage against her father. She’s currently trying to keep the peace at home while urgently searching for a better way to defend herself. ]]> Leah Socks http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102476-armelle-trudeau.html Vinx http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102374-vinx-new-post.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:05:57 GMT *James Vincent Gainsborough * *Alias:* Vinx *Age: * Born December 13th, 1793 AD (Approx. 123yrs old) *Race:* Half Demon
James Vincent Gainsborough

Alias: Vinx

Age: Born December 13th, 1793 AD (Approx. 123yrs old)

Race: Half Demon

Affiliates: Demon Slayers

Gender: Male

Hair color/style: Short black hair

Eyes: Gray-blue

Weight: 155 lbs. (70kg)

Height: 5'11'' (1.5m)

Weapons:

Vinx has collected quite an arsenal of weapons throughout his life. As a Demon Slayer, much of his tools are mandatory to carry, though his time in the field has allowed him to collect more effective, rare weaponry with which to kill monsters. Like any typical Demon Slayer, his weapons are also made mostly out of silver, a well known purifier of evil.

Bequeath- A fencing sword formed in the style of an Épée (picture), which is a three pronged foil. It is the heaviest of foils used in traditional fencing, reaching about 110cm (3’7’’) long. The sword itself is formed from an alloy of silver and steel, which is kept in a black leather sheath with silver lettering on it (which is also worn on his left on a slanted, black leather belt). Both edges are dangerously sharp, though the tip of the blade is the deadliest point. The hilt of the blade has a curvaceous, intricate guard that protects the hand with metal rings and curves (picture).

Revolvers- Vinx carries two small black revolvers that are strapped in another leather belt, resting on the front part of his legs. Both are carried in their own holster, with two pouches of ammo kept on the same belt. These pouches are medium sized, one holding steel bullets and the other silver.

Silver Stake- A collapsible 2 foot long stake made of pure silver. It has a grip on the thick, blunt end, which is reinforced with carved bumps to keep the hand from slipping. When collapsed, it is no longer than a foot, and a small, ovular button on the hilt springs the tip of the stake out. Engraved onto the hilt are ancient symbols which bless the staff with holy magic. This rests in a holster on Vinx’s right, held at the bottom of another belt that straps diagonally across his chest.

Bottled Sunlight- Perhaps the rarest of a Slayer’s tools, bottled sunlight is collected light that is retained within an enchanted bottle. The flask itself is painted an opaque black to keep the light from showing. Upon breaking, it emits a powerful burst of light that covers a radius of ten feet. Anything caught within that blast of light is exposed to very condensed sunlight, which inflicts both burning and holy wounds onto the flesh of the victim. Outside of that, it is simply an extraordinarily hot and bright light. Vinx carries three such bottles in padded pouches that rest on the belt that crosses his chest.

Silver Darts- Within a black leather pouch strapped tightly to his left thigh, Vinx carries five six inch darts made completely out of silver. Each darts’ shaft is about one centimeter in width, with four black feathers placed at one end for balance. The darts are perhaps even sharper than needles, with the barrel full of a blessed substance known as liquid silver. Upon impact, this substance is released from the dart’s tip and into the creature’s body, which sends deadly poison into living creatures, and even more potent toxin into cursed creatures.

At a glance, these darts are fairly plain, the feathers being the only decorative touch. Within the barrel, the liquid is a somewhat translucent silver which has a sharp metallic smell, even stronger to cursed creatures.

Silver Crossbow- The crossbow itself is not made out of silver, but of simple wood. Vinx can fire it fairly rapidly, though at far distances, the blessed silver bolts are much less penetrating. The crossbow itself is also rather plain, with no complex designs or writing on it. This weapon is also attached to a leather strap so that Vinx can wear it on his back or pack it on his horse. Vinx keeps the 16’’ bolts in a black leather quiver that he also straps on his back. He doesn’t usually wear these unless he is already on a hunt for demons.

Whip- Vinx carries a thick, black leather whip that reaches about eight feet long. It has a strong wooden handle which is also black. At the end of the rope, there’s a small, sliver tipped blade. This he keeps on a strap on his belt, which is wrapped up in a coil near the back of his right side.

Silver Knives- Vinx carries four knives, all of which have been blessed and have letters engraved into the blade. Each one is about eight inches long (made of silver) with a black leather hilt to reinforce the grip. Vinx carries one in the back of his right boot, another on his left side, a third in the center of the belt that goes across his chest, and the fourth is strapped onto the back of his right shoulder. These are easily used for both stabbing and throwing.

Armor:

Leather- Vinx wears black leather gloves that extend halfway up his arms that have mystic symbols carved on the inside. While this does not make it impossible for cursed weapons to penetrate it, cursed objects will be burned and corroded when touched with them. His black leather boots are tough, but not reinforced with magic. His thick leather coat provides protection for his torso and upper legs, with enough flexibility to keep from hindering him in battle. Just like his gloves, his coat is also blessed to keep demons away.

Shadow Charm- One of the few mementos that Vinx carries from his home, the Shadow Charm acts as an efficient means of protection from dark magic. It serves to absorb the damage that projectiles inflict, and protects against curses that other demons may inflict on their prey. While it is most effective to reduce at least 30% of dark magic damage, it can also absorb any kind of elemental damage, though this is much less powerful, taking only about 10% of damage away.

The symbol itself is carved out of silver, forming a small pendant shaped into an ancient symbol. Vinx wears this around his neck, underneath his clothing, and its magic power is subtle enough not to be noticed by even the best of wizards.

Strengths:

Reflex- As a Half Vampire, Vinx has inherited the traditional “supernatural” reflexes, which include superior senses to that of a human’s. He can hear whispering through a solid rock wall, see with perfect vision for great distances, and has a very strong sense of smell— especially for blood. He also has faster reaction speed to stimuli, which has been improved upon in his years of survival and combat. This gives him a decided advantage against those who move at a normal pace, allowing him to move with ethereal speed and grace, which becomes particularly deadly when he wields his weapons.

Raw Strength- Vinx has inherited unnatural strength, allowing him to perform feats of power that would be impossible for other humans. This includes being able to jump distances of 32 ft (9.8m), as high as nine feet (274cm), and lift weights up to 1670lbs (757.5kg). This makes for incredible strength in combat, and with power tempered over 100 years, it is perfectly lethal.

Demon Fighting- Vinx’s victims over the years have been nothing short of inhuman. His experience with evil creatures— everything from ghosts to vampires— has left him with creative skill in investigation and combat. His many years of life has given him enough time to perfect his own proficiency with his weapons, and he can easily adjust to fight creatures of different backgrounds and strengths. If there’s any kind demon at all out there, it’s very likely that he’s killed one of them.

Weapon Versatility- Vinx’s experience in numerous weapons gives him a basic proficiency with almost any kind of weapon, and even without one, he is particularly dangerous. His past battles have often forced him to improvise, and he can do so fairly well when put in a difficult situation. His particular fighting style specializes in lunges and stabs, which is pointed mostly at getting a silver blade into a vampire’s chest.

The numerous weapons Vinx carries also serve to create very interesting combinations. He can wield different weapons at the same time with ridiculous skill, and is ambidexterous with each one.

Range- Vinx’s weapons provide a versatile range to fight with, allowing him to fight comfortably with targets at close and far proximities.

Knowledge- With any centuries old character, Vinx also holds a great knowledge of the world. He can read and understand demonic language (as well as French, Chinese, Spanish, Latin, and Arabic), and is easily able to memorize and retain any given information. He knows of most races and their history, as well as important historic dates and cities. This also gives him uncanny perception into other people, allowing him great insight into ambiguous characters.

Poison/resistance to Disease- As a half vampire, Vinx has strong resistance to toxins, and will never age. He is not, however, impervious to poisons, and can in fact die from strong illnesses and poisons, though this will take much worse circumstances to harm him than it would a normal human.

Weaknesses:

Humanity- As a half breed, Vinx does not have the full power of a vampire. He still has to breathe, still has to keep warm, and he cannot match another vampire’s full speed and power. Though he is on fairly equal ground with a newly formed vampire, older ones provide a much greater challenge. In such cases, he generally relies on his wit and weapons.

Blood Lust- Yes, the lust that haunts all vampires also gets on Vinx’s nerves. While his attraction to blood is not as strong as a normal vampire’s, it still tempts his self control, though he has taken great care to master it. Blood is instinctually desirable to him, but it will not have a distracting influence unless he is particularly weakened, in which case he will easily loose his concentration. In extreme cases, he may loose himself enough to attack even a friend to obtain their blood.

Holy Weapons- Vinx himself is impartial to the very weapons he carries. While he has lived with irritability of these things for a very long time, and they no longer bother him, holy attacks of others will strike extra damage upon him.

Magic- Though Vinx has had plenty of experience with the supernatural, he lacks the ability to dispel or destroy the magic of… well… magical creatures. He relies solely on physical attacks to inflict damage, though he has been known to play mind and logic games with his prey. He also doesn’t have much of a defense against magic, and almost anything magical that he comes up with to use against an enemy has to be researched and found before he attacks.

Light- Though Vinx can walk in daylight and doesn’t have to sleep as long as a human, he still isn’t very fond of it. It takes longer for his eyes to adjust than it does a normal human, and bright lights are particularly painful. He’s also more susceptible to sun burn.

Weapon Rarity- The ammo and weapons which Vinx uses are expensive and rare. He has to make good judgment when using them, and often has to salvage what he can from his targets.

Skills/Magic:

Dark Sight- Another trait of the vampire, Vinx can see in the dark as if it were day. It does, however, take time for his eyesight to adjust to perfect darkness.

Diet Versatility- Vinx can eat both food and blood. While he is naturally more partial to blood, he can still eat even vegetables with the greatest of ease. However, his body is effected immensely by his diet, and becomes much stronger and proficient when he drinks blood. When drinking blood, he doesn’t have to eat food at all, but he has to feed at least weekly, or he will become fairly psychotic. On a diet of plain food, Vinx’s vampire abilities become less prevalent, and his blood lust is much calmer, though it still burns his throat.

Though Vinx lacks the traditional fangs to suck blood, his sharp teeth can easily pierce human and animal flesh. He can bite into a prevalent vein and suck blood from there, allowing the person’s heart to do the majority of the work. This makes his drinking slower than the average vampire, but his bite is just as effective. When he bites and blood is released, certain capillaries in his mouth release a drug, or vampiric venom that works to sedate and calm the subject that he drinks blood from. The pain of his teeth is but a moment— the drug will quickly take effect to block the pain by inducing the victim’s system to release large amounts of dopamine (a neurotransmitter), thus hindering their moving capability and stimulating the pleasure center of the brain.

Stealth- Vinx is an excellent tracker of humans, animals, and demons. He knows how to stay unnoticed by his prey, and his skill in stealth is undeniable. He is nearly silent when he walks or moves, and his movements are unnaturally quick, though he has learned to conceal such irregularities when around humans.

Survival- Vinx is easily able to adapt to wherever he is, be it urban paradise or rural marshes. He is an excellent hunter, and has great stamina when it comes to travel. In wilderness settings, Vinx generally allows himself to become more vampiric, feeding off of the blood of animals. In urban areas, he rarely eats blood, and never blood from a human. He makes exceptions only in dire situations, when he has to hunt down another demon quickly within a city, which requires that he is at his full strength. Though he may feed from a human, he will never kill them— he’s spent too much time practicing control over blood lust for that.

Intimidation and Insight- Vinx is annoyingly attentive. He can read a person simply by what they’re wearing, and it’s easy for him to catch the tell-tale signs of a liar. His background in history (particularly in cursed creatures) gives him a wide arsenal of knowledge to pull from when faced with a challenge. His vampiric nature also serves well in intimidating others, as he has a naturally dark aura and particularly cold, sharp eyes.

Demonic Sense- Vinx has an uncanny ability to sense the presence of other dark creatures. He can sense them as far as three miles away, and has taken great care to be sensitive to such things (as it often implies an attack). It’s not a matter of strength of aura or magical presence— the sense is in the blood. Other vampires are particularly sensitive to him as well.

Form- Vinx is used to being in sticky situations, and has thus learned how to use his body to get out of them. His flexibility and skill allow him to climb and doge quite well, which makes him rather difficult to chase down.

Vampire Slayers- As part of a group, Vinx can call upon the aid of other Demon Slayers, who are scattered throughout the world. They easily exchange information and are quick to give aid, as they all share one common purpose: to protect the innocent from demons. Along with this, he also has strong ties to the Christian church, which provides much of the information and weaponry Vinx uses.

Regeneration- Vinx has an unnatural healing speed, which isn’t instant, but can be quick enough to save him from mortal wounds. It takes a good hour or so to completely heal minor scratches, and a broken bone will keep him down for about three days.

Appearance:

Physical Features- Vinx’s eyes are light, grayish blue, and unremarkable in shape. His face is heart shaped with a prominent square jaw and sharply pointed nose. His face is lean, as is the rest of his body, with his skin being an albino white. His dark black hair is short and neatly combed over to the left side, with a few bangs falling over his forehead. His red lips are thin and his teeth perfectly white, with his incisors being particularly sharp (but not nearly as prominent as a vampire’s fangs). This, however, is difficult to see, as he is almost always wearing crooked fedora whose brim masks his face and hair with shadow. He stopped aging when he was turned— that was at about 25 years of age.

Clothing- Vinx’s prominent feature is one color: black. His hat is black, his leather boots (that go up to just below the knee) are black, his pants are black, his long overcoat is black— he’s depressing as a raincloud. This general gloom of his very appearance is enough for others to subconsciously avoid him, and his tall figure is only more intimidating. Everything he wears is pretty much the same color of black, even his long sleeved shirt. The dark linen shirt tucks into his gloves, which are rather loose at the arm end. His leather overcoat extends a few inches past the knee, with buttons lining the chest until it reaches his belt, where it splits in the front and back. This conceals many of the pouches on his belt and legs, including a good portion of his sword.

Body- Vinx has a firm and muscular frame, though it is not ostentatiously so. He also has plenty of scars across his chest and back from some particularly nasty bouts with demons, though his body heals fairly quickly. He carries a subtle scent of Juniper and mint, and his voice is pleasantly smooth, but almost always apathetic, with a very strong British accent.

Other equipment:

Salt- The wonderful substance for all who fear the undead—Vinx carries the stuff in a medium sized pouch that is strapped to his belt (the one also attached to the sword). It’s useful for drawing protective circles, including circles which the undead cannot cross.

Holy Water- The bane of curses and acid to evil, Vinx carries three bottles of water blessed by a priest. These serve well to reduce and banish curses, and are particularly good at burning the flesh of the undead. He has three bottles of this, which he keeps in padded pouches on the belt that comes across his chest.

Holy Symbols- Vinx wears blessed pendants of various religions on himself. This includes a silver crucifix that he wears on his neck, a bracelet with the Star of David (made from silver as well), another bracelet with the holy symbols of the crescent moon and star (Islam), and various other symbols from different religions. All of these are meant to protect from any kind of demon that has ever walked the earth.

Thievery Tools- Not all of life’s doors are unlocked. Vinx carries a pouch of small lock picking tools to help with door locks and cumbersome binding devices.

Elixir- Vinx carries a potent healing potion created by a Christian monk, and its healing qualities are unmatched in the world of chemicals. Drinking the whole vial will provide the drinker with full health, healing all physical ailments. The liquid itself looks just like water, though it has the sweet scent of vanilla. Vinx carries two bottles of this, which are strapped in a pouch on his belt.

Travelling Supplies- Vinx carries a bag full of all traveling necessities, including vittles, soap, cooking utensils, flint and steel, money, spare clothing, as well as other various, simple items used for convenience. This bag is usually left strapped to the saddle of Vinx’s horse.

Vinx’s Horse:

Name: Amin

Race: Arabian horse breed

Height: 14.2 hands (58 inches from the base of the neck to the hooves)

Weight: 900lbs. (408.2kg)

Appearance: Amin has a sleek black coat with a long black mane and tail. He is a muscular horse with a delicate looking head, though he is quite a strong and powerful animal.

Temperament: Amin has been extensively trained and is loyal and obedient to Vinx. He has a tendency to blatantly ignore others that may try to ride him. Amin can easily take jumps and is a difficult animal to spook. He doesn’t handle ship travel very well.

History: Amin was a mount that Vinx acquired in England through an expensive trade in London.

Personality:

Vinx is a rock. He just is. He has a very unmoving and logical personality, which is attentive to detail, but not always responsive to it. Vinx is a particularly quiet man, and while he is generally willing to cooperate, he will not hesitate to disobey orders in order to take the course of action that he thinks is best. He’s generally curious about information he has not heard or seen before, but unless it is information of any importance, he doesn’t care to pursue it.

Vinx isn’t necessarily peaceable—simply calm. If he thinks he needs to take something, he will not hesitate to take without asking, hardly even thinking of how his actions might offend another. He cares nothing about how others feel or what they think, only that they are safe. The only law that exists for him is his own, and his belief in the Christian God is one of grudging acceptance.

Though Vinx’s hatred towards demons is strong and deep, he is not easily moved or manipulated by them. His encounters with them have often been callous and sardonic, removing any sense of pity at all in him. He doesn’t have a great interest in the world, seeking only to pursue and kill demons, leaving him with very few friends. He has pursued no relationships, and much prefers solitude over any kind of company.

Despite his isolation, Vinx is a gentleman, if grudgingly so. A good portion of his life was spent in England, and before he became a Half Vampire, he belonged to a noble family. His is perfectly aware of social graces, and generally acts upon them, often being genially detached. Annoying people, however, will find that Vinx’s terse mannerisms can be somewhat harsh. Vinx tends to use his "genteel" charm best when he's in need of human blood.

Likes:

Music- Vinx has always had a soft spot for music. He enjoys listening to classic and opera, and is fairly skilled at playing the Violin. This was a taste that he developed in his earlier years as a human, and it still remains with him. Along with this, he is particularly well trained in traditional English dances, including the scandalous waltz.

Children/Innocents- Vinx is only too familiar with the dark side of society. He prefers the company of sincere, honest people who lead small, simple lives. It is to their protection that he has committed his life.

Books- In the small moments of peace that Vinx has, he prefers to read. While novels aren’t exactly up his alley, he still enjoys informational text on linguistics, mathematics, geography, and history. There are few technical terms that he is unfamiliar with.

Food- Vinx rarely has time to settle down to a decent meal, and while he’d never admit it, he’s particularly grumpy when he goes without eating. Eating good, hot food generally puts him in a better mood. He tends to favor traditional English food, with his favorite dish being Crown Roast Lamb.

Dislikes:

Demons/Vagabonds- Vinx has zero tolerance for demons and criminals. A sadistic demon is dead on sight. Criminals are given no mercy when they cross him. While Vinx doesn’t go out of his way to hunt down criminals, he will not hesitate to inflict “justice” where necessary, and is particularly terse with cruel and dubious individuals.

Pleasant Weather- When the sky is blue and the sun at its highest, Vinx becomes particularly sullen. Perhaps that’s because his dreary attitude contrasts heavily with anything cheerful, but he prefers the cool, dark and damp to anything bright and painfully vibrant.

Indulgence- Vinx has a strong dislike towards materialism and insincere, ardent emotions that are so easily expressed in the Victorian society. Showy, chatty people are likely to get little response from him.

Biography:

Vinx was born during turbulent times in England. The Revolutionary War was recently lost by the British, and great reforms in slavery and the Church of England were occurring. His father was a wealthy merchant of the noble class, and so he was provided with genteel education. He also studied business alongside his father, and being the oldest of two brothers and one sister, he was also expected to inherit his family’s wealth.

As Vinx grew into a young man, the French Revolution was occurring just beyond the English Channel. He saw his father become politically involved as Britain faced fears of revolution, and became active himself by studying the arguments of men like Edmund Burke and Thomas Jefferson. He continued his basic studies in Latin, mathematics, and business, and balanced such activities with music, dance, and fencing. As he gained good reputation as a dignified and intelligent noble, his birth engagement to Callista Elizabeth Cudney was soon announced, though the marriage to this noblewoman never took place.

A terrible event occurred one night as Vinx’s family gathered to dinner. He was at his prime, strong and ready to marry, his family was comfortably wealthy, and his parents and siblings were in perfect health. This in and of itself was a small miracle considering the hard economic times, but they graciously accepted the circumstances. All of that changed on that chilly autumn night.

What happened was a vampire attack, the reasons of which Vinx did not discover until a full year after it occurred. His father’s business had expanded particularly well because he had employed the help of a vampiric cult to help “negotiate” otherwise impossible deals. This turned into an alliance in which Vinx’s father provided the vampires with supplies and shelter, until he became overconfident. Disgusted with himself and his own business, and certain in the strength of his trade, Vinx’s father tried to break the deal with the vampires, claiming he would never work with them again. Before this deal ever came into effect however, the cult attacked, and Vinx’s family was killed.

Vinx was not the sole survivor, in a sense. Both of his brothers were successfully turned into full vampires themselves, but something strange occurred with Vinx. Fearing for his life, as his other brothers did, Vinx also tried to drink the vampire blood presented to him once his human blood was nearly drained, but was only half successful. The vampire attack was interrupted by two demon slayers, who managed to kill one of the vampires and chase the others off, and it was then that they discovered Vinx. They originally intended to kill him, as they did all vampire survivors before they turned, but they were quick to sense that the transformation was incomplete. A rare event had occurred— one in which Vinx held a perfect mix of human and vampiric blood.

In order to keep his life, Vinx had to take the Slayer’s Vow, a pact with God that promised his allegiance to him, which had hold over his very life. He swore to protect God’s innocent, and to slay the wicked demons that walked the earth, unchallenged by mortal power.

To make a long story short, Vinx joined the ranks of the Demon Slayers and undertook their training. This consisted of controlling his blood lust and attaining resistance to holy objects, as well as intensive survival and weapon training. After learning such basics, he was paired with another Demon Slayer until he learned the ropes of demon hunting, and since then, he has gone solo. He has reached a more “elderly” position among the Demon Slayers, having managed to kill even a 700 year old vampire.

History of the Demon Slayers:

All Demon Slayers are half vampires. There are no exceptions. Each and every one of them has sworn a sacred vow to protect the innocent, and it is a vow that they uphold with their very lives. The group has existed for almost as long as vampires have, though they are certainly less in number because of the unique and rare way in which they are created. Their purpose is generally fed off from the circumstances in which they were turned, which are predictably violent, abhorrent events. They have all been assaulted by vampires and affected for eternity because of it, and none of them bear any fondness towards vampires because of this.

Half Vampires are created when a subject’s blood is replaced with enough vampiric blood to biologically change them, but not enough to turn them fully. Such a balance is virtually impossible to create, and these instances have occurred only because of a bizarre mix of fate and luck. None of these subjects ever turn to become sadistic demons themselves— the Demon Slayers are too tightly knit a group for this to happen. They have an unnatural sense for finding each other, and there have been no known half vampires to have refused to make the Slayer’s Vow. Because of this, they have become a small, but terrorizing group to demons that traverse the world. Their numbers have never grown over one hundred (which is pretty small, considering the world’s population), due, of course, to their rare creation and dangerous profession.

Demon Slayers work closely with the Christian church, though they are by no means on “friendly” terms with it. They are recognized as demons themselves, damned creatures that drink forbidden blood, but they are kept around because of their supernatural abilities. It is rare for any mortal to have the power to kill a vampire, and even half vampires are at a serious disadvantage. Their real power comes from their holy weapons, which are immensely effective against powerful, dark creatures. They are unforgiving soldiers of the night who are trained with incredible skill, which is only reinforced by their vampiric strength.

Demon Slayers are the bane of all demonic and dark creatures, and are greatly hated for this. While those outside of the Demon Slayers have no understanding as to how they function and what they really do (Demon Slayers are often interpreted to be singular mercenaries that aspire to do God’s will), it’s not difficult for dark creatures to recognize that these “mercenaries” have the intent and power to kill them.

For all these reasons, the Demon Slayers are a mysterious, isolated group that very, very few ever come to recognize. They disappear as quickly as they come, often leaving nothing behind to tell their story. Vampire Slayers rarely gather in large groups, but it is not unusual for them to work in pairs and small groups when teaching or gathering up power to fight a particularly large enemy. They’re also known to wear similar clothes and wield similar weapons— a Slayer is easily recognized if one knows what to look for. Each of them has contact with the Christian church, though only a few monks and priests even know of their existence.
]]> Fairess http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102374-vinx.html Ryal, the Bard http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102164-ryal-the-bard-new-post.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:47:46 GMT ((Well, here goes nothing...))

Name: Ryal Hamad

Nickname/Alias: He is famously know as “The Bard.”

Occupation: He is a bard and plays at inns, but also does some mercenary work in his free time for extra cash.

Age/Birthdate: 26. Birthdate is unknown.

Apparent Age: He looks fairly younger than he is, but mainly because of his small build.

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Hair: He has dark-brown hair that is gelled back usually.

Eye Color: He has brown eyes.

Height: 5'7

Weight: 184 pounds.

General Appearance: Ryal wears a dark green cloak with a brown shirt and tan slacks under it. He has an eyepatch over his left eye because of an accident when he was a child, and has dark brown buckled boots. He also has a belt that his sheath is attached to on his side. He is very slim for his age and is slightly pale because he usually covers a lot of his skin with his clothes. He isn't very muscular, but is in enough shape not to have a flabby looking body.

Weapon(s): He has a long sword (a sword that has a grip that allows the sword-user to weild it either a one handed or two handed style) that is polished to a mirror sheen. It is made of steel and the guard of it is wide. The hilt has an eye engraved in the center of it that Ryal has fashioned himself. He also has a knife that he hides in his boot. The knife is as short as a butter knife, but is as sharp as the claws of a lion. It is a very thin blade that would likely break in half if Ryal would try to deflect a heavy blade with it. It does not have a hilt and is made of iron.

Armor: He wears a thing layer of chainmail underneath his shirt, but is otherwise lightly equipped with armor for mobility.

Carried Possessions: He carries a lute on his back that is engraved with many strange words that is in a language that Ryal neither understands or knows of. It is made of wood from a willow tree. He has a little bit of money earned from playing at inns, but doesn’t have any other notable possessions apart from these.

Powers/Magic/Skills:

Total Magic: 80

-Speechcraft (10 Magic): The ability of sheer persuasion to achieve certain goals. Masters of speechcraft can get many things in a simple conversation to go their way. Ryal is adept in this skill, but sometimes says the wrong things that get him in a lot of trouble.
Limits: He can use speechcraft pretty often, but if used too much on the same person, his wily tricks can be seen and he will probably not get what he wants. It does not work very well on people that are intelligent and is only useful on the very weak minded if Ryal really wants to get something out of it.
Side-Effects: There aren’t many notable side affects to this, but sometimes it can get people to dislike him after they figure out they’ve been fooled. If speechcraft is failed, it can sometimes get the user into some real big trouble if the victim takes it the wrong way.

-Swift Strikes (40 Magic): This is a very quick swordstyle that is used to overcome the enemy with speedy attacks. The style usually requires a light weapon and trades power for speed. The speed of this style is often so fast that the user’s weapon becomes a blur to the opponent. This style uses a lot of magic to amplify the speed of the user.
Limits: This style is very tiring if used excessively and must be used sparingly. It takes a while for the user to use this style after assailing their opponent with it.
Side-Effects: The style is not a very strong one, as it sacrifices strength for speed. Often the user can be quite tired after using it, as well, because it drains their magic quite a bit.

-Lute of Healing (25-40 Magic): Ryal can combine his lute playing skills with healing magic to make melodies that sooth the body and heal all ailments. The inscriptions on the lute are really notes for this song of healing. Anyone that can hear this, unless they be an enemy of Ryal, will be healed. The farther away they are, the less effect it has on them. It Ryal targets a single person, he can heal all of their ailments such as broken bones, cuts, or sicknesses. If Ryal targets several people, he can only heal minor wounds and nothing else.
Limits: This healing power takes quite a bit of magic depending on how many people Ryal is healing at once. Normally it will take a few minutes for the powers of the magical lute to recharge.
Side-Effects: Sometimes, if Ryal is not careful, he may heal his enemy by accident. He must concentrate on who is healing so that he doesn’t heal anyone he does not want to.

Battle Strengths:
-Ryal is very quick and agile, making him able to move a lot faster than most of his opponents.

-He is very skilled with the blade and is great at deflecting blows with it.

-He is great at hand to hand combat as well, when the need arises, and can give very quick punches.

-Ryal can utilize the advantages of his small size and speed to sneak around when he is forced in such a situation. He is very light of feet whenever he is concentrating on his task of sneaking around or to his opponents.

Battle Weaknesses:
-Though he is quick, Ryal lacks the strength to make up for it. Most of his opponents are much stronger than he, so it makes him rely on pure speed to fight.

-He is not very skilled with any other weapons other than the sword and fist, so improvisation in battle almost never happens.

-Ryal, though he would never admit it, has the weakness of women. Whenever in battle with a woman, he is always cautious about his strikes, as he does not feel it is right to strike a lady.

Other: Nothing at the moment...

Personality: Ryal is not a very flattering person. He is often rude to most people when he feels that they aren’t any use to him and often throws sarcastic remarks at people to anger them. Though he probably wouldn’t ever reveal it to anyone, he is, deep inside, a caring person, but he does not want anyone to know, as he thinks that it would show weakness. Ryal tries to be funny around people sometimes, but usually ends up making them angry instead. He acts like this mainly because he desires a lot of attention, no matter how bad he has to act. Whenever Ryal is in battle, he usually tends to make fun of the opponent and taunts them a lot.

Likes:
-Ryal enjoys music and loves to show off his musical skills to others. He has been fascinated by the art ever since he was a small boy.

-He likes to have conversations with people, even though he usually never does unless they are kind of close to him.

-He is greedy and likes money. Most of the things he does are for money.

-Ryal also likes women, and often tries to impress them, though he fails to do so usually.

-He is also a lover of food, but he often restrains himself so that he maintains his current build.

Dislikes:
-Ryal does not like people who think that they are smarter than him. He does not like people who try to show him up by outsmarting him.

-He dislikes authority, and does not like them to get involved in anything, because they get in the way too much.

-Ryal dislikes rich and corrupted people, and feels that someone should do something about their evil deeds for money.

-He hates puzzling situations or mysteries, and tries to avoid them.

-Ryal also dislikes it when someone tries to outmatch him and succeeds at it.

Fears:
-Ryal has a great fear of heights and usually goes into a state of panic when too high up. He has this fear mainly because of a bad experience when he was kid trying to help his father on their house and he fell off, breaking his arm.

-He is scared of the dark, and is very embarrassed by it. He always has a feeling in the back of his head that someone is watching him through the darkness, and is frightened a lot by it.

-Ryal is also afraid of bugs, and anything related to them. He doesn’t like the sight of them and thinks that they are very disgusting and pointless creatures designed to make life for people a living hell.

Virtues:
-Ryal is very brave in combat and usually never gives up until he or his opponent are defeated.

-He is good at working in a team and often utilizes their powers.

Vices:
-Sometimes Ryal gets clumsy when he feels that he can easily defeat his opponent, and often tries to do tricks, but fails.

-He will do many things for money, and sometimes his greed can blind his judgement.

History: Ryal was born in a small town under his father, a great bard. Ryal grew up messing around with various kids in town and having fake sword duels with branches from the trees. Ryal was sent to school when he was old enough, but he could scarcely pay attention and usually messed around and got in trouble.

After being reported by his instructor to his parents, his father laughed, remarking that he went through the same thing. Soon his father realized that school wasn’t for his boy. He was almost sure that his son did not want to be a scholar and wanted to be something else in the world. Someone important.

Thus, his father took him out of the school and brought him under his own wing to teach him how to be a bard like himself. Ryal was, of course, thrilled at the idea of leaving school and spending the days with his father. For quite a few years, Ryal’s father instructed his son how to use the lute and taught him the world and the people in it.

Ryal picked up the lute playing very quickly because he became entranced by it, but struggled with the other subjects that his father thought was important for his son to learn. After his training sessions, Ryal would leave his house and go to the town’s sparring arena to view the fights that were held there. Soon, the master of the arena, Matsu, noticed Ryal’s interest in the art of fighting, and offered to give him lessons for free.

Ryal accepted without a second thought and began to go to the lessons after his father’s teachings. Ryal was slow to pick up on the art of the blade, but became very adept in due time. Finally, after a few years, Ryal finished his father’s training.

After a long celebration party at his house with his family and friends, Ryal’s father took his son to the back yard to show him something. He brought out a case, and gave it to his son. Inside it was a willow lute, carved with intricate patterns and designs and polished heavily. His father told him that it had been passed down through their family and that it had magical power deep within the wood; power to heal wounds. Ryal accepted the gift at once with much joy and thanked his father merrily, but his father held out his hand to his son, stopping him short. Ryal’s father told him that he would have to go to work as what he trained to be tomorrow: a bard.

Ryal soon realized the reason that his father gave him the instrument and sighed, but was eager to explore the world and please its inhabitants with pleasant music. On the day that Ryal would finally leave his home, he was approached at the town gates by his master, Matsu. His mentor held out a bright sword and a leather sheath for Ryal to keep as his own, claiming that he would need to have some protection in the wild world.

Ryal was overjoyed, happy to receive two great gifts in such a short time span. Ryal thanked his master, and ran into the wide open world. His name spread across the land quickly, and he soon became a popular invite to inns around the country.

Overall, business for Ryal was great, until one day he received a letter from his parents. Ryal, hoping for some sort of congratulation, opened the letter quickly, but realized soon after reading over the letter, that something was wrong. The handwriting of the letter was very hasty and it stated that something had happened to his father.

Some sort of disease had struck him, and was killing him slowly. It would be only a matter of time before his father would pass painfully from this terrible blight. Ryal was grieved at knowing of his father’s troubles, and knew just what to do. There was a certain medicine man that Ryal had met along his travels that he thought would be willing to help him out.

When he made it to the medicine man’s hut, he was informed that the doctor only worked for money, not pity. Ryal was angered to learn this, and the amount of money was high for healing, but he didn’t have a choice. He would not let his father die. Thus, Ryal gathered his money from his concerts and set out on mercenary missions for extra cash.

After finally gathering enough money, he told the doctor to meet him at his home town for the cash, so that he could heal his father. The medicine man swiftly made his way to the town, and walked into the house to see his father. The doctor all of a sudden burst out into a frenzy, burning the house down and stealing the money for his own. Ryal, realizing he had been cheated, ran after the thief to fight.

Ryal challenged the doctor, but the medicine man turned around and shot fire at Ryal, hitting him in the eye, blinding him and leaving a foul mark. Ryal fell onto the ground in pain and the thief escaped with all of his hard earned money. The next day, his father died from grief and from his disease, causing Ryal to become angered. Ryal left his home and set out on a journey to find that foul doctor and bring him judgement that he deserved.

After a few years of searching, Ryal’s anger passed, and he soon gave up on his pursuit. It was like the doctor disappeared into thin air. Ryal gave up his mission of revenge, and resumed his bard and mercenary duties for money, but he never forgot that foul medicine man. If he ever came across the man again, he would do unspeakable things to him. ]]> Muzzy http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102164-ryal-the-bard.html Chester Llarano http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102096-chester-llarano-new-post.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:12:02 GMT first character and probably only character, but here it goes. oh, and i'm not a twilight fan, so the vampirism has nothing to do with that.

Name: Chester Lleran
Age: 16
Race: Hylian/vampire
Sex: Male
Hair and eye color: Long, rusty, red hair. Completely black eyes, no white whatsoever.
Height: 5'3" feet/1.524 meters
Weight: 123 pounds/55.7918615 kilograms

Appearance: Pale, unmarked skin covered by his dark blue robe. the robe has archaic markings from the chest to the feet. his long hair covers his right eye, the rest stops at the end of his neck. his head is just an average circular shape. Two fangs protrude from his mouth, occasionally nicking his lower lip or chin, leaving two circular scars. His robe has a hood, but one rarely ever sees him with it up. his fingers protrude from the edges of the robe, giving him the appearance of short hands, which he doesn't have. The lower part of his robe has grass stains due to being to long, it also covers his feet. he does not wear any footwear of any sort.

On his right hip, he carries a small pouch containing herbs and a small dagger. in his right hand, he carries a spell book, which he writes in anytime he thinks of a new spell. both hands are covered with steel gauntlets.

Weapon: small dagger infused with a deadly poison, to which Chester is immune. the dagger has a thin, silver handle, covered in runes. the hilt consists of two points which curve downwards. The blade is composed of silver, Ebony, and steel, making it exceptionally strong.

Armor: two steel gauntlets on both hands.

Carried Possessions:
The bag slung about his left hip, made of a simple weave of raggedy string, beginning to rip due to his dagger carried in it.

Chester carries a spell book in his right hand, consisting of 50 to 60 pages of spell listings and how to conjure them. the majority of the spells he created. the physical appearance of the book would make any potential thief rethink about stealing it. it's cover, spine, and back are made of tree bark wound together with strong vine enhanced with a binding spell.

Powers: his one advantage to being a vampire is being able to pass on the disease. he can either bite his victim anywhere, assuming he draws blood, or he can cast a hex known only by the vampires of the age.

Magic: wide variety of spells, the majority consist of offensive curses. his offensive curses draw from the territory around him, or his own Mana reserve. Chester also has spells that alter his ability to do different things, these consisting of levitate, invisibility, and fortitude attributes. his self defense spells consist of shielding, warping, and telekinesis.

Dark Magic-If in a forest, these spells cost 0 Mana.
-Vampire's bite: (mana cost-0) this spell allows Chester to sap health and Mana from enemies. no mana cost because it comes natural to vampires.
-Internal Constriction: (mana cost-10) places the target in insane pain. this spell constricts the internal organs of the target, most of the time causing internal bleeding and popped organs. because of the severity of the spell, its Mana cost is high.
-Fear: (mana cost-2) a hex often used as an area effect, causing any enemy nearby to halt in fear. this is used often by chester to keep potential thieves, murderers, and explorers away.
-Poison: (mana cost-3) if Chester makes contact with an enemy, he can poison them by casting this spell and palming the enemy.

Self fortification
-Invisibility: (mana cost-4) this spell renders Chester invisible for 60 seconds. falling into water and getting hit by a weapon of some sort will wear off the spell.
-Fortitude health and Intelligence: (mana cost-4) this spell increases chester's maximum health and Intelligence (Intelligence governs his mana reserve too) for 120 seconds. in these two minutes, chester can receive more damage and cast more spells.
-Levitate: (mana cost-1) Levitate is one of Chester's favorite spells, often using it to float himself up to tree branches, tall rocks, etc. due to the often occurence of him using it, it's mana cost has reduced.
-telekinesis: (mana cost-5) with this spell, Chester can grab anything within 50 feet of his position. In villages, this can allow him to be an excellent thief.

Skills: he specializes in Necromancy (mana cost-2), the raising of the dead to do his bidding. this is easy for him because he lives on the graveyard of his ancestors.

Battle strengths:
-Guerilla fighting by casting spells from unkown places in the forest.
-assassination
-his speed. he can avoid swords at a high pace.
-eyesight. he can fight efficiently in dark areas.
-Magical resistance and countering. very resistant to opposing magical spells. Chester can counter any offensive spell at him.

Battle Weaknesses:
-close combat. his thin frame and his lack of ability to use blades causes problems for him.
-fighting in direct sunlight weakens him greatly, reducing his Mana reserves.
-Chester's kind attitude can get him killed in battle.
-Damaged greatly by silver weapons. if stabbed with his own dagger, he would die of the silver, not poison.

Bio:

Born in a small town in the outskirts of Hyrule, Chester Llerano was a normal Hylian. His father and mother both worked to pay for their son's future. He and his family lived in a small, one story house in the suburbs of this town. throughout his early life, he made many friends, which admired him for his kindness and ability to handle physical abuse from the town bullies. he was raised as a normal child from the age of 1 to 13, going to school, playing, all the fun things children do.

On his fourtheenth birthday, a man entered the town, clothed in a robe of dark grey. At noon, he came to the front door of Chester's house and asked for food and shelter. When Chester's parents refused, the man attacked them with teeth, leaving their blood stained throughout the first room of the house. Chester returned to his house at that time from playing with his friends and saw the man hunched over his father's corpse. He attempted to stab him with a kitchen knife, but gasped in horror as the knife blade glanced off the man's skin.

The man bared his bloody, pointed front teeth and said, "Kid, i'm a vampire. that aint gonna do anything!"

After this, he seized chester and bit into his neck, leaving two circular scars. slowly, after a few days, Chester's front teeth grew pointed and he hid from the sun, his skin paling. When this was discovered by the inhabitants of his town, he was thrown out. He travelled at night for 5 days, stopping at farms to steal food. He arrived at Kokiri Forest, where he travelled into. Throughout his journey through the forest, he came across a graveyard, the graves worn and covered with vines and other growths. Reading the names on the graves, he realized that the majority of them were Lleranos. Chester had no idea how this was to be, since his family lived many miles away from this area. He has remained at this place for two years, living off of the forest around him.

Throughout his living here, he has met only one person who did not run away. a female Kokiri who was rather interested in his predicament. They grew to be close friends.

Personality:

At first, bypassers are scared by the white, black eyed demon in the graveyard, because none have stopped and treated him civilized.

Once a being gets to know him, they become less afraid and more confident. Chester is very loyal to friends and would never sell anyone out. He has a hunger for revenge when it comes around however. ]]> sniperleader1337 http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102096-chester-llarano.html Aranfania Talethiel http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102095-aranfania-talethiel-new-post.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:10:18 GMT *Name: * Aranfania Talethiel, or simply Fania. *Age: * 25 *Race: * Elf (150-years-maximum-elves) *Occupation: * Thief *Gender: * Female Name: Aranfania Talethiel, or simply Fania.

Age: 25

Race: Elf (150-years-maximum-elves)

Occupation: Thief

Gender: Female

Hair: Long blonde, pulled back into a loose ponytail.

Eyes: Green

Weight: 130 lbs

Height: 5'7''

Weapons:
Martial Arts: Fania learned the art of fighting from her mentor before being exiled. When she fights, it appears as if she is flowing from position to position effortlessly, with each kick or punch disappearing into the whole 'dance'. She uses the environment effectively and obstacles or hazards become integrated into her moves as she tirelessly attacks with unsuspected moves from all directions. The aim with this battle form is to disarm her opponents, and in best cases knock them unconscious.
Seleth-dur (a knife): A 11 inch knife made of folded steel, folded exactly 326 times by an elven smith. This makes the knife shimmer around its edge. This also makes the sharpening process more advanced, but it becomes less dull than regular blades. She usually use it with her right hand, in a backhand grip, making it ideal for stabbing and for makeshift support when she is climbing. It is also her preferred tool for blocking attacks, apart from dodging them altogether. The sheath is held horizontally on her backside, under her loincloth.
Seleth-slaih (a whip): A whip made of a single leather band with a sturdy handle in one end and razor sharp knifes in the other. It is strong enough to support her weight and some more, and is ideal for reaching those hard to reach places. It is a little over 7 ft long and a very difficult weapon to fight with. But due to her martial arts, it completes her style in an almost perfect way. To fight with it, she has to keep the slaih constantly moving back and forth, and she has to go with the 'flow'. When not in use, it is coiled up on her back. Her aim with the slaih, when she's holding both ends, is almost as good as with a throwing knife. It can also be used as a defensive tool as the leather can withstand blows from a sword, although more than one hit in one place will substantially weaken the sliah. (Good thing it's over 7 ft long then) If it snaps, it can be temporary mended with a knot, but it will not 'flow' as easily afterwards and a new and the whole leather band must be replaced with a new one to properly fix it.

Armor: None.

Strengths: Fania is stronger than a human man, very agile and quick footed. She is acrobatic of nature and can jump higher than most, run at walls and other seemingly 'impossible' things. This matches her acrobatic fighting style.
Her senses are very acute; she has the eyes of a cat and the hearing of a dog, giving her a upper hand in the night, and in dark areas. She is also very good at moving unnoticed, which is helped

Weakness: Fania lacks the experience of proper combat, as her life as a thief doesn't give exactly put her up against fully armed soldiers. And when she is chased by guards, her social stealth is often more effective than a fight. Her martial skills are also not fully complete as she was expelled before she finished her training. She also have a strict sense of self preservation and when the situation calls for it she make her leave, possibly leaving her allies in mortal danger. Magic is not an unknown theme for her, but she haven't learned much about it, except for her social stealth. This means she have no idea how to tackle magic users at all.

Skills/Magic: Social stealth. This is a strange form of magic which causes her to not appear as something noteworthy. Basically, it works by reducing her radiations (like aura and personality) until the observer subconsciously deems her not worthy any attention. It is further amplified by doing things a normal person would do. (She could hide by appearing to search for herself...) However, it only works on people who doesn't already have their attention on her. But crossing a corner is enough to throw off any chasing soldiers for a while. It is not a magic she gets tired of, but she becomes depressed from overuse, as her personality becomes weaker as her radiation fades.

Other skills: She grew up in the forest and lived there until she was exiled, so she knows how to care for herself in the wilderness. Cooking, tending leather, sewing and other skills deemed normal for an elf is also some of her basic skills. Archery is also a natural skill for Fania and although any skilled marksman can best her in a challenge it's good enough for her work's sporadic need.

Appearance: Image

She got the scar on her left cheek from a fight with a panther. The slashes on her face got infected and even through potent elvish healing, the scars never disappeared. Some told her it might have been some poison on the claws of the panther, or magic of some kind, but she have learned to live with it. She got two other noticeable scars; one on her waist and one above her chest. They are of newer date and will probably fade away with time.

Her clothes are mostly linen with a few exceptions; her blouse is of a cheap cotton and her pants are a fine velvet material, also made of cotton. Her boots are of a soft leather, with a sort of rubber sole to silence her footsteps. It has a metal tip which helps her when she climbs up walls, and increase the pain delivered by her kicks. Her bracelets are made of copper, her jewelries in her hair are pearls and glass drops and her necklaces is made of colored glass fragments. It is said to have magic properties but she only wears it because it is pretty. Her pendant is made of a gold alloy and is the symbol of her family.

She got a somewhat athletic and strong build, while still retaining her female curves. She got a oval face with her cheekbones clearly outlining her face and neck. Her eyes are not sunken in but stand out from the nasal bone. Both her eyes and her mouth are small; giving her a firm and stern appearance. Her hair is blonde and mostly pulled back into a loose ponytail. It is soft and shimmery and she spends a lot of time caring for it. She doesn't use any makeup of any kind as her skin is naturally soft, an elven racial trait. Her ears are pointy (duh) and point straight up...

Personality: Fania's position as the only elf, and one of the only female thieves in the guild have forced her to become rough and tomboyish. She is short tempered and is often found in the core of a bar fight with no more reason than someone commenting her. She have a native distrust in humans and may take the best intended compliments as insults just because she thought there was a underlying criticism there.

She likes to brag about her skills, of how she could steal the belt out of your pant without you ever noticing. Another thing she's got at is to twist herself out of all the problems she constantly get herself into. Similarly, she is not more loyal than your wallet is thick. She's not a coward, but if she deems the dangers higher than the profit, she can walk out of you without warning.

But however tough she may appear, she is still not more than a young girl without a family or friends. Exiled from elven society, Fania is destined to live her life as an outcast among the other races in Vaniya. She's lost, a constant wanderer looking for a place to truly belong and even though she is content with her life she believes there is more to life than just being a simple thief.

Biography:

The following is a timeline of Aranfania's life, from her birth to present day:

- The Year of the Dragon - Common year 583
Aranfania is born on the 20th day of the fifth moon cycle. She is the only daughter of Arandia and Eleiania Talethiel, two respected elves in the elven society of Farn in Asrinon.

- Common year 588:
At Aranfania's 5 years day she is placed as a student of Rana Sleghel, a teacher of martial arts. She is a little afraid of him at first but starts to enjoy the training after only a few months, but misses her parents a lot. She visits them five days every moon cycle.

- Common year 594:
Having graduated from Rana's basic teaching, Aranfania is ready to receive her approval for warrior training with the elder Lenthiel. She is deemed worthy, but Rana demands for her to proceed with her martial art training. In the end she decides to train both arts.

- The year of the Bull, Circle of the Thorns - Common year 600:
Aranfania is starting to master her martial arts but her warrior training is going slower. She have picked the Seleth-slaih as her weapon of choice but she is having problems moving on.
It's the year for the celebration of a new century for the world and a commissionaire from a neighboring country, a human, have arrived to honor their friendship with the Farn society. (It's an old pact between Farn and a the human village) He brings a gift for the village elder, a valuable present of magic properties it is said, and Aranfania decides to find out what the gift is. She sneak into the elder's house as both the elder and the commissionaire is eating at the great banquet and steals the present. It turns out it was a box containing a magic link to the human village leader. The elder was supposed to use the link to heal the leader, which was mortally wounded in a battle, to avoid an 'evil' opponent to seize the leadership, and with the box opened, the link was gone.

This results, after she is discovered, in exile. It is a punishment for betraying their allies and letting an enemy seize the throne of a friendly kingdom, it turns out. She is forbidden to return to Ashrinon by a magic spell. Aranfania travels the world, visiting Inderinon, Doras, Romara and Iosia.

- Common year 602:
Aranfania have settled in a human town in the country of Ambvrria, the city of Wexlan. There she have joined the thieves guild, which she stumbled upon by pure luck. She is treated badly, but not abused. Her soft naive personality is becoming more tomboyish in response to the harassment she has to endure in the town. She spends a lot of time training with her weapons.

- Common year 607:
Aranfania have gained respect among the thieves guild but have not gained any position. She is somewhat wealthy, if one can call a thief that, and is renting a small alcove in a larger house. Her life in the thieves guild is somewhat satisfying and her profits are pretty good even though she has to pay the guild 10% of her loot. ]]> Fluesopp http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102095-aranfania-talethiel.html Character Creation http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102038-character-creation-new-post.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:44:32 GMT Characters are the foundation of role playing. If you don’t start strong in this stage of writing, then your role plays might just crumble into crap. Thus, I have put a lot of focus on the characters in the first half of this guide. Firstly, this is NOT the Character Policies and Guidelines thread. If you're new you should go there first. This is just a suggestion and advice thread.

I also suggest that you read Fairess’s Navi’s LISTEN!!! Thread, which is also about character creation/profiling. It’s also a good idea to look around at other characters in the EH to get some good ideas, as well as learning what are not good ideas. Don’t ever think that this is a noob/newbie thing to do. I still do this when I’m creating a new character. So feel free to look at any of the characters of the Councilors and any seasoned EHer’s around the block. Even some newbies have been coming out with good stuff lately.

Remember that to RP in the Escapists’ Haven you must have an approved character. Go to the Character Policies and Guidelines to see what is required for approval and then come back here for more advice.

One other thing I would like to mentioned before we dive into this: by rule of thumb, the stronger and more powerful and more skilled your character is the longer and more detailed the profile needs to be. You can't half-ass it because a Councilor will come along to approve it and tell you to add more details. This is to prevent intentional or unintentional godmoding. Not only that, but it's really helpful to anyone you may RP with.

So, if you're new RPing, I suggest starting with a weaker character just to make things simpler for you on your first few characters. Once you've seen other profiles and get the hang of this character thing, then it'll be easier to make more powerful characters. Not only that, but it isn't required for your character to be a battle character. We have combat and non-combat RPs here. So it's perfectly fine to make a character that would be useless in a fight.

Here is a basic template for a character and what you can do to start strong:

Name: Okay, the thing to avoid here are variations of your name, nickname, screen name, or any other name that has been applied to you. Not only is this done often, but it also implies self-insertion.

Avoid ordinary names that are spelled or changed to be more unusual. This has been done. A lot. Really, sometimes ordinary names are just better because no one uses them anymore. You don’t have to go out of your way to make it more interesting and unique. Boyish sounding names chosen for a girl have been done as well. Maybe try a girlish sounding name for a boy instead :P

Avoid using nouns and verbs not normally used for names, especially if they are related to nature, a weapon, a gemstone, darkness, or something mystical—spelled normally or not.

Avoid it being something your character chose for themselves or chosen specifically because you thought it had an appropriate meaning for your character, or taken from another fandom from a character that you liked.

However, if any of this is considered normal for the world, time, place, or ethnicity of your character, go on ahead. The point here is mostly to not go out of your way to make your character interesting and unique. You might notice that the things I have listed here come directly from the Mary Sue Test. The test is usually a good way to know how to avoid a Mary Sue just by looking at the questions it asks.

Nickname/Alias/Title: Don’t go out of your way to make up a kool nickname for your character. I’d even encourage you put a nickname that is not entirely flattering. We don’t all receive nicknames that we like. The same is for aliases and titles. Don’t make up a kool and unique title and then add something in their history so that it makes sense. Write the history first, and then if a title is called for, put it here.

Age: Do not be afraid to create a child or a senior (seniors who are 10,000 years old but look 17 do not count). They’re actually pretty interesting to do. Most people don’t want to do anything outside the teens to around thirty. This is either because it is not close enough to their own age or too old or too young to be sexy. Again, this is not about self-insertion. Nor is this about having an attractive character. Life does not stop being interesting after thirty! Kids are not just the end results of mom and dad loving on each other! My advice: get less shallow and think outside the box.

Don't make your character older than it needs to be and make sure you play your character according to its age. I’ve seen a lot of people do “10,000-700-years-old but looks 17”. The problem with this Mary Sueism is that people still play the character like they are still 17-years-old in mind as well. Here’s something to consider about that:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drammor

If I think about all of the things that have changed me over the years, and turned me into who I am now, and then recognize that most of those changes have only been in effect since I was 5, when I was still sheltered by the protection of my parents, and have only increased in frequency since I was 16, and therefore out of their protection, then I must logically realize that between now and 28 years from now, I will experience no less than as many changes as I have until this point. Some of those previous changes were pretty heavy, too.

There's just... no such thing as a year that goes by without impacting your life. That's why I have a hard time believing in characters who are 500 years old and haven't figured out how to pay their taxes, yet.

They must have gotten bored somewhere along the line, right?

And if you've been alive for ... heck, 10,000 years, give or take, then how experienced would you have to be, and how much stuff would you have amassed? How long would you have to live before you had collected everything you wanted to, and how long would it be before you got bored of those things and decided to replace them? How many times would you have gotten depressed and started over from scratch?

To summarize, more years means more experience, more growth, and more change emotionally as well as mentally. Just because the body stops doesn’t mean the head does too. So if you are going to do this, consider how you should play a character that has lived for so long and how this has affected their personality and behaviors, and more than just having an excuse to for them to have a ton of powers and abilities of epic proportions.

Race: If you pick your character to be a race like a Goron or a Deku Scrub, it’s pretty easy to avoid the Mary Sue issue. It’s easy because they are not really attractive to humans like us. It’s also harder to self-insert because they are not human-like, and more alien and harder for you to relate to.

However, a Mary Sue tendency here is to have some kind of cross-breed or hybrids of more than two races, and of very unusual kinds. They also tend to have all the strengths and none of the weaknesses of the races. Or they tend to be a genetically, scientifically, cybernetically, or magically altered/enhanced being with amazing powers and abilities.

Sex: Not a big issue, obviously, and it’s always fun to make a character the opposite sex of yourself. Though, the tendency here is also to make them attractive and the ideal lover. Try to avoid that.

Hair and Eye Color: Strange hair and eye colors can be fine, as long as they are considered normal for their world, time, place, and ethnicity. Again, try not to go out of your way to make them interesting and unique.

Height and Weight: The only issue here is finding the realistic measurements for the kind of physic you want your character to have. Firstly, consider that muscles weigh more than fat. So if your character is slim but athletic and rippled with muscle, they may weigh more than you think a slim person would. Here are some tools to help you calculate accurate measurement in both types of units: one for men and one for women. For safer measure, I would research more about body types.

I also suggest providing the units for both types, as in kilograms vs pounds and centimeters vs inches/feet. The tools above can also convert these measurements for you and you can keep the metric unit you are not familiar with in parentheses. Not all of us use the same metric units, and when I see 60 kg I go O_O “I don’t know what it means!!!” because I’m an American, and I wasn’t paying attention in school when they went over both types of units in relation to each other.

Also consider race in this factor. A Goron is probably going to be pretty heavy and big. You can still use the tools above to see what a normal person would weigh as a starting point to figuring out the dimensions of your non-human character. I encourage you to research if need be for characters based off animals and other things. Researching can be your biggest ally in making a character.

Appearance: I feel like I’m beating a dead horse with this one.

While attractive characters can be okay, because there are attractive people in the real world as well, most people just go overboard with it. They want all their characters to be sexy and hot. Try to avoid being attracted to your character and making them into your ideal sex partner. Try to avoid making them exceptionally cute, beautiful, or handsome.

Try to avoid scars or other small flaws that do not actually take away from their sexy appearance (perhaps even enhances it). Also, if your character has been in a lot of action and combat, it would not make sense for them to not have any noticeable scars to show for it. Unless, they have good reason for it, such has magical healers. Try not to forcibly input magical healers just so they can still have a fabulous body.

Try not to pick their clothes from your own wardrobe. This again, implies more self-insertion. Also avoid clothes you wished you owned or you wish you could wear in public. Try to avoid clothes that are specially chosen to make even more eye-candy out of your character. Or even more badass and stylish. This includes clothing that is realistically impractical or improper for the character’s situation.

Don’t be afraid to make an ugly character, or even an overweight character. Buckteeth, thick bottle-like glasses that make their eyes look magnified. They don’t even have to be particularly ugly or particularly attractive. Plain Jane’s. Or maybe your male character is a complete shortie and he has a complex because of it. It’s also preferable that they stay this way. No magical beautifying just so that you can get turned on by thinking about how hot they are.

I usually like to start with the head of my character in description, then move to their body, describing their physic, and then to their clothes and how they might wear their weapons on their person. If you have a picture of your character, please still act as if no one can see it and still give a summary of your character’s appearance in words as well. Most Councilors will ask for this.

And about the head and face, something I’ve seen a lot of people do, is just slap a description of hair style, eye color, apparent age, and “they’re very attractive” and that’s it. I know facial descriptions can be hard. Believe me, I know, that’s something I always struggle with when I’m making a character. It’s really important though to give us your best description of what their face really looks like. Heart-shaped? Oval? Strong square-like jaw? Androgynous features? Large forehead? Thick plump lips? Big ears? Round ears? Pointy ears? High cheek bones? Thick bushy eyebrows? Or very thin? How close are the brows to the eyes? Do they have big and innocent looking eyes? Or narrow and thin? Consider these features in detail when you’re writing your character’s appearance.

I, again, suggest that you read Fairess’s thread. She does a wonderful section on the appearances of characters. I will even use an excerpt from her thread because I know of no better way to say it:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fairess

In your browsing of other’s and your own characters, you’ve probably come to understand that appearance is one of the most important details for you and other RPers to know. Without it, there is no outward appearance accurate enough for other characters to find any meaning or value in.

Sensory Details: My comment here is not that I think most profiles are lacking in this area. While some are certainly far more detailed and valuable than others, they all serve the purpose of giving the reader a rough picture to form in their mind. My problem is that that’s all I see, a picture.

Have we forgotten that there is more than one human sense? There are in fact five: sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste. I see characters painstakingly described in the visual sense— I can picture their hair, clothes, and shoes, but I can’t smell them. I can’t hear what their voice might sound like, what their skin might feel like. I don’t know how my character should react to yours because I don’t know if they smell like a ripe monkey or a pungent flower. I don’t know if their voice is generally gruff or strangely soft.

Don’t underestimate the power of touching all of the senses. The more variety you have, the more detail and significance your character will have, and you will also provide other RPers with more deep, subtle details to cue reactions with. Even auras are significant: the kind of presence your character has due to magic or general abilities. We also have A LOT of aura sensers in the EH, and providing such detail (not just about how your character can hide their aura) will also allow other characters to perceive them at greater depths.

Implicit and Explicit Details: Now, this isn't a particularly awful issue that I see in profiles, but it is an issue nonetheless. It's somewhat bothersome to read profiles that blatantly state what you as the reader ought to interpret from the character. Take a look at this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navi007

Mary Sue is amazingly beautiful. Her eyes are dazzling, her hair absolutely spectacular. She is HOT. She also wears a very colorful dress.

In those four separate sentances, I have managed to tell you absolutely nothing about Mary Sue. Instead, I have told you everything that I think your characters should think of her. Instead of listing details and leaving it for you to interpret and think about, I have blatantly ordered that Mary Sue be seen this way. If you were, in fact, to do an RP with this Mary Sue, about the only thing you'd be able to describe her as is... well, HOT.

What is HOT? Is hot being thin, or having voluptuous curves? Is a character beautiful if they are tall or short? Are blue eyes that sparkle prettier than green eyes that gently glow? What colors are the actual clothes that the character is wearing? What kind of clothing is it? What does all of this tell about the character in general?

This is where the difference between implicit and explicit details begin. An implicit detail is one carefully placed within the character profile, which says nothing as to whether or not the subject is "attractive," but provides the story behind what actually makes them that way. If I give you a list of small, intimate details that are meaningful to the character, suddenly you have a lot more material to work with. Your character can decide for themself whether they like the sparkling blue eyes or soft, peachy skin. Maybe they're a green skinned alien that thinks human hair is absolutely hideous. Whatever the case, it is no buisness of mine to tell you how my character is. My job is to provide the details that will lead you and your own characters to their own conclusions.

Explicit details are empty. Coming up directly and simply stating what I think will make for a very vauge character. Little details like the fabric the clothing your character wears can be significant. For instance, it doesn't make sense for a peasant to be waring a silk dress around, does it? Nor does it make sense for a 12th century character to be wearing a white T-Shirt. Take the time to put things into context, to consider the world your character lives in. Tiny, implicit details like this will serve to tell the story of your character, as well as provide a firm base for other characters to build an understanding of them.

I have provided a list to help with clothing items that will better match medieval context:

Bodice- part of a woman's dress above the waist
Breeches- trousers ending above the knee
Coif- men's small, close fitting cap
Fouriaux- woman's silk sheath to cover hair that has been coiled or put up.
Girdle- a band of material around the waist and strengthens a skirt or trousers
Jerkin- a tight sleeveless and collarless jacket
Kirtle- knee-length tunic, or long dress worn by women
Smock(frock)- An outer garment (generally a dress) traditionally worn by rural workers (also attributed to females)
Tunic- any of a variety of loose fitting cloaks extending to the hips or knees (wordnetweb.princeton.edu)

There are many, many more specific clothing items to that time period- this is just to give a general overview. While you can get away with using things as vauge as "shirt," "pants," and "dress," do remember that the more detailed and specific you are, the more depth your character will have. And you are also welcome to add more items to this list ^^

Meaning: The more meaning you can apply to a character through the use of detail, the more profound their interactions will be with other characters. If I come out and blatantly tell you each physical characteristic of my character, you'd be able to easily picture them-- then promptly forget. Attaching meaning, history to the attributes of a character will make them deeper and more memorable. Take a look at this example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Excerpt from Shrub’s Khaz Serwen profile

Body – Khaz’s body is just like his face with no scars or discolorations, despite his active life in war and battles. This is because he was often surrounded by gifted healers such as his sister, who could heal any wounds without leaving a trace of them left...

He has a lean athletic body, toned and hardened for he is a warrior that has been training since he was eleven by the Gerudo. He’s not lanky or too thin, yet not bulky and big in muscle. He is stuck somewhere between muscular and lean, lacking body fat thus his muscles are attractively defined. His body is obviously that of a younger twenty-year-old’s. More developed than a teen’s, but he’s young still; males are often not completely finished developing until around the age 25...

Weapons and Armor: I’m going to list some Mary Sue traits here. Yes, a weapon and armor can be Mary Sueish:

Passed down by a parent or trainer.
Given by some kind of spirit/magical being/means.
Magical
Unusually ornate and decorated
From a different time, culture, or country than your character
BFS: Big Fancy Sword. Often seen in Final Fantasy games.

Not all of these are bad things. That’s often an element of RPG’s, finding a magical weapon or shield or suite of armor during some quest and adventure that adds to your character’s combat abilities. It’s simply better to develop and gather these kinds of weapons and armor as you RP, rather than starting out with it. It’s more interesting and it’s more fun to write.

If your character is going to have a BFS, at least try to be realistic about it. It needs to either be made out of a material that is unusually light or your character must be a magical creature or magical enhanced person to be able to wield such a big thing. Some times both.

If your character must have a magical weapon or armor, please give detailed descriptions of the exact abilities of their powers and the exact limitation of their powers. If you have not been descriptive enough, a Councilor will ask you to add more. This is to prevent intentional or unintentional godmoding.

Besides the Mary Sue stuff, I, again, highly suggest researching weapons and armor. Just plug it into the Wikipedia and learn more so that you can describe it accurately and realistically. This helps add more depth and more visuals for the weapon/armor. Please include its dimensions.

If it is just a normal arming sword, plug it into Wiki and it’ll tell you the average dimensions for an arming sword. Include how long it is in a whole, and then how long the hilt is and then how long the blade is. Please also include both metric units so that everyone can understand how long and how wide it is. Don’t forget weight too. That’s something I often forget with my characters. Weigh influences how easily they are able to move around with their weapon. Length can also contribute to how much finesse it takes to wield a very long weapon, even if it is light and thin. Unusual shape and design of a weapon is also important to its usage.

If you have a picture of the weapon and armor, act as if no one else can see it and give a summary of its appearance.

Carried Possessions and Other: Here we go again with the Mary Sue list to start is off:

Animal companions such as a wolf, bird of prey, big cat, or mystical creature (normal ones like dogs and cats don’t count)
Instrument: guitar, harp, or flute of some kind
Unique trinket that is magical and/or protects them from some kind of weakness, or has some kind of special significance (necklaces and other jewelry often passed down from parents or mentors)

This section can also include other kinds of helpful tools for the character. If so, be sure to describe them in good detail and give a good description of what it can do and what its limits are. Limits and good detailed descriptions of the tool’s exact capabilities are key. Councilors love that. Mostly because it’s very helpful for when other people read your profile and perhaps they need to know how this tool works exactly to be accurate with their responding post. This also helps prevent intentional or unintentional godmoding, as stated before and stated again for truth. So if yours is lacking description, a Councilor will most likely ask you to add more.

Here’s a good example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drammor in Omentus Anima

Artifacts
Ash Doubter: This is an object more commonly referred to as a candle snuffer. It has a smooth wooden handle, a long, dark gray iron neck, and a pair of branches that reach off the end of the doubter. One of the branches curves into about a 90 degree angle and has a clapper-less bell attached to its end, which is used to snuff out flames by placing the bell over them. The other branch points in the opposite direction of the bell and is ended with a wick that is lit and used to light candles. There's a sliding button near the handle of the doubter that is used for pushing out or pulling in the doubter's wick by up to an inch.

The Ash Doubter's magic allows it to extinguish any fire the doubter's bell is cupped over, no matter of whether or not the fire is mundane or magical in nature, and the entire flame need not be so cupped. If the doubter extinguishes a fire spell in this way, then the wick can be lit and imbues the next candle lit with it with the power and effect of that spell, one of two ways, either the spell's effect is stretched out over the course of the candle's duration, or the spell is cast when the last of the candle's wick is burned. At any time, it can be commanded to forcefully expel a cone of warm ash and cinders from the doubter's bell, which varies in size based on how much fire the doubter has snuffed out since the last time it was commanded to gout ashes.

A good description of what it looks like and what it can do. It can be hard to tell sometimes if these are weapons or just tools. I think if it is not your character’s main weapon and if it has several other uses of non-violent means, then it should be placed here.

Now onto creatures and animal companions that may follow your character. Depending on how much they can do or how intelligent or magical they are, you can add a mini profile within your character’s profile. Otherwise you can just do a little description of them. For example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drammor in Omentus Anima

Mockeries of Science and the Natural Order: Omentus is skilled in the art of fusing together two or more different species of creatures from the natural world into twisted animals of his own creation. He can also simply change the natural shape and function of a creature's body to a certain extent, and also its mind. He has practiced these magicks in order to produce his sword, shield and armor, as well as a few things that have yet to be mentioned. The creatures whose names are marked with an asterisk and detailed below are usually kept in vials of crystal glass and iron, which are physically too small to contain the vast numbers or size of creatures that are within them, but Omentus has magically augmented the vials to allow for this sort of storage without causing the death of a vial's occupants. He has done nothing, though, about the pain that would be associated with being crammed into such a tiny space.

Guren Hawks*
These insects are crossed between a tarantula hawk (a type of blue wasp with red wings that kills tarantulas to implant their eggs in them) and a box jellyfish. They appear much as tarantula hawks do, but for being covered in a light blue coat of jelly, with tentacles hanging down between their each of legs. They are about two inches and their tentacles can be as long as three inches. They can both fly and swim, and store bubbles of air in sacs to breath with when they go underwater. They attack other creatures by stinging them with their tentacles, biting them and stabbing them with their stingers. The poison of their stinger causes horrible pain that has been described as, "Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath."

Guren Hawks are usually in groups of two to eighteen dozen when first released from one of Omentus' vials, and tend to angrily swarm the first thing within five feet of them before moving on to anything else nearby. They are especially resistant to fire and heat, but cold makes them sluggish and eventually fall dormant with freezing. If guren hawks are allowed to live in the natural world, they search out temperate to jungle regions and cities to build colonies near bodies of water, and have a hierarchy that consists of a queen, hunters and workers. They eat fish and small animals.

Powers/Magic/Skills: The EH is known for having a soft spot for powerful characters. So as long as they are given enough vulnerabilities and distinct limitations to their powers, magic, and abilities, then they will be approved by a Councilor. Though it is rather over done, thus a Mary Sue trait. The only Mary Sue-ing not allowed here is that which allows godmoding. You are not allowed to bend the limits of their powers here to make a fight go in your favor, or simply to make your character less vulnerable and more of a hero (for bending limitations to save another character or NPC). You must abide by the rules and limitations you have set for your character.

The character policies thread already gives a description of what you need here:

Quote:

Powers/Magic/Skills: - Be pretty with details and explanations. List your character's current special abilities, be they magic or fancy sword styles. Where do the powers come from? Were they inherited, self taught, maybe forced upon your character? What do they look like in action? If your character doesn't possess any spells or other stuff we should know about, leave N/A here. If you plan on introducing magic/other special power to your character at a later point, please make a note here. Also make sure to include:
Limits: - What are the limits to your character's powers? How often can he/she use them, will they need to recharge afterwards and for how long? What's the reach of the power? All powers must have some sort of limit.
Side-Effects: - Visible aspects of your character's power, or other side effects. For example, a fire mage having a higher body temperature than normal, or a werewolf having yellow eyes even when not transformed. Be creative.

If there are not enough limitations and details given, a Councilor will ask you to provide more before approval.

The only other Mary Sue thing to mention here is the self-taught, the learning of abilities that should take your character years to master but is done in days, and being unusually talented at young ages. More on this in History/Biography. If taught these things in a school of combat of some kind, they are usually the top of their class. They also tend to be masters in skills and magics of several different areas. This can be known as Barbie Doll syndrome.

It is not really required to start out with a weaker character, but it does make it interesting to develop and grow your character’s abilities as you RP in the Crossroads and Battle Arena. If you start with a developed and strong character, please give a reasonable history for them being so talented and possessing amazing abilities and magic. Keep in mind it’s really hard to be a master of something you taught yourself, especially when at young ages. If it must be self-taught, at least give it a good long time of teaching yourself, and perhaps allow for them to not be considered masters without farther help from real masters and mentors.

And now here’s another example of a nicely described power/magic:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drammor in Omentus Anima

Seromancy: (Still working on it) A specialized form of magic with effects closely relating to blood, life, souls and biology. Seromancy spells are typically unusual but powerful in nature, being not completely straightforward or having restrictions on them not found in normal spellcraft. Seromancy magic is divided into three categories, based on the ease of casting and mana requirements. These categories are sorceries, spellcraft and thaumaturgy. Sorceries are like spell-tricks - they require very little mana, simple casting methods and their uses are very restricted but applicable in many situations. Seromancy spellcraft is the meat of the magic, being the actual spells cast by practitioners of the art - Bloodstar and Wound Transfer are both seromancy spells. Thaumaturgies are freeform ritual magics capable of a very wide range of things that the caster need not know about in great detail, which often require a lot of time to cast and have heavy mana costs attached to them, and are also limited by the possibility of spell failure. When a seromantic thaumaturgy fails, it may either fizzle and do nothing, do something other than intended, or explode violently.

Sorceries:
Bind Hellsoul
Mana Cost: 3
With this highly powerful sorcery, the seromancer plucks a tortured soul out of the Hells and instills it into their own body. As the hellsoul takes root, the seromancer's skin pales into ghostly white, while their veins turn black and stand out from the skin in a stark visual contrast. The caster's eyes turn a deep crimson color, which constantly and slowly weep silver tears until the hellsoul is unbound. To cast, the Bind Hellsoul sorcery requires the seromancer to trace a symbol of profane power on any solid surface.

While a hellsoul is bound the to seromancer, s/he becomes inured to all forms of physical, mental and spiritual pain, making them difficult to deter with mere force. Additionally, the caster gains a terrible endurance, able to be standing (and fighting) when other men would already be very dead. Finally, the hellsoul binder becomes immune to mind-affecting enchantments and charms.

Spellcraft:
Bloodstar
Mana Cost: 5
Omentus draws a dart-like construct of blood out of any fresh source, usually an open wound or syringe. The ‘star’ is about two inches long, the blood’s color and sharp on its edges. When cast, the star flies free of its caster and harasses a single target, inflicting small cuts on its victim as it flies around them. If the star is struck hard, it is broken and splashes apart. Casting the spell from a person’s injury will injure them further, and the star lasts for about half a minute after it is cast.

For skills like sword style or hand-to-hand/martial arts, I, yet again, recommend researching on the subject if that is your character’s main way of combat. Try to really give more details on their style if it’s their most important form of attacking and defending. This helps give you a better idea of how strong they are when it comes to sword fighting and also for anyone who might battle your character. Here’s an example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shrub in Rontu Nyzento

Rontu's sword style is rather interesting. His main advantage is range and reach, because he has long arms and a long sword. Thus he does his best at keeping his enemies away from him and at mid-range combat. His style is often misleading as well. It's a very fluid style that seems to be constantly in flow and motion. It goes with the momentum and weight of his lengthy weapon. It's misleading because others often see it as slow. Due to the length of his weapon and the sudden speed-up due to going with the fall of his hefty katana, others are often struck before they realize what had happened. He reaches them with his blade much sooner than most would realize. Also because of the momentum, Rontu can keep swinging for much longer than others think. They often think they see an opening where they believe his combination should end and rush it. However, it doesn't end, and they are struck with the length and sudden speed-up again. This is also combined with openings Rontu leaves to draw his enemies in. This is where he'll insert sudden short-ranged attacks with his fists, knees, foot, and sometimes even his head.

And then there can be other skills and abilities that are not exactly violent in nature. Such as alchemy, potion making, hunting, tracking, survival in the wilderness, smithing, sewing, cooking, etc. Just try to give us a good idea of exactly what they can do with these abilities and what they can’t do. Believe it or not, they could become important in a battle or role play. So be creative and descriptive. Here’s an example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shrub in Leita Serwen

Skills/Magic:

Leita is sensitive to auras and can often feel magic. She can sense when a spell is being cast and feels the flow of energy while the spell is in action. She’s good at analyzing the structure of the spells, so she can often understand how unfamiliar magics and spells work after seeing and feeling it done at least once.
She’s a medic, skilled in treating a number of injuries and medical conditions. Leita is also experienced in assisting in child birth and child birth complications. She, surprisingly, doesn’t have a weak stomach and isn’t afraid to get her hands messy with blood and a number of other bodily fluids. She’s something of a doctor, but still somewhat primitive because she comes from a medieval kingdom. Her magic and potions are often combined in these skills, which makes it more effective than your average doctor. Leita is amazingly skilled in the arts of healing.
Leita is very talented with potions and plants. With this knowledge she can create potions that can increase physical and magical abilities, have healing properties, and serve as antidotes for poisons. Of course, this is not something done in the mists of battle. They’re prepared before. She has basic knowledge of plants; this is for the use of her potions. Any plant or thing that is used for potions, Leita has knowledge of it: what it looks like, its properties for potions and other, how to use it in several ways, and where to find it. However, this knowledge is limited to the plants of her world: Hyrule.

The potions listed below are those that Leita always makes sure she carries when she goes out. One must be careful when mixing potions. It’s best not to take more than one at a time. Taking a second while the first is still in affect will most likely cause the drinker to become ill and they’ll puke up both potions, disrupting their affects.

Health (5) – The famous blood red health potion. Leita always carries many doses of these. Her recipe is so affective that often it takes only one vial big enough to fit in one fist to heal. However, depending on how extensive the damage done to the body is, it may require more doses. It cancels out most poisons, drugs, and venoms, and returns their system to a normal state.

Mana (2) – The bright green potion is a restorative for Leita’s mana. She does not carry many of these because she is often the only Hylian mage in her group, and they work only for those who use the same type of mana as she. Hylian mana. Two vials are enough to restore all of her mana points.

Health and Mana (2) – This dark blue potion is a combination of a health and mana potion. These are mostly for Leita’s use, for its double use of restoring mana, though it still can be used as a health potion on others.

Liquid Courage (3) – The clear liquid of this potion often makes one question the truth of its nature. Any living creature that drinks Liquid Courage will find their health, their eyesight, their mental acuteness and willpower, their physical speed and strength—the limits of all of these things become nearly twice their norms. The affect of the potion lasts for five minutes.

Infinity's Favor (1) – The potion is silver and white, shimmering and swirling around each other. It enhances one’s chances. Suddenly everything seems to come together. They’ll know exactly the right thing to say at exactly the right time. Every concern and doubt will vanish of their mind. In fact, it’ll almost be blank. Blank enough to really see events as they happen. Their timing will always be perfect. They will have a trust in the universe’s ability to bring them what they need. There is nothing to fear when one drinks this liquid gold. They’ll be blessed with clarity of mind and luck. The universe will be on their side. It lasts for an hour.

Camouflage (2) – This potion is clear but always seems to glitter and move with colors of the rainbow. When one drinks this potion their body becomes like a chameleon’s, only better. They’re more see-through around the edges and take on all the colors around them perfectly. However, it does not do the same for their clothing. So one must be willing to go naked, otherwise it won’t be very affective. It lasts for two hours.

Flash (3) – This shimmering white potion is contained in a small vial. Once smashed upon the ground it creates a blinding flash, stunning most in the immediate area. It serves mostly as just a distraction to get away or gain an upper hand.

Smoke (3) – This whirling gray liquid is much like the Flash potion. It’s contained in a slightly larger vial. Once smashed open and the liquid touches the air, it instantly becomes smoke that spreads quickly through the air. It clouds vision, makes their eyes burn and tear up. If inhaled it causes much discomfort and heavy coughing. It also assaults the sinuses. It does not cause any lasting damage.

Knock Out (4) – This potion is a light and fairly translucent purple. Three of the four vials Leita keeps in her bag are much like the Flash and Smoke potions. They were brewed so that once they touch the open air, it become a light purple gas which causes those within range to faint within five seconds. It knocks them out for about an hour. The other vial is not reactive to the air. Instead, it can be applied to a cloth and pressed over another’s nose or dripped into their food and drink to have the same affect.

Sometimes it’s fine to just list the skills in this section and then go into more detail about them when in Strengths and Weaknesses to hammer out their limitations and reach. If a Councilor thinks it should stay in a certain section, they’ll let you know. But mostly this is for anything else about the power, magic, or skill that you can possibly think of.

Battle Strengths and Weaknesses: Everyone has them. This is where you put the limitations and flaws of your character and their powers when placed in a combat setting so that they aren’t a big fat Mary Sue. The biggest issue I see here is when people put down personality flaws rather than combat weaknesses. We have a personality section for that. If you put it here, a Councilor will tell you to put it in the personality and to give your character more weaknesses. Though, there is that thin line where a bad personality leads to bad combat. However, leave things like bad at lying and drinking problems in the personality section.

You may have noticed by now that the key to a good and useful profile is details. Describe how strong their strengths are. Use reference points to give us an idea of how strong your character is physically if that is a strength of theirs. The same goes for speed. How fast are they and for how long can they be that fast? Endurance is something a lot of people forget to mention or are very vague about. Try to keep in mind how fast combat and battles move, so to say they can keep swinging around their swords and weapons and fists for 24 hours is not very realistic for a character bound by human limitations.

Also try to keep them fairly balanced. Here’s an example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shrub in Rontu Nyzento

Strengths:

His sword style comes mostly from his mother, who had been one of the highest ranking assassins of the Drow Empire. Though, he has adapted it to fit a man of his strength and swiftness, for he is not quite as fast or agile has Karei Nyzento had been. It is a strong sword style, almost completely unrivaled by the highest assassins of the empire he had once served. His sword and experience makes up for the speed he may lack against faster enemies. Sheinron Beonzeluxae took up where his mother left off in his training. It was he who taught Rontu how to adapt his mother’s fighting style, because of that it does reflect some of Sheinron’s. His style is a mix between both warriors, who were famous for being the best of the entire imperial army. He is experienced for one still so young, since he had been street fighting since he was 14-years-old and his first training had begun even before then. Though, there are bound to be older and more experienced warriors than he.
He's just as good with his sword as he is with his body. He does not need a weapon to cause damage or simple pain. So if disarmed, he still fairs very well and is able to carry on, even defeat his enemy, until he is able to collect his weapon again.
Dark elf males are known for their strength. Rontu has the body for it. Strength is his best attribute in a battle. He could kill several people with the power in his muscles alone without a weapon by strangling, beating them, striking critical areas with immense pressure.
Rontu is fast, for all assassins have been taught to be as quick as they are silent. His speed is surprising for a man of his height and muscle, but he knows well how to move swiftly and with accuracy. Of course, there are others faster than him. He is a large man after all. He will never have the agility that other smaller and lighter weight people will have. He’s incredibly fast for a man of his height and weight.
He can move silently when he wishes, and most do not hear him unless he wants them to. He’s good at blending in with his background in the more rough and violent cities he might travel through. He fades perfectly into dark and gloomy settings. The dark elf knows how to disappear into these kinds of settings, since they are similar to his home city where he learned such techniques. This is how Rontu may quietly stock his prey. They will not notice him following him until he wants them to, and by then it may be too late.

Of course, this relates to average warriors/people. If the person he’s stalking has heightened senses more than the average person, he will have more trouble staying unnoticed. This relates to the five senses, a sixth sense might be able to determine that he is following them, depending on what his intention is and what kind of sixth sense it may be. He will not always be stalking people to do them harm. Even with heightened fives senses, they may not notice Rontu because as said before, he blends in to these backgrounds, and knows how to look bland and inconspicuous. It takes a sharp mind for one to realize him for what he really is doing.
Due to his long elven ears, he has sharp hearing. His hearing is very advanced compared to normal beings, such as humans. He can focus on certain sounds, pick up strange and usually unnoticeable noises, and then fade out of focus as to not damage his ears should there be a sudden din. This makes it nearly impossible for others to sneak up on him.
He has very sharp eyes as well; because he has infrared vision the dark does not hinder his ability to fight at all. Even orbs of darkness, a spell often cast by other dark elves that blacks out both light and body heat, is ineffective toward him. He was trained to fight in darkness and shadows. He does not need his eyes to fight accurately; he can hear and sense where his enemy is and their attacks. He is still deadly without his eyes. They are also very observant; he is good at picking up small details and adding them to his memory for later reference. He has very excellent aim with crossbows, which he has some experience in using. The use of his eyes during battle makes him even deadlier.
Rontu is accustomed to pain. It was part of his training as Scarlet soldier. In way, he has learned to block out most of it from his mind. It's not really something he does consciously. It was quite literally beaten into him by his mentor. One wouldn't say he's a master or even talented in this area. But he is certainly more experienced than most without any previous training.
He has built an impressive resistance to many poisons and drugs. During his training with the Emperor Sheinron, he had been poisoned and drugged by his mentor many times in attempt to build his resistance to it. Very powerful poisons and drugs can still have an affect on Rontu. It may simply be more mild than it is for others, but certainly still able to kill him if he does not seek treatment within certain amount of time frames. Rontu just has a tendency to last much longer than others would, giving him better chances of survival.
All dark elves have a little more immunity to black/dark/negative magic/energy/chi than other elves. It can still hurt them, but it takes the sharpest edge off the affects. For Rontu, a beginner’s dark magic attack might make him a little dizzy for a moment, but he’d brush it off after a few seconds and continue. Stronger more experienced dark magic is bound to have its initial affect on him, but the nasty part of it will be more dulled than it is for others.

Weaknesses:

Rontu doesn’t know any magic consciously. So he does not have a way to counter it should he become a target of sorcery in battle. The best thing he can do is try to be faster than the magic being fired at him. Should he be struck, he is at the mercy of the magic user and their power.
He is not quite as flexible or agile as others can be. There are plenty of others who can be faster and more graceful than he. As stated previously, he will never be able to be as or more agile or fast as those who are of lighter weight and size. So he can be at a disadvantage when battling those types of warriors.
Cheerful and bright settings off set his ability to blend in with his backgrounds. He has dark features and a dark presence. Light surroundings make him stick out like a sore thumb. So he will lack the element of surprise most times in these kinds of settings. He is more likely to be noticed for what he really is: stalking. One does not even need heightened sense of any sort to notice Rontu in these kinds of settings. He will be painfully obvious to everyone.
Though his sharp hearing is a strength, it is also a weakness. If a very loud noise were to occur while Rontu is listening so intently, honing his ears, it will hurt his sensitive ears, causing him to become disarmed and stunned for a rather long time. This pain is different from physical cuts and blows. Rontu cannot block out this kind of pain. It could even damage his ears permanently.
Very experienced sword masters and experts, combined with a cautious and observant mind-set, may be able to spot vulnerabilities in Rontu's fluid sword style. Though he is very advanced for his age and experience, he is still young and simply has not lived as long as others might have. Thus, the older and more experienced and very talented would be able to challenge Rontu in ways most of others are not.
His emotions of pain and self-loathing produced by memories of the past distract him. If he is encountered by a situation that triggers these memories, his concentration is greatly affected (speed and accuracy suffer). Sometimes, he may have been brooding before hand about an emotionally troubling matter. At times, it can also be triggered by being in the presence of certain people from his past.
All dark elves are a little more prone to holy/light/pure/positive magic/energy/chi than other elves. It won’t do as much damage to, say, a demon or other very dark creatures, but they’re just sensitive to it, like an allergy. For Rontu, a beginner’s light magic attack might give him a sharper kick or bite than it would for a neutral creature. It would take him a few moments to recover, and even after he’d still feel a bit out of it for the rest of the day. Stronger more experienced light magic is going to have a nastier affect. It’s sharper and leaves a stinging ach lasting for days even weeks, depending on how strong it was. If strong enough, it could kill Rontu where others would have been mortally wounded but able to recover, like an allergy when they’re already close to death.

History/Biography: I am addressing history first because it’s important to first hammer out your character’s past before going into personality. (However, I would place this very last in the submitted profile because it can be the longest section.) This is because like you, your character is a product of their past experiences. It has shaped and molded them into who they are … hopefully. There are many Mary Sue issues here. I, personally, see nothing wrong with tragic pasts as long as they have realistically affected your character, and not just pity and guilt factors for your flawless Mary Sue to cry about. Try to really put yourself in that kind of position and imagine how such events might actually change you as a person or what could and should happen to anyone else involved. Maybe your character wasn’t the only one to suffer from such a tragedy.

Not only that, but I would find it odd if a character didn’t have something that holds them back in life. Everyone has their “Vietnam”, so to speak. It may not be as traumatic or dramatic as others, but this has been a source of some amount of pain and suffering in a person’s life. Maybe it was just an absent parent. Absent not necessarily meaning that they left, but that they gave the character very little attention and love: paying the bills, obsessed with work, and simply making sure they have been fed and watered and have clothes on their child’s back. Or maybe they simply feel unfulfilled in their life. Maybe they had spent most of it living up to the expectations of others and not their real wants. There are actually a lot of people who feel that way even if there hasn’t been tragedy in their pasts. We underestimate the subtle things in life that cause unhappiness.

The golden rule for the rest of these, which I will emphasize for truth: Realism.

Rape/Sexual and Physical Abuse
This one has been over done a lot. I am guilty, myself, of using this one quite a bit. I have a morbid fascination with abuse. It might have something to do with my mother being a social worker and hearing about all the dark parts of humanity. I try to give them as realistic spins and variations as I can though, also try to back this up with good writing and realistic reactions and affects on the character. I frown upon using this just as a sympathy call, a reason to cry and create drama about sex between characters, and just a common angst-injection for good measure. My advice: don’t be an attention whore and work it out realistically.

There are other ways to produce mental and emotional abuse. Verbal abuse can be also just as extreme as the physical and sexual. We really underestimate the power of the spoken word by others. Whether it is screaming at each other, or just deeming quips added here and there and tucked into normal speech that eventually drives your character off the deep end. The same thing to avoid here though is for it to not have affect or changed your character’s personality and behaviors. These things that are known mental and emotional abuse are called such because they have a negative affect on the mind and emotional state. It could be beneficial to do research on such abuse to get a more realistic hold on it, if you are going to use it for your character’s history.

Parental Death or Abandonment
Done, done, and done again. Guilty here as well. Most of my characters are orphans or run aways. Most of my characters were originally created when I was fourteen, and I haven’t had the heart to change them much except to try to be realistic with what I have. This is mostly used to move a rape and sexual abuse plot along and/or for another sympathy call, or a reason for your character to go out and seek training in combat so that he/she can avenge their dearly departed parents and/or siblings. If done, note the golden rule: realism on what the affects of such things are and how it might really feel to have something like that happen.

Unwitting Murder
This is the accidental murder or slaughtering. Because your character is a victim of circumstances in which they lost control of their awesome powers and either killed one to several people to the whole damn village. *Eyes Fairess’s Leonna Fallenstar* We all have our Mary Sue qualities. This seems to be a favorite of most Gary Stus though. Needless to say, they are wrecked with guilt and ridden with self-loathing. Often driven away from their home by any survivors and/or guilt, or has left because they are the only survivor. The point here is that it allows for them to whine about how their hands are forever blood-stained, when they actually aren’t because it was not done intentionally. Everyone knows they’re really innocent. No real flaws in here for Mary Sue, except when they continue to whine and cry forever about it and continue to be angsty and annoying.

I think the best way to make this work well is the golden rule of realism of how this would really feel. Fairess manages to give Leonna a realistic personality and she also adds the realism touch to the story/history. Truthfully, it would be hard not to feel bad or guilty about this happening, unless you want to put a spin on it as your villain’s character evil beginnings. So no denying the guilt and self-loathing factor. Though the character interactions from here on out are a little predictable. They will have to come to know, usually through the help of other characters, that it wasn’t really their fault. I’m fine with that if they truly come to know and accept that it wasn’t their fault. I will vomit on them if they continue to hate on themselves just for more angst and for the sake of self-loathing. Characters that do not change or grow suck.

Last Survivor
Usually this is when your character is the only survivor of their race after some kind of mass genocide or cataclysmic happening. The point is that they are all alone and there is much angst to be had. They usually have some kind of trinket from their fallen people or now dead parents (combining the Parental Death with Last Survivor, and if you really want to get Sueish, add Unwitting Murder to the mix).

This can be done realistically as well. Just think long and hard on it and really develop it, and then learn to write it well, and you have something you can work with. Consider how this might change a person.

Instant Master
This goes with the amazingly talented at very young age. Top of the class in their battle school. The child prodigy and incredibly proficient at something or other. Usually some kind of fighting style or magic. There can be tutors and mentors, but often it is not mentioned all that they had to put aside to focus on becoming so amazing at these abilities. They simply are amazingly awesome at it with very little training.

I have to say that I am guilty of doing this as well. Only, Leita Serwen had become very reclusive and very focused on her studies to the point that she had very little to no social life. While she was naturally talented in magic, she did have to study and train a lot to get where she is. Bam! Golden rule of realism.

Conclusion: do not be an attention whore and use these as things that will make other people feel sorry for them and want to fix it by being their friend and telling them how awesome they are. Note the golden rule.

Also, something I have noticed is that some people hardly tell us anything about their childhood, or their family or friends of their past. It is important to start from birth to where they are at which point they have started to wander the EH. Try for at least two thick paragraphs. Some people like to get creative and write the important and pivotal scenes of their past in detail in this section as well. It is also encouraged to write a fiction for your character in the Character Fiction subforum, to help give your character chance for more development on their past.

Personality: Ah, personality, this is my favorite section. I usually start from the shallow levels and work my way to the deeper workings and layers of the character’s mind. Also, try to make them different from you and what your behaviors are. Make them their own person and be sure to really use the history for this.

First Impressions
Pretty simple to start with and the most helpful thing you can give another RPer when writing with your character. What is usually the first impression your character gives to others in most normal situations? Polite but awkward? Quiet and shy? Quiet and cold? Loud and obnoxious? Apathetic and rude? What is your character like on the surface levels of socializing?

Under the Surface
Perhaps your character is not all that they seem at first. Maybe though they appear apathetic and cold it is really because they are shy and sensitive creatures. Though the Mary Sue thing to do is make them dark and mysterious and cold and unfeeling on the surface, but really they have a lot of angst and a painful past *cough*Rontu*cough*. Or modest and kind and always trying to help others, like Barbie.

Really, if you want to spice it up really, and make things less predictable. Maybe your character is two-faced. Kind, moral, charming, and sweet on the surface, but underneath they are really after their own self-interests and don’t care about how many people they have to use and hurt to get it.

This is the part where you really have to think deeply about all your character’s inner workings. This is where other characters start to really get to know your character past surface level impressions. Perhaps they have been through several adventures and horrors together by now. They should start knowing things that are truer and deeper about your character. Outline those things about them.

The Roots
This is where you explain the sources of your character’s behavior patterns, often from what they experienced in their past. Whether it was painful and traumatic, thus causing distrust in all people, or a positive experience in which gave them an entirely new and enlightened outlook on life. Really get to the core of what your character is about here.

Also, try to avoid black or white sort of characters. Not everyone is so clear cut that they’re either “good” or “bad” people. Explore the gray areas of humanity, but avoid Villain-Sue and Angsty-Sue.

Summarize and Conclude
Depending on how long it is, it might be good to summarize the key points of your character and end it with a nice conclusion about them. It might be important to remind the reader of the most important parts of the personality that they may have forgotten along the way. I usually like to mention key first impressions again as well.

Here’s an example of an awesome personality description:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Altamira in Cadenza Madrigal-Valentia

Personality: The gypsy comes across as prideful and reserved, quick-witted and sometimes coldly indifferent. She’s very independent, and has confidence in her actions and choices, but that confidence is mired with the distrust of others, for she’s well aware of the fact that they affect the world she’s in, and can change situations dramatically if they choose to help or hinder her pursuit of her goals. This leads her to often weigh the pros and cons of a decision or situation, rather than jumping impetuously in.

Others often feel the need to be wary in her presence; with one of the brightest minds ever to have dived into the criminal world, and with the driving force of characteristic Rubatoian passion within her, it can almost never be known for certain if the woman will call you a friend or stab you in the chest. Her respect is hard-earned and doesn’t always soften the edge to her tough attitude—making it very difficult to understand how well she’ll take to you if you don’t know her well. Calmness and a thick-skin towards rudeness seem to have helped colleague Louis Fritz and others become friendly with her over time, even going so far as to become drinking buddies, sparring partners, and most important of all, dependable allies.

Cadenza has been described by some as a “real rough-and-tumble character who can still mellow out at times”—she tries to adapt the best she can to situations, determining what would be the best approach to them just as she once considered the best way to approach a crime. Still, she is not without a temper that can lead her to punch out innocent Dome messengers and not without nerves that can make her react in ways that are less-than-beneficial in the long view. Being a teacher of the Dome, she has seen much and is surprised by little; she quickly seemed to grasp the concept of the Dome’s sentience and the idea of there being different worlds.

In battle, Cadenza is a calm and calculating fighter, determined and resolute when victory is necessary or desired, and when survival is on the line. She’s fierce and relentless with her attacks, showing mercy only on the very young, the very old, or, due to her late husband Paris Valentia having been one, soldiers. She utterly despises all police and other law enforcers and isn’t terribly fond of most vampires.

Altamira manages to say a lot about her character in efficient but short phrasings. Thus, she is not very wordy to get her point across—unlike myself as you might have noticed already. She also starts with first impressions, moves deeper, and then summarizes and concludes.

It is also important to be consistent with their behaviors and try to avoid contradictory things. Like saying they’re this and “at times” they are that. “At times” is much too vague and then they could be “that” whenever the author feels like, thus making room for self-insertion and Mary Sueism. It makes it possible for the character to change to another character’s liking so that they can remain popular and liked by all characters. State what those “times” are exactly so that you can keep it consistent and avoid that issue. Don’t make a transparent character unintentionally for ego boosting via character.

Though, I think it could be interesting to have a character that actually does have issues with sense of self. So they change their traits to the liking of others around them because they are unafraid not being accepted by others. See? If done intentionally with self-control, these matters can be handled and made interesting. To give a character this kind of flaw is for them and not for getting attention from other characters.

Also consider that most people avoid talking about their issues if they don’t want to talk about it. Most of the time we don’t drop cryptic remarks about our dark and tragic pasts. People usually hide their darkness in the darkest corners of their minds and hope it goes away like a bad dream. That might be why these things are considered dark. The darkness is where you hide something you don’t want to see or acknowledge. So you wouldn’t drop cryptic attention needy remarks about something you don’t want to acknowledge. A good example of this would be my character: Khaz Serwen. Boy did I give that kid issues, but he doesn’t go around whining about it to anyone who’ll listen. He hides it under a charming smile.

Though I do think it would be awesome if someone made a character that was just so self-absorbed and attention needy that they make a drama show out of their past. Because, shockingly and sadly, some real people actually do that. What do you think reality TV shows and Jerry Springer is about?

Most importantly, be consistent and use clear terms to explain these character traits.

Last Notes on Mary Sueism in Profiles
Not all Mary Sue ideas are bad. In fact, if we didn’t have at least a little of them, characters could be very dull. They were first thought up because they were dramatic and perhaps interesting in the beginning, but after being over used and unrealistic, it got old fast. Sometimes these things can spice them up a bit, but only if the golden rule is followed, you add some of your own unique and creative ideas and twists, and you don’t over do it and have too many of them like:

"Mary Sue/Gary Stu accidentally killed their parents and the remains of their small ethnic group in a burst of uncontrolled of power that leaves them as the sole survivor, and then being kidnapped from the streets they roamed in desolation and prostituted by a brothel, thus being raped and physically beaten on a regular basis. And then escaping and being discovered by a master of some mystical martial art to be extremely talented. He takes them in and helps them to gain control over the awesome power that killed their parents and people, and are instantly amazing at this battle art with the aid of their mystical trinket or sword that was the last heirloom of their now dead family."

Too much. Don’t do it and don’t push it. If you’re new, start out with as little Mary Sue traits as possible. Mary Sue can get out of control if not handled with care, so get some experience under your belt before you handle anymore. As said before, some writers can make Mary Sue ideas tasteful but don’t assume you’re one of them. Some of you may not be new to the EH or writing at all, but still have problems with Mary Sue taking over your characters. Do the test on your characters to make sure it isn’t you.

Oh, and I would see Gohan-Uto Sensei for a good and intentional example of a Mary Sue. ]]> Shrub http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102038-character-creation.html Mary Sueism and Self-Insertion http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102037-mary-sueism-and-self-insertion-new-post.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:42:22 GMT This is just part of the Escapists' Guide to the Haven, and thus just a thread about suggestions and advice. None of this is mandatory.

Definition
First, the question is, what is a Mary Sue?

Mary Sues and Gary Stus are what might be considered the “perfect people”. They’re smart, attractive, young, and catches everyone’s attention. They are perfectly moral and strive for goodness, but are also very modest.

“Mary Sue! You’ve saved us all!”

Mary Sue: No, I couldn’t have done it without all of you. *Wipes away a single tear from her eye, managing to look fantastic even while shedding a tear.*

They still look sexy even after a 16 hour battle in the marshes while getting ghoul guts splattered all over them artistically, even somehow managing to make them look even sexier. They look great no matter what they do. They always know exactly what to do in every situation and excel at everything they do as well. Mary Sue does what no one else can do, whether it’s taming that unruly horse that no one else could ride or saving a man being overcome by a deadly curse single-handedly without much effort. All the boys and girls have crushes on Mary Sue and Gray Stu. They get along with everyone and get even the most cruel-hearted villains to shed a tear.

They are often kind and stable despite having a tragic past. Whether it’s the evil aunt or uncle or the cruel and uncaring orphanage after the horrible slaughtering of their dearly beloved parents and siblings that they witnessed after being hidden in the closet. Or wandering the streets of some city after decimating their entire home village because of the awesome powers they could not control. Or after being bullied by all those jealous girls, who can’t stand all the attention Mary Sue gets and how all the guys want her. It never gets them down until it’s time for another pity call, and Mary Sue has a teary but beautiful break down.

Though some Mary Sues have a perfectly good life and have never had anything bad happen to them, and the creators intend to keep it that way. There are never any lasting tragedies or suffering that befalls them during RP’s.

Gray Stu is calm, smooth, and always the leader because of his awesome snap judgments and awing combat abilities. Oh, and he always gets the girl because he is perfectly handsome, charming, and moral. He’s also amazing in the sack even if it’s his first time.

Villain-Sue seems evil while secretly having heroic tendencies and often has a tragic past that excuse their evil ways. Villain-Sue is often like Angsty-Sue, who is constantly depressed and ridden with self-loathing and guilt for something, even though they never really did anything wrong—just an excuse to feel guilty and gain sympathy. Or seek vengeance for slaughtered family and they are perfectly justified in doing so.

They never do anything wrong.

But:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drammor

they usually lack certain creative traits referred to as "flaws" and "vulnerability to the world around them".

The Lacking of Creative Traits
Now, what’s wrong with this is that it’s perfectly boring and predictable. Perfect people don’t exist. While this is fiction and these are fictional characters, where’s the fun in making a Mary Sue? The truth is that perfect characters have been done and will be done again. It’s much more interesting to give them flaws and have their mental stability be affected by their horrible, violent, and tragic past like a real person would.

Why? Because truthfully, real people are more interesting. Real people don’t always look so pretty when they cry. Ever looked in the mirror after crying? Your face gets all red and puffy, snot is dripping from your nose, and your eyes are red and watery and if you wear mascara it’s running down your face in black inky ickness. Also, your face gets all twisted and scrunchy with all that real emotion twisting inside of you.

Crying is when you’re losing control of your emotions to have an emotional reaction. So it’s not going to look so controlled and pretty.

The truth is that the more believable they are, the more into the story readers and yourself get. It’s more captivating and more creative. These characters come from us, so why shouldn’t they be imperfect as well?

Mary Sues are boring to write with and boring to read. They are shallow and dimensionless. Like Barbie and Ken, they have no real personality or depth.

While some writers are capable of making a Mary Sue work tastefully, never assume you’re one of them.

Self-insertion
Self-insertion is often closely tied into Mary Sueism. This is where you make a character of yourself, though often in slightly veiled variations. Mostly that they act like you but with Mary Sue qualities such as: great looks, good at everything they do, extremely talented at young age, knows exactly what to do in any given situation, and is never wrong.

I know that all characters come from us, the writers. Thus, they will always have a piece of you in them no matter what you do. Which is why you shouldn’t try to make yourself. Especially a Mary Sue self. It’s not interesting. You are not an interesting character. At least not in that way o.0 I have always believed you can learn a lot about yourself through characters, but really … it sure says something if you need to make a perfect version of yourself.

Avoiding Mary Sue
Now, everyone at some point has made a Mary Sue. They may not have all of the Mary Sue qualities, but the majority of them. There’s even more Mary Sue tendencies that I have not listed above. To avoid a Mary Sue character, I suggest running them through the Mary Sue Litmus Test. I also suggest you read Drammor’s General Guidelines for Having a Character Here. The character profile section of this guide also goes through the character template and gives advice on how to avoid it. You also can ask Councilors and seasoned EH’ers to review your character before posting it for approval. Run it through about four people at least. ]]> Shrub http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102037-mary-sueism-and-self-insertion.html The Character Policies and Guidelines http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102034-the-character-policies-and-guidelines-new-post.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:38:47 GMT So you want to join The Escapists' Haven? Well, you’re gonna need a character. The Escapists' Haven is an RPG just like any other; only it has two different sections. One is the Crossroads, an area focused on epic quests, astounding adventures, heart-warming scenes, tear-jerking tragedies, shocking horrors, and lovers’ tales. The Crossroads is where ya go when you want to write an interesting story and develop relationships with the characters of other players. Battles between characters are not long here, if they are, they will be in the next section of the Haven: the Battle Arena. This is where you test your character’s skills against each other in epic battles and feuds. Bar fights and misunderstandings that lead to violent results happen here. However, the true victory lies in describing an interesting story that both you and the readers can enjoy.

You create a fictional creature that you then control in role plays and battles. Don't rush it! You need to sit down, think it through and put effort in your character. Let’s take a look at the things needed for your character to be approved. This template was provided to you by Shetani:

Name: - This one should be obvious. Everyone has a name, even ”The Unnamed One”. Please be original, no Link, Gandalf, Rambo, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Try to make it a name that's easy to remember and spell. It's no fun if no one ever gets your name right.
Nickname /Alias: - If your character feels the need to hide themselves behind another name, state this here.
Occupation: What does your character do for a living? Even “wanderer” or “adventurer” is acceptable if they have no other job.
Age/Birthdate: - How old is your character?
Apparent Age: - How old your character appears to be to others. In most circumstances characters will look their age. Put N/A if they don't look older or younger than they are.
Gender: - Don't be stupid unless you've got a good argument.
Race: Choose a race that you want your character to be. Always make sure you understand the basics behind the race. If you’re new to role-playing I recommend that you pick an easy race for your character, for example human.
Height: -how tall are they? (Please include an indication of the unit of measurement used.)
Weight: - What's the scale say about your character? Remember, not everyone's anorexic, not everyone's obese. (Please include an indication of the unit of measurement used.)
Eye Color: - yellow, blue, purple, black, red? What's the color?
Hair Color/Style: - Blond, brown, red, blue? Tell us about the hair!

General Appearance: - Alright, at least one paragraph for this sucker. Describe such things as your character's dress style, features, posture, we want to see the character. Does your character smile a lot? Any noticeable scars, piercing or tattoos? Tell us everything. Even if you have a picture, please act as if no one else can see it and give us a good summary in words.

Weapon(s): Describe your character's weapon, if it has one. How did he/she come by it, where is it kept when not in use, does it hold any special powers? Even if you have a picture, please act as if no one else can see it and give us a good summary in words.

Armor: Pretty much the same as Weapon. You can also include a description of your character's clothing here if not in General Appearance. Even if you have a picture, please act as if no one else can see it and give us a good summary in words.

Carried Possessions: What your character carries on him or her on any given day. Could be potions, clean underwear or a lucky coin. No need to go into detail unless the item holds some significance. Then you can elaborate. Is the item an heirloom, a souvenir from battle or something he/she picked up from a traveling merchant? Even if you have a picture, please act as if no one else can see it and give us a good summary in words. This section does not include your character's usual clothing or weapon(s).

Powers/Magic/Skills: - Be pretty with details and explanations. List your character's current special abilities, be they magic or fancy sword styles. Where do the powers come from? Were they inherited, self taught, maybe forced upon your character? What do they look like in action? If your character doesn't possess any spells or other stuff we should know about, leave N/A here. If you plan on introducing magic/other special power to your character at a later point, please make a note here. Also make sure to include:
Limits: - What are the limits to your character's powers? How often can he/she use them, will they need to recharge afterwards and for how long? What's the reach of the power? All powers must have some sort of limit.
Side-Effects: - Visible aspects of your character's power, or other side effects. For example, a fire mage having a higher body temperature than normal, or a werewolf having yellow eyes even when not transformed. Be creative.

Battle Strengths: - List the strengths your character has in battle. Three to five is reasonable, depending on your character's background. More is allowed, but don't overdo it, please.
Battle Weaknesses: - Yes, everyone's got them. Superman had Kryptonite, so even the most invincible have their Achilles heel. You must have at least enough weaknesses to balance out your character's Strengths.

Other: - Anything else we should know?

Personality: - To say this section is important is to say the sun is kinda warm. Be clear in your descriptions and make sure you don't give your character any conflicting traits. Please describe more than what is listed in the sections below here. As in any other behaviors that you can think of that don’t fit in these:

Likes: - What does your character like? Can be in list format. At least five.
Dislikes: - Anything your character isn't that fond of? Put it here. Can be in list format. At least five.
Fears: - Most people fear something, be it death, spiders or heights. Your character is probably scared too. Can be in list format. At least three.

Virtues: Good points about your character that are not covered by battle strengths. Go easy on these. Can be in list format.
Vices: Character flaws--weaknesses and the like. Make sure these flaws will make an impact on your character. Try to mention at least as many vices as virtues. Can be in list format.

History: - Now you'll tell us your character's background, its life from childhood to where ever it is today. Think this through! As your character develops through playing you can add to its history, but not change what is already written. We want at least two paragraphs of at least four sentences each. Now, this may sound like a lot but if you really get into your character it shouldn't pose that much of a problem. Where did he/she grow up? Did he/she have a lot of friends? Even if your character has no recollection of its past (and characters like that do pop up from time to time), you should. And so should we.

Template by Shetani (Lio or Lioness).

It is also suggested that you take a look at these two threads posted by Fairess and Drammor on making and having a character in the Haven, as well as checking out the Escapists' Guide to the Haven.

Character Acceptance Policy

Sections for Approval
Not all things listed in the template above are necessary for approval. It’s more of a standard template to help get ya what you need. You don’t have to list sections such as Occupation, Nickname/Alias, Other, Carried Possessions, Likes, Dislikes, Fears, Virtues, and Vices. These can help you though, so it is encouraged that you fill them out. However, others like History, Personality, Battle Strengths and Weaknesses, Powers/Magic/Skills, Weapons, Armor, Name, Age/Apparent Age, Race, Gender, Height, Weight, Eye Color, Hair Color/Style, and General Appearance are necessary to be filled in even if you only type N/A for a section like Weapons or Apparent Age.

Thread Making and Waiting
When you post your character thread, title it with the name of your character and wait for a Councilor to respond. Don’t bother them after waiting one or three days, or else I will slap you with my ruler and send you to the corner. A safe time to contact a Councilor about approval would be after waiting five days.

Do Not Spam
No spamming in other threads. This means do not post in character threads that are not yours. If you want to comment PM or post a visitor message in their member profile. If you do post in a character thread that is not yours, a Mod will delete your post and I will slap you with my ruler and send you to the corner.

Originality
All characters must be original. This means you cannot make a Link, Roy, Naruto, or Ichigo. You also cannot copy a character made by another member. Don’t do it if you don’t want to be slapped with my ruler and sent to the corner. Of course, the character will not be approved, and if you plagiarize anyone’s character, it will be disapproved and you could be banned or suspended from the Haven.

How Many at a Time?
Once you create a new character and have it approved, you need to wait awhile before creating another new character. Otherwise, you end up with 50 undeveloped characters that you'll never be able to use.

After having a character approved, you must demonstrate to the satisfaction of a Council member that you actually use your previous character before putting another up for approval. Actually using your character means having him or her participate in battles, role plays, and whatnot before you can submit a new character for approval.

Having your character undergo training in the Dome can count towards demonstrating your use of your character. If your teacher determines that you have put enough effort into developing your existing character, then you may proceed with the creation of another character.

If at all possible, try to put forth more effort into developing your characters. Since this is role-playing, your characters should be a part of you. They should grow and develop with you as you mature as a writer. If you create ten thousand characters, there's no way you'll be able to spend as much time as you should with them individually.

Abuse and Probation and Ruler Slapping
Councilors can approve characters, and they can disapprove characters if they find you abusing them in ways such as godmoding: in which you either ignore the limits placed on your character’s abilities or you find loopholes in the limits to make a battle or role play go in your favor unfairly. In this case the Councilor is able to disapprove your character until you have edited your profile to no longer allow these kinds of loopholes or your behavior changes.

In addition, a Councilor can approve your character for only certain places of usage, such as the Dome. They can send you there if you abuse your character in such ways and break rules in ways such as powerplaying: controlling the actions and thoughts of a character other than your own, so that you can learn to not do so. If you do not pass your probation by the word of your teacher, your character will not be officially approved for use in any other areas of the Haven until you do so.

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[B]Occupation:[/B] 
[B]Age/Birthdate:[/B]
[B]Apparent Age:[/B]
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]]> Shrub http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/102034-the-character-policies-and-guidelines.html Xalic Uccisore D’Argento (a.k.a. the Silver Slayer) and his sentient whip, Cryia. http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101951-xalic-uccisore-d-argento-a-k-a-the-silver-slayer-and-his-sentient-whip-cryia-new-post.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:49:41 GMT Name: Xalic Uccisore D’Argento (a.k.a. the Silver Slayer)
Age: 30
Race: Arlamental (Half human, half elemental. In this case, Quicksilver Elemental)
Sex: Male
Hair: Silver, shoulder length hair. It has a very high sheen
Eyes: His eyes are normal, except his irises are a bright, liquid silver color.
Weight: 270 lbs
Height: 6’3”

Weapons: Xalic, being a demon hunter, has a variety of weapons to fit many situations. His primary weapon is a 15 foot long whip tipped with a five inch teardrop blade that has a two and a half inch width at the base, and is razor thin. The whip itself is a leather whip that has had silver mesh stitched on to the outside. The blade is of a teardrop shape and is made from a silver-mythril alloy called Silvril. This metal has the benefits of mythril in that it is extremely light and durable, and also has the demon-harming qualities of silver. The whip itself has its own history (see below) and is named Cryia.

Xalic’s second weapon is a multi use crossbow named Shriekshot. This crossbow is magical in the fact that it can assume various sizes when Xalic speaks a particular command word, and that bolts that are fired from it gain have damaging sonic properties. The crossbow is formed of Black Ash wood no matter what form it is in. The face of the crossbow is formed in the likeness of a screaming banshee. Depending on the situation he can use the crossbow in one of three forms. The bolts are Black Ash wood tipped with silver and also change size to match the current form of Shriekshot. In all its forms the front of the lath is a mount where the tip of the bolt protrudes slightly. This mount is shaped into a shrieking banshee likeness and is enchanted to give the bolts the sonic properties. Xalic decided to have this weapon enchanted for sonic damage instead of an elemental property because the majority of demons have no immunities to sonic damage. Shriekshot can also change sizes any number of times per day, there is no restriction on this.

When a bolt is fired from Shriekshot, it becomes imbued with sonic energy. This not only increases the damage, but speeds the bolt to faster than sound. This is only in effect on the second and third forms, however. The first form is not powerful enough to fire bolts at such velocities. Bolts fired from second and third form will break the sound barrier, making them difficult to hear and dodge before being struck. The sonic damage is in the form of the sonic waves that follow the bolt. Upon reaching the target, these sonic waves will induce what appears to be thousands of paper cuts to any exposed skin in a 1 foot radius from the point of impact. The sonic waves also strike with enough force to knock an average man prone. This rarely happens with demons however, often it merely staggers them. In first form, the enchantment takes a different form, using sonic waves to increase piercing power, and to guide the bolt along its intended path. This gives a relatively combat weak weapon several uses.

First Form: Shriekshot takes on the dimensions and appearance of a hand crossbow. It fires small hard to see bolts that he often poisons. This form does not have a lot of power; however it is great for tight areas and is very versatile. The reload time for this is 5 seconds on average. The bolts are about 4 and one 1/2 inches long, and the crossbow has an effective range of 35 feet. The command phrase to assume this form is Piccola Misura.

Second Form: Shriekshot takes the form of a crossbow that is slightly larger than your standard crossbow. The crossbow is formed of Black Ash wood and has darkened steel reinforcements on the lath to increase tensile strength and make it a more effective melee weapon if need be. This form fires normal sized bolts that Xalic sometimes poisons. The bolts are made of Black Ash and are tipped with silver. The crossbow has slightly higher than average power for its size. The bolts are about 8 inches long and the crossbow has an effective range of 100 feet. Reload times for this crossbow are about 10-15 seconds. The command phrase to assume this form is Misura Media.

Third Form: Shriekshot takes the form of a siege arbalest. The arbalest is formed from Black Ash and the lath is reinforced with darkened steel bands to increase the power and range of the arbalest. The bolts are made of Black Ash and are tipped with Silvril to increase the distance. This form fires large bolts that are roughly 2 feet in length and the tips are about four inches. When this Shriekshot assumes this form it accompanied by a tripod with a swivel head on a spot of ground that Xalic designates. The arbalest has an effective range of about 600 feet. The reload time for the arbalest is about 30 seconds. The command phrase to assume this form is Grande Misura.

Xalic also has two gauntlets and greaves that can be counted as weapons due to the fact that they are made of solid Silvril with spikes to augment his unarmed kicks and punches. His gauntlets are made of overlapping plates that cover the whole hand, wrist, and forearm. The spikes cover the back of the top joint of the fingers and knuckles. The greaves are made of overlapping plates that cover the top of the foot and run up the shin and cover the knee as well. The spikes are placed along the top of the boot, along the shins, and some on the knees. The gauntlets also have a hidden, special feature. On the top of the forearm, underneath the plates, is a spring loaded hidden blade. The blade is roughly six inches long, and has a base width of one and a half inches and tapers to a point. When the plate closest to the elbow joint is given a twist of cuff, the hidden blade is released and slides out of a slit in the forearm armor close to the top of the wrist. To replace it, Xalic untwists the plate back into its former position and the blade will slide back into hiding.

His final set of weapons are several poisons. The main poison he uses is his own blood. His blood is a normal red color, but is swirled with liquid silver. His arlamental side makes his very blood deadly to demons. His blood causes roughly the same reaction as acid would to a human. Xalic keeps about 10 doses on his person in vials at any given time. The fresher the blood, the more potent it is. Blood just from his body has an instantaneous reaction of very strong acid. Blood that is two to three days old has a nearly instantaneous reaction of strong acid. Blood older than five days has a slow reaction of mild acid. Blood older than 7 days has no reaction at all. Xalic only uses two poisons other than his blood: a strong sleeping poison, and a paralytic poison. He has eight doses of the sleeping poison, and five doses of the paralytic poison.

The sleeping poison is for middle or small size demons. This will put an eight foot tall, 425 pound demon to sleep in roughly five minutes. A two foot tall imp will be asleep in about one minute. The paralytic poison is only for large demons. The poison will not affect anything smaller than a ten foot 425 pound demon due to the unique properties of the poison. The average time of effect is about 10-15 minutes.

Armor: Other than his gauntlets and greaves, Xalic does not wear physical armor. He wears a simple cut black silken shirt with the emblem of the Ice Goddess Mateus emblazoned on the right breast. Over this he wears a normal leather cloak for protection from the elements. For pants he wears simple grey cotton pants that are sturdy but don’t really provide any protection. He also has a pair of sturdy black leather boots. The greaves are separate from the boots, they are belted on separately. To finish his outfit, he has a wide leather belt with a loop for his whip, and a silver belt buckle with the name “Shratalnan” emblazoned on it.

Strengths: Xalic has spent most of his life so far perfecting the techniques and skills to use his weapons of choice: the whip, crossbow, his hidden blades and his unarmed fighting techniques. As such, he is an excellent fighter with those weapons. However, these are really the only weapons he has experience with, and with anything else he would qualify as a mere novice. He is a rugged individual, having spent most of his life hunting demons in either the wilds of this plane, or the wilds of planes where demons are known to reside. He is adept at surviving off the land while in the wilds. As a facet of his profession, he is also skilled at researching a person or creature, studying its weaknesses and habits to provide an optimal chance for a one shot kill making him a skilled hunter in most senses of the word, and is also adept at doing this undetected. Xalic also has the advantage of being at home in almost any environment, from the packed streets of a city, to the depths of the deep wilds. He is also slightly stronger and tougher than an average man of his size due to his arlamental nature, which makes him partly metal.

Xalic is also more resistant to many poisons. This is granted partly from his arlamental side, partly because he handles poisons as weapons and fights creatures that are often poisonous in nature. An additional benefit of his profession is that he has become adept at picking out demons that are in disguise or who are hiding. An added benefit of his Quicksilver heritage is that weapons of any silver metal do not harm him at all.

Weakness: Xalic is extremely attached to Cryia. He is attached to the point that he has even fallen in love with the sentience that the whip is named for. If Xalic is separated some how from Cryia then he will drop anything and everything else he was doing to get Cryia back. He has become mistrusting and paranoid because he fears that everyone is trying to take Cryia away from him. This makes it incredibly difficult to make friends with him and he is mistrustful of even allies that are genuine, often making him go it alone. A major weakness that he has is that if his magical defenses are breached the most of his body is completely unarmored. His arlamental toughness provides some defense, but a determined strike will cause him damage. He is also very weak against the metal copper due to his elemental heritage. Weapons of this type will burn him in addition to the normal damage it does, much as his silver burns demons. Copper will also nullify his elemental toughness, splitting his skin like it was normal human skin, and wounds inflicted by copper take twice as long to heal.

Xalic is also rather underdeveloped in the magic area. While he does have several magical tools at his disposal, only one would be considered a spell of any sort of power. This puts him at a severe disadvantage when fighting magic users, as his magical defenses are not varied enough to provide a complete defense. Another weakness of his is that he has a difficult time controlling his anger. He is susceptible to insults and taunts, and can be tricked into making errors of judgment with such methods.

Skills/Magic:

Xalic does not use magic of his own; he instead channels his mana through enchanted tattoos on his body for a specific effect. Xalic does not have much mana on his own, hence the enchanted tattoos to give him some magical defense. Here is a list of the tattoos on his body:

Aegis: A pentagonal shield tattoo that is roughly five square inches in area. It is located in the middle of his right shoulder blade. The tattoo is normally a solid sky blue color. The more he uses it, the darker it becomes until it is solid black and can’t be used again until the next day or it has been recharged. When Xalic speaks the command word Difendermi the tattoo activates and a normal sized kite shield materializes in front of Xalic. This shield will then rotate around Xalic and deflect incoming physical attacks. The Aegis can take four normal power physical attacks before dissipating. Aegis is also smart enough that it will not tangle Xalic up. The tattoo has enough mana for two uses before a recharge or rest is necessary. Xalic can have more than one Aegis conjured at any given time, however an Aegis will expire on its own after 24 hours.

Diffusion Orb: Proteggermi, An orb tattoo of roughly three square inches in area. It is located in the middle of Xalic’s left shoulder blade. At a full charge, the tattoo is a deep crimson color. The more it is used, the darker it becomes until it is solid black and can’t be used again until the next day or it has been recharged. When Xalic speaks the command word Proteggermi the tattoo activates and a red orb the size of a basketball materializes in front of him. The orb will then rotate around Xalic and absorb incoming elemental attacks. Depending on what command word Xalic says, the Diffusion Orb can have several different effects. The normal command word makes an Orb that will absorb one of each of the four primary elements in spells before dissipating. Ergo, it will absorb one fire, one water, one air, and one earth spell before dissipating.

Diffusion Orb: Proteggermi Dal Fuoco, This command phrase conjures an orange Orb. The Orb will absorb four fire spells directed at Xalic before dissipating. It is the same as the regular Orb in every other respect.

Diffusion Orb: Proteggermi Dall'acqua, This command phrase conjures an azure Orb. The Orb will absorb four fire spells directed at Xalic before dissipating. It is the same as the regular Orb in every other respect.

Diffusion Orb: Proteggermi Dall'aria, This command phrase conjures a white Orb. The Orb will absorb four air spells directed at Xalic before dissipating. It is the same as the regular Orb in every other respect.

Diffusion Orb: Proteggermi Dalla Terra, This command phrase conjures a green Orb. The Orb will absorb four earth spells directed at Xalic before dissipating. It is the same as the regular Orb in every other respect.

No matter which variant Xalic uses, he can get two uses out of the tattoo before it needs to be recharged or rested. Xalic also can direct the Orb mentally to allow a spell to pass unscathed.

Shadow Joining: Xalic has an arcane phrase tattooed on the inside of his left forearm. It is in a black, spidery script, and when spoken aloud by Xalic, it grants him the ability to become one with any shadow he can see. The phrase reads: Diventare un con le ombre, ed ombreggiarmi dai miei nemici. After reading the phrase, the tattoo will disappear from his arm for 24 hours. This grants Xalic the ability to blend, and become, shadow for about 30 minutes. While in this form he can travel from shadow to shadow as long as they are touching. If they aren’t, he will lose his Joining if he attempts to travel to the other shadow. Xalic can also will the effect to lift.

Champion of Mateus: A special tattoo granted to Xalic by the blessing of the Ice Goddess Mateus. The tattoo is a mosaic of the holy symbol of Mateus on Xalic’s chest. The tattoo is roughly eight square inches in area and is colored vivid blue. When Xalic speaks the command phrase Onoro Mateus attraverso la distruzione dei suoi nemici, several things happen. Firstly, Xalic’s body becomes encased in Silvril plated ice crystals in the style of heavy full plate armor, complete with helm. The armor covers Xalic from head to foot. The ice and Silvril that form the armor are made from divine magic, making them weigh nothing, but providing excellent defense against both physical and magical attacks. On the bracer portions of the armor, twin blades about two feet in length protrude from the armor above the wrist. They are formed of solid Silvril and are about four inches wide. Xalic also gains increased strength and endurance to about twice what his normal limits are. Also, he can not drown while in the armor, and is completely immune to ice and water magic.

The Champion of Mateus spell lasts for two hours. This spell can be used once every ten-day. The ice and Silvril that form the armor are divine material, and as such, are invulnerable to all but other divine materials and the strongest magics. The armor only grants defense against direct offensive magic. Mind affecting spells or other utility or miscellaneous spells can still affect him indirectly, as long as they are not cast on him. Using this spell also uses all of Xalic’s reserve mana for the day, as well as the mana stored in the tattoo. Xalic can only use this spell if he has full reserve mana, meaning he can’t use it if he has recharged any of his other tattoos that day.

Xalic does not have mana points per se; it is more of a mana well. Each spell requires a specific amount of his total of mana to recharge.

Aegis: requires ¼ of his mana to recharge to full charge from zero charge. Has a 24 hour natural recharge.

Diffusion Orb: requires 1/3 of his mana to recharge to full charge from zero charge. Has a 24 hour natural recharge.

Shadow Joining: requires 2/3 of his mana to recharge to full charge from zero charge. Has a 24 hour natural recharge.

Champion of Mateus: uses 100% of his mana to cast, and cannot be recharged by his personal mana. Has a 240 hour (ten days) natural recharge.

Additionally, Xalic can only use his mana to recharge a spell when it has reached zero charge. This means that he cannot use a spell once to bring it to half charge and then recharge it. He has to completely drain the tattoo’s mana before it will accept his mana as a substitute recharge.

Appearance: Xalic is a rugged looking human of 30 years. He is slightly taller than average and has a lean, muscular build. His hair is shoulder length, straight, and is a bright silver color. His eyes are normal except that the irises are silver as well. These are the only outward physical indicators of his elemental blood. He has strong features and looks like the type who would fight at the drop of a hat. His clothes are rather plain in nature, and he carries Shriekshot either in first form in a holster on his belt or in second form in a holster across his back. He has a segmented Silvril plated bracer on each arm that straps onto leather gloves and extends almost all the way to his elbows. Cryia is looped on his belt, which has a silver buckle with the word “Shratalnan” on it. Xalic has a scar across his right cheek that extends from the corner of his right eye down to his jaw line on his right side. The scar is always white, and looks to have been caused by a razor sharp item.

Xalic is handsome, in a rugged sort of way. He has a weathered, tan complexion, and is always clean shaven. He looks younger than he is, roughly 25 or so. He looks like he would weigh about 200 lbs, but is denser than he appears due to his elemental side.

When he activates the Champion of Mateus spell, Xalic gains a suit of powerful armor. The armor is formed of deep blue ice crystals that are plated with Silvril. Together, they form a crystalline suit of very streamlined plate armor. The armor includes: boots, greaves, a belt, chest plate, pauldrons, armguards, bracers, gauntlets, and a helm. The chest, bracers, greaves and helm are all plated with Silvril. The helm completely encases the head, except for the ventilation holes near the mouth, and is styled much like a medieval sugarloaf helmet. The place where the eye-slits normally are has been replaced with segments of translucent ice, to give total protection. There is a two foot long, four inch base width blade that extends from each bracer over the wrist. The blades taper to a point and are made of Silvril.

Personality: Xalic Uccisore D’Argento is a man of few words. He would rather keep his mouth shut and observe than draw attention to himself, which can be difficult due to his bad temper. Xalic weighs every move and never says anything without thinking it through first, unless he is angry. He is deliberate, but also decisive in his actions. Experience makes him coolheaded in most combat situations, but he is very awkward socially. Rarely does he know how to act around others and thus he would rather just avoid other people. He is very curt with others and has a small tolerance for stupidity. His patience is limited and he also has a short temper. He tries his best to control and mask his anger, to show no weakness that an enemy could exploit, but his wild elemental blood makes this very difficult for him. He is prone to answering insults with his fists, which can be deadly due to his gauntlets. He is intolerable of superfluous wealth and frippery, considering such things to be a detriment in life. Any funds he has received in his many contracted hunts, he has used on his equipment, for traveling essentials, and on living expenses.

Xalic is the kind of person who enjoys a good fight, but he rarely actually goes looking for a fight unless he is in a very foul mood. He is often perceived as a rude person, due to his taciturn nature and gruff exterior. He has an unrelenting grudge against couples, seeing it as unfair that they get the chance to be with the ones they love. He avoids couples like the plague, and the mushy, lovey couples drive him to near insanity. In day to day life he is the epitome of efficiency and economy, doing his tasks quickly and without error. When he contracts out for a hunt, that becomes his sole objective and he lets nothing distract or deter him from this goal. His single-mindedness can often be a bane to him, as he has often brushed aside the help of many who would have been useful to him.

In battle, Xalic focuses his attention on the most powerful opponent, trying to take it down as fast as possible. He doesn’t mind fighting dirty, since the demons he hunts have no issues with dirty fighting either. He will strike a foe from behind, or strike down an unarmed or unarmored opponent, and do it without a second thought. He does his best to avoid hurting innocents, but he realizes in battle that some bystanders may be hurt. He is not a particularly selfish person; he merely refuses to be deterred from his goals. Perhaps the strangest facet of his existence is, for lack of better phrase, his love life. He has fallen in love with the sentience in his whip, Cryia. He will do anything she asks of him, and will do it without a second thought. His main goal, other than to avenge his parents, is to bring the whip to life, or at least the sentience within it. These goals are what drive him on his journeys.

Biography: Xalic Uccisore D’Argento is the son of a Quicksilver Elemental woman and a human male. His father, Diego Frantz ‘Etsan, was a patrol man for the kingdom of Dreya and was on a routine patrol one day when he heard the sounds of battle coming from the woods beside the road. Readying a bolt in his Black Ash crossbow, he ran in the general direction of the sounds. Breaching a tree line that led to a clearing, he saw a sight of great carnage. Six bodies lay around a slender woman who was battling three other men. Diego did a double take on the woman, as she appeared to be made of liquid silver. Gathering his wits, he pondered the situation in front of him: he did not know this woman, but the men wore the markings of the well known Haragath Raiders. His mind was made up for him when he saw the axe of one of the men bite deep into the side of the woman. Her agonized scream sent shivers down his spine. With practiced movements, he took aim and shot the axe wielder in the back of the neck. The woman held her ground, liquid silver dripping from her hand that held her side. Despite her wound, she continued to fight.

Of the other two men, one turned and ran at Diego, who dropped the crossbow and drew his short sword. The man rushed him, trying to use his bulk to knock Diego to the ground. Diego sidestepped at the last second, snaking his blade out to bite deep into the man’s side as he stumbled by. Diego’s assailant dropped to the ground, wheezing pitifully from his newly acquired puncture in his lung. Diego quickly stabbed him in the heart, ending his life. He looked over just in time to see the last Raider bat the woman’s weapon from her hand, sending her tumbling down in the process. The Raider advanced slowly, a gloating expression on his face as he looked at his helpless victim. Moving quickly, Diego picked up his discarded crossbow and shot at the man. In his haste, the shot went badly, hitting the man in his shoulder instead of the head where Diego intended. The Raider stumbled, then spun quickly and glared in rage at Diego.

“You will die, worm!” The brute charged at Diego, who stood calmly, waiting. When the man was about ten feet away Diego snapped into motion and threw his blade end over end, straight into the man’s heart, who stood, dumbfounded, before dropping dead. Retrieving his weapons, Diego walked over to the strange woman and examined her. She had succumbed to unconsciousness, and needed medical attention fast. Struggling mightily, Diego managed to barely lift her deceptively slender form. He brought her to his home and nursed her back to health. Over this time, he discovered that the woman, Shratalnan, was a Quicksilver elemental. Over their time together, they eventually fell in love, and were wed barely a year after their meeting. Another year later they had a child, whom they named Xalic D’Argento.
Xalic grew up much like any normal child would. He did not inherit his mother’s Quicksilver form fully, merely having silver hair and eyes. This alone made the other children fear him, and he learned at a young age that relying on others only got him hurt. His physical differences ostracized him from others, with the exception of his loving parents. He became a loner and a fighter, answering insults from other children with his fists and feet. He discovered a liking for combat at a young age. He was enrolled in the Guard Academy when he turned 16 by his father, partly to help him learn the combat arts, and partly to try and keep him out of trouble. This did not go as well as planned, as the other Initiates took it upon themselves to make Xalic’s life a living hell. Diego found this to teach him almost as much as the instructors did. He became a merciless fighter in this time, taking any advantage offered and never giving any quarter.

Xalic completed his Guard Training and graduated with combat honors. Two weeks after his 18th birthday, Xalic left the city to visit his parents in their woodland cottage. Halfway there, he noticed a pillar of smoke coming from the direction of his parent’s home. A knot of worry clenched his stomach sickeningly. Running the rest of the way there, he reached his parents home to find it a smoldering ruin, with bodies of strange beings littering the ground around it. The creatures varied slightly in size, but all were over eight feet tall, very muscular, with dark red skin. Xalic pulled out his crossbow and loaded a bolt before moving to inspect the house. Xalic found one side of the house collapsed, but the other side still stood. Moving carefully through the broken door, Xalic inspected what was left of the house. Looking towards the door to the main room, he saw a pile of bodies strewn around outside the door, many with crossbow bolts protruding from their corpses. Xalic recognized them as his father’s bolts, and his worry grew tenfold.

Stepping over the many bodies, he went into the main room, and his breath left him in a rush. Propped up against the far wall, his crossbow still in his hands, sat the body of his father. Xalic ran over to him, kneeling by the bloody body. His father’s brown sightless eyes stared back at him, the glaze of death reflecting the dim light of the room. Xalic’s eyes began to water as a lump rose in his throat. “Father, I’m sorry. I will find who did this to you, I promise.” He kissed his father’s forehead and grabbed the custom Black Ash crossbow from his cold hands. Xalic also gathered all the bolts he could from the bodies of the strange red creatures. Xalic carried his father outside and set him on the ground in the front yard. Taking a long look at his now dead father, he closed his glazed eyes for good. Looking around, he spotted a liquid silver trail leading into the nearby woods. Clutching his father’s crossbow, he sprinted off to follow the trail of what he knew was his mother’s blood.

The bright silver trail was easy to follow in the midday light. The additional dead red skin made his job even easier. The trail wound through the thick woods for several miles before reaching a hidden waterfall his mother was fond of visiting. The sight that greeted him when he reached the waterfall made him stop in complete surprise and awe. The normally powerfully flowing waterfall was frozen solid, as well as was the pool at the bottom, which contained several frosty bodies that looked to have been caught in whatever it was that froze the area. Looking down the bank he saw his mother, lying on the bank of the now frozen pool. Xalic sprinted the few hundred feet and came to a skidding stop by his mother’s body. This time the tears came in earnest when he saw that his mother no longer lived. He curled into a ball by his mother’s corpse and wept for hours. His exhaustion from the events of the day and the eventual twilight eventually lured him into a fretful sleep.

From the darkness of his subconscious came a dream unlike any he had ever had before. It went something like this: His mother’s corpse stirred from the ground. Xalic tried to rise but he could not, instead being confined to lying on his back, looking up at his now standing mother. “Mother…what is happening? You are dead!”

“Yes, my son. I am no longer among the living. But there are things you must know, about me and about who you are. On my body you will find a talisman, one you previously could not see. You must take this and go to the far north, to the Ice Temple of Mateus. After this vision is over you will know exactly where to go. Present this talisman to the clergy you find there and tell them what has befallen me. They will guide and instruct you on what you will need to do next, as well as tell you many things about me you never knew. I am sorry my beloved son, that I did not tell you these things before. I tried so hard to protect you from your heritage, but I see now that it is time for you to embrace what you are. I know this is a lot to handle, but you are strong son, you always have been. And I have just one personal request for you…”

Xalic looked at his mothers face, watching the silver tears flow down her cheeks, and feeling his tears in response. “Anything mother…what can I do for you?”

She looked away, her pain obvious. “Bury me next to your father. He died trying to protect me from these Demons. This is all I ask of you. When you are finished, draw a line of your blood on our headstones, and the demons will not be able to desecrate our graves. This is all I ask of you my son. I love you with all my heart; you will do great things in the world. Goodbye.”

With those last words, Xalic felt himself stirring awake, the dream now nothing more than a recollection. The moon shone high in the sky, reflecting off his mother. Looking at her caused a fresh lump of grief in his throat. Looking her over, he noticed several things he had never seen before. On her previously normal looking belt, there was now a bright silver buckle, embossed with her name on the front. Also, on her right hip, there was looped a silver whip with a deadly looking metal tip. Grabbing these and putting them into his own bag, he stooped over and lifted up his mother’s body.

That night, under the silvery moonlight, he buried his mother and father in the front yard of their cottage. Xalic marked their gravestones as he had been instructed before grabbing his traveling supplies from the cellar and saddling his horse. He then left to travel to the far north, to the Ice Temple of Mateus, whose location seemed to have been burned into his mind. Two months of travel, four horses, and three bandit attacks later, he finally came to the front gates of the Ice Temple. The appearance of the place surprised Xalic more than a little. It looked more like a heavily fortified and defended fort than a Temple.

A guard swathed in heavy furs on top of the gate pointed his crossbow at Xalic. “Speak your purpose traveler. Be quick about it.” Xalic looked up at the man who spoke, examining him closely. He noticed under the furs that the man had silver eyes that matched the ones him and his mother had.

“I am Xalic D’Argento. I was sent here by my mother to speak to the clergy. Please direct me to them, it is urgent!” The gate guard straightened at the mention of Xalic’s last name.
Beckoning to a man at his left, the gate guard waved the gate open. “Come inside, quickly. The Cold Mother will want to talk to you.” Xalic entered the gate to the Temple. The guard beckoned him to follow and walked off at a brisk pace. Xalic left his horse to be stabled by the stable boys, who also had silver eyes under their furs. Xalic pondered this as he followed the guard through the Temple. Soon Xalic was hopelessly lost, and had to rely even more on his guide. After a few minutes they came to a door made of solid ice. The guard opened it and ushered Xalic inside. He found himself in a small room with a table and two chairs. On the opposite end of the room was another ice door. He sat at the chair as the guard left him alone in the barren chamber. He only had to sit for a few minutes before the other door opened and someone walked in. It was a slender woman in dark blue robes with silver accents. She also appeared to be made of liquid silver. “I am the Cold Mother. I am the ranking clergy member in this temple. So…Xalic D’Argento, your surname is known to me. I hear your mother sent you to find us. Who was she, and why did she send you here?”

Xalic told the Cold Mother the story behind what happened to his mother, and he also presented the belt buckle that belonged to his mother. The Cold Mother told him that his mother was actually a Demon Hunter, one of the elite warriors that killed the blood enemies of the Quicksilvers, the Demons. The Quicksilver people followed the Ice Goddess Mateus, who has been at war for millennia with the Blood God of Demons, Kralkesken. “And you, young Xalic, must inherit your mother’s mantle now. Your parents deserve vengeance, and we have resources and training we can provide to you to prepare you for this task. On our home plane, war rages unabated between our races and our deities. We are actually just a detachment that has been sent here to stop the progress of the detachment of demons that have been sent to this plane. So now is time for you to make a choice Xalic. Will you take up this thankless task?”

Xalic thought hard about all that he had been told up until this point. He knew he wanted vengeance, but he also knew that if he took up this task that this would be a lifelong quest, and that it would most likely mean his death someday. “I will do it. I will take any help you can offer, and any information you can give me to help me find the one responsible for the deaths of my parents.”

Xalic spent the next four years training in the compound, learning how to use his new weapons of choice: his father’s Black Ash crossbow and his mother’s silver whip. He also had a pair of gauntlets fashioned for him specially to use in close quarters combat. At his induction ceremony, he had the honor of being marked as one of the goddess’s chosen warriors: his whip that was blessed in the blood of Mateus gained sentience, and proclaimed itself to be named Cryia.

Over the next 6 years Xalic took any contract he could, and hunted demons constantly. The money he got from these hunts went mainly to improving his equipment, and getting him several useful magical tattoos, since he has magic energy, but knew no magic of his own. Over this time he fell in love with Cryia, and another main goal of his became to find a way to make the consciousness of his whip into a real person. His experiences made him into a rock hard person, his heart closed to all compassion he could feel for his enemies. He came back to the Temple on orders, to be inducted into the highest order of Hunters: the Silver Slayers. He left as soon as the ceremony was complete, finding even the company of his kin to be uncomfortable. The past two years have been spent following several leads on the trail to the demon that set up the contract on his parents.

Name: Cryia
Age: Sentience age: about 2 million years
Race: Icebound Angel Spirit that is inhabiting a silver whip.
Sex: Female
Hair: N/A
Eyes: N/A
Height: 15 feet

Weapons: She is a weapon.

Armor: None.

Strengths: She is very good at killing demons, seeing as she is almost solid silver or Silvril.

Weakness: Having no one to wield her. Also, her sentience resides in the blade on the end, effectively making that one part indestructible, but the rest of the whip is only as durable as a normal whip of the same kind. So if the blade is removed, the rest of the whip becomes effectively useless.

Skills/Magic: The only really extraordinary thing about Cryia other than her sentience is her sense of the outside world. She can sense life in about a 20 foot radius around her, giving her a way to tell what is happening around her. She can also use this to tell Xalic what is going around him that he may not have perceived. She can sense creatures and people who are hiding or invisible unless they have specifically hid themselves from non physical senses.

Appearance: The handle is wrapped leather and it moves seamlessly into a silver mesh that is stitched onto a leather core. The majority of the whip is made in this fashion. On the tip of the whip is a five inch long, razor thin teardrop blade. It is two and a half inches wide at the base and tapers symmetrically to a tip.

Personality: Cryia has a very interesting personality. Depending on the situation, and what she perceives around her, she can have a very different outlook. She is first and foremost a weapon. She lives for combat, and this battle lust can have an adverse effect on Xalic, seeing as they are practically psychically linked at all times. When they are not in combat, she often feeds Xalic pertinent information about what she senses around them. This trick has saved Xalic’s life on several occasions. When it is just her and Xalic alone, usually when they are hunting, she tells him what she knows about the Ice Goddess Mateus, and what it is like on the plane where she was from. She also tells him stories about her life, and the many battles she has fought in the name of Mateus. They also speak of what they will do if Xalic manages to somehow get her into a physical body.

Cryia’s “voice” is a very seductive thing, even though she doesn’t mean it to be that way sometimes. This can make it very distracting to Xalic, and he has a hard time not listening to her. She knows she has this power over him, and she knows she is using him to her own ends but she figures the help she gives him is adequate payment for this. She does not have the feelings for him that he has for her, at least, not that she knows of. She has never felt the emotion of love yet.

Biography: The story behind Cryia actually starts millions of years before Xalic was born. The universe was originally all one plane of existence. The Uri-God disliked the chaos that was present on this plane of existence, so he ripped them apart and formed the planes as they are known today. On each plane he set two of his children to govern, setting it up so that they would keep each other in check and hopefully keep one or the other from becoming tyrants. On one plane he set the Ice Goddess Mateus and the Blood God Kralkesken to govern. This was a very bad idea, since these two siblings hated each other with a great passion, and constantly sought ways to kill the other. This came to a head after several thousand years of governing, when the Blood Demons, the favored children of Kralkesken and the Icebound Angels, the favored of Mateus, were set into war by the two deities. The war has been raging for millions of years since then, and many more peoples have been drawn into it, including the Quicksilver people. They were created on Mateus’ orders by the Angels purely for the purpose of killing Demons. They are the first genetically engineered weapon in the war between the two deities, created with the main advantage against the demons that the Icebound had discovered their weakness to silver.

Cryia herself was a high ranking Icebound in Mateus’ army. She was a brilliant tactician and troop leader, having led her troops to many victories over superior numbers or other disadvantages. Her campaign lasted for several decades until the Demons finally recognized her threat and sent several assassins after her. They succeeded in their mission, eliminating one of the greatest tactical minds in the Icebound Army. Mateus recognized her value and gave Cryia a choice. She could be granted her rest, or she could continue to serve as an Angelic Spirit, but she would be forced to stay in limbo there for the rest of eternity, never able to really rest. Cryia chose the latter, choosing to continue her service. She continued on in an advisory position, until Mateus came to her with a special request: to aid one of her champions on another plane of existence. Cryia agreed, and she was placed into Xalic’s weapon. Since then she has aided however she can in his hunting, and has even reached a new level of social interaction with him that she never really had before. She was surprised when she discovered that she trusted him, and had no fears in confiding to him. He has since become her first real friend. ]]> Demigod_Levi http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101951-xalic-uccisore-d-argento-a-k-a-the-silver-slayer-and-his-sentient-whip-cryia.html Doyle Silverpaw http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101896-doyle-silverpaw-new-post.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:04:11 GMT Name:** Doyle Silverpaw* (Rruuv in wolf form)

Apparent Age:*** About 30

Age: "One loses track after the first 10,000 years or so..."

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Race:*** Human

Sex:** Male

Hair:*** Black (silver in wolf form with some black blended in over the back)

Eyes:** Chocolate brown with flecks of emerald green (golden in wolf form)

Weight:* 280lbs**

Height:*** 6'5"

Weapon:*** Hands, magic (magic, teeth, and claws in wolf form) Doyle can make use of whatever object comes to hand, though he hasn't gotten reacquainted with his human form well enough to be very efficient.

Armor:* Doyle wears a wolfskin cloak while in human form that protects him from many magical attacks as well as minor stabbing and slashing type attacks.. This cloak is actually alive in a way. It is warm to the touch and will bleed if stabbed or torn.

Strengths:***Well-versed in all elemental magics (Light, Dark, Earth, Fire, Air, and Water). His power is drawn from his summon, which acts as an outlet to the life energy, or chi, flowing around him, including through his opponents. This energy can then be rechanneled into elemental attacks. Thus his magical power is directly proportional to the energy level of the area surrounding him. His current drawing radius is roughly 3-5mi. An average summoner from his world has a drawing radius of a little over a mile.

He has outstanding strength and speed for a human. He has single-handedly pushed merchants carts out of ditches (or an average sized car if he were in our world). His speed and agility is above that of a normal human in roughly the same proportion as his strength.

He is stronger, both physically and magically, and tougher in wolf form. Rruuv sometimes knocks over large trees, leaning on them to scratch his shoulder. The wolf is also able to pull energy for attacks over an area roughly twice the size of his human form, easily reaching 10mi.

Doyle's senses of smell and hearing are acute, due to his wolf side, but not quite as acute as they are when he is actually in wolf form.

Though proficient in all elemental magics he is strongest in four of the six types (in order of strength): Dark, Light, Earth, and Fire. These are upgrading combinations Doyle gained for Rruuv during his second training pilgrimage. (See Bio section) He has no elemental weaknesses.

Doyle can heal most wounds, given enough time, but cannot do so when distracted by battle. Changing forms speeds this process, healing all but the most dire wounds in a matter of minutes.

Weakness:* He is still growing reaccustomed to his human form and does not melee fight as well in this form as a result.** Must revert to his wolf form at least once every two weeks for at least 12hrs. He would have to revert sooner if exhausted or heavily wounded.

Further elemental upgrades are impossible after the mergence of a summon into the physical form of its human summoner. (See Bio)

Doyle/Rruuv cannot heal himself without concentration, unless he changes forms to do so. Thus it would be near impossible for him to heal during battle.

Skills/Magic:***Summoner, able to utilize elemental magics, including light and dark, though he is much stronger in some elements than others. (See strengths section) He can use the elements by converting energy into a specific element and hurling said element at an opponent (like a fireball or a wind gust), reverting an element into raw energy for healing or another type of attack, or manipulating an existing element in his environment (diverting an attack, boosting a cooperative attack, or just making a campire burn bigger and brighter). These abilities also vary based on his power level which varies in proportion with the energy to be found in his surroundings (he would be more powerful in a rainforest, for example, than in the Sahara.)

Appearance: Doyle is tall, every inch of his frame sculpted and while well-muscled and defined, not overly bulky. His skin is the rich color of coffee with a touch of cream, and his thick, blue-black hair is usually kept in a braid reaching down to his waist. His features could best be descibed as Native American in appearance, angular with a thick brow and square jawline strong and extremely masculine, but not unattractive. His features appear stern if one doesn't take into account the depth of his thickly lashed eyes, or the smile threatening the edges of his mouth at any given moment.

He changes clothes like anyone else, but can most often be seen in heavy, black, military-style boots, well-fitted and well-worn blue jeans, and a black leather vest, with or without a band collared dress shirt in varying colors.

The only constant in Doyle's wardrobe is a wolfskin, which he keeps with him at all times. He most often wears it as a cloak, sometimes with the wolf's head sitting atop his own as a hood. It is a huge, silver fur, so luxuriously warm and shining it seems to be alive.

Doyle pulls the wolfskin around him to tranform into Rruuv. The wolf stands 5ft at the withers with silver fur, some black hairs blended in over his back area and golden eyes.

Personality: Doyle is a tacturn man, rarely divulging more information than is necessary, especially about himself. He is quiet, preferring the outdoors to most human company, and despises large crowds, not for fear, but because as cities grow, the common sense of its inhabitants seems to drop.

This summoner seems stern, unapproachable, and simply not fun at first glance, and many do not fully understand his very dry sense of humor. However, if given the chance, he can prove to be the most dependable, loyal, adventurous, and companionable man one could wish to know. As long as one doesn't mind companionable silences, that is...

He loves children, and they are inexplicably drawn to him, despite his stiff demeanor. Often he will linger near a town with many children, finding a place near the outskirts to sit and tell stories in his deep, gravelly voice. He will sometimes even show them his wolf form, if he can avoid being seen by adults (which he knows are less than understanding). If you were to catch them at such a time, you might see a giant wolf laughing, tossing children in the air and carrying them around on his broad, furry back.

In wolf form, his personality changes slightly. Rruuv has a different speech pattern and his sense of humor is not quite as dry.

Biography: Doyle grew up in a clan of migrating hunters, the men following the herds across the plain in the summer months, while the women tended crops in small villages near the great river, which divided the land in two halves.

When he was born, the village shaman saw signs in the stars that he would be not only magically talented, but could be a summoner. This was rare in their people, and brought great honor to the family. When he came of age, 16 years, a summoner came to their village and accepted Doyle into his apprenticeship. This summoner was from the Dark temple, but Doyle's tribe saw no fault in this as in their world, Darkness is not equated with evil.

So Doyle began his apprenticeship as many youths in his world do, by learning elemental magic, then touring each of the elemental temples, undergoing the mysterious Trial in each, to see if he would be chosen by a summon of that element. As is the custom, when Doyle was chosen by no summon after visiting all the temples, his apprenticeship ended. He parted ways with his teacher and departed into solitary training. He had spent 10 years in apprenticeship, and refused to return home with a failure hanging over his head.

The summon who chose Doyle was of none of the Temples. The great wolf Rruuv, a rare wild summon, chose him during his solitary training as he knelt in meditations deep in the forest.

Having gained a summon at last, Doyle returned to his clan. He was welcomed with open arms and given a new surname, as was the tribe's custom, Silverpaw, in honor of Rruuv.

Then the war began. Doyle's old mentor tried to draft him as the Dark temple rose up to subjugate the other elements. The tribesman refused, and the Dark summoner performed an unspeakable act, calling on his summon beast to slaughter the village. Doyle tried to defend his people, but failed against his more powerful teacher.

Kneeling in the ashes of what was the home of his people, broken and bleeding himself, he met another summoner who would change his life. This new summoner took him under wing, developing his talents by sending him through the trials once more. This time, he gained the power of four of the six temples, starting with that of the Dark temple. This mergence with an over element stopped his aging.

His new teacher gradually became his friend instead, and as his training ended, they stayed together, travelling and fighting the battles of the war together, protecting the people as best they could. This went on, the war sometimes going cold for decades, then flaring up again.

Ultimately came the final battle. The forces of the Dark temple behind the summoner Raedium, and those who stood beside Aurora clashed on the field. Doyle fought side by side in the elite force of summoners forming the Ominae's self-appointed honor guard.

The final clash saw Aurora's forces slipping and that of the Dark near victory as Raedium met his sister on the battlefield. The two master summoners fought, their dragons locked in a deadly dance overhead. Doyle was all that remained of her bodyguard as Raedium's personal guard closed in behind her, seeking to eliminate her while she was focused on the duel.

Doyle fought a losing battle, dropping half of them before hope seemed to fade. The tribesman made a desperate decision. Calling Rruuv, he merged with his summon, gaining the power needed to protect the Ominae, but losing his humanity, forever to be trapped in the form of the giant wolf.

It took thousands of years worth of adventures and training, but he finally achieved his seemingly impossible goal. He can finally step out of the skin of the wolf, becoming a man once more, though Rruuv is always with him in the form of the wolf fur and can never be a completely separate entity.

Now he seeks his teacher and friend to show he has succeeded in breaking his curse. And, his people have sent him on a quest to find the Ominae and persuade her to come home after decades of absence. ]]> Ryorinin-san http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101896-doyle-silverpaw.html <![CDATA[Da bestest Ork 'round 'ere!]]> http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101811-da-bestest-ork-round-ere-new-post.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:10:00 GMT Name: M'name's Grubtoof Snotsnaga da Ork.

Age: Foght in thfree waaaaghs[1], dat makes 'em... tirty-five cyclez[2]

Race: If'n ya can't dat origins've me, I'm an Ork; ya 'ere me ya snot?

Sex: Dem 'umies[3] like you always calls me a 'he.' Den again all dem Orkz are 'he's.

Hair: Gots no hair, stupid squishy snot.

Eyes: Look in 'em; dem's yellow 'round da edge wif a black spot in da center. Da left one's from anudda grot so it ain't fittin' quite right.

Weight: thfree-fifty, I'd say.

Height: 'M a shorty; 'bout five o' dem feets.

Weapon: Gots me a chain knife for emergency surg'ry, some vials've burny bug acid in m'coat, and a shoota[4] fer dakka[5]. Gots me krushin' klaw[6], too, but it's slow.

Armor: Orkz dun need armour; dey's gots tuff 'ides and strong bones 'n' metal gubbins[7] in deir arms

Strengths: Gots m'strong krusha[8] right 'ere; 's good at what it does [sidenote: krushing]. Got Waaaghs of experience at fixin' Orky bitz togetha, 'n' I'm small 'n' fast fer fightin' slow 'umies when I'm not krushin' dem. Dees potions'll fix up lotsa small 'urts if I get klobba'd[9] by a tricky 'umie.

Weakness: 'S ya can see I's not so good at int'ractin'. M'krusha klaw's slow ta krush, too, so it's a little tricky to klobba quick grubbins. Not a very good shot, either.

Skills/Magic: =][= THIS IS A IMPERIUM REPORT REGARDING ORK TECHNOLOGY, LOG 563329.56b =][=
It has now become well known among the mechanics of the Imperium that Ork teknology does not follow the same principals or limitations that the Imperium's weaponry and armour systems follow. Indeed, there have been many occasions where an Ork Shoota is broken up only to find loose nuts and bolts inside. It appears that Ork teknology works purely through sheer willpower; if the Orks think it will work, it will work. This theory can explain many other of their advances, including working Dreadnaught systems, Warp travel, hover bikes, and Shokk guns.

In effect, a single Ork can throw together any amounts of junk into a contraption, and if they expect it to work, it will.

This ability also appears in their biological accomplishments to similar effect.

Appearance: I'm an Ork, see?! I'm green, I'm muscley, an' I'm mean-lookin'! If ya want ta go into da details of it, I like ta wear dis long, black coat I ripped off a squishy 'umie 'while ago, where I keep m'toolz 'n' my gubbins 'n' my potions. My left 'and's dis 'ere krusha klaw, like a crabby or on o' dem lobstas. Dis eye 'ere I stole from one o' da grots dat touched my stuff, so ot's a little bigger than da udder one. Under da coat I have some brown Ork clothin' an' a black belt wif some pouches fer more gubbins an' toolz 'n' stuff

Personality: Like I said b'fore, I'm mean an' green like a propa' Ork aught ta be! I like fightin' 'n' fixin' up things 'n' takin' things apart like bugs 'n' other squishies. Don't like fightin' tings too big though; might get stomped or klobba'd or sumfin. I like mek things and da insides of squishies do most tho.

Biography: I was born on da Waagh lead by da Warboss Gutklobba when it ended. We Orks produce little spores when we die an' den da sopres grow inta new Orks an' den dose Orks fight an' den dey die an' more Orks come. When my spore was planted it was on da ground where another spore came, an' da spores went on toppa each other, and den da mekboy spore an' da Mad Dok spore mixed. So I like doin' Mekboy[10] things like fixin' trukks an' I like doin' Mad Dok[11] stuff like fixin' udder Orks. Anyway den all da spores grew an' we started our own Ork colony, but den while we was trav'lin' in da Warp[12] we got stuck. Da daemons in da Warp tried ta snuff us out but we fought 'em an' escapes, but we didn't know where we were. Da udder Meks an' me rigged up a radar an' we found dis 'ere planet we're on now. It looked like a 'umie colony but dey didn't 'ave Lasshootas or nuttin'. Dey 'ad some low-tek shootas though, and dere were lots o' dem so we gots ded. I tried ta fix da boyz up but I couldn't so I ran, and then da 'umie shoota boyz caught me, but dey chained me up 'n' dey send me 'ere, ta talk ta you.

Any otha questions, ya squishy?

Footnotes:
[1] Waaaagh: War
[2] Cyclez: Years
[3] 'Umie: Human
[4] Shoota: Gun
[5] Dakka: Gunfire
[6] Krushin' Klaw: A metal claw, like the jaws of life but smaller (read: man-portable). Shaped like a hand with two fingers and a thumb
[7] Gubbins: Spare parts, metal or otherwise
[8] Krusha: see "Krushin' Klaw"
[9] Klobba['d]: Beaten, but not killed.
[10] Mekboy: An ork who is innately good at mechanics.
[11] Mad Dok: An ork who is innately good at performing surgical procedures.
[12] The Warp: aka The Immaterium. A dimensional space used for faster than light travel. Daemons, servants of the chaos gods, inhabit it. ]]> Chozo http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101811-da-bestest-ork-round-ere.html Kaizar http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101735-kaizar-new-post.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:14:42 GMT *Name*: Kaizar *Nickname*: Cyborg *Occupation*: Mercenary *Age*: 34 *Apparent age*: N/A Name: Kaizar

Nickname: Cyborg

Occupation: Mercenary

Age: 34

Apparent age: N/A

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Hair colour: Brown

Eyes colour: Blue

Weight: 90 kg (187 pounds)

Height: 6 foot 1 inch (1 metre 85 centimetres)

Weapon: Twin blades passed down to him by his swords master. The blades of these swords are plain. The hilts have an intricate gold tread pattern that looks like many rivers that spreads from the centre, leaving a hole in the middle, only to be completed when the young man finds the right gemstones.

Dimensions of swords: Blade - 30 inches (76 centimetres)
Hilt - 4 inches (10 centimetres)

Armour: None.

Carried possessions: His twin swords, a pendant given to him by his mother the day they left the town, a shaving set and a spare set of clothes.

Magic: Kaizar has a basic use of an ancient and powerful magic. It was said to have died out thousands of years before his birth, but those who used it merely remained hidden in society. Those able to control this magic are said to have the secret to life itself.
While he is using it he sees everything as threads. Each thread is a certain type of magic. There is a thread for fire, one for water, another for air, a fourth for earth, and the final one, which is only present in living creatures, is spirit. Kaizar takes the threads from the surrounding area, and himself, and weaves them together to make his spells. Each spell has a certain, and different, way of weaving the threads together. If he weaves the threads even slightly wrong then he can either end up with the wrong spell, or an explosion that will severely hurt him at the least. The ability to weave these threads means he can perform almost any spell, as long as the threads are available, and he has seen it first.
He can also able to pick other spells apart, but this often results in a massive explosion and is not advisable. Sometimes when he is sat quietly away from people his magic will call to him, and if he answers he could destroy everything in the surrounding area without meaning to. He also needs to clear his mind to reach for it, leaving no room for any emotion, meaning he will attack friend and foe without thought. When using his magic Kaizar is not easily stopped, but he is not always able to control it, or even summon it for use at all!

Abilities: Magic weaving - This is Kaizars form of magic. Although it is powerful when used, he cannot control it well so tends to ignore it in battle, instead he tends to use it outside of battle for the menial tasks like clearing his camp site in the morning. No one other than Kaizar can see the magic he weaves until it is finished and it becomes a spell. This can take many forms, depending on the spell he wishes to perform.

Sword skills: Kaizar relies on his swords in a fight in order to survive. His skills in wielding his two blades can lead to many surprising styles.
Style 1 - focused attack - When using this style Kaizar focuses all his attacks and blows on one opponent, trying to deal the most damage as possible. With this style he swings both swords in unison with each other, striking any foe with both blades at once. His favourite move in this style is to swing them in front of himself, like a windmill. He will often block an attack with one sword and strike back with the other when using this style.
Style 2 - unfocused attack - Kaizar uses this style to fight more than one foe. His swords will often seem to be used by two separate people when fighting in this style. When fighting link this he can block two separate attacks at the same time, but then cannot fight back until one of the others breaks off their attack. This style has more thrusts than his first fighting style, but contains less slashes. Kaizars favourite move in this style is to act like a spinning top, extending both arms in opposite directions and spinning around with both swords in hand.
Both styles are fought in close quarters with his opponents and are mainly focused on defeating the enemy as quickly as possible.

Strengths: He is an expert swordsman, which he has been practising from the day he was left his family. Now he uses practise to keep fit and check his left arm works properly. He is blindingly fast with his swords and it is not easy to get past his defences. Kaizar also has the basic use of a powerful magic that means he can do almost anything when it is used. He can also pick other peoples spells apart, if he so chooses.

Weaknesses: Kaizar is not able to control his magic effectively, and it sometimes doesn’t even answer his calls for use. He is easily overpowered by other people magic spells used on him due to his inability to use his own magic. If Kaizar ever gets disarmed in a fight he cannot fight well as he was only taught how to fight with his swords, and not his magic, before being outcast by his home town.

Appearance: Kaizar has a pair of icy blue eyes, and messy brown hair. His face is harsh looking and covered in many scars, the main one running from just under his left eye to the right side of his mouth. His nose is short and stubby, most if it missing due to a fight he had a few years ago. His mouth is almost always twisted into a frown. He is clean shaven and doesn’t like to have a beard.
His torso is quite well toned with plenty of muscles. But it is also pitted and scared from the many operations he has had to replace his left arm, which is commonly in a sheath of synthetic skin, giving the appearance of a well muscled arm. He has a small power pack hidden beneath his skin just under his left shoulder, which needs recharging every few days. His right arm is well muscled due to his constant sword practice.
The hilts of his two swords stick out over his shoulders, and often get caught on low hanging branches. He wears a top made from cotton with a sleeve on his left arm that goes down to his wrist. This sleeve is very loose fitting and shows no detail underneath it. He also wears a pair of black leather trousers and a black leather long coat, also revealing no details of his physique beneath.
He likes to keep himself clean and washes whenever he can. Sometimes however he is not able to wash for a few weeks and can smell quite bad. But as soon as the opportunity arises he will go and have a wash.

Personality: When meeting new people Kaizar often puts on a cold and heartless personality, and rarely says anything unless spoken to. Even then he keeps his answers short. He also tends to hide his left arm from view, whether it is under the sleeve of his top, under the synthetic skin he buys, or just under his long coat. This is because of the bad experiences he has had whenever people have found out that he arm was metal.
Once you get past all the cold remarks and heartless outlook on life Kaizar can be a very kind and caring person, who would do anything for anyone. Not many people take the time to get to know him however, and he finds it easier to keep them away by pretending to be cold and heartless instead.
His outlook on life is that you only get one life so there is no point complaining about your misfortunes, you just have to get on with it instead. His favourite line to use when describing this is “Life’s not fair. Now get on with it!”

Likes: spending time alone, practising his sword fighting skills, animals of all sizes, his special drink called ‘power’ and defending others.

Dislikes: Being in a crowd, losing his swords, being alone with another person, seeing animals hurt and telling people about his robotic arm.

Fears: The four things that scare Kaizar most are being hated by the world because of his left arm, never finding anyone who would stand by him despite the way he is to them, death itself and losing control of his magic, and destroying everything he has left that he holds dear.

Virtues: He will do almost anything for anyone, and will always defend those he feels to be in the right. Kaizar will also give out his trust to any that he thinks he should.

Vices: Kaizar will often give trust to those he shouldn’t and feels betrayed by them, he also doesn’t make the right decisions on everything when he chooses who to defend. Because Kaizar has spent most of his life alone he often makes rah decisions and gets himself into a lot of trouble.

Biography: Kaizar was born in a small town deep in the countryside, almost cut off from the rest of the world. At the age of seven he started swords school, and at the age of ten he showed promise of magic practises as well. He spent the next four years training to use both swords and magic, but not doing well with his magic.
At the age of fourteen he infected by a demons curse. His left arm soon became useless and Kaizar fell very ill. The only way to save his life was to remove his arm and replace it with a metallic one. His parents agreed, even though cyber limbs were shunned in their society.
Kaizar had to have a special synthetic drink called ‘power’ to recharge the power cell used to power his arm from that day on. Even though his arm was covered in a synthetic skin it was not long before other people in the town found out about it and chased him and his family out of the town. This went on for two more weeks in every town they stayed in. Finally Kaizar packed his things and left when the family were asleep.
He became a mercenary and worked for many people just to pay for the hospital bills he incurred from having his arm replaced. His life continued like this for the next seven years, when he had his last replacement.
Two years after that he was finally able to return to his hometown, only to find it being destroyed, and the people killed. He was soon captured by the demons that had laid the curse on him. These demons then forced him to watch everyone he had ever known and loved killed right in front of him, because he had escaped the curse of the demon all those years ago.
Eleven years has passed since that day, but he still harbours the thought that everyone is against cyber limbs, and no one will ever want to know him because of it. He has never taken the synthetic skin off his arm, and replaces it at every opportunity he gets. He never lets anyone get close to him and always keeps them at arms length. ]]> shadow226 http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101735-kaizar.html Cyrus Marconi http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101730-cyrus-marconi-new-post.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:18:29 GMT Cyrus Marconi
"That Little Indian Boy"

Quick Facts
Age: 16
Birthday: November 7
Star Sign: Sagittarius
Nationality: Italian-Navajo
Citizenship: United States of America

At-a-Glance
Gender: Male
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 130 lbs.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Green
Skin Color: Pale copper
Body Type: Athletic

Under Scrutiny
Cyrus carries like clean-cut, if self-conscious athlete. Whenever he is unaware of himself or what he is doing, he manages fluid grace and precision with the ease of someone who demands high performance from their body on a regular basis. Being around people he finds intimidating, that being most girls and anyone older than around twenty-five years of age, sees him turn into a mess of fidgeting and clumsiness. His posture is always pretty good because he holds his back straight and neck up, but his shoulders are usually slouched.

He has clean-lined features that still have baby fat smoothing the edges. Otherwise he has bit of a mix between the aquiline features of his Native American heritage and the oval facial type of his Italian ancestors. The result is a blend that makes his nationality difficult to guess just from his face for the average person, but easy enough for an expert on the subject. His youth overlays his face with a look of naive innocence that is more than just skin-deep. His ready smile, fun-loving smirk, and unconscious tendency to wink when he is amused are his go-to expressions for most situations.

Perhaps the only thing keeping him from being entirely clean-cut is his hair. He keeps it long to appease his mother, only cutting it so it never goes below his shoulder blades. It is fine, straight, and completely black. He has yet to get any facial hair to go along with it, but his eyebrows are nicely separate and straight.

The body he got has yet to grow into its own. He has enough muscle on him to prove that puberty already started and maturity is in the process of taking over, but his arms are thin and his waist is trim and, perhaps most tellingly, his shoulders have yet to widen. He could even be described as slender if he were not so clearly athletic. His small build has telltale signs of growth in its slight disproportion, but in particular he has big feet and hands into which he still has to grow.

Possessions
Clothing: He wears typical high-school clothing, for the most part—running shoes, cargo pants, t-shirts with various logos and quotations, coats, and a beanie or three. He owns some stranger clothing for tribal meetings, which involves a pretty complex feather-and-wool sash that he ties around his right leg over a pair of animal skin trousers and a scarlet ribbon his mother gave him. He also owns a bear-tooth necklace that he always wears and a pair of fairly large bangles. His tribal costume has no shirt.

Spear: Cyrus got into a whole metallurgical frenzy for about a year during a chemistry class and worked in a renaissance-style smithing shop. The only thing he got out of it was a really strange, wave-bladed lance that he turned into a spear. It has a metal core in the wood, so has some pretty decent sturdiness, and he does keep the blade sharp.

Notebook: His notebook is a Dell Alienware M17x with several personal upgrades for better and more RAM, better and faster video quality, and the ability to leech wireless internet for almost a mile around without much ill effect. His most frequently used programs are Google Chrome and World of Warcraft.

Truck: The keys to a white 2009 Chevrolet Silverado were in the only small birthday present he received on his sixteenth. Since he got it brand new, the truck has become coated with dirt and the back has debris from everything from cinder blocks to hay. The truck has actually been used for truck-like purposes, but is in great working condition.

Combat Profile
Physical: As an athlete in his teens, Cyrus has a near-boundless amount of energy and the kind of recovery rate that makes injuries and bodily strain easier. He has great stamina, strength, and flexibility for a person his age, size, and body type. His physical resilience is above par for his age and species. His species does put him at a fairly considerable disadvantage physically. Shoot him, he can die; run him, he will tire. Most supernatural beings can overpower or outlast him in a physical competition, especially since he has yet to reach even full physical maturity for a human.

(strengths) – High energy, recovery rate, stamina, strength, flexibility, and flexibility for a human.
(weaknesses) – Ordinary human, easily hurt or killed, mundane physically, not fully mature physically.

Mental: Part of him wants to be the knight in shining armor right from the pages of a book, but he is not stupid. He plans ahead as much as possible, arms for bear if he predicts danger, and he does not fool around in a fight. That alone gives him an edge over casual players and dawdlers. His inexperience just about evens the scales, since most of what he can prepare and use is pretty pitiful either in terms of firepower or in terms of protection. Not only that, but his naivete makes it easier to deceive him and he has not been in enough fights to read body language effectively.

(strengths) – Smart and practical approach to fights.
(weaknesses) – Inexperienced, untrained, easily deceived, bad at reading body language.

Spiritual: The coolest part of his entire being is that he was born with a latent magical talent that started developing early. He never had the stigma of a cynical, worldly family telling him he was wrong and never got picked on or called a freak for it. The blessing of that let him develop a spiritual strength that could form into some great metaphysical mightiness later down the line. In the meantime, he is still just a human with some great meditation techniques and a tendency to sense bad mojo.

(strengths) – High latent magical talent.
(weaknesses) – Little useful magical ability.

Personal Information
Relationship Status: Single, not looking.

Personality: Cyrus is an exuberant, energetic, self-conscious, socially awkward teenager. He is a determined young man, but channels his determination towards efficiency as much as possible so that he accomplishes things smarter and better instead of harder and faster. He learns quickly but does terribly in a classroom, preferring to find things out on his own and try it his way before he even considers using conventional wisdom. The result is a strange combination of successes that could make him look like a born winner and failures that make him look like a frequent loser. As usual, the truth is always more complex. He is too young to succeed a lot, too smart to fail all the time, and too idealistic and self-demeaning to let either go to his head.

Leadership and assertive directness come to him almost like reflex when he knows what to do. If he sees something he can and wants to accomplish, nothing can keep him from doing it, least of all authority figures. He bucks authority on auto-play when he has a goal or desire. Accepting a position as a subordinate makes him feel demoralized, useless, and he usually reacts by acting out or doing his job the least effective way he possibly can.

The subjects of romance and fighting are pretty much identical for him. He has a strong attraction to the fairer sex, but never feels comfortable pursuing his interests and tends to stumble into and out of conversations with women. He loves the idea of fighting, but his parents never supported his desire to learn martial arts and he has no confidence in his ability to actually win so he tries his best to avoid physical altercations whenever he can. The will is there, but Cyrus is young and unconfident.

His truest love is magic. It came to him early and he always embraced it, pursuing every fragment of arcane knowledge he could. His grandfather being a tribal shaman, he knows better than most how to focus his energies. One of the reasons his otherwise hard-to-stomach personality is made more tractable is because he meditates frequently and keeps himself calm with self-improvement exercises. His athleticism, his work, and his research almost always has some kind of connection to what he is trying to accomplish in his spiritual life at the time. He takes his heritage as the grandson of a shaman very seriously, hopes that one day he will be accepted into the same tribal role, and exerts himself towards achieving that goal.

Biography: Born in Carson City, Cyrus Marconi was raised in a desert. His father had the money to put him in the best private school, his mother wanted him to be involved with his tribe, and the compromise was to get him into the private school for the children of Navajo chiefs as soon as he was ready.

He manifested some magical talent early. He took his first spirit walk before he was eight, where he met the animal who—unbeknownst to him—would later become his spirit guide. Over time, as he grew more aware of his family and especially his grandfather, he started throwing himself into magic with a passion. It became the weird passtime that set him apart from his peers, who already liked him enough that it never mattered to them. His grandfather became his best friend, and after the first times they talked about magic they became almost inseparable.

Cyrus got his first job when he was fourteen, working for his father on a freight unloading station in Carson City on weekends. That job put him in the city on a regular basis, where he explored every library searching for anything and everything he could about magic. By the time he was in his freshman year he had about as much generic knowledge as the average would-be witch, but he had the spiritual energy to make meditation a useful exercise and sensing exercises an genuine help to him.

Around his fifteenth birthday he stopped working for his dad and started his own business doing landscaping for the chiefs with whose sons he attended school. The move stung his father, but it was probably his first step towards what his parents thought of as responsible behavior. It got him a truck for a birthday present and a noticeably large increase in trust and freedom from his parents, which he used to expand his business and really start taking his shamanistic heritage seriously by visiting and learning from his grandfather as much as possible. ]]> Coyote http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101730-cyrus-marconi.html Martin Gabriel Gray http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101648-martin-gabriel-gray-new-post.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:58:54 GMT

Appearance

Height: Six-foot-nothing, just like God.
Weight: A hundred eighty and small change.
Eye Color: Green like money.
Skin Color: Pale, but rocking it.
Hair Color: Blacker than Satan's heart.
Hairstyle: His hair is a messy mop that he preens and plays with until the left bang falls just so over his forehead and the right hangs casually at the corner of his eye. The rest of it he keeps in a loose ponytail, which is casually messy because he never straightens the waves out of it. It goes great with his full-mouthed goatee, which is meticulously trimmed for good definition.

Facial Features: Aquiline like a Roman patrician, his face is like gazing at what women the world over have imagined to be the face of Christ returned to earth. His high cheek bones do great at accentuating his dashingly bent nose that leaves everyone wondering who could have brought themselves to damage that perfection. His full-lipped mouth has prominent dimples at either side and usually rests in a charming smirk.

Physique: He has the classic Herculean body structure that compliments his fantastic good looks so perfectly that no one can deny that he is living proof that Greek heroes slept around. His proportions, especially down under, are like the embodiment of the most fantastic military tactic ever invented: shock and awe. His hands are huge and strong, and the flocks of ladies will testify.

Mannerisms: Perfect posture, perfect grace, perfect poise, and perfectly casual style is the only combination of mannerisms he has ever needed or used. Everyone loves a winner.

Possessions

The Suit: He wears a suit (of course) and it is perfectly tailored to his fantastic body. The gunmetal grey two-button jacket and pants compliment the money green of his shirt, which is a perfect match for his eyes. His shoes are classic black, because old skill still has it and suits are the only real place to have it. Cold weather sees him in a black fedora with a gunmetal grey band, black driving gloves, and a black peacoat that reaches to mid-knee and hugs his body.

The Gun: He carries a heavily customized Colt 70 series pistol with modifications to the barrel, trigger, loading assembly, and an added laser sight and compensator. The entire thing is classic silver with a black grip and fires custom-made, competitive .45 millimeter bullets. He has wood, silver, and ordinary lead bullets. He has one handmade ‘special bullet' that he created personally. He has yet to test it, but it is going to be freaking spectacular.

Abilities and Magic

[Shaman] – (Untapped)
His father was a Navajo, his grandfather was a half-trained shaman, and somewhere in his family history there was a really impressive navajo shaman whose magical talents he inherited. He has some extra from his maternal ancestry, but that has more to do with killing things than healing things, which is just as awesome but not quite as socially acceptable. He has yet to really get a grip on his shaman powers, since he still needs a powerful metaphor to use them effectively.

Strengths

(Awesome) – He overflows with awesome. He is charming, handsome, and overall a totally fantastic person. He knows it and he uses it to the greatest possible good: getting laid and doing things he enjoys for obscenely large quantities of money.

(Marksman) – He could probably shoot the wings off a few dozen fruit flies from a couple dozen yards if there was a significant amount of money or sex wagered on it. He could also do it for the hell of it, but that lost its fun the first few times he did it. People are even easier.

(Fighter) – Beating things to a pulp is like sex: the goal is to use the human body in such a way that the other person has trouble or simply cannot stand, and it becomes much more impressive if they die from it. He is fantastic at sex. Fighting comes just as naturally.

Weaknesses

(Bad) – He is a bad, bad man.

(Enemies) – He has some bad, bad enemies.

(Learning) – He has yet to completely harness his own badassery, and in the meantime he needs to rely on his as-of-yet incomplete awesomeness to score women and win at everything. It can be a struggle when other badasses are involved.

Personal Information

Name: Martin Gabriel Gray
Goes By: "Oh God, yes."
Age: The age of a hot older woman, divided by half, plus seven / the age of a hot younger woman, minus seven, multiplied by two.
Gender: Male, but he has a well-developed feminine side and would love to share it with all those experimental lesbians.
Birthday: October 31.
Star Sign: Scorpio.

Personality: Martin has the timeless charisma of a Theseus, the intellect of an Odysseus, and the unbelievable awesomeness of a Barney Stinson. He bucks the social rules of society by conforming the to playboy ideal. He is obsessed mostly with sex, slightly less with money, and a bit less with ruining the lives of people he dislikes. People he dislikes are hot girls who choose not to have sex with him, anyone who likes dogs, and the doctor who circumcised him (funny story, not a good time).

Generally speaking, he is a bad person. He does bad things like killing people for money, running over dogs in extremely expensive luxury automobiles, destroying planets based on the whim of extremely hot villainesses, and purposely spilling wine on expensive suits owned by other men in order to score women. He has no moral code, except a single personal rule: no rape. He holds the fervent belief that rape is the greatest travesty any real man could commit, simply because it makes the statement that he has given up on winning with his mind and decided to use his body prematurely. The unbelievable failure of that choice disgusts him to the depths of his soul.

Creating secrets and playing with the minds of others simply for personal amusement amuses him quite a bit, so he practices daily in the off-chance that someday he will be able to do it on such a level as to shock even the writers of the Quran. He enjoys confusing people who know him by continually changing his opinion of delicate or important issues such as murder, larceny, and the use of birth control. He hates children, but probably has several so he makes it a point to never kill, maim, or have sex with anyone under the age of eight since they might be his and that would be shockingly gross (though in ten years, if he met his hot daughter, something might go down).

He likes big breasts, good butts, trim waists, and generally voluptuous appearances. He does not like eating disorders or women who own dogs and expect him to remain in the same general vicinity as their drooling, disgusting bodies. He enjoys alcohol. A lot. His behavior on alcohol could best be described as his normal behavior, except more of it and much better-delivered, like the drunken master form of being awesome. He also enjoys smoking tobacco and marijuana, though he prefers cigars over cigarettes and only chooses marijuana when he really needs to have a good day.

Biography: He was born, he was awesome, he has yet to die. That about covers the tough parts. The rest of it is basically that sometime between being born and turning sixteen he found out that he was good at just about anything he tried to do. So he picked something he liked to do, jumped town, and started doing stuff. At first it was working on the railroad, which was fun but not very fulfilling. Then he mooched off a really hot, really rich cougar in New York City while he worked on Broadway. That was fulfilling, but it got to be not very fun when the hot cougar found out he was good at having sex with more than just her.

Then he joined the Marine Corps and found out he was really good at killing things, modifying guns, and making other men feel insecure in the shower. He also found out he was great at lying and toppling foreign dictators for the hell of it. That was a fun story, but it was more of a blip on the radar of his life than anything. After he left the Marine Corps he started attending a medical school, then dropped out after the dean found out he was sleeping with all his hot female teachers and that his grade point average probably should not be counted. Then he moved to Spain, learned Spanish, and then took a tour of all the good European countries, which means he never set foot in France.

Granted, he did throw some flaming objects at their border guard station, but that incident never caught up to him.

When he was done in Europe he started finding out some cool things about magic from a guy he met in a bar in Taiwan, so he went back and had a chat with his grandfather. It turned out he had some awesome family genes that let him heal people, which was pretty damned cool. He went about trying to use magic for a while, succeeded once or twice, but then a really sexy lady with questionable sanity recruited him to do some really bad stuff. He did it, had sex with her, and it was cool, but then he found out that blowing up planets was against a few intergalactic laws, so he went on the universal-scale lamb. Next up, more awesome. ]]> Coyote http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101648-martin-gabriel-gray.html Zether Tijano http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101632-zether-tijano-new-post.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:03:34 GMT Not entirely new to the RP scene, but I feel I still have tons of room for improvement. This looks like a fun place to do it in. I think I had a character from about 3 years ago but I doubt he's still here and if so, I don't think he's very decent so I'm going to go ahead and start fresh. Is that okay?

Name: Zether Tijano
Age: 19
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Hair: Long, dirty blond, and scruffy. Length is about to the top of the neck.
Eyes: Light brown.
Weight: 180 lbs, lean athletic build
Height: 5'5

Appearance: Zether is a small and short man with pale skin and dirty blond hair. He wears light clothing because of his weakness to high temperatures. Wears a loose, white tee-shirt and light, brown shorts. Wears brown, fingerless gloves and usually has a red bandanna over his hair. Has a sheathe for his sword strapped to his back.

His face is lean, but rounded. He has a large mouth with slim lips and a small pointed nose. He has big eyes with rich color.

Weapon(s): A short sword with a blue-ish silver blade and a silver handle.

Armor: A light metal helmet and a light breastplate, bot a silver color. Offers small amount of protection that doesn't hinder movement.

General Strengths: Has an affinity for the cold, he can withstand harsh cold temperatures more than most people. Has a high amount of endurance, so he can last a long time before tiring during battle or travel.

General Weaknesses: He can become weaker in areas of high temperatures and heat. Does not possess a high amount of strength, so he can't wear heavy armor or clothing or carry many possessions without it wearing him down. He doesn't deal well with injuries or wounds, and often takes much longer to heal that the average person would.

Battle Strengths: Zether is agile on his feet and can move at high speed. This allows him a high amount of mobility and he can avoid attacks easily. His mobility in battle often allows him to gain an advantage against his enemies. He can run at a speed just below that of professional athletes, so while he is fast he is not impossible to catch. Though he has never discovered any magical powers of his own yet, he has a fair amount of resistance to attacks. His affinity for the cold gives him a small boost in the resistance against cold-based magic.

Battle Weaknesses: Zether does not have a high amount of strength, so while his strikes are swift, they do not leave much damage. His expertise with his sword has yet to be developed as well, so his strikes are often clumsy or ineffective. He can't cope well with injuries or wounds, so the longer the battle goes on the less likely he is to get out alright. Though he does have a fair amount of resistance to magic, he can not handle heat-based attacks well.

Skills/Magic: None.

Personality: Zether is a fun-loving individual. He is rarely seen being serious. Even in the face of battle he throws out jokes and snide remarks to others with a wide smile. He loves a challenge and will greet it with all of his energy. This positive demeanor is only an act, a way for Zether to cope with his true feelings of fear and worry. Zether will fail to keep the act up as the situation becomes dire however, and this can often turn the tide against him.

Below the surface, Zether is fearful and apprehensive. He often questions his abilities and loses confidence when facing strong enemies or situations. He doesn't open up to people easily, so his problems and fears can often get the best of him as he deals with them on his own.

Zether is known to be a loyal and loving person to the people he befriends, and as such is an invaluable partner to have on the battle field. He will fight fiercely to protect the lives of the people he cares about, even if it may cost him his own.

Likes:
- Cold weather, cold places
- Drawing
- Traveling to new places
- Cooking and eating
- Meeting new friends
Dislikes:
- Hot weather, hot places
- Bugs
- People who make fun of others, bullies
- Studying
- Animals

Fears:
- Wolves
- Death
- Heights

Virtues:
- Extremely protective of his friends.
- Loyal and caring.
Vices:
- Hides his true personality.
- Does not speak his feelings easily.

History: Zether was born in a small port town in the north. He grew up like any other child. He went to school, procrastinated on his homework, and played games with the other kids.

One day as he was out on the playground of the school playing he noticed that his little brother was nowhere to be found. Zether resented his little brother because he was always getting into trouble like this and Zether always had to help him.

He ran all around the town trying to find his little brother and began to panic as time went on. He went towards the town gate and saw small footprints leading outwards. He followed them outside of the town and into the forest. He finally came into a clearing and saw his brother laying on the ground, surrounded by wolves. Zether wanted to scream but nothing would come out, he wanted to run and save his brother but his feet wouldn't budge. The wolves circled the little boy until they finally attacked for their next meal. It wasn't until that moment that Zether's brain finally began to work again and he ran back home in a fit of tears.

After that day, Zether vowed that he would not let himself be weak like that again. He vowed that he would protect his loved ones no matter what. One night, about a month after the incident, Zether woke up late that night and wrote a note to his parents. He left the note on their bedside table before he left. He took the hunting sword that his father had passed down to him and strapped the sheathe to his back as he walked out the door.

For their sake he would become strong, he would become a warrior that could protect them. His little brother was the first and last death that Zether would allow to happen. ]]> GreatBayDeku http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101632-zether-tijano.html <![CDATA[Navi's LISTEN!!! Thread]]> http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101613-navis-listen-thread-new-post.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:16:31 GMT *Beginning Note* If you are reading this because the title interested you, you have been surreptitiously deceived: I have made this thread to add onto the already numerous and varied opinions regarding character creation in the EH. Since you are continuing to read this, I assume that you are... Beginning Note

If you are reading this because the title interested you, you have been surreptitiously deceived: I have made this thread to add onto the already numerous and varied opinions regarding character creation in the EH. Since you are continuing to read this, I assume that you are one of two things: extremely bored, or a person who has already made many characters and is wondering what another person could possibly say that hasn’t already been brought up two hundred times. The point in what you read below (assuming you are still reading this, that is) is not to tell you how you ought to be writing characters, or a “better” process of making them. If the following simply causes you to think about adding, changing, or considering your existing character(s), then I have accomplished my purpose in writing this.

All of my advice has been divided into categories that follow (mostly) the order of the character creation template. I congratulate you thus far if you do in fact intend to read each section, whether you really make it to the end or not. If you read carefully, you may find that hints here can be applied to more than simple character writing.

Appearance

No, this is not the first thing that goes in a character profile. This is the first thing that I feel like commenting on.

In your browsing of other’s and your own characters, you’ve probably come to understand that appearance is one of the most important details for you and other RPers to know. Without it, there is no outward appearance accurate enough for other characters to find any meaning or value in.

Sensory Details: My comment here is not that I think most profiles are lacking in this area. While some are certainly far more detailed and valuable than others, they all serve the purpose of giving the reader a rough picture to form in their mind. My problem is that that’s all I see, a picture.

Have we forgotten that there is more than one human sense? There are in fact five: sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste. I see characters painstakingly described in the visual sense— I can picture their hair, clothes, and shoes, but I can’t smell them. I can’t hear what their voice might sound like, what their skin might feel like. I don’t know how my character should react to yours because I don’t know if they smell like a ripe monkey or a pungent flower. I don’t know if their voice is generally gruff or strangely soft.

Don’t underestimate the power of touching all of the senses. The more variety you have, the more detail and significance your character will have, and you will also provide other RPers with more deep, subtle details to cue reactions with. Even auras are significant: the kind of presence your character has due to magic or general abilities. We also have A LOT of aura sensers in the EH, and providing such detail (not just about how your character can hide their aura) will also allow other characters to perceive them at greater depths.

Implicit and Explicit Details: Now, this isn't a particularly awful issue that I see in profiles, but it is an issue nonetheless. It's somewhat bothersome to read profiles that blatantly state what you as the reader ought to interpret from the character. Take a look at this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navi007

Mary Sue is amazingly beautiful. Her eyes are dazzling, her hair absolutely spectacular. She is HOT. She also wears a very colorful dress.

In those four separate sentances, I have managed to tell you absolutely nothing about Mary Sue. Instead, I have told you everything that I think your characters should think of her. Instead of listing details and leaving it for you to interpret and think about, I have blatantly ordered that Mary Sue be seen this way. If you were, in fact, to do an RP with this Mary Sue, about the only thing you'd be able to describe her as is... well, HOT.

What is HOT? Is hot being thin, or having voluptuous curves? Is a character beautiful if they are tall or short? Are blue eyes that sparkle prettier than green eyes that gently glow? What colors are the actual clothes that the character is wearing? What kind of clothing is it? What does all of this tell about the character in general?

This is where the difference between implicit and explicit details begin. An implicit detail is one carefully placed within the character profile, which says nothing as to whether or not the subject is "attractive," but provides the story behind what actually makes them that way. If I give you a list of small, intimate details that are meaningful to the character, suddenly you have a lot more material to work with. Your character can decide for themself whether they like the sparkling blue eyes or soft, peachy skin. Maybe they're a green skinned alien that thinks human hair is absolutely hideous. Whatever the case, it is no buisness of mine to tell you how my character is. My job is to provide the details that will lead you and your own characters to their own conclusions.

Explicit details are empty without their implicit counterparts. Coming up directly and simply stating what I think will make for a very vauge character. Little details like the fabric the clothing your character wears can be significant. For instance, it doesn't make sense for a peasant to be waring a silk dress around, does it? Nor does it make sense for a 12th century character to be wearing a white T-Shirt. Take the time to put things into context, to consider the world your character lives in. Tiny, implicit details like this will serve to tell the story of your character, as well as provide a firm base for other characters to build an understanding of them.

I have provided a list to help with clothing items that will better match medieval context:

Bodice- part of a woman's dress above the waist
Breeches- trousers ending above the knee
Coif- men's small, close fitting cap
Fouriaux- woman's silk sheath to cover hair that has been coiled or put up.
Girdle- a band of material around the waist and strengthens a skirt or trousers
Jerkin- a tight sleeveless and collarless jacket
Kirtle- knee-length tunic, or long dress worn by women
Smock(frock)- An outer garment (generally a dress) traditionally worn by rural workers (also attributed to females)
Tunic- any of a variety of loose fitting cloaks extending to the hips or knees (wordnetweb.princeton.edu)

There are many, many more specific clothing items to that time period- this is just to give a general overview. While you can get away with using things as vauge as "shirt," "pants," and "dress," do remember that the more detailed and specific you are, the more depth your character will have. And you are also welcome to add more items to this list ^^

Meaning: The more meaning you can apply to a character through the use of detail, the more profound their interactions will be with other characters. If I come out and blatantly tell you each physical characteristic of my character, you'd be able to easily picture them-- then promptly forget. Attaching meaning, history to the attributes of a character will make them deeper and more memorable. Take a look at this example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Excerpt from Shrub's Khaz Serwen profile

If you look closely, you'll find that this sample of Khaz's profile not only provides a great deal of detail, but also a great deal of meaning. From this, we can draw that Khaz is athletic because he has recieved training as a warrior. These past battles, however, leave no trace on him because he was around healers like his sister when he lived with the Gerudo. Because of this, we see that his past directly affects his current body, and that even in his physical traits, there is a history. Details like this serve to tell you why Khaz is the way he is and how he lives and mantains that life. That means you've got a lot more material to use as your character interacts with him. How much more different would that be if Shrub had included only that Khaz was lean and athletic?

Height vs. Weight

I'm sorry, but this needs to be talked about. Far too often, I see characters with unrealistic height vs weight. A five foot six person who weighs 100lbs is extraordinarily unhealthy and unrealistic. If you're struggling to find what realistic height vs weight vs build is, this will help.

Weapons, Armor, Etc.

Yes, I have something to say about this very simple section. I’ll be blunt. It’s exhausting to try to figure out what people mean when they throw technical words for clothing and weapons at me. I have to go google what on earth that thing is before I can even understand the details applied to this object of theirs.

DO NOT assume that people understand what you are talking about. If you name a specific sword, gun, piece of clothing, etc. that is not general English; you are speaking the fine language of jargon. If you say your character wields an epee, you sure better tell me what the heck that is if you expect me to interpret your character’s weapon with any degree of accuracy. This can be accomplished in two ways:

Defining: Take the time to include the definition of what you are talking about within the section that the word is included in. You can add it in parenthesis, footnotes, and even in the sentence itself. Consider the following:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ”Navi007”

When Leonna releases her wings, they look exactly like the Radiant Swallowtail's, with Aqua Marine colored discoidal cells that fade to a dark green at the submargins of her wings. The apex of her forewing is softly curved, though its ends are somewhat flat and rectangular in shape. Her hindwing is somewhat more round, though it has small, round bumps on its black edge. The apex is shaped like a large, elongated teardrop, sticking out a few inches from the rest of the wing. There are no obvious veins, though various black patters decorate the submargins of her wings. Her wings as a whole gently glow much like a neon colored glow stick would.

Take a moment to try and visualize those details in your mind. What can you picture from all of that?

I’ll bet you might have had some trouble. If you don’t know what on earth a discoidal cell is, or what the submargin of a wing is, all that information I just provided was useless. If you don’t know what a Radiant Swallowtail is, you might have even mistaken Leonna’s butterfly wings for that of a bird’s.

How do you avoid this? Look at the following changes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ”Navi007”

When Leonna releases her wings, they look exactly like the *Radiant Swallowtail's, with Aqua Marine colored *discoidal cells that fade to a dark green at the submargins (the area of a wing between its edge and the discoidal cells) of her wings. The apex, or the point of the wing, of her forewing (the top section of the wings) is softly curved, though its ends are somewhat flat and rectangular in shape. Her hindwing (the bottom section of the wings) is somewhat more round, though it has small, round bumps on its black edge. The apex is shaped like a large, elongated teardrop, sticking out a few inches from the rest of the wing. There are no obvious veins, though various black patters decorate the submargins of her wings. Her wings as a whole gently glow much like a neon colored glow stick would.

*A Radiant Swallowtail is an Indonesian species of butterfly, which is best known for its vivid bluish green to green color changes on its wings.
*Discoidal cells are the large center cells of an insect’s wings.

What can you picture now? Do the details make more sense to you? If the answer is yes, then you ought to double check your own jargon to make sure that others know what you are talking about.

Pictures: I highly recommend using images wherever possible. They provide an even more vivid image than a description, and while it may not exactly match what you are trying to explain, the reader will be better able to actually “see” what you are talking about. This is a feature unique to writing on the internet, so exploit it as much as you can. Let’s go back to my previous example to show this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ”Navi”

What’s the difference this time? Well, I provided a link to the exact butterfly I was talking about. Now, instead of trying to interpret the whole paragraph into an image, you can immediately see what I am talking about. Using images will provide definitions to your reader in simple, vivid terms that will explain what you are trying to talk about.

Don’t expect other readers to do the deciphering for you. Few are those that are willing to fill in the details that you are not. If you want to be accurate, take the time to illustrate and define your complex terms.

Skills/Abilites

Allllllright! It's time tae' get down to even more nitty gritty detail! When looking over another character's skills and abilities, there are two main things that easily set apart those who can be specific and those who can't. Which do you think provides more accurate, easier to understand information? Let's take a look.

Operationally Defined Abilities: Below are three specific variations of the same ability of a character named Xena. Note how they differ:

Vauge Detail

Quote:

When Xena transforms into her demon form, she becomes a lot stronger.

More Specific Detail

Quote:

When Xena transforms into her demon form, she becomes extremely strong.

Operationally Defined Detail

Quote:

When Xena transforms into her demon form, she becomes incredibly strong, able to break eight-foot boulders into tiny fragments with a single punch.

Now, provided the first example, what might you infer about Xena? If you were to battle against her, you'd likely think that in demon form, she's just more difficult to fight. Given the second sentance, it is easily inferred that she is much more difficult to go against when she is in demon form. With the third sentance, you see that in demon form, Xena could very well crush your human character into tiny tufts of powder. Do you then see why vauge detail easily leads to misunderstanding and god-moding?

That's why operational definition is so important. The more specific the limits and powers of your characters are, the better you understand them, and the better others will understand them. If you can list exactly how an ability is executed and prepared, as well as its cost, you've just gained a broader understanding of that ability as well as when and how it ought to be used, and also how it affects your and other's characters.

Significance: If you go beyond simply stating what a character can do and go into the history of that ability and why it works, you've just added significance to that ability. Suddenly, your character is able to do unique, interesting things that have significance to the rest of the world. This is best illustrated by yet another example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Excerpt from Drammor's Omentus Anima Profile

Blood
Blood of Dead Gods: One of the many esoteric fields of study that has caught Omentus’ attention is what happens to the gods when they die. Many of them are truly dead, but those immortals who were forgotten were not slain but are dead nonetheless. These forgotten deities rest now as islands floating in the astral plane, and are not corpses as most would understand them. Each one is a paradise of the deity, filled with incarnations of their own portfolios and personalities, living on in some strange immortal form of perfect death that is like a plane within itself. At the core of their being, however, these islands are in fact the dead bodies of the gods and through some means that Omentus has discovered, the blood which still flows within their veins can be drawn.

In the many-pocketed red cloak that the necromancer wears, he nearly always carries at least a single vial of the blood of each god whose corpse he has discovered on the astral plane. The following are the dead gods that Omentus has run across in his research and travels and drawn the blood from, and some of their effects:

Notice how Drammor makes a reference to the astral plane and the dead gods within it. He explains very clearly what god blood is, which is the basis of all of the god blood spells that Omentus uses. Without this explanation, his abilities are still well described, but they loose their significance. Without understanding what god blood is and how Omentus acquired it, we loose that implicit detail that tells us that Omentus is a character powerful enough to even travel into a different realm. We also loose the understanding of how god blood is connected to the rest of the world-- that it comes from dead dieties that other characters may or may not be familiar with.

Travel

No, this isn’t even a section in the character guideline. I think it should be. Why? That’s why I’m here.

The way your character moves about the world has everything to do with what kind of person they are. It makes no sense for a king to be walking about alone when he should be followed by his own royal entourage. If your character walks, don’t you dare try to tell me that they can traverse a distance of 24 leagues (72 miles) in one day. If your character has a horse, you’ll have to find a way for your character to maintain that animal’s health as they travel.

These details are important because they impact the kind of attitude your character will have upon arriving… well, anywhere. If Jack has just hiked up a mountain in a week long trip, he’s going to be tired, dirty, and looking for shelter in a city loooong before he starts looking for fights. If Jill has rode her valiant steed into a city and wishes to travel on foot, she’s not likely to just leave it there in the street as she goes about her business.

Can your character hunt in the wilderness? Do they have adequate supplies to be traveling in a desert? What experience do they have in traveling? Where have they previously been that might impact the distance they had to go between that point and the one in your current RP? Why do they bother to brave long distances at all?

If you can’t provide any answers to these questions in your character’s profile, it may be time to add some things there.

Character Bios:

I've already made quite a few statements about this. ^^ The point I want to make, however, is this: a character biography is a biography, NOT a character fiction. If you are writing of only one singluar event, and are specific enough of that event to include dialouge, what you have created is a character fiction, not a biography. A biography holds the meat of a person, the most important facts and events in your character's life. If you write a 15 paragraph story about how your character slayed the mighty dragon Elohim, you're going to loose readers. Simple, short, to-the-point facts will declare to the reader quickly and simply the details you and the other RPers can understand about the character's life.

This whole idea is best explained by LEA in the character guidline sticky. The problem is that this is grossly overlooked. Pay attention to the specific instructions here:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Excerpt from LEA's post

Biography: The background of your character, where he grew up and things like that. Even if your character doesn't know their own background (characters like that pop up from time to time), you should still know your character's past, and write it down. Also tell us why your character is oblivious to his/her history.

You can, however, feel free to add different areas to your character's profile. Be creative!

The Biography and Personality are some of the most important parts in creating your character. These guidelines are simply to give you ideas, not questions you have to answer.:
Where was he/she born?
Did he/she grow up with parents? If no, why not?
Did the character have any brothers or sisters? Any friends? Where are they now? Does he/she still talk to them?
How was his/her childhood? Abusive? Peaceful? Ordinary?
Does he have any pets? Familiars?
What are his/her beliefs? Does he/she worship a god? Is he/she willing to do anything to protect or guard their beliefs?
Why is your character traveling from home?
Does he/she have the ability to kill others?
Is your character easy going?
What are his/her dislikes?
Anything special he/she’s fond of?
How would he/she treat others? Rudely? Friendly?
Any goals? Dreams?
Has he/she considered the possibility of death?

ALSO: The purpose of a biography is to succinctly tell us how your character got to where he was. If we wanted a fiction, we'd look for you in the fiction section. In other words, boil it down to some main points to make a small passage of about 5-8 paragraphs. Not too much more or less than that, please.

Those are the facts. Be consise about a character's past, and reserve those sensational background stories for the character fiction section.

History

Yet another section that does not exist in the guidelines. Personally, I think it should be MANDATORY for all NON HUMAN characters. Let me explain why.

If I come up with a new race, I can give you an accurate picture of what this race may look like simply from the appearance section. What isn't included there, however, is the significance of this race. What is their place in the world? Would it be strange to see one in the midst of a crowd of humans? What role do they play in the history of the world? What is unique to this race and culture?

If you don't answer those questions, you're missing out on a GIGANTIC opportunity to add depth to your character. If they're rare, my character would be surprised to see them. They'd likely have no idea what manner of creature they are or where they come from. A familiar race, on the other hand, would hardly earn a second glance, and my character would likely understand what their relationship to humans are. If you don't point these sort of things out, you're selling you and your fellow RPers short of what could be a great history and story. It doesn't matter if your character is as mundane as an elf-- everyone has different interpretations of them. What dimension you have added to elves is what is important for others to understand.

This also applies to cultures and dieties. If I name a historical or significant figure you know nothing about, it means nothing to you. If I explian it, however, it suddenly gains meaning. You can apply this knowledge to your own character and the world they live in, which creates greater understanding and depth between two characters. Take a look at this example:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navi007

History of Darissa:
While the three major goddesses of Hyrule are the major figures for worship, there remains minor gods whose power has also contributed to the shaping of Hyrule, as well as other lands. Darissa is the jealous sister of Lloth, whose fame is much more widespread than hers. Those who follow her desire her favor in theivery, deception and resistance to poison. She is sometimes depicted as a snake herself, and more rarely a mix between a woman and snake. While Darissa is said to be among the most beautiful of immortals, in her dark beauty she has little power compared to the others. She has to manipulate other gods and goddesses into doing what she desires, which she loathes. The dark goddess wants power of her own to shape the world, but she has power only over reptiles, and so she often relies on mortals and the misguided deeds of other gods to perform her will.

Darissa decrees that her followers obey her without question, lividly hating all those that leave her to walk in the paths of other gods. She favors those with natural beauty and great cunning, lending them her power to make them sucessful. Her intents are to foil the plans and desires of other gods, using stolen resources to do so. She is even willing to go so far as to communicate directly with mortals to do so, using her powers of persuasion and false promises to make them do her will. Stray from her desires, and it is likely that a poison snake is in your future.

This diety works directly with my character, Nerine. Without this understanding, you would miss out on the very beliefs that Nerine holds, which influence her very life. With this understanding, your own characters can gain deeper understanding of Nerine simply by recognizing her goddess and the things that such beliefs hold. A follower of Lloth, for example, would likely hold Nerine in great disdain, while a follower of holy gods would despise her wicked ways. Those who follow dark gods might see her as a decietful, yet useful ally.

So, please keep in mind that when you introduce foreign characters (which is pretty much all of them) that other RPers deserve to understand their background. Without such understanding, it is impossible for them to fully interact with your character.

Organization

Organization is more important in character bios than you might think. The harder a profile is to read, the less people will read of it, and the harder it will be to understand. Don't be afraid to use text formatting options to make the best use of balance and space to make long reading easy on the eyes. Try this out:

You have ten seconds to read the following excerpt from Leonna's character profile. Make sure to time yourself. I need you to read as much as you can and then answer following question:

Quote:

Leonna has very little experience with cold climates. She is not prepared in the least to deal with very cold temperatures, and her body is especially vulnerable to it. Icy attacks cause extra damage, and if it lasts long enough, it can calm the astral energy inside of Leonna, effectively reducing the strength of her flame. Another downside is that Leonna will struggle to regain energy in cold climates, seeing as she is unable to absorb heat from them.

Leonna's attacks are easily absorbed with dark energy, and her own energy is not only blocked from recharging, but absorbed out of her in the presence of dark auras. While this absorbing effect varies depending on the strength of the aura, it can effectively block and reduce the power of Leonna's light. She will also struggle to regain energy in areas of pure darkness, seeing as she is unable to absorb light from them.

Leonna's a sucker for the weak and injured, and will hesitate before striking a deadly blow, giving her target an open shot. It is also difficult for her to fight in groups, where the heat of her flame can burn her allies whether she's aiming for them or not. She is also very area sensitive, unwilling to use her flame where it can damage other things.

Can you name each of Leonna's weaknesses? How many can you remember?

Now try reading this, using the same ten second time limit:

Quote:

(light): Leonna is also very resistant to raidiance damage. In fact, light attacks generally serve to fuel her energy rather than damage her (because she absorbs light). However, this doesn't mean that Leonna can't be blinded like a normal person, and absorbed light attacks don't give her much energy.

(movement): Leonna's training in her particular fighting style allows her to move with great agility and flexibility, as many of her attacks require a lot of acrobatic skill. While she can move fairly quickly, most of her speed comes from the way she attacks (meaning that she can strike rapidly by spinning her staff). Her ability to fly also gives her an advantage over those who are stuck on the ground, giving her greater speed than if she were to run.

(range): Because Leonna fights with a weapon longer than she is tall, she will be able to out-range anyone with a typical sword, though her combat style is fairly limited when she uses the full extent of the length of her weapon (meaning she can only lunge and stab, rather than use the full momentum of her staff by spinning it)

What are Leonna's strengths? How many can you remember?

By spacing and categorizing within each required feild, you not only make it simpler to interpret, but you also make it more comprehensible and memorable. By grouping information together, emphasizing the main points, and listing them systematically, you do what's called chunking. You're grouping relavant information together to create one simple chunk to remember. Is it any wonder that such formatting makes your profile look more intellegent and comprehensible?

Taking Criticisim

DO NOT revise everything you write in your character profile based on singular opinons. I can't tell you how extraordinarily important this is to remember. While we need to keep our minds open to constructive criticisim and our hearts ready for learning, don't take advice that isn't sound. If you don't understand it, question it. If it doesn't look good to change a phrase, don't change it.

Be ruthless in the scrutiny of your own writing. After critisisim has been considered and you have pondered sufficiently over the matter, consulting other editors and readers for opinons as well, make the desision yourself. If you repeatedly recieve complaints over the same matter, you probably ought to consider changing it, but when both you and other readers are satisfied, stick to your gut opinon. There will always be those that disagree with how you write something, and in such cases, realize this: it is not humanly possible to please everyone. Better, yes, but perfect? No.

Now, there is a thin line between being stubborn and being great. Being great means having a profile whose writing style and content has concrete support in its credibility, and confidence in its ability to convey meaning. A great writer will be attentive their feedback, do their homework, take the reader into consideration, and then decide where the commas and periods ought to go. A stubborn writer merely denies their weakness and lacks the creativity and work ethic to make something better. Their editions will lack confidence and strength because their writing is meant to fufill some vauge expectaction. Be aware of the audience you're writing for. Reailze that they are giving you their valuable time, and that they deserve to read coherent, interesting material. If they can't understand it, the issue is not theirs, it is yours. There is no profound idea that cannot be written well enough for others to understand.

Taking this into consideration, also realize that re-writing isn't just a part of writing, it is writing. Without making those annoying edits, not only are you ignoring the very people whose attention you desire, you are also depriving yourself and your work of the opportunity to become better. So, when you are given a plate of criticisim, don't give in, and don't give out. Consider each of your sentences--you will always find something to improve whether you recieve feedback from others or not. Take time to weed out bad advice from the good, and test it. If it doesn't work, don't use it. If you can't understand it, work yourself until you can. There is not a singular writer who can claim themselves to be good naturally. Good writing takes real, active work, and that comes from actively trying to improve what you write.

And good writing, of course, leads to good character profiles.

In The End

Well, Kudos for making it all the way here, my friend! ^^ As I said before, I'm not meaning to preach or say that one particular way of writing a character profile is better than another. I myself am guilty of doing the things I have advised against. When all is said and done, I hope that this thread has done for you what it has done for me: it maked you take a closer look at how you're writing and how this applies to your current works.

Best of Luck,
Fairess ]]> Fairess http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/characters-and-resources/101613-navis-listen-thread.html