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Covey
Feb 23, 2018 23:23:10 GMT
Post by Stage on Feb 23, 2018 23:23:10 GMT
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Covey
Feb 26, 2018 17:26:46 GMT
Post by Stage on Feb 26, 2018 17:26:46 GMT
"< I will no longer tolerate idle gods. Their inaction is good as betrayal. The vanre who do not oppose the aisar will die alongside them.>" "< This world does not care about us. The other races do not care about us. So we must care for each other.>" Name: Mattuger Homeworld: Noraage Age: Roughly twelve thousand Height: 10'0'' Weight: 790 lb Description: Massive even for a varul, Mattuger towers over the tallest human and stands a head or more above his kin. He is powerfully built, with massive shoulders and forearms as thick and strong as tree trunks. Despite thousands of years of combat under his belt, he is remarkably unscathed, bearing no notable scars or injuries with a single, striking exception: his right eye is covered by a black patch. His remaining eye is bronze. His pelt is a light brown. As a van, he bleeds silver ichor when injured. The only clothing Mattuger wears is a green, gold-embroidered tunic with a leather belt over it to hold a black dagger that pulses, almost breathes, with an unnatural power. Info: Mattuger is the varul van, one of the immortal gods of Noraage's new races. The first varul, he is the progenitor of the race and has shepherded them for the entirety of their existence. While it was, and still is, said he was a good and kind shepherd, his timelessness has begun to have an effect on his sanity. He is not yet as obviously irrational as the gods of the old races, more ancient than even he, but he had spearheaded the tendency of the vanre to favor extremes, putting him into conflict with open-minded varuls like Ragnhild and especially other gods, on whom he has declared war. Mattuger has hunted and killed several of his divine brethren, though recently one managed to take his eye. Ironically, it was not in protest of his harsh methods, but in revenge for the murder of a mortal lover. When the path opened, Mattuger lead the varuls to Lemuria to escape violence from the other races, particularly menn, or humans. Personality: Mattuger is a controversial figure on his native world. He is beloved by varuls for his powerful devotion to them. He places the well being of his race above all other things. His rigid stand against the old gods and even the complacent among the vanre have won him admirers among others of the new races as well. He is widely loathed by the old races though, seen as an upstart and a heretic to defy what they keep as the natural order: the pure races above the mixed ones. No matter what one's thoughts on him, it is hard if not impossible to deny the love he has for his kin. He has nurtured, advanced, and prevented divides between varuls for eons. His love for varuls comes with an unfortunate companion: a completely dismissal of other races. Though some believe he champions all of the new races, in truth he does not care for those beyond his own, including several fellow vanre among his godly victims. The only other race he has any respect for is one of the varuls' parent races, the wolfish vargar. Seeing as they did not migrate to Lemuria alongside the varuls though, it can be uniformly said he has no love for any of the other peoples of the continent. This is the trait that makes him disgusting to some despite being held as a racial hero. Mattuger simply cannot conceive of a varul valuing a non-varul. The van has a troubled relationship with Ragnhild. On one hand, he loves and cares for her on the mere principle of being a varul, as well as personally admiring her strength and drive, but her tolerance and close friendship with non-varuls trouble him greatly. His irrationality has deepened since the loss of his eye, leaving him notable on edge, particularly in matters involving her. His interest in her has begun to border on obsessive. Away from her however, Mattuger remains a proud warrior. He does not endure insult to himself or other varuls. He is not completely unable to act diplomatically, but he is quick to abandon it in favor of force. Abilities: - Wolf blood: Like Ragnhild, Mattuger is physically powerful and wields dangerous natural weaponry. His strength far surpasses hers though. In fact, it surpasses all varuls. It is not only greater size that elevates him above, but a greater concentration of might as well. His body has been hardened by millennia of combat. Even unassisted by his godly aura, he is able to lift almost seven tons and bite down with almost 2,500 pounds of force. - Ptrek: As one of the vanre, Mattuger can activate a divine aura known as ptrek on command. Bathed in a silvery light when it is in effect, Mattuger enjoys extreme boosts to his strength and durability under its influence. His power is multiplied by nearly three, allowing him to lift an impossible twenty tons and crunch down with 7,000 pounds of force. Additionally, he becomes impervious to harm by most creatures. In Noraage, only gods could break his divine defense, but on Lemuria it seems the array of creatures able to breech his ptrek is much broader. It is not just gods, but those touched or blessed by gods in some way, as well as by other higher being such as demons and devils. His ptrek only explicitly protects him from damage. Other effects from blows, such as being knocked back or slowed, remain. His ptrek is not reflexive either. It must be raised consciously, so he is vulnerable to being ambushed or blindsided. In addition to increasing his physicality, his ptrek also vanquishes disease and poison from his body instantly. - Guobani: Mattuger carries a nearly two-foot-long dagger called the Guobani: literally the god-killer. It is an unusual, somewhat sinister weapon. Its dark blade is made from stone with an unusual pattern, thought by its discoverer to be the remains of an ancient sword used by the primordial races. This blade is set in a handle of polished giant bone, ripped whole from another van. Bathed in the silver blood of slain vanre, the Guobani is a supernatural blade. Though its dull, chiseled edge cannot cut mortal flesh, useful only as a bludgeon against those who fear the wear of time, it is a cruel razor against the ageless. Pulsing with dark, living vigor, it seems to crave the blood of gods, wishing to prey on them. This sickly aura can only be very vaguely perceived by mortals, albeit more so by those with regular contact with the divine or supernatural. The Guobani is stubborn and refuses to break even under immense pressure. Weakness: - Despite his divinity, or perhaps because of it, Mattuger is only an averagely skilled fighter. His physical power and ability to endure have left him spoiled. He is without doubt the strongest among varuls, but he is not the most adept.
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Covey
Feb 26, 2018 17:28:34 GMT
Post by Stage on Feb 26, 2018 17:28:34 GMT
" Blood is the price of change." " I am my goddess's red right hand. I am her cleansing fire. Her sword. I am her terror. I am the Rhea, daughter of Falajax. And I am here to destroy her enemies." Name: Mussurana Alias: The Rhea Homeworld: Asphodel Age: Unknown, but appears to be late 30s Height: 6'7'' Weight: 219 lb Description: An enormous Pientan even for a female lebra, Mussurana is a tall, athletically built woman with hip-length 'hair' black as night and skin fairer than most lebrans. Like all Pientans, the lebra especially, she has a sinewy build without the fatty features of a human body. Unlike the majority of her people, her limbs are not slender, but thick with muscle. Her hips flare out enough to meet even her especially broad shoulders. Her coal-black eyes possess a depth that does not match her assumed age, though all that fills them is snide judgement. Mussurana dresses for tropical combat: shorts and an open-sleeved top as dark as her hair, a looped belt home to numerous combat knifes, and a thickly braided rope attached to her hip. Info: Mussurana is a fanatic. She has always been extreme, favoring blood as the best way to communicate her beliefs, but recently she has gone as far to declare that she is the Rhea, the mythological champion of the central lebran god Falajax. Personality: Mussurana, described simply, is devoted. She is devoted to her faith and, most of all, to herself. Her god being in the right is equivalent to her being in the right as far as she is concerned. She is just as smug, self-serving, and standoffish as this implies. Hostile and condescending even to her allies, which she is capable of making despite her attitude, Mussurana is certain only she knows the will of Falajax and is happy to act it out, executing perceived enemies of her god with psychotic glee. Her messiah complex has only grown worse since she has decided she is the Rhea, champion of Falajax. She has always sought to make enemies, consciously or not, but now she seeks a rival. She seeks the Ophion, the enemy of the Rhea in lebran myth. Not satisfied with just loving her god completely, she wants someone to hate completely. An unwell person, she becomes highly unstable when her faith is challenged or seems to be dealt a blow, potentially turning her completely unresponsive if the event is serious enough. She is skilled at talking herself back up though, often deciding it was a test from Falajax. Mussurana is not one to deny her physical needs and tends to have one or more local lover, even when she is away from Matta. Abilities: - Superhuman: With the same high muscle density as other Pientans, Mussurana is capable of feats above the peak of human performance, able to lift almost 850 pounds. More than that, she is stronger than most Pientans due to her size and long combat history. She was among the deadliest, very well perhaps the deadliest, warrior on her native home, where combat does not rely on sheer strength so much as mobility and stealth. She is most in her element in aerial environments, leaping between and hiding herself among any network structures she can climb, such as trees or buildings. To lose sight of Mussurana in the jungle of Piente was to almost assuredly die by her hand. She climbs as swiftly as she runs and she can stop her breathing for minutes at a time, entering complete stillness in order to hide. When Mussurana bursts out to attack, she tends to use one of two weapons: - Mussurana is quite proficient with knifes, her 'teeth' with which she bites her foes, slowing or pinning them down to be dispatched by other means, usually barehanded. She enjoys watching her enemies die.
- Perhaps even more dangerous than her knifes is Mussurana's rope, her 'coils.' Whether it is maneuvering foes with loops around arms or ankles or attempting to execute them with knotted grips around their throats, her rope is one of the most infamous reapers to come out of Piente, second only to Mussurana herself. Its dark fibers are stained by traces of black blood she is unable to wash completely out.
- Blessing of Falajax: A supernatural ability recently awakened in the already powerful Pientan warrior. Its boons are as follows: - Mussurana can turn her hands into weapons of fire and force by extending a shallow field of burning energy from them. This allows them to rip or cut through almost any material. She knows this because she tested it quite thoroughly on both enemies and former allies in Piente, carving a path of blood and ash across the island continent. The only thing that stopped her from committing one-woman genocide on the bora was the dimensional maelstrom that brought both borans and lebrans to Lemuria.
- Not only can Mussurana destroy with the blessing of her goddess, she can create, animating of the ashes of her victim, alive or dead, to craft objects or give augmentations to her body. Serrated claws, obsidian daggers, barbed spears, and any other object imaginable are within her power to form. The creation of armor too is well within her power. Her strongest use of this ability is to form an entirely new body around herself, most often that an ashen golem that tops twenty feet and has the beaked face of Falajax and the claws of a jaguar or raptor. This ashy construct multiplies her already impressive strength a dozen times over, allowing her to lift more than five tons. It also channels the fury of her hands throughout its form. Every part of it is a weapon. It is as strong as stone, but moves as if it were flesh. It is not particularly fast, but Mussurana retains her well trained reflexes from within it. When not in use, the ashes of her victims cling invisibly and inseparably to her dark hair, artificially lengthening it, and clothes, armoring them, making her smell like a recently doused fire. This pungent scent is the only flaw in her otherwise impeccable ability to conceal herself within treetops.
- Due to its apparently divine nature, the heat summoned into her hands is supernaturally strong and can harm even those immune to flames, though to a lesser degree than those not invulnerable.
- Mussurana is herself immune to heat. She can wade through flames, whether they originated from her or not, like water. She is not, however, immune to concussive force or shock waves that may accompany enemy fire.
- This power alleviates her natural Pientan weakness to the cold and quickly denatures pathogens and poisons like an infernal fever.
Weakness: - The ashen constructs Mussurana makes are extremely vulnerable to water, falling apart even under a simple rain shower. Theme: Baba Yaga
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Covey
Feb 27, 2018 22:09:35 GMT
Post by Stage on Feb 27, 2018 22:09:35 GMT
" Your mother died on her feet you know. That of course is just a fanciful way of saying she was dead before she hit the ground." " I worried that such a simple-minded woman might produce an inadequate heir, but... oh, look at you now. So strong. So untrusting. I am truly proud of you." Name: Nefier Homeworld: Arken Age: Roughly 20 billion Height: Variable, but 12'7'' in preferred physical form Weight: Variable, but 360 lb in preferred physical form Description: Nefier is freely able to alter his shape, but the one he presents as his truest self is a giant, four-armed humanoid. This form has dark, insect-like armor on its chest and back and shiny, green-brown skin elsewhere. Like his daughter, he has solid black eyes and long, silky hair, though his runs all the way to his mid-back. His six limbs are all quite long, so he towers above most like some kind of infernal insect. He varies between displaying a savage snarl and a smug smirk depending on how many things are going in his favor. He likes to sit with his gangly limbs folded up like a hellish grasshopper as he mocks and taunts others. Info: Nefier is one of the archdemons of Arken, which of course means he is among the most skilled at avoiding his responsibilities in favor of pursuing his own interests. The demonic hierarchy is an odd one. Personality: Nefier is among the most bold of all Arken demons, though this still means he only shows himself when he is certain he has the upper hand rather than never at all. Or when he has a chance to taunt Adra, because Nefier loves nothing more than teasing his daughter. It is where his sadistic streak shows broadest, though he of course does not limit it solely to her. Nefier is happy to taunt anyone, Adra is just his favorite. He appears smug and in control most of the time, but he will fly into an awful rage when things veer from his plans. His tongue stings when he teases, but his magic can splinter when he lashes out. Abilities: - Black magic: As a demon, Nefier is naturally skilled in all the black magicks. More than skilled, he is powerful. His strength with these magicks is so great that he is often able to overcome the resilience of those who resist them and their elements. - Shadow magic, a versatile, malleable magic that produces a purple glow. Like Adra, Nefier can fly on wings of darkness, though his resemble a moth's rather than a bat's. Even as a soft magic, Nefier's strikes with the strength of thunder.
- Wind magic, a fast, frantic magic that produces a black to grey glow. Nefier can stretch his magic out as large as a storm or compress it into a blade that can be used to slash open foes like a sword.
- Lightning magic, a potent and highly directional magic that produces a whitish-blue glow. If Adra's lightning magic is like a javelin, Nefier's like a ballista, able to split seas and crack open mountains.
- Ice magic, a fast-acting magic used for defense, direct attack, and trickery. It produces a white to bluish-white glow. Nefier can armor his allies with thick sheets of frost, attempt to freeze environments or foes in place, or create weapons, shields, or even articulate figures from ice. Nefier's power is enough to freeze broad rivers even as they flow and rage.
- Blood magic, the most sadistic of all magicks. It is a control-type magic, a category only available to celestials. It agonizingly draws out the black magic from its targets like marionette strings and forces them to bend to the will of the user. The victim is aware of what they are being forced to do and can still feel pain, but they are completely powerless to stop. This is obviously an extremely potent ability. Thankfully, it only works on Arken beings in Lumeria. Unfortunately, this includes Adra and all magical beasts that lurk the continent and its waters.
- Ethereal: Like all Arken demons, Nefier has no material form. He is composed wholly of magic. This gives him the ability to shapeshift, phase in and out of reality, and possess flesh-and-blood creatures. Those he possesses display dark hair and eyes as if stained by his magic. He prefers to possess Arken creatures for access to their magic channels, though his carelessness with borrowed bodies often bursts them and leaves his hosts fatally wounded. He is also highly resistant to damage not dealt by aethereal or white magic. Blades and claws cannot harm magic. They may cut his body, but only like they would water. Even if parts of his body are loped off, stealing their ability to knit back together with replenished magic or return to the ether, they just as quickly regain those capabilities when reunited with him. He can only reform instantly from purely physical attack. Magical injury must be repaired slowly by converting whatever ethereal energy there is in the atmosphere to black magic as if through metabolism. - Summoning: Nefier is able to materialize and command black magic beasts from Arken. This is a skill possessed by an entire class of human magicians, but as a demon Nefier takes it a step further. He can bend the will of magical beasts with only a look and there is no limit to the size of creature he call call. He can even summon krakens, the largest of all black magic beasts. Weaknesses: - Nefier is fatally vulnerable to white magic and sensitive to other powers based on aether or light. Similar powers not from Arken will not instantly slay him as white magicks would, but they are far from pleasant to be struck by and can break his own magicks. Perhaps most notably, they can force him out of possessed creatures, though of course the body still suffers the damage if it is not carefully managed. - Nefier's true form is actually quite strong, able to lift a full ton off the ground when he uses all four spidery limbs, but the archdemon actively avoids physical combat. If he is being forced to meet his enemies' attacks with his own hands, something has gone terribly awry and he is likely panicked.
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Covey
Apr 26, 2018 19:22:26 GMT
Post by Stage on Apr 26, 2018 19:22:26 GMT
" Gun nuts say that guns don't kill people. That people kill people. But a gun makes it easier, so how can it be blameless? The thing is... me and The Wolf... I don't know which is the gun and which is the shooter." “ A monster is something that won't die, no matter how much you wish it would. Something that keeps you up at night. Something you can't forget... even though you want to.” Name: Daniella Anjelica Attias Nickname: Dani Home: Earth LS-3 Age: Late teens Height: 4'8'' Weight: 375 lb Description: Dani is a tiny, swarthy girl with thick, frizzy hair that almost reaches her knees. She is rather homely, with unusually dark body hair, a large forehead, and puffy eyes. A thick scar usually obscured by her voluminous hair stretches from her scalp to the bottom of her jaw on the right side of her face. Another, nearly invisibly faint scar splits her left eyebrow and tapers to a sharp point on her chin. She is stoutly build and, though there is notable pudge around her waist, lacks fat where it would be considered attractive (any care about this is absent as well). Dani looks just as ill-tempered as she is, with poor posture, constantly pinched eyebrows, and a deep frown. She arrived to Lemuria wearing frayed jeans, a baggy t-shirt bearing the logo of what appears to be a death metal band called "Saw," and a ragged rain jacket. Her eyes, usually deep, muddled brown, become bright green when she is filled by wrath or fright. Info: Dani is the current host of a powerful spirit stripped of its proper name for betraying Its purpose. It is now only know as The Wolf. Colloquially, this makes her a "werewolf." She does not appreciate that label, but she also cannot deny it, as the resulting symptoms are too close to be written off. The Wolf has completely disrupted her life ever since she became Its host at the age of eleven after a violent bite to her head by Its previous host left her permanently scarred. It would have been a mercy if that is all it left her with. Upon realizing what she was and the danger that she posed, she became asocial, standoffish, and outright hostile to her former friends and her once close relationship with her parents soured. For the protections of others, she maintains the distances she has created between her and others and resists forming new relationships. She has almost been completely successful. Personality: Simply put, Dani is an angry person. That much is obvious to anyone who speaks to or even just sees her. What is more difficult to grasp is the depth of her anger. It is easy to assume that, as terse, blunt, and gruff as she is, she simply does not like people, and this is true to an extent. Dani is frustrated with people, both as individuals and as a collective. But her anger is mainly inwards. She is anger is because she no longer knows what actually consists of 'in.' At its core, her anger comes from confusion, from the terror of not knowing. She does not know where she ends and The Wolf begins. She does not know if The Wolf influences her actions or if she influences The Wolf. She does not know which is the 'normal' her: Dani or The Wolf. Dani is angry, but she is also afraid. She is afraid of herself, afraid for those around her, and, perhaps most shamefully of all, afraid of dying even though the world would be better off without her. Dani is not shy about expressing her anger, but she is extremely careful how she expresses it. She eagerly criticizes the small things, such as cleanliness (ironic considering her own slobbishness), in order to constantly vent frustrations so that she can better control herself when the big things come about. Dani is by no means prone to outbursts. In fact, she never raises her voice. The same cannot be said of The Wolf. Fed by intense emotions, particularly fear and rage, The Wolf can be enticed to explode from within Dani with threats against her life and especially the lives of those she grudging cares about (identified by being targeted by rude remarks instead of silence). Or perhaps Dani is the one enticed to release it. That is simply one more thing she does not know. Abilities: - Human host: The Wolf is a thing of nighttime and moonlight, only able to emerge safely away from the sun, but Its power is so great that Its properties give Dani certain benefits even when It is not manifested: - Due to increased bone density and muscle mass, Dani is three times as heavy as the average person of her height and build. This makes her unnaturally dense, giving her some level of armor. Many blows fail to break her skin and her bones are extremely difficult to damage, particularly her skull. She knows from experience that subsonic bullets tend to glance off of it.
- The Wolf can not only force Dani's body to metamorphism, but to heal for Its own self-preservation. Dani is able to recovery from almost any injury, even mortal ones. The process takes time to begin however, so it is not battle capable until The Wolf has manifested.
- Dani is supernaturally strong. The average person can lift approximately their own weight before inflicting serious damage to their muscles. Dani can lift over a ton-and-a-half, then rely on The Wolf to repair the havoc wrought on her body.
- Dani has keen reflexes and is able to react to stimuli is a fourth of the time it would take a normal human. She can react to visual stimulus in under sixty-three milliseconds, auditory stimulus in under forty-three milliseconds, and physical stimulus in under thirty-eight milliseconds. Dani also has a lupine sense of smell.
- Dani has an increased metabolism and inhumanly high body temperature. This makes her resilient to the cold and immune to pathogens.
- The Wolf is such a strong spirit it gives off an intense pressure felt by those sensitive to such things. Weak telepaths such as Xipil are not able to penetrate this pressure while stronger telepaths will experience violent psychic backlash if they try to force themselves in. Individuals who can normally sense spirits may become nauseated around Dani.
- With intense enough emotional 'food' fueling Its power, The Wolf can briefly affect the physical world even during the day by exerting the pressure described above onto it. When supremely angry or afraid, the form of The Wolf solidifies around Dani, pushing away those within its transient body and tripling her reach if she chooses to go on the offensive.
- Dani can briefly borrow the eyes of The Wolf, giving them a blue sheen. These 'spirit eyes' can see other spirits and similarly ethereal phenomenons. Dani is not particularly skilled at accessing them however. The Wolf is selfish and quick to steal them back from her.
- The Wolf: Manifested physically through Dani, The Wolf resembles a gargantuan, tailless wolf with heavy, hand-like paws, a wild mane that rolls over Its thick neck and broad shoulders, and glowing emerald eyes. Its long body and gangly limbs make It tower nearly nine feet tall when fully reared and it stands four-and-a-half feet even on all fours, though It weight only a few pounds more than Dani (purely from hair to boot). It is capable of both bipedal and quadrupedal movements, but favors the former when attacking and the latter when traveling. It may be light for Its huge frame, but Its reach and the speed of Its attacks are lethal. Others spirits, Its kin in fact, produce heavier, stronger creatures, but none of them can match The Wolf in sheer ferocity and will to survive. It is overwhelming and selfish need to live, damning all the consequences, given flesh. Because all It desires is survival though, It is rarely an aggressor. It defends Itself with all the fury of Hell, but It would rather be left on Its own than anything else. The Wolf may preemptively attack those who stand their ground against It, but It would not chase something fleeing It. The Wolf was banished from the light of day as part of Its punishment. It thrives at night, scavenging life-giving sunlight when it is reflected off the moon. Its strength grows with both the moon and the turmoil of Dani's emotions. The Wolf reaps all the benefits Dani does excepted as noted below: - The Wolf is ironically not as armored as Dani, but It can similarly survive blows that would be fatal. More than survive them, It can push through them due to being a spirit. It still feels pain, but Its borrowed body does not conform to the rules that limit conventional life. The only way to immobilize The Wolf is to leave it mechanically unable to move.
- The healing factor of The Wolf is even more impressive than that of Dani. It is not instantaneous, but injuries as severe as shattered bones and missing organs (such as eyes, as Dani can ruefully tell you) can be repaired within a night.
- Despite a similar weight, The Wolf is many times stronger than Dani. It can manipulate over twelve-and-a-half tons. On Its native Earth, It was known to lift and hurl cars in rage.
- While Its claws are savagely hooked and Its reach is daunting even considering Its towering enormity, The Wolf's most threatening weapon by a wide margin is Its absolutely lethal bite. Its jaws can crunch down with an absurd 10,000 pounds of force, a full five tons of bone-crunching, metal-sheering might.
- When the form of The Wolf unfolds from Dani's tiny, dense form, It can run at almost seventy-five miles per hour in short bursts.
- The Wolf has constant access to what Dani calls, "spirit eyes." It can see both the physical and those spiritual things that exist on the same plane as it.
Weaknesses: - Dani has no formal combat training. In fact, she has specifically avoided it. She believes she is dangerous enough as it is. - Due to her great density, Dani cannot swim. She is also not particularly fast in her normal state. - Because of her unnaturally high body temperature, Dani succumbs easily to heatstroke. - Injuries inflicted on Dani by silver cannot be repaired by The Wolf, but must heal naturally. This is because silver, the only element that exists in a naturally excited form, has a presence on the same spiritual plane that The Wolf exists on. Logically, other existences on this plane can also harm her in the same way. - Plants of the genus Aconitum are able to suppress the power of The Wolf with physical contact. Sunlight even more violently strips away the physical manifestation of The Wolf. This is part of the curse put upon The Wolf and Its kin for Their crimes. Theme: Control (Instrumental) / Cleric Beast/Vicar Amelia (Alpha Version)
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Covey
Jun 29, 2018 9:44:43 GMT
Post by Stage on Jun 29, 2018 9:44:43 GMT
“ To me, you're a naked huacephalus with the head of an ape.” Name: Aad Titles: Great Warlord Aad, Lady Aad Homeworld: Fawqunya Age: Early teens (equivalent to mid 30s) Height: 8'6'' Weight: 470 lb Description: Aad is a jaw-droppingly large megahuaina with golden fur and unusually bold spots. Unlike other hyenamen, her muscle mass is perfectly proportioned for her height. She looks neither lanky nor encumbered by her bulk. She wears mail under a sleek, silk vest and knee-length skirt a few shaded darker then her fur. A black, silver-laced belt wraps around her waist and a deep crimson cloak with a highly decorative silver trim stretches from her shoulders to beyond the skirt. Her mane is abnormally dark and limp, so it resembles a mop of hair between her ears, which are studded with ten silver rings each. A small sheet of dried flesh is attached to each ring: ear clippings from the leaders of the clans she has unified. On her hip she carries a morning star polished to a brilliant, silver sheen at all times, and a kite shield adorns her right arm whenever she steps onto the battlefield. With her magic, Aad can also take a human form. Info: Aad is the first great huacephali leader. At quite a young age, she conquered every clan of the traditionally nomadic hyenamen and combined them into a single nation known as Dabalad. She did this because she believes her people have the potential to become a major social and economic power, to rise above the negative stereotypes that have fouled other races' opinions of them for centuries. One might find it surprising then that Aad was not raised among huacephali. She was raised by humans; by an old swordsman named Wasim in the small, mountain town of Jaza in particular. Her displacement to Lemuria along with 30,000 of her kin certainly set back her plan, but it also gave her countless opportunities. She is now operating in a world largely free of the hateful myths about her and her race. She plans to tale advantage of it. Personality: It is said that no one who has a statue built of them is a good person, and Aad has many statues. That is not to imply, as numerous individuals in Fawqunya would, she is evil. She is only a leader. She does what she thinks is best for her people, and that is not always what is best for those who live around them. Stripped from their first permanent home and thrown into a new world, Aad had to act swiftly to reestablish herself. Huacephali are creatures of habit. Too long wandering the wastes of No Man's Land would recondition the majority of her citizens into nomads. She needed somewhere to center the huacephali. The first suitable place- a large hill in the southeast of the region- was already claimed. She took it anyway. Aad is not wasteful though. Those her men did not kill, she used. She refuses to take slaves and feed one of the oldest, most damning myths about her people, but she is perfectly willing to place people in situations where they can hardly refuse. The labor force she commands contains many non-huacephali. Some fulfill brief contracts to win safe passage across No Man's Land in a caravan of hyenamen. Others work in order to keep plots of land. Villages on the fringes of her territory and beyond send rotating shifts of laborers or shipments of valuable goods such as medicine in exchange for guards. Aad will live alongside other races, but she will do it on her terms. She is just as harsh to her own citizens. Many huacephali bear scars from stepping too far out of line, including her mate Bulus. She does not discourage speaking out though. Aad is normally very bemused by those who lash out against her. She finds such gall and bravery useful. She would rather have her defectors at her side than in the ground. This is why she chose the otherwise pathetic Bulus as her partner. He is too spineless to speak out at everything she does that he disagrees with, but too intolerant to allow her chronic offenses. The former quality highlights another part of her personality: her vanity. Aad is undeniably egotistical. She has named two capitals, one in Fawqunya and now Aadina in Lemura, after herself. She considers herself a lover of the fine arts, commissioning sculptures and paintings to line the walls of her marble mansion in the heart of Aadina and funding plays and operas only she will ever enjoy. She is as bestial as any huacephalus when she is angry though, perhaps even more so. More admirably, she shares the common hyenaman value of family. Bulus has received the bulk of his numerous scars from his mate, but no creature has ever hurt him and survived Aad. Many huacephali are shocked they do not have a legion of cubs by now. Aad is famous for her fondness of her youngest citizens, who she often treats to parties and feasts. Much to Bulus's chagrin, she continually accepts offers from young cubs to be their mate when they grow older. She secretly arranges for these bold youngsters to enter safe domestic positions. Abilities: - Megahuaina: As a megahuaina, Aad enjoys every benefit available to one. Some of these benefits are enhanced. Such cases are noted below. - Big brute: Aad is impressive beyond the typical megahuaina. She is taller and heavier than most varuls, and much more muscular. She is the strongest huacephalus ever known, able to lift more than four-and-a-half tons unassisted. She is also more durable, surviving one-on-one duels with much larger, stronger creatures through her incredible constitution. She rivals even the largest gargoyles serving under her for sheer tenacity. - Natural weapon: Despite her insistence that they are better than the animals they are thought of as, Aad is among the rare huacephali who will uses her jaws in battle. When she is angry, her head will suddenly lunge forward and her teeth will clamp down onto the shield or weapon of her foe with over 3,500 pounds of force, holding it in place for her to deliver a heavy swing or kick to the body. She does not like to draw blood with her fangs, as she hates the taste of it, but it has happened before. - Magic: Despite her enormous physical dominance, Aad is also a student of Fawqunya's magic. She has access to he following abilities: - Aad can cast what is known as a 'curse,' or an intense bout of bad luck. The instant Aad has cast her curse, the universe will begin aggressively seeking a way to harm the target, who must be visible to and within sixty feet of her. The range of effects the curse can have is enormous. It may be that a firearm jams at the worst possible moment or they trip on an obstacle hidden in a patch of grass. Whatever the case, the target is hindered. Curses are usually instantaneous, but delays have been known to happen. The duration of the curse is always brief however. Aad believes they can only last about six seconds at maximum. Those targeted by Aad's curse but not affected immediately are stalked by a translucent, shadowy hound the size of a large dog or gray wolf. Aad fondly calls it her, "dark companion."
- An inborn ability rather than one that must be actively cast or aimed, Aad is resilient against foreign magic. Magical attacks roll off her body easier than others and she seems to have an innate instinct for when to react when attacked with magic.
- Aad can conjure a broad variety of visual and auditory illusions. She often aims to unnerve with these illusory abilities, making herself appear to grow in size or projecting her image across a battlefield to intimidate an enemy commander. She can also defend herself with her illusions, casting her image a few feet from her actual position to misdirect attackers. These illusions cannot affect one's sense of touch or smell though. She is very adept at using them, sometimes employing teams of well coordinated gargoyles to create the wind a swing of her giant form's arm would generate when she mimes attacking for instance, but a savvy individual could potentially figure them out with access to clues.
- Muscles crackling with raw, arcane might, Aad can augment her physicality with magic, increasing her lifting capacity by a full ton. She can only enhance herself like this for about twenty minutes at a time.
- For up to twenty minutes at a time, Aad can summon the help of an otherworldly hound weaved from shadow. This ethereal hound takes on a very solid form nine feet in length and weighing 800 pounds which can move at over thirty miles per hour and bite with a ton of force. The shadowy hound disappears when dealt enough damage to drain its stamina, equal to Aad's, or when the twenty minutes it offers Aad its service passes. Aad may also dismiss it, but she prefers to dote on it when not sending it into battle. She lovingly calls it her, "hound of doom."
- Her most powerful spell, the one she uses as a last resort only, allows Aad to shapeshift. She can chose a variety of shapes, imitating the creatures of Fawqunya, but the one she prefers is that of a gargantuan creature, over thirty feet in length and almost twenty tons in weight, that resembles one of the ancient hyaenodontids. This beast can run almost forty miles per hour and bite down with over three tons of force per square inch. Aad loses the use of her magic in this form, but she maintains her intelligence. She can maintain this shape for almost twenty minutes.
- Aad has another often used form she uses mainly for travel: a brass-scaled dragon. This low-slung, quadrupedal reptile stretches fifteen feet nose to tail, has a wingspan of nearly eighteen feet, and weighs over 2,700 pounds. It has respectable physical might, able to fly with 300 pounds in its claws or on its back and bite with almost two tons of force, comparable to a crocodile, but its main draw is speed. It can run at almost thirty miles per hour, fly ninety miles per hour, and burrow nearly fifteen miles per hour. It is invulnerable to fire, but vulnerable to low temperatures. Aad retains the ability to speak in this form.
- Aad can change the shape of other creatures just as she can herself with but a touch, though they must be aware and willing.
- Wild Cohorts: To the surprise of many, Aad is an animal person. She has two dangerous companions: an arieom and a tawny wolf. The arieom, Harb, is a goliath thing, nearly twenty feet long and three tons in weight. His spots are dark and dense, eventually becoming a solid brown that covers his back legs and haunches. He is both a mount and an attack dog for Aad. The tawny wolf, Rami, is very thin. Or at least it appears to be. To survive the harsh heat Aad had him imported into, the wolf must be shaved regularly, so he appears quite gangly despite weighing half as much as Aad herself. He is trained to flank and nip at the heels of Aad's enemies, often attempting to trip them. While both are very loyal, Rami is decidedly the smarter of the two. Yet often Harb refuses to follow his lead until commanded to do so by Aad herself. They two compete jealously for her attention, which she is happy to give. Aad thoroughly spoils her pets. Weakness: - Add has a truly feral temper buried deep down, and certain triggers can bring it out. Harming Bulus, Harb, or Rami is sure to enrage her, as well as bringing up the insulting stereotypes about her people. She is supremely dangerous when indulging this anger, but does not think as clearly, leaving her vulnerable to being outmaneuvered. Theme: Dante (Violin)
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