Create-a-Mage

[the god of world-0]

thank you, i was trying for a "justifiably angry and surprisingly sad" vibe that i hope came across. anything on her magic? that was the actual hard part.

[Valfodr]

thank you, i was trying for a "justifiably angry and surprisingly sad" vibe that i hope came across. anything on her magic? that was the actual hard part.

Familiar spamming is always neat, and Onmyo magic isn't something you see every day, so I quite liked it. I can't help but wonder how she'd react to Callum, seeing as he is a person who hates everything(albeit due to a curse).

[Valfodr]

Double post because Timeout errors are fun.

[the god of world-0]

Double post because Timeout errors are fun.

Tell me about it.

Nanako and Callum would not get along, for the simple fact that she is looking for people she can trust and he really doesn't fit the bill.

[SleepMode]

“‘Heroes,’ ‘Saints,’ they are a state above-no, surpassing that of Humanity itself! And to hold even a glimmer of their splendor, ohh, my heart is positively soaring!”

Name: Lior Pengram
Alias/Nickname: Glory Drift/Shining Coronet
Age: 17
Height/Weight: 165cm/51kg
Birthplace: Winthrop, United States
Alignment: Neutral Good

Forte/Likes: Hero-worship, Exploration
Weakness/Dislikes: Nighttime, Enclosed spaces
Natural Talents: Motorcycling, “Aesthetic Eye”
Natural Enemies: The Corpalatium family

Affiliations: Mage’s Association (Faculty IV)
Origin: Exalt
Elemental Alignment: Fire & Wind
Crest Location: Lower back
Circuit Quantity/Quality: C / D+
Circuit Composition: Normal

Though it’s absent in-public, a faint glow can still be seen around her.

Background

For those under the Faculty of Mineralogy, material concepts such as “Wealth” and “Prestige” were as prized as one’s pedigree. As the nature of their magecraft regularly requires a much deeper wallet, it’s no surprise that most if not all of the families under Mineralogy are affluent even by the standards of Mage society.

For a Six-generation family, the Pengrams were perhaps the smudge of the Departments’ studded crown. A disenfranchised branch family who found a second start in the New World, they had taken with them remnants of a supposedly “inferior” practice. Though they had gained a stable footing in the Americas, the advancements in modern sciences resulted in the rapid deterioration of their already “contemptuous” magecraft.

With neither repute nor skill, the Pengrams disappeared from the Clock Tower’s scope. For there is little reason to pay heed to middling upstarts hiding away in the New World.

Upon the birth of the sixth generation, however, the Pengrams’ withdrawal would come to an end. Such an event manifested in the form of the young Lior, who managed to acquire a letter of recommendation through the Blumenthal family, the Clock Tower’s contact in the States. Remarked by the Blumenthal patriarch as “A side-splitting happenstance,” Lior ended up becoming an aide to their heiress, Moriah Blumenthal. Through this end, Lior had unintentionally brought the Pengram family back into the greater world of Mystery.

Now facing the pressure from the Blumenthals’ grace, the parents had little choice but to send the heiress to Britain - - hopefully, the flighty girl won’t get into any trouble- -

To the surprise of her family, Lior managed to carve her own place in the Clock Tower. Perhaps a byproduct of her proclivity to directly engage with others, the girl had made a choice number of contacts and associates from not just Mineralogy, but that of other Departments as well. Though a number of said contacts are, err, questionable, it was clear Lior had placed a foothold in the heartland of magecraft.

Perhaps, the Pengram heir can uplift her family to newer heights… Assuming old feuds wouldn’t resurface once again.

Personality

Even should one take the glow out of the equation, Lior is oddly radiant for a magus. Upfront, excitable and optimistic, that forwardness became a “charisma” to those who had gotten to know about her; a friendliness without strings attached, uncommon in a hotbed of politics. Though seemingly unaware of this, Lior proceeded to accept this in stride. Perhaps it is her fixation of motorcycles and modern wardrobe that contributed in cultivating this image.

Reflecting her magecraft’s nature in drawing upon “Heroes,” Lior retains a respect of others akin that to “Hero-worship.” Almost akin to a hype-man, the only remarks about others would only be words of appraisal, citing any perceived positives about their character. That said, the girl only treats those who she perceives as “True” in this high pedestal - - for monsters in human skin makes for poor “Heroes.” In hindsight, this makes her eventual meeting and exaltation with the Gremins all the more amusing.

Though it is easy to assume Lior lacks any attention span whatsoever, the girl has shown to have a penchant for observation. An extension of this is shown in her sense of wear, having a hand as the dress advisor during the Clock Tower’s annual ball - - saving certain participants from a social disaster. This talent proved all the more vital relating to Lior’s charge, as the Blumenthal Heiress is woefully tasteless in her choice of clothing.

Though Lior has made friends, it isn’t a surprise that there are a fair number of enemies as well; most of which is ironically within her own department. Born from a family lacking in wealth, many of the more affluent students would treat her with indifference at best and open antagonism at worst. Though there were incidents where things had escalated, Lior’s connections had managed to keep the ill-will at bay. Though the help was appreciated, the Pengram heiress couldn’t help but feel bashful at the help - - scuffles with thugs aren’t exactly uncommon back home, so getting out of fights like this was a new experience.

- - A secret, but even if the Blumenthal incident didn’t occur, Lior did plan to take the admission exam without her family’s knowledge. The States were amusing, sure, but what is more thrilling than the heartland of Mage Society? Who knows, with a gathering of gifted minds, perhaps there are those who are worthy to be titled “Hero'' in the vicinity...

Abilities

Crystalcraft
Widely considered the “Poor-Man’s Jewelcraft,” Crystalcraft is a derivative of its aforementioned predecessor. Rather than a singular cultural basis, it draws from the belief of crystals being “The Elements Made into Solid Form.” Common usage includes the conversion between solid and liquid form, the imprisonment of elementals, and so on.

Though this foundation functions similarly to Jewelcraft in the past, modern understanding of mineral compositions has greatly reduced its Mystery to the point of obsolescence. However, the Pengrams are amongst the last families who still cling onto this tradition. For their scope lays not on the state of crystals themselves but at something else entirely - -

---

Diadima Gloriole
The Halo. Nimbus. Hvarena. Melam. The glorious mantle, the crowns of light and flame which denotes one of great feats or spiritual holiness. Whether they be the Heroes of Ancient Greece or the revered Arhats of the Far East, they play a common element in the depiction of revered individuals.

Crystals themselves do not pertain much to Mystery, that much is clear. Even then, a single shred of Mystery still remains: the “Crystals being shards of Heaven,” where the river before His throne churns “a sea of glass, clear as crystal” (Revelation 4:6). As the “Realm of God’s Throne” cannot be discerned through modern means and fueled by the collective belief of countless faithful, the shards still retains their association as these “Pieces of Heaven.”

As light seen as a source of divine presence and nature alike, the Pengrams uses these “Pieces of Heaven” to filter all manner of light and infuse them with their own prana to replicate this “Divine Light.” Only the clearest of minerals are able to diffuse light into the most concentrated form. So far, only Rock Crystals, or Quartz, fulfill the family’s criteria.

But the Pengrams soon found another source - - one that is far closer than they thought, in fact.

Bones are a specialized form of connective tissue made up of cells included in a mineralized mix of collagen fibres, proteins and carbohydrates called glycans. And these “minerals” are arranged in a crystalline pattern throughout one’s bones, playing a major part in maintaining the structure and durability within one’s body.

Through this chain of logic, one’s bones are the purest crystals there is, for they originate from “The children of God, His greatest creations.” Through the means of transmutation, the Pengrams’ bones are gradually altered into translucent crystals - - a degree of durability is sacrificed for the procurement of “The Clearest Crystals.”

Extracted from their body, these shards are eventually collected and used to diffuse light with magical energy - - forming the “Divine Radiance” far more potent than anything in the natural world can provide. Arranged in a circular formation, the light-infused shards spin at rapid speed, their shine and hum mimicking that of a Halo - - the catalyst for the Pengram Magecraft.

Should even one of the shards be broken beyond repair, the magus can simply extract more later; now crystallized, their bones share the same phenomenon of crystal growth. In fact, regular extraction is required to prevent overgrowth.

---

Vivianite
If the crystallized bones were the catalyst, the Vivianite are the Pengrams’ “Terminals.” As it’s commonly known, Angels are the ones who “Carry out God’s Will.” Working in tandem with the crystals’ propensity for contain/process magical energy, the Pengrams found themselves capable of becoming “Containers of Mystery” - - a “Sorcery Trait” born from only three generations of experimentation.

Depending on the portions of the bone converted, the Pengrams can “store” an extra spell as reserve; ranging from standard 1-count spells to perhaps a Ritual-Class, it’s a surprisingly handy trait despite it’s limits.

In regards to Vivianite, these aquamarine crystals grow from the corpses of organisms exposed to damp, iron-rich environments. Even the famous body of Otzi the Iceman was said to be rich in Vivianite upon recovery. As these crystals contain “fragments” of the deceased, they in turn acts as a “minor catalyst” to the deceased.

Lior has several “Deposits” of Vivianite stored on her person, and a single vein hatched within her body. Supposedly harvested from the remains of Perseus, it is the sole reason she was able to harness Ekdikasi Harpe in the first place.

...The purchase was made behind her family’s back in the markets of Sutton Lane. Thank goodness it wasn’t a scam, the cost was hefty indeed.

“Even as a non-catalyst discount, it really wasn’t cheap at all…”

---

Malakh
Cantrips at the Pengrams’ disposal, using their crystal shards as the main source of casting. A “Messenger” based spell, it allows the Pengrams to send their crystals to contain a shred of their light - - “delivering” it to their targets. Either in the form of crystal powder or small shards, the diffused light can transform these catalysts into “scatter-blasts” akin to firecrackers or pins of light.

Though useful for combat, mundane uses include encoding messages and spare “batteries” for Lior. As her magecraft greatly relies on light sources, they can prove useful in situations without light whatsoever.

---

Beatus
A simple suggestion spell, activated by Lior rearranging her halo into a scattered linear formation. Mimicking the designation of Beatified Saints, the oft unknown individuals not confirmed for canonization. To become one of many candidates, a face in the crowd -- such is the basis of this spell.

Though not powerful enough to completely conceal her physical form, it is enough for Lior to reduce attention towards her. On another note, this is indeed the source of the “Charming Sparkle.”

---

Ekdíkasi Harpe
Harpe. The blade wielded by Perseus to slay the dreaded Gorgon.
A monster-killing holy weapon that contains the ability “Refraction of Longevity,” capable of nullifying the “Everlasting Attribute” of immortals and inflicting wounds onto creatures that cannot be restored in accordance of natural laws - - a true Holy Blade that smites the malignant existences in the World.

The Pengrams do not have such a weapon in their hold, oh no; the thought of a middling family to have such a Noble Phantasm on their hands is almost laughable.

Rather, it's the wielder that Lior’s latched onto.

As images of Perseus slaying Medusa is shown with the Hero’s head radiating lines of light, the Pengram Heir channeled the “Essence of a Demigod Hero” through the “Light of the Divine.” Drawing back their hands, the Pengrams’ “Wings” coalesce into a fragmentary replica of the blade that defeated the dreaded Gorgon. With even a single cut, the radiance of this illusory weapon sears into the wounds, the supernatural burn will have difficulty healing for humans, but nearly fatal for the lurkers in the night.

As potent as the spell can be, the middling state of the Pengram Heiress’ Circuits has forced her to cast this spell at limited intervals. So far, the maximum casts Lior can brandish Harpe is three times per day.

Amusingly, the battle-ready stance Lior takes when manifesting Harpe seems awfully deliberate - - almost practiced, even. ‘Pivotal for invoking the image of a Hero,’ she says.

---

Pabhà Krodha
The burning mantle of a Fierce Deity, a wrathful manifestation of a divine being or enlightened individuals in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. An aspect that embodies “One who destroys obstacles,” they are guardians of troubled Sattvas who forcefully defend them from all manner of fetters.

Activated through super-heating the crystals within her via her Circuits, Lior can temporarily invoke the “Authority of a Fierce Being;” the glow of her wings and halo flaring into a aurora of flames and sparks. As the temperature around her rises, little can be seen of Lior but a silhouette exuding an almost oppressive authority - - the lights from her “wings” and “halo” unfurling outwards and flaring aggressively, akin to expressing their fury.

Most with an untrained will immediately find themselves on their knees and fall unconscious, crushed by the overwhelming heat and pressure. Those who managed to resist will find themselves facing an immovable threat that does not buckle under any form of attack. Under the hands like that of an furious god, Lior proves to be a meddlesome opponent.

With the dramatic increase of body temperature, the effect of Pabha Krodha is no different from setting oneself aflame. As such, for all its power Lior can only manifest this “Fierce Stance” for a short time, lest she burns herself to cinders. Supposedly, tolerance can be built through “stilled focus and ridding oneself of unnecessary dregs,” according to Lior’s grandfather. Sadly, Lior’s nature has made honing this ability an arduous journey.



“Ehh? Er, yeah, I’ve used this before. Too many times for comfort, but…
Moohh, I need a new set of clothes now; the fireproof enchantments are useless!”

[Spartacus]

Her Malakh reminds me of:


And sheets that explain the magus foundation is great.

[Bird of Hermes]

Lior somehow simultaneously gives of Big Kohai Energy and protagonst vibes at the same time.

I have no idea how you've managed this but you've achieved it.

[zikari8]

New Yggdmillenia
The Haven for the Virtuous




Outcasts, rebels, delinquents, losers...
The dregs of magus society have gathered into one place once more

A Clan of Magi that boasts strength in quantity over quality
They are the survivors of Yggdmillenia after the Great Holy Grail War
Even with the death of Darnic, theyir reasons for opposing the Association have not died
So once more, they raise their flag and yell their cries

We are the Virtuous. We are the Oppresed.
We will be the last ones standing!!!

The Queen

“Pride? What a meaningless thing. I do not need validation to know that I am the best.”

Name: Gwendolen Gimlé
Title: The Fair and Furious Fox
Age: 26
Sex: Female
Height/Weight: 173 cm/56 kg
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Personal Attributes:
Forte/Likes: Easy to manipulate idiots
Weakness/Dislikes: Trusting others, Ghosts
Natural Talents: Discovering other’s desires
Natural Enemies: Everyone
Image Color: Baby Powder White

Magical Attributes:
Affiliations: New Yggdmillenia
Lineage: 6^th Generation
Origin: Fear
Elemental Alignment: Ether
Circuit Quantity/Quality: C / C+
Circuit Composition: Normal
Magic System: White Magic
Attribute: Protection

Profile:
The leader of New Yggdmillenia.

She is an elegant and intelligent lady who seems almost destined to be the new leader of Yggdmillenia. After the disbanding of Yggdmillenia at the end of the Great Holy Grail War, the one who picked up the scattered pieces and brought together the remaining survivors was none other than her. She picked out the members who were unhappy with the disbandment and discreetly persuaded them into joining her side behind Caules’s back. Within 5 years after the war, she was able to establish New Yggdmillenia in a functional state with almost half of the original members under her leadership. Such is a testament to her ability as a leader.

On the surface, she claims that the purpose of GIMLI is merely to act as a haven for the outcasts of the Association, giving a place for those who feel ostracized by magus society, but she’s secretly aiming to destroy the Association itself. It’s a near impossible task, but she will patiently await her chance, even if it means living for 100 years.

Character

Family Background:
The lineage of Gimlé were once what you might call “good people”. They were true practitioners of White Magic with pure hearts befitting their craft. While they were wealthy landowners, much of their wealth was cycled back to the community or to charity. Though they were magi, they didn’t partake in any immoral practices. They believed that their magecraft was a gift from God and it was their responsibility to use it for the world. Hence, it was the very creed of the family to “Do No Harm” and help anyone in need. But such pure things never last long in the real world.

It happened so quickly. The family had gotten into an argument with another noble lineage over a ritual that they considered was too immoral, even by magi standards. That simple act of kindness painted a target on their back; they quickly gained the animosity of the other family and all their political allies. In less than a single year, the Gimlé were attacked from every angle. Business was suddenly barred from them by major merchants, rules were manipulated to penalize them harshly for minor offenses, their kindness was taken advantage of over and over by conmen, and some offered them a helping hand only to kick them further down. By the end, the family had lost most of their fortune, their land, and their place within the Association, a heavy price for the lesson they learned. With nowhere to go, they had no choice but to find refuge in the castle of Yggdmillenia.

That single incident had changed their perspective of the world. They had become enlightened to the political pettiness of the Association and became disillusioned to the value of the organization. They became fervent advocates against the Association, seeking ways to reform its outdated and malevolent ways. Above all, though, they learnt that no one could be trusted. Those who take advantage of their kindness, those who would pretend to be kind for malicious purposes, they were everywhere and anywhere. So, then they must be prepared to kill or be killed by everyone they met. Obtaining this mindset, they finally began to act like typical magi.

That is the tale of the lineage of Gimlé. Once pure and kind, they became corrupted by the very nature of magi and so seek revenge for the injustices they suffered. In a way, they too are a victim of the evils of Magi.

Personal Background
Gwendolen Gimlé is, in essence, the result of the harsh lesson that her parents had learnt when they were forced to join Yggdmillenia. After having been tricked so severely themselves by the whims of other magi, they sought to instill the values of skepticism and cleverness into their heir so that the same thing would never happen to her. Unfortunately, they went too far.

As a youth, Gwen was raised with a horrible sense of paranoia. Day after day, night after night, her parents told her again and again the story of their fall from grace. They instilled in her a permanent fear of betrayal and deception until all she knew was doubt. The effects of such a rearing are obvious: she became cold and detached to all that she met, never allowing anyone the chance to trick her.

But her fears grew with time and soon that wasn’t enough. Staying on the defensive wasn’t enough; no, she would need to aggressively remove potential threats. Just as her parents said, it was kill or be killed, so she merely had to trick others before they tricked her. Treating everyone like an enemy, she learned how to wield words to her advantage and took down every fear in her path. If they could be bent to her will, she will make them her slave. Otherwise, she merely had to arrange for their unfortunate passing. Eventually, her parents realized what they had created. They had once been pure of heart, after all, so they lamented the devil they had set upon the world. But it was far too late by then; Gwen no longer trusted them either and had already arranged for their deaths.

From there, Gwen would go on to hone her political and magical skills so that no one could ever betray her. Due to personal differences in belief, she didn’t agree with the Great Holy Grail War and so didn’t participate, but when the war was over and the rest of the clan in shambles, she saw her chance. She established New Yggdmillenia with the express goal of completing her ultimate desire: the destruction of the Mage’s Association.

Personality
No word describes Gwen better than paranoid. Her fear of betrayal and deception, instilled by her parents, is beyond irrational to the point of near delusion. She sees threats in harmless people and malice in saints. She is never comfortable unless everyone else in the room is completely incapable of harming her. In order to accomplish this, she is willing to do anything.

She is a cold-hearted, merciless trickster who easily manipulates relationships and hearts to her advantage. Having even killed her own parents in fear of what the threat they posed, there is literally no one she is not willing to eliminate to make herself feel safer. Of course, she has no patience for letting other emotions beside fear get in the way of her assured protection, including such things as pride. It is in this that she greatly differs and despises her predecessor, Darnic. In her view, before the Great Holy Grail War, he should’ve taken the seven summoned servants and used them to launch a pre-emptive attack on the Association that cannot be stopped. Instead, though, he chose to make it a battle for the sake of humiliating the Association in defeat. Of course, this irrational need for validation was what got him killed and Yggdmillenia disbanded. In comparison, Gwen is willing to do anything to protect herself, even if it means living a life of eternal shame and dishonor.

Her ultimate goal is the destruction of the Mage’s Association. The stories that her parents told her as a child have made her perceive the very organization itself as a sort of bogeyman bent on killing her. All magi are evil, and the Association is the personification of that wickedness. It is only after she completely destroys the whole thing will she finally feel safe. That is the impossible and delusional goal she is working towards.

As an aside, she’s uncharacteristically afraid of ghosts. Don’t be fooled though. It isn’t one of those cute traits where a normally cool girl is afraid of ghosts. No, she is merely terrified of the chance of the spirits of all the people she’s killed coming back for revenge. In the moonlit world, that is a very real and terrifying possibility after all.

Abilities

Unlike her predecessor, Gwen is not a first-class magus. Like most other members of Yggdmillenia, she is decidedly second-class at best. In fact, many of her subordinates are superior to her in terms of skill or spells. Her true ability lies instead in politics and human relations. Starting with practically nothing, she has clawed her way to the top of Yggdmillenia with nothing but her words. Her ability to use people several times stronger than her is her saving grace.

The Magic System of the Gimlé family is White Magic. Stemming from classical Western esotericism with religious elements mixed in, it is a form of witchcraft based primarily around healing, blessings, and charms. As you’d expect, it is a selfless thaumaturgy that cannot hurt anyone and becomes more powerful the purer the user’s heart. Gwendolen’s heart, however, is black and wicked unlike all her predecessors. She is unable to use her family’s spells with the same finesse or power as her predecessors due to this lack of compatibility. Hence, she has also begun seeking magecrafts better suited for her such as Runes or even true Black Magic. That such a pure and altruistic mage family was corrupted by the evils of society can only be considered a tragedy.

Friday Oath
Gwendolen’s main and most powerful spell. All members of New Yggdmillenia are under the effects of this magic.

To put it simply, it is a spell that makes her invincible to those under her leadership. It takes the form of a seal that is inscribed onto the other person’s body with their consent and vow to abide by it. The seal then binds the user’s “second heart” and becomes one with their being. Those who have this seal on them then become incapable of doing harm to Gwendolen no matter what.

To clarify, it is not a compulsion curse like a Geis that binds another’s actions such that they cannot attack her. Those under the effects of this spell are still capable of launching attacks against Gwendolen. Those attacks will simply do no damage at all. For example, they could punch or stab her if they want, but the fist will do no damage and the knife will not pierce her flesh. Surpassing logic, it is a spell that offers Gwen conceptual immunity to all those who have been binded by her.

Normally, white magic has bad compatibility with Gwen’s evil heart and also lacks practical use for selfish purposes. It cannot be used to hurt other and it is amplified by the relevant emotions in one’s heart. For example, a strong desire to help or save people would make her healing magic more powerful. As someone who only wants to eliminate her enemies, though, the regular healing and blessings spells have little effect. This spell, however, cleverly takes advantage of the principles of White Magic to her advantage. Instead of harming others, it instead “purifies” their actions such that they do no harm against her. It merges the concept of pacifism into others so that they become incapable of hurting Gwendolen at all, thus making her invincible towards her subordinates.

All members of New Yggdmillenia are required to agree to the binding of this spell as part of their entry into the clan. Those fallen families with nowhere to go have no choice but to give up their freedom for the security that Yggdmillenia offers and so become unable to go against Gwen’s orders. For the paranoid Gwen, only after someone is literally incapable of ever hurting her can she even feel comfortable working with them. Yes, it is truly the perfect spell for her.

Breidablik Castle
The main headquarters of New Yggdmillenia situated on a rich and spiritual land in Denmark. It is a completely fortified base befitting a large magical organization with defenses surpassing what a regular individual magus could conceivably possess. A powerful bounded field and leyline access provide those under its roof security and ease so that they may work on their magecraft in peace. Above all, it is beautiful. Its glamour is simply astounding and so it is the pride and trophy of the organization.

Technically, the original base of Yggdmillenia, the Millenium Castle, is still under the possession of the former leader, Caules Forvedge. As such, they had no choice but to move locations to somewhere else. Pooling their resources together, they were able to purchase this land and make it their own. Its true identity is actually the former land of the Gimlé family that was taken away from them in their fall from grace. That she had returned to this place once more… was it a coincidence or fate?

Yadogiri
A mystic sword from the Far East. It is a type of Mystic Code that was made by one of the members of New Yggdmillenia. It does not possess any particular special abilities. Instead, it is merely an incredibly powerful blade that can cut through near anything mundane. As her magecraft is not suited for combat, this blade is an invaluable tool by Gwen’s side. After all, just because others can’t hurt her, it doesn’t mean she can’t hurt them.

The Monk

“The greatest folly of man is allowing others to dictate who you are. True freedom lies in oneself alone.”

Name: Matthew Nakamura Gimlé (Nakamura Mamoru)
Title: Free Spirit of the Orient
Age: 62
Sex: Male
Height/Weight: 170 cm/60 kg
Alignment: True Neutral

Personal Attributes:
Forte/Likes: Easy to move in clothing, dango
Weakness/Dislikes: Stiff formalities, team uniforms
Natural Talents: Mental Support
Natural Enemies: Sancraid Phahn
Image Color: Morning Blue

Magical Attributes:
Affiliations: New Yggdmillenia
Lineage: 8^th Generation
Origin: Esteem
Elemental Alignment: Wind and Metal
Circuit Quantity/Quality: B / C+
Circuit Composition: Normal
Magic System: Alchemy
Attribute: Fusion

Profile:
The kindly elder gentleman of New Yggdmillenia.

Gentle and firm, wise and free, western and eastern, he is a man who seems to be one with the world. He comes from a family of Alchemists who were once a part of the Clock Tower before they joined Yggdmillenia in his generation. His current magecraft style is a form of Western Alchemy, but he has been slowly incorporating some Oriental philosophies into his craft. Within New Yggdmillenia, he is one of the more esteemed members due both to his greater overall ability and his role as Gwendollen’s advisor. Despite his old age, he looks like he’s in his late 20’s thanks to some Eastern secret exercise techniques that maintain his health.

Unlike many others, he did not join Yggdmillenia due to disgrace or lack of capability. He had a humble but generally respected place within the Clock Tower and his bloodline hadn’t begun to degrade or anything. Instead, he simply didn’t like it there. The attitudes of the magi did not suit him, and he felt that there was no future for his family in that place, so he decided to cut off from them and join Yggdmillenia. As such, it was only natural for him to not return to the Association after the disbandment and instead join New Yggdmillenia. Currently, he has a son in his teens training to become the next heir. With his health, though, it might take a while before he can fully take over.

Character

Background:
Matthew Nakamura was once a simple member of the Association. His family had pursued a path in western magecraft and found their way to the headquarters of magic with hopes for its opulent opportunities. With their generally solid capabilities, they were able to make a place for themselves in the foreign land and found mild success. Their future seemed bright, and it was… for a while. But soon enough, the family seemed to have plateaued. Their actual ability continued to progress, but their place in society seemed to stay stagnant for generations. They stopped gaining the honors and titles they had expected and their rise to the top was strangely halted. Finally, it dawned upon them the cause for their inability to rise any further—

Racism. Well, perhaps that’s too strong of a word, but there was a clear observable bias against them due to their Far Eastern heritage. Over and over again, they were passed up for achievements and rewards in favor of other families of lesser ability, simply because of their blood. Many others even saw it as ridiculous that a family of their origin was already so high up in the organization. Slowly but surely, they realized how greatly the most seemingly unnoteworthy thing kept them from success. It was Matthew at last who truly understood how impossible the situation was.

At first, he tried to fight it by appealing to the family’s critics. He tried to remove himself from his heritage by acting incredibly western. He studied western culture and purged any eastern customs or mannerisms from himself. He took up a western surname, wore a fancy western suit and did typical westerner things. He had a Cockney accent, ate a traditional English Breakfast in the morning, was a sommelier in French wines, watched the big games in the pub, and mingled with only certain respectable fellows. In time, he had completely become a “westerner” in all but blood. Before he knew it, he himself was even beginning to look down at other Orientals and talking bad about them with others. He had lost his cultural identity in its entirety – no, he purposely discarded it.

But, in the end, it was of no use. No matter how much he acted like a westerner, no matter how much he changed himself for others, the bias never changed. He never got those titles and honors he deserved. As long as his blood had even a drop of Asia, he would never be free from the preconceptions of those around him. That made him realize how foolish he had been. In trying to appeal to others, he had lost sight of himself, who he truly was. He became nothing more than a puppet trying to curry the favors of those around him. That epiphany also opened his eyes to the rest of the Association. He saw clearly at last all the discriminatory behavior in Clock Tower, not just towards race, but towards class, religion, gender, and even beliefs. Such a place steeped in prejudice seemed then to him like a prison. And he wanted out.

The rest of the tale is obvious. He elected to join Yggdmillenia believing that its vast collection of magi from all walks of life would prove a more tolerant and freer atmosphere. Due to his lack of strong desire or needs, he wasn’t chosen by the Grail for the War and could only watch from the sideline as the Black Faction was decisively defeated. In the end, though, he found refuge in New Yggdmillenia, the Haven for the Virtuous. Promised true freedom and tolerance by Gwendollen, he has become one of the core members of the current organization.

Personality:
Laid-back and free spirited, Matthew Nakamura is the gentle uncle of New Yggdmillenia. His wisdom comes from experience and his tolerance comes from hardship. He never angers, but his disappointment hurts harder than any fury. He believes in equal opportunity and meritocracy but doesn’t look down on those without results. All in all, he’s more or less a pretty good guy.

After a youth spent trying to be as Western as possible, he has matured past such childishness notions and revels in his cultural heritage to his pleasure. He can be seen lounging in a comfortable yukata despite the cold weather and enjoying whatever eastern delicacies he can get his hands on. He has also begun seeing what oriental philosophies and practices he can incorporate into his magecraft. In a sense, perhaps his experiences in the past have actually made him even more appreciative of his heritage.

Generally speaking, he gets along well with every member of New Yggdmillenia due to his vast tolerance threshold. He truly believes that this place is a better home for magi than the Association and sees the many members as one big family. He also acts as Gwen’s close advisor, foolishly believing that she’s a virtuous person who wants the best for her people. The only person he seems harsh to is his lackadaisical son who lacks discipline and fortitude, but that’s also a form of love.

Abilities

Matthew is one of the few decently skilled magi among the ranks of New Yggdmillenia. Having joined the organization by choice rather than necessity, his abilities as a magus are still high, worthy of a valuable position at Clock Tower. Before quitting, he had been of the Cause rank, a rarity among the outcasts of Yggdmillenia. As such, he could be considered one of their aces. It’s unfortunate that he hadn’t been chosen by the Grail for the war, though in the end, he wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

The magecraft of his family is Alchemic Fusion, the transmutation and combination of materials in order to create an object with the combined properties of all its components. For example, combining a light-weight metal with a durable one in order to make one that is both light-weight and durable. In particular, he focuses on the transmutation of ores, but he occasionally uses other substances such as cloth or animal components. Before quitting, he was a member of Clock Tower’s Department of Mineralogy.

Besides magecraft, he is also mildly skilled in martial arts, specifically jujutsu and kenjutsu. In his eyes, they are mainly disciplines for honing one’s mind rather than reliable forms of combat, but he’s still not a man to be trifled with in close combat. He also knows quite a few secret exercise techniques from his family that maintain his youthful health. He often gets mistaken for his son’s older brother because of this, something that makes him quite happy.

Hihi’iro-kane
The result and pinnacle of his magecraft. The Hihi’iro-kane is a mythical metal from Japanese legends with mystical properties. Its weight is lighter than gold, but harder than diamond. It does not rust. It was even said to be able to bring water to a boil without heat and was a perfect conductor for spiritual energy. Such famous legendary swords as the Kusanagi were said to be made of this metal.

Through his alchemic fusion, Matthew seeks to reproduce this legendary material or at least create an alloy that has the same effects. So far, he has been able to create an incomplete version. His “Brilliant Scarlet Metal” is in fact lightweight and a great conductor for magical energy, but it lacks the sheer invincibility of the original nor any of its innate firepower. Furthermore, the cost of materials for making even a bit is rather steep so mass production is difficult. That said, it works well in Mystic Codes due to its conduction of souls and prana, so it has many potential buyers if he were to sell it even in small quantities. Currently, the many mystic swords of New Yggdmillenia incorporate this allow as well to give it an extra edge.

Benizakura
Matthew’s mystic sword made primarily of his own Hihi’iro-kane. The name comes from the scarlet color of the metal. Shaped in part by his own spiritual energy, it is a Mystic Code that conducts his own thaumaturgy to produce a unique mystical effect. In particular, it has the ability to assimilate materials that it pierces and incorporate their attributes into itself. The more things it absorbs, the more powerful the blade becomes. In order words, it is a more specific form of his own abilities focused through the blade. Nevertheless, the sword itself will not lose its shape or original abilities. Yes, that too is a reflection of himself. He will adapt to his surroundings and assimilate them as part of himself. But no matter what, he will not lose sight of who he truly is…

The Pacifist

“It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this with you, a blade with which to protect your virtue…”

Name: Norishige Nae Gimlé
Title: The Pacifist Arms Dealer
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Height/Weight: 156 cm/52 kg
Alignment: Neutral Good

Personal Attributes:
Forte/Likes: Swords, sweets
Weakness/Dislikes: Bloodshed, sweets (because she can’t resist them)
Natural Talents: Swordsmithing
Natural Enemies: EMIYA
Image Color: Steel Pink

Magical Attributes:
Affiliations: New Yggdmillenia
Lineage: 4^th Generation
Origin: Endowment
Elemental Alignment: Metal
Circuit Quantity/Quality: D / D-
Circuit Composition: Normal
Magic System: Mystic Sword
Attribute: Infusion

Profile:
The peaceful swordsmith of New Yggdmillenia.

She is a kind-hearted girl from the Orient who specializes in sword smithing. Unlike most members of the organization, she was not an original member of Yggdmillenia, having joined only after the Great Holy Grail War, nor was even a part of the Association to begin with. For certain reasons, she was recruited by Gwen straight out of Japan to become New Yggdmillenia’s exclusive Mystic Code maker.

Even though she’s a weapon maker, she abhors violence and bloodshed. Every time a life is lost by one of her blades, a part of her dies inside. Nevertheless, she continues to pursue her family’s craft and to find beauty in blades. For her, the ideal sword is one with its user and cannot hurt anyone.

Character

Background:
The Norishige are a modest clan of swordsmiths from Japan that sought to revive the art of the spiritual blades of old. They weren’t particularly renowned, but their skill was the real deal and the custom blades they made could be of great value to any magus, west or east. Through coincidence, members of the Association took notice of them and they quickly became moderately popular among certain circles of magi. Whether for their thaumaturgical value or simple collection, magi from across the globe began contacting them to purchase their sword. In no time, they were crafting prized blades for many well-paying elites and having their name spread further and further.

As a child, Nae loved that her family’s blades were reaching the corners of the globe. Loving swords, treasuring swords, she delighted in the knowledge that many other people shared her passion. But, as she grew, she realized that not everyone had such innocuous motives. One day, the family received grave news – a respected aristocratic magus had been slain in a feud with an unknown assailant. Naturally, the murder weapon was none other than one of the swords that her family had made and sold. The family of the slain magus, with no known killer to direct their anger at, were now blaming them for making the sword, slinging such irrational accusations as them having made that sword solely for the purpose of murdering the victim. They said that as the makers of the weapon, they were responsible for the man’s death. With no real ground to stand on, the accusations calmed down over time of course and amounted to nothing, but they stuck in Nae’s mind. Was it their fault? Did they hold responsibility for the blades they made? When she asked her father, he answered thus:

“Listen, Nae. You must not think like that. Swords choose their own master. We only act in order to bring them to life. Whether they are used for good or bad, we cannot decide. That is the reality of any swordsmith.”

But Nae was not convinced. The more she thought about it, the guiltier she became. She dreaded the idea of her own swords being used in meaningless slaughter one day. The more she learned about the Association, how magi were okay with killing each other, how murder was so trivial to them, the more she didn’t want to give them her swords. But at that point, their family business thrived solely in making blades for magi, so there was no alternative. Doubt in her own craft paralyzed her hands, and before she knew it, she became afraid of making swords.

At last, though, she found a savior: New Yggdmillenia, the Haven for the Virtuous. The leader, Gwendollen, personally recruited her to become their exclusive swordsmith. She promised her good business and comfortable accommodations. But of all, she made a promise. The members of Yggdmillenia were not part of the Association. They were a single family, united in their virtuous ideals and status as outcasts. Thus, they would not tolerate murder amongst themselves. If her swords were in their hands, they would be safe from bloodshed and violence. She could enjoy her craft with a clear conscience.

With such sweet words whispered into her ears, her response was obvious.

Personality:
Nae is simply a genuinely good person, a rarity in the Moonlit World. She does not seek any great ambition nor is she willing to do evil to obtain what she wants. She merely likes creating blades as an art and enjoys when other people like her creations. At the same time, she hates to think of swords as a weapon that could potentially kill people.

She greatly admires the leader of New Yggdmillenia, Gwendollen Gimlé, as a paragon of virtue. Young and naïve, she fell for Gwen’s fair façade hook, line, and sinker, and she truly believes that the Yggdmillenia is actually meant to be a more virtuous organization of magi. In particular, she in enchanted by the idea of Gwen’s White Magic. A mystical art that is incapable of hurting others, the very concept makes her swoon. She too wishes to one day create a sword that can do no harm and solely make people happy.

Abilities

Norishige Nae is not a magus per se. She is a swordsmith with knowledge of mystical techniques to imbue magical powers onto the blades she creates. Her actual knowledge of typical magecraft matters are next to none; she only knows how to make swords that happen to be magical.

In Japanese legends and folklore, tales of swordsmiths skilled enough to embue part of their personality and will into swords are very common. The foundation of the Norishige craft operates under the same principle. The swords they make possess part of their own wills within them. They are “alive”, possessing their own wills and desire. However, the wills within the swords are pure and blank. Just as any soul is influenced by its surroundings as it is raised, these swords can be affected greatly by the personality of their wielder. When a custom order is sent to the family, they not only tailor it by the specifications of the buyer but also to their personality. The swords are not complete until they are bound to their master and become one with their spirit. The magical ability they adopt then are also based somewhat on the personality and nature of their master.

Millenium Blades
The Mystic Swords of New Yggdmillenia. These are the swords that Nae has made for her fellow clan members under the promise that they will not use them for murder. They have a variety of different mystic abilities suited for their owner.

The swords are made primarily from the Hihi’iro-kane metal created by the Nakamura family. This mythical alloy allows for the greater conduction of spiritual energy and souls within the blade, perfect for the spirit imbuement of the Norishige’s craft. Once a magus takes hold of their blade, it becomes bound to them and them alone. Its special magical abilities will not manifest unless in their hands. At the same time, the mystic ability of the sword will be determined by the personality and magecraft of the user. Even Nae cannot determine or know the exact power that will be unlocked.

Because she considers herself a maker rather than a user, she does not have a personal blade for herself. In a sense, one could say that all of her blades are hers as they also contain part of her will in them as well.

The Rogue

“Please just call me Ron. I don’t really like my last name…”

Name: Ron Fremont Gimlé
Title: The Brilliant Shadow of Magonia
Age: 22
Sex: Male
Height/Weight: 178 cm/65 kg
Alignment: Lawful Good

Personal Attributes:
Forte/Likes: Solitude
Weakness/Dislikes: Socializing, the spotlight
Natural Talents: Standing out
Natural Enemies: Faculty of Politics
Image Color: Liberty Blue

Magical Attributes:
Affiliations: New Yggdmillenia
Lineage: 7^th Generation (Non-Inheritor)
Origin: Punishment
Elemental Alignment: Wind
Circuit Quantity/Quality: B / B
Circuit Composition: Slightly Altered
Magic System: Weather Magic
Attribute: Theft

Profile:
The eternal exile of New Yggdmillenia.

He is a tempestarii, a weather mage, from France that was exiled from the Association due to the crimes of his predecessor. In that sense, he’s a rather typical member of Yggdmillenia with nowhere else to go but there. Even after the disbandment of Yggdmillenia, he had no chance of being accepted back into the Association, so he naturally just had to flock back to its successor. The same applies to most members of the New Yggdmillenia.

Due to his incredibly good looks and overall flashy appearance, he is the type of person who can’t help but stand out wherever he goes. There is merely an aura about him that makes you want to pay attention to him. He, however, doesn’t like standing out. Loud noises, frenzied activity, big events, those things don’t suit him. He’d much prefer being in the background, supporting the leader of his whom he so admires…

Background

“I’ve done nothing wrong, so why am I being punished…?”

Ever since he could remember, Ron Fremont has been a criminal. His lineage was one of tempestarii, Frankish weather magi who could summon storms. Such large-scale, thundering magecraft was anything but inconspicuous, especially in the modern era of hi-tech meteorology. So then, his father received a warning from the Association – your magecraft threatens the concealment of mystery; stop immediately – and he ignored it. Needless to say, he was soon arrested and all of the family’s fortune was confiscated.

That much was fair. He understood that what his father had done was wrong and that he deserved to be punished for it. But what about him?

At the time of the arrest, he had only been 2 years of age and he would never see his father again. He had literally done nothing wrong. Yet, the Association decided to punish the entire lineage. Anyone of the Fremont family would not be recognized as a member of the Association any longer. They would never again become treated like magi. Further, the family was fined an amount that even their fortune could not pay off entirely, and they still were expected to pay back the debt even after their exile. Of course, the worst thing of all was that the Crest that the family had been building for so long was taken away forever. Such a thing… was it not too harsh? Wasn’t it enough to punish the one responsible, his father? So why must he too suffer for another’s crimes?

The answer is obvious. For magi, the individual does not matter. One is merely part of their lineage. So then, the crimes of the successor are those of the predecessor and vice versa. He didn’t like that – that the value of the individual is so overshadowed by that of the family. People are more than their last name, they are different from the parents who birthed them, so it was unfair to treat them all as one. He wanted to be treated for he himself really was.

In the end, he naturally had no choice but to seek refuge in Yggdmillenia. He was still technically not treated like a real magus and didn’t get the chance to actually learn anything, but at least he wasn’t completely shunned. After the disbandment, though, he was one of the first recruited to New Yggdmillenia by Gwendollen as she saw his true potential behind the label of a criminal. She promised to pay off all his debts, to reinstate his status as a magus, and help him start building a new Crest. All she asked was for his absolute loyalty.

So it was that he became a member of New Yggdmillenia and another member who worships Gwendollen as some form of saintly leader. For the person who gave him another chance, the one who saw him for who he really was rather than who his family was, he is willing to give even more than his own life.

Abilities

Ron is one of the few New Yggdmillenia’s magi worthy of even being considered a competent magus. As his status as an outcast comes from the crimes of his lineage, his own talents are somewhat decent. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to properly cultivate them as his father was arrested and no other magus would be willing to take him as an apprentice after his exile. Thus, while his innate talent is great, he lacks knowledge, practice, and experience. These things have been slowly remedied over time since falling under the wing of Gwendollen.

He uses Weather Magic from the Middle Ages as the basis for his spells. It revolves around the ability to summon or prevent storms. In the modern day, such magic is far too conspicuous however and threatens the concealment of mystery, so Ron has had to adapt to the era by making changes. He doesn’t mind, though, as he sees such changes as him breaking away from his family name. Though he’s still trapped under the path of his father, he hopes to one day make his magecraft truly his own.


Lightning Thief:
Ron’s personal style of magecraft derived from his family’s tempest magecraft. Without the power of his crest to support him, he is limited in the range and scale of mysteries he can produce. Thus, his spells are a more compact, efficient version made for practical use over high-thaumturgy.

Back in the Middle Ages, folklore spoke of a magical realm in the clouds called Magonia. It is said that this aerial land was inhabited by magical thieves who sailed in the sky. It was also said that the Frankish tempestarii and these “Magonians” were league with each other; the magi would summon storms over farmland during which the Magonians would steal crops. This magecraft draws upon that legend to produce the phenomena of “stealing in a storm”.

Using his family’s magecraft, he is able to produce small bolts of lightning. They are a far cry from the grand thundering storms that his father could produce, but the lightning itself is not the main attack. In the moment the lightning is produced, the spell magically steals a possession from his target in an instant. Based on the legend of Magonia, it connects the two concepts of “raising a storm” and “stealing” into one such that creating a small storm allows him to steal something small. It isn’t a very flashy ability and there are limitations to its range and size of what it can steal, but it is the most practical use for his ability that he could come up with. It is something that he himself has thought of so he believes it is something that belongs to him, not his family.

Kusanagi
Ron’s mystic sword named after the legendary Sword of Gathering Clouds. Like that famed blade, it has the power of controlling the weather, though not at the level of that Noble Phantasm, of course. At best, it uses his prana to produce a “miniature storm” around the blade itself to give the blade an additional lightning effect. Alone it isn’t very powerful, but it just so happens to be synergistic with his spellcraft. The storms produced by the sword can trigger his Lightning Thief ability, greatly streamlining the overall process. With such roguelike traits though, he hardly resembles a magi anymore…

The Freelancer

“Huh, what are you looking at? You need something, punk? Fine, I’ll go pick it up for you. Wait, here!”

Name: Ryan Rademaker
Title: Red-mark Ryan
Age: 19
Sex: Male
Height/Weight: 185 cm/75 kg
Alignment: True Neutral

Personal Attributes:
Forte/Likes: Cycling, high-speed delivery
Weakness/Dislikes: Pressure, standardized testing
Natural Talents: Perseverance
Natural Enemies: Parents
Image Color: Liberty Blue

Magical Attributes:
Affiliations: New Yggdmillenia
Lineage: 5^th Generation (Non-Inheritor)
Origin: Anxiety
Elemental Alignment: Fire
Circuit Quantity/Quality: D / C
Circuit Composition: Normal
Magic System: Cyclomancy
Attribute: Divination

Profile:
The loyal errand boy of New Yggdmillenia.

He is one of the newer members of New Yggdmillenia, only joining after the disbandment, but he has been an outcast among the Association for quite a few years already. Before then, he was a freelancer doing any sort of dirty work necessary to survive. He’s done quite a few impressive feats in work, but as a magus, his success has been nothing but dry. Overall, he is an incredibly intelligent and skilled, yet ultimately unsuccessful young man.

His most prized possession is a stylish looking yet old bicycle that he enjoys cycling. Whenever someone needs something picked up or a ride somewhere, he enthusiastically offers, anything for a chance to get on his bike. Despite his need for speed, however, he still somehow always manages to be late for team meetings.

Character

Background:
Ryan’s past is a simple one, not entirely uncommon in the Moonlit World. He was disowned and kicked out of his family.

He had been a part of a humble and relatively young magus family trying to get their foot in the door of the Association. As a young heir, he was set to be the first in the family to properly enroll in Clock Tower and get the education needed to take the family to greater heights. One problem though: he failed the entrance exam. He was normally a very bright and skilled child whose abilities should’ve been more than enough for the test, but he failed, nonetheless. And over the next three years, he continued to do so over and over again. Was it the pressure? Did his theoretical skills not have practical value? Was there something about the test that he just couldn’t overcome? No one knew, but it was clear that he would never pass the test. And so, the family decided they didn’t need him.

“I can’t believe our son turned out to be a failure”

“It would be more efficient to produce another heir”

“We don’t need a failure in this family”

Saying such things, they kicked him out of the house and left him to fend for himself in the real world. There was no longer a place for him in that house, so he was forced to leave it. That was the simple logic behind it all. Even though they were family, even though he was their son, when he failed to produce the results they needed, he had been cut off mercilessly.

In the end, he moved on and did whatever he could to survive. Despite his inadequacies, he was talented and smart, so he managed to leverage his magical abilities to help him in many ways. He travelled all across Europe, going wherever his fate took him until eventually, after years of freelancing and travelling, he found his way onto the doorstep of New Yggdmillenia…

Personality:
At first glance, Ryan Rademaker is a rough seeming person. He’s uncouth, boisterous, and antagonistic. Most of all, he seems entirely self-centered, caring little for others. That, however, is merely the attitude he’s adopted from a life spent on the streets. When he’s with the people he feels comfortable around, he’s energetic, compassionate, and eager to do favors.

The thing Ryan has always yearned for was family. Because of his mistakes, his incapability, he had lost his own when they shut him out. Since then, he was done naught but travel the world, seeking a new family to call his own. Of the anti-magi sentiments of New Yggdmillennia, his would be about the lack of love within magi families. He feels like family should be there for each other and care for each other in all times and moments. He feels like family isn’t something you can just abandon because they didn’t live up to your expectations. The way magi treat their children only as products… he doesn’t like it.

That said, he isn’t actively anti-Association like some members of the organization. He is far too busy just living the life that he wants. And so, it is that, after finding his way on their doorstep, he believes that he might have found a family for him, the largest family ever, New Yggdmillenia. He sees in them a potential happy ending he never thought was possible and does whatever he can to maintain it. Even his enthusiasm towards being an errand boy stems from a desire to help his new family, as well as a fear that he’ll be discarded if he’s not useful. Little does he know that the matriarch, Gwendollen, does in fact just treat him like a useful tool as well.

Abilities

Like quite a few members of New Yggdmillenia, Ryan Rademaker isn’t a full-fledged magus. He has some education and training from his youth before he was disowned, but he never got the complete higher education that Clock Tower would’ve provided. Furthermore, he has no crest, so he lacks raw power as well. Instead, he’s far more of a spell-caster with a single practiced ability and little variety in skills.

His Magecraft is Cyclomancy, magecraft centered around the spinning of an object. The primary use for it would be divination – one spins an object and where it stops divines the future result. It is this spell that Ryan personally improved upon through years of practical experience working as a freelancer. Specifically, he worked as a courier for important deliveries of magical materials or correspondences.

The Mystic Code and catalyst for Ryan’s Cyclomancy is his bicycle. Circles represent completion while the turning of wheels represent destiny and inevitable fate. A symbol associated with these concepts is none other than the Wheel of Fortune. By affixing these properties to travel, one can “divine” the end of the journey and thus ensure its inevitable completion via causality. In the Moonlit World where any number of things could happen to a package in transit, whether simple bad luck or direct interception, such an ability to complete one’s journey certainly is valued. Of course, there are limitations to the level of divination possible and there’s the obvious fact that it requires him to ride a bicycle all the way there. But with his back on the line, he has the fortitude required to travel across countries with nothing but a bike and a package. That is the will of Ryan Rademaker.

That said, now that he’s a member of New Yggdmillenia, he mostly is used to pick up stuff at the store. Well, he’s happy to do so, so it’s probably fine.

The Rebel

“I’ll never forgive him, Caules Forvedge… I swear I’ll take his head myself!”

Name: Courtney Albescu
Title: Copy-Cat Burglar
Age: 24
Sex: Female
Height/Weight: 169 cm/61 kg
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Personal Attributes:
Forte/Likes: Loyalty, following orders
Weakness/Dislikes: Creativity, making her own decisions
Natural Talents: Picking fights
Natural Enemies: Caules Forvedge
Image Color: Unmellow Yellow

Magical Attributes:
Affiliations: New Yggdmillenia
Lineage: 6^th Generation
Origin: Dependence
Elemental Alignment: Average One
Circuit Quantity/Quality: B+ / B+
Circuit Composition: Abnormal
Magic System: N/A
Attribute: Imitation

Profile:
The fiery avenger of Yggdmillenia.

She is a magus of either tremendous talent or lackluster ability depending on one’s view and definition. Like the rest, she’s a loyal musclehead who was charmed by Gwendollen’s sweet words and kind façade. She too is someone who feels at odds with the Association and so finds the way of Yggmillenia far more preferable.

Of all the members of New Yggdmillenia, she and her family are the most anti-Association. Even after Yggdmillenia fell, they still chose not to return to the Association despite having the qualifications, based solely on their hatred. Courtney as well personally has a huge grudge against the former leader of Yggmillenia, Caules Forvedge. In her eyes, he is a traitor for disbanding the clan and joining Clock Tower on his own accord, leaving the rest of them to die on their own. She swears that she will one day get vengeance upon her former leader with her very own hands.

Background:
The Albescu were a talented family when it came to magecraft. Though young, their skill, knowledge, and finesse with the art were undeniably top-class. Most of all, they were fast learners. Whether it was a talent or some innate trait within their genetics, the successors of the Albescu picked up things incredibly quickly. What it took others time to learn would be a fifth of the time necessary for them. That talent to learn from others was their greatest pride… and greatest boon.

“All your family does is copy others. You never create anything new. Thus, you cannot be considered true magi.”

Such was the opinion the rest of the Association had about them. They could imitate any magecraft they saw with ease, but they lacked the power to come up with anything of their own. They could replicate phenomena but not understand the concepts behind them in a way that they could sprout new ideas. So then, no matter how powerful they were, no matter how many magecrafts they put under their belt, they would never be taken seriously.

This, of course, frustrated them. They believed that such things didn’t matter. They were without a doubt far more powerful, far more skilled, far more talented than any of the families above them. That’s right; it wasn’t their fault. The superiors were merely jealous. They were afraid of the family’s potential and so shut them down. That must be it. So, then what? What should they do if the Association would not acknowledge their potential?

Of course, the answer was none other than the clan of outcasts, the ever-growing Yggdmillenia.

Character
A complete musclehead. She’s strong when it comes to magic but lacks the ability to make her own decision or come up with her own strategies. That, of course, makes her the perfect pawn for Yggmillenia.

Of all the current associated families, the Albescu are one of the most fervent advocates for anti-Association sentiments. While other members may have more personal resentments, their hatred is one of family pride and hatred towards being cast aside. In that sense, she’s perhaps the very purest to the ideals of the whole Clan. Though they weren’t chosen for the Holy Grail War, they were strong supporters of Darnic in his quest to humiliate the association and naturally were torn when their team lost. Moreover, they were devastated at the news of the Clan being disbanded.

Courtney personally blamed everything on the Forvedge who succeeded Darnic after death, Caules in particular. To her and her family, the Yggdmillenia were the only way for their family to have a place in the world. Those who have degraded, those just getting started, those who saw things differently, the Clan was away for all their voices to be gathered and succeed as one. They had proud, not in their individual selves, but in their joint wills. Yet, he threw that all away. He had been entrusted with all of their wishes and yet threw them all away, going by himself to be re-welcomed into Clock Tower. How could he be forgiven? How could he be allowed to live?

In that sense, she is a representative of the frustrations of all the downtrodden magus families who despise their current position. But in the end, they are just a bunch of disgruntled brats. Feeling oppressed, feeling mistreated, feeling like outcasts, they throw a tantrum, demanding better respect, and find comfort in their fellow losers.

As an aside, her magecraft is nothing more than replication of other people’s techniques. As such, she has no special abilities beside that. Even her mystic swords are simple amplification types since she doesn’t have any particular specialty to manifest.

[the god of world-0]

Name: Alyona Chyorny
Alias: The mirror mage, damn copycat
Age: 23
Element: Water
Origin: Reflection
Circuit Quality: C
Circuit Quantity: B
Circuit Composition: Common

Talents/Likes:reading, secretly practicing poses on the mirror, the smell of coffee
Weakness/Dislikes: not knowing what to do, physical contact, the taste of coffee
Natural enemies: Eve Wednesday, Nanako Tsuchimikado

Background

Alyona is the young head of the Chyorny family of Russian mages. The previous head was her grandfather and her father was passed over in her favor.

To the Chyorny, because they don't actually have anything notable except for the following one, the most important thing is their special magic trait. However, father had not inherited, so he was ignored in favor of his more gifted daughter. The only reason he was kept in the family even after Alyona's birth is to cover for her until her training is over.

She is currently attending the Clock Tower, under the faculty Modern Magecraft Theories of Lord El Melloi II. Although she is going pretty well academically, most other mages try to avoid her presence because of the way her Magical trait works, which while not actually dangerous can be pretty shameful for those on who it's used.

Personality

Alyona is a very polite girl, although she can come off a little cold. Because other mages will instinctively try not interacting with her, she also tends to avoid contact with people. When she does, everything is very mechanical and impersonal. She rarely takes any initiative and usually just do whatever those with more status tell her to do.

Her only real objective is to increase the influence of her family. While one would think Alyona would employ all the underhanded tricks she can to achieve that, the truth is that she is someone without the malice to come up with any of these kinds of ideas. She does everything legitimately because it hasn't occurred to her that there are any other options.

Secretly to everyone, all Alyone really wants is to be praised. She fears to end up like her father, just a tool kept around for convenience and not allowed freedom. In a sense, she gave up independence in fear others would take it away from her.

Abilities

Chyorny's Family Magical Trait

Mystic Eyes of Mirror Image

The Magical trait of the Chyorny family. A type of rare mystic eye, of which Alyona's is a particularly strong exemplar. They work by the principle of "taking outside information and reflecting it inwards" allowing the user to fully understand spells and rituals without the need for previous study or even having seen them before, although that doesn't mean she can automatically reproduce them.

However, this knowledge is only temporary and will dissipate a few minutes after exposure has ended. Alyona can use a few memory tricks to maintain access to a spell for longer periods of time, but since her memorization abilities are naturally limited, only one or two can be kept at a time and they must be discarded if Alyona wants to use new ones.

Because Mystery is such an important thing to Magecraft, Magi will naturally have an aversion to outsiders learning of their secrets. It is for this reason that most will avoid exposing their Crafts to Alyona or even interacting with her at all.

Items

Multi Purpose Eidetic Material

Memory Strand

A mystic code developed by Alyona herself to complement her Mystic eyes. They take the shape of black ribbons of a seemingly strange material but are actually made from synthetic Crystals cultivated from her own blood.

These strands have a naturally blank state where they lack any sort of inherent property, meaning they can act like Memory fluid material and transit between solid or liquid, altering their shapes to any necessary. Furthermore, they are connected to Alyona's internal mental scape allowing her to store information into them, like a spell them just observed with her Mystic Eyes and granting them specific properties related to it.

Each thread takes around nine to ten days to be made, and they can be stored indefinitely while in their blank state. However, once information is put into them, they will only last for up to 14 hours before dissolving under the stress. Also, once the information is introduced into the ribbon, it cannot be removed or replaced, locking it into the non-blank state.

[zikari8]

Re: Alyona Chyorny

I think her Mystic Eyes are an interesting concept and how her mystic code complements them are quite nice. I think there's a lot of room to explore with it and would love to see you do so.

For example, I would be pretty interested in seeing what her family's actual magic path and magecraft are outside the mystic eyes and how the eyes might interact with their thaumaturgy. Other interesting things would be how the Association as a whole treats the family instead of just magi personally. Are they considered an overall threat to Mystery or are the limits of their ability large enough that they aren't worth too much concern? Do their abilities improve or limit their social standing in the association? Is she in the Modern Magecraft Theories class because her family's relatively young or because her magecraft is very modern, or just a matter of familial circumstance? Could they potentially be a target for sealing designation?

Overall, p good, would love to see more.

[ScarfDyedShadow]

"Fundamentally, I would consider myself an optimist. After all, there are many who would rage against such a duty. After all, there are many who would despair at such a duty. Yet, all I can feel is joy. All I can feel is contentment. A certain scripture posits that humans are superior to angels, because humans can maintain their goodness even knowing of evil, whereas angels only know of good. I disagree. The purity of angels, the superiority of angels, is exactly why humans are inferior and should aspire towards them. After all, there surely can be no greater happiness than absolute belief in your meaning."

Name: Izaket Varaev
Title: Reaper of Souls
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 62 kg
Birthplace: Chechnya

Appearance:
A slender young girl with an air of detachment and an unconventional fashion sense. Her rose quartz gaze ever seems distant, and her cascades of silver white hair carelessly trail behind her. She is never bereft of a woolly scarf wrapped around her neck, and fingerless gloves that seem more suited to a battlefield than a Workshop. As for the rest of her attire, well, it's virtually always rather casual and feminine. Blouses and mini skirts are certainly on the agenda. Her homeland has left her with a fondness for several layers. Warm stockings are a must, and it'd be remiss of her to leave them without a fun looking pattern. Tacky hair decorations? Of absolute importance.

Personality
Forte: Sudoku, budgeting
Likes: Shopping, odd numbers, puzzles
Weaknesses: Socializing
Dislikes: Even numbers
Natural Talents: Simplifying complexities
Natural Enemy: Old Man of the Mountain

Magical Attributes
Origin: Reduction
Elemental Alignment: Fire

Magic Circuits
Circuit Quantity: C
Circuit Quality: C
Circuit Composition: Abnormal

Character

A self described optimist with a penchant for staring blankly into the distance. Izaket is not very talkative at all, but not especially by choice. In fact, she's quite the champ at talking out loud to herself, whimsically musing and philosophizing about any number of topics. Izaket has quite the skill for reducing complex topics down to their fundamentals, and of course her varying thoughts on many a subject are always couched in optimism. There is but one obstacle to her extending her cheerful monologue to the rest of the world, and that would happen to be her crippling social anxiety. Such skills as maintaining eye contact and figuring out the correct response to someone to are rather difficult to obtain after all, or so she internally proclaims while staring at the ground and hoping whoever is talking to her will go away. Though, of course, she's quite optimistic. She'll definitely get the hang of it someday... it's just something of a low priority for her at the moment. That's it. That's all.

All that said, if she is somehow able to get over her nervousness and complete and utter lack of social experience... well, there are yet further barriers to her relating to people. Her interests are far more mundane than magus; she rather enjoys solving math puzzles and going clothes shopping... though she is rather frugal on such ventures. Perhaps her preference for the bargain bin is the reason for her eccentric clothing. Though, the experience is of import as well. Hitting up all sorts of different clothing stores is a delight, like checking items off a list. And, of course, she'll talk at length about any such "find", once more couching it in terms more cheerful than it deserves.

Still, such diversions certainly aren't befitting of a magus's dignity.

And if her social anxiety and her interests don't keep people at bay, then other yet another aspect of her psyche does. Perhaps it is a necessary consequence of her Origin, or something she developed by coincidence, but she has quite the acute arithomania. Counting, counting, counting... that distant gaze of hers is always counting. The number of clothes on her person, the number of hair decorations she has, the number of people around her, the number of flies on a corpse. The numbers on a price tag, the numbers on a digital clock, the number of minutes that have elapsed since a conversation has elapsed. Even if she has no intention of it, she reduces the world around her to numbers. And if she doesn't like what those numbers are (in particular, she has quite the fondness for odd numbers and quite the disdain for even numbers), it is of great distress to her.

That shy tentative smile of hers collapses into an anguished grimace, and those rose quartz hues screw shut. Her body seems to ache all over, and it is all she can do to keep from digging her nails into her hand. She certainly could ask for these numbers to be corrected or moved... or even enact such changes herself. But, of course, she can barely talk to a stranger, much less make requests of them... and perhaps she doesn't have the self worth to ask regardless.

And thus, does her detachment from the world around her yet find more purchase.

Yet, what if someone were to look past all of it? What if some hypothetical person were to overlook all those oh so troublesome parts of her personality? Her weakness in something as simple as talking as other people, her baseness in her eccentric behavior, and her piteous inability to stop counting? They would find someone seemingly far warmer and more compassionate than most magi, someone who gladly rewards the kindness shown to her. Detachment is the same as loneliness after all... and while she is an optimist who finds solace in her role, Izaket is deeply lonely in her own way. To those who tolerate her, to those who want to be with her, she is fiercely loyal. She will without complaint expend her valuable time and effort to help them whenever possible, without asking for anything in return save their continued company.

Her own detachment and way of living means she doesn't mind at all if her erstwhile friends leave her; the self proclaimed optimist will simply move on. In that regard, she could be called something frighteningly pure. Yet, so long as you treat her with kindness and patience, she will reciprocate such tenfold. Of course, for someone as socially inept as her, this means she's easily rather easily manipulated. Someone who knows this side of her could very easily make her their pawn with false promises of friendship. But... she doesn't mind that at all. Even if she is to be used and discarded, her ever present optimism reassures her it's better than nothing at all. Still, for someone genuinely willing to tolerate or come to love her eccentricities, she is without a doubt genuinely one of the best friends one could ask for. There is but one slight catch.

Not even her friends are exempt from her

reduction

reaping.

Izaket Varaev is a clockwork angel that exists solely to

reduce

reap

lives. Without the slightest remorse, as casually as one would crush an insect, Izaket cheerfully kills and kills and kills. It would seem a contradiction to her socially awkward, optimistic, and loyal personality, yet it is something more fundamental to her than even breathing. Of course, human life is of no value to most magi. To take human lives for their goals is only natural. The human toll she accumulates is nothing out of the ordinary for many a magus. Yet, she differs in several key regards. Firstly, she attaches immense value to lives. Paradoxical though it may be, life is precious to her. The regard she holds for it is quite genuine... that clumsy warmth and kindness of hers is quite genuine. It is precisely because lives are so valuable to her that they must be ended by her own hand.

Her optimistic spin on it is quite simple, really. To value something is to in some way take responsibility for it... and she takes responsibility even for its end. The things that one loves must be dealt with personally. Secondly, for magi, the taking of lives is a mere means to an end. They find neither happiness nor sadness in the act of killing itself, merely in the results obtained from it. Such is not the case for Izaket. She loves shopping. She loves solving puzzles. She loves her friends. But there is nothing she loves more than ending lives. It is delight enough to make her dizzy with pleasure. She almost can't stand waiting to kill again.

Though, perhaps that is not quite accurate. Rather than finding absolute contentment in ending lives, she finds absolute contentment in fulfilling her

function

duty...

which happens to be ending lives.

The result, one supposes, is all that matters.

Without discrimination and without judgement, she

reduces

reaps

lives. Male or female, young or old, close friend or stranger, believer or heretic, sinner or saint... she kills with mechanical perfection. All lives are of equal value. That is her fundamental conceit. The only guideline that dictates her murdering is convenience. Is this a death that can be hidden? Is this a death that can be executed quickly? Is this a death she can get away with? Self preservation comes first, until it is clear her duty is at an end. Even if she doesn't kill someone today, she can kill someone tomorrow so long as she remains alive. Those are the only criteria necessary. If it would be within the realm of possibility to kill even her best friend, she would do so in a heartbeat. Matters of good and evil are meaningless to her. Her detachment is not something so simple as mere social anxiety and an obsession with numbers... she sets herself apart from the whole of humanity. Certainly, she is not unfamiliar with morals. Certainly, she is not unfamiliar with sin. She is well aware of what constitutes acts of good and evil. As one of Allah's people, she does her utmost to abide by the moral guidelines set down in her religion, save for when it comes to the ending of lives.

Yet, when it comes to other people... she is incapable of judgement or discrimination. To begin with, she was not permitted such a capacity. The sins committed by other people against other people are of no concern to her. The kindness given from other people to other people is of no concern to her. It is not permitted to her to judge such things. That is not her role, and that is not her domain. If her friend is hurt by someone, she will be sad that her friend is suffering. Yet, she will hold not the slightest emotion towards the act of hurting itself. She will not hold the slightest resentment towards the person who hurt her friend. Her only capacity is to gauge direct interference towards her, whether it be kindness or cruelty. Yet, while it could be said she likes kindness directed towards her and dislikes cruelty directed towards her... in the end, she is easily able to move on.

Even if she is an imperfect

automaton

angel

, even if she is so terribly lonely and is glad for companionship... her

function

duty

stands above all.

At least... that is what she does her utmost to believe and live by.

"Fundamentally, I would consider myself an optimist. After all, who else but an optimist could find joy even in killing the ones they love? It would be terribly sad and terribly lonely to be without them... and I would certainly miss them... but in killing them, I would find joy to outweigh all of that. And... that's for the best, isn't it? It's better to be happy than to be sad, isn't it? Yes... that surely is the case."

Biography

The Varaev clan of magi can trace its beginnings to the early 1800s, to a man named Vakha Varaev. He was a simple man from an unremarkable family, with only one thing that set him apart from his fellow villagers in Chechen-aul. He possessed a small amount of magic circuits, the first in his family to do so. Vakha was a humble man with no greater ambition than protecting his family and livelihood, and he merely used this surely God given blessing to learn a meager handful of helpful spells from the village's local mystic.

When the Russians invaded the Caucasus Mountains in order to annex them, Vakha joined his people in standing up against them, becoming a soldier for the Caucasian Imamate. In the bloody Murid War that followed, the farmer with a kind heart was forced to witness countless lives being lost, many of them by his own hand. The rudimentary magecraft he had learned merely to protect his loved ones ensured he survived longer and killed more than his fellow soldiers, after all.

Vakha had once been a hearty and cheerful man, but the despair of war ate away at him. He had been a devout man, but now he began to question his long held beliefs. What was the meaning of all this senseless death? Where was the hope in the ending of lives? How could there be Paradise after this?

It was on the day that Vakha returned home to his village to find it sacked that he caught a glimpse of the answer he sought.

As he wept over the bodies of his neighbors and friends, brothers and sisters, wives and children... in the corner of his eye, he saw something.

Perhaps it was revelation. Perhaps it was hallucination. Perhaps it was nothing more than wishful thinking distorted of grief.

Yet what he saw regardless were seemingly angels of death, more beautiful than anything he had ever witnessed, bear the souls of his family away into the sky.

For the briefest of moments, the agony in his soul was soothed.

That was the moment his journey, the journey of what would become a clan of mages, began.

Vakha had found solace in seeing the angels, in so much as glimpsing for the merest moment part of God's plan. He had found hope in the end of life, found peace even after everything had been taken from him. But he couldn't merely leave it at that. He wanted to glimpse this hope again. He wanted to somehow share it with all those who suffered the pain of losing loved ones, to convey to those who had been like him the peace he had felt at witnessing the greater meaning of it all.

And if he could not do it, then his descendants surely would be able to.

Vakha spent the remainder of his life questing in search of a means to witness again the path of the angels, the journey that he believed all souls would eventually take. To witness it as a soul would require merely ending his life, but what he sought was to witness it as a human... or, perhaps, as an angel of death itself.

He found that means in a single black feather, one he found on the bloodiest battlefield on Earth, at great risk and cost to himself.

A single feather, perhaps, from Azrael, the archangel of death himself.

Islamic angels were made out of light, but it was not unheard of in stories for them to take humanoid form when visiting the human world. And certainly, the Qur'an itself attested to their having wings. Whether it was from Azrael or one of his attendants... it was surely what Vakha had sought.

Though Vakha passed away shortly after his discovery, the single black feather would become the core for what would be the Varaev Magic Crest.

Vakha's great hope as he passed away was that his descendants would be able to see what he had seen, to find peace with the seemingly senseless death of the world around them as he had, and to perhaps share that beauty with the rest of the world.

His children, weak as magi and surrounded on all sides by bloody conflict as the Russian subjugation of the Caucasus continued, invited proper magi into the family. They used the potency of what would become their crest as leverage, and over successive generations, their ability as mages grew.

And so too did their ethos as mages.

The proper magi who entered the family, and in time their own children, scoffed at the founder's simple sentimental dream. Certainly, there was potential in its base concept. In Islamic theology, the angels of death alone were responsible for carrying the souls of the deceased to the afterlife. They alone could travel this path from the human world to the world beyond. Without the capacity to deviate or disobey, they ceaselessly ferried souls. A fundamental conceit of magi, of their understanding of the world, was that all souls went to Akasha, to the Root. Then, was it not possible that the very paths these angels made as they reaped the souls of the living could serve as paths to the Root as well? If they could deceive the World into believing they were the messengers of souls, if they could emulate an angel of death so closely as to be recognized as one, then they could gain access to the paths the angels traveled.

If the Varaevs were to be magi, if they were to fulfill the promise and potential of this Crest, there was no room for their founder's sentiment.

And so they killed.

They killed and killed and killed and killed, seeking to forge themselves into pseudo angels of death.

It was easy enough to do so amidst the Russian subjugation of Chechnya; people died in such numbers that a few hundred more would go without the slightest notice. Still, Vakha's sentiment lingered among a number of his descendants. Some would come to leave the family that had become nothing more than a charnel house, that had deviated so greatly from the dreams of the man who had founded it.

Those that remained grew ever more determined to eliminate such weakness from their ranks.

If they were to achieve their goal, they needed to produce an unparalleled killer.

And thus when Izaket was born, the declining clan saw its last chance to steer itself back on track.

From the time she was old enough to walk, she was made to kill. The chubby hands of a toddler were guided to end the lives of men. Corpses were her only constant companions. Brainwashing and every other means available to create mental associations was readily and unhesitatingly used to associate killing with joy, to associate killing with contentment. Yet, even that much was not nearly enough for her parents. To be a true angel of death, an instrument of God that was only capable of obeying without deviation, there could not be the slightest hesitancy in killing any human on Earth. There could not be the slightest discrimination between lives.

Izaket was permitted to attend an elementary school as a normal student, and despite her complete and utter lack of proper human interaction beforehand, even an eccentric like her was able to find and make friends.

And then she was made to kill each and every one of them.

Izaket had not yet lost most of her humanity, most of her childishness, despite the living hell that had been her life up to this point. She begged for the lives of her friends. She wept as she never had before.

But all of that collapsed under the contradiction of her feeling happiness as she killed them.

Ah, so that's how it is.

I never had the capacity to escape my duty to begin with.

They were my friends, so... wouldn't they want me to be happy?

This is for the best. This is for the best. This is for the best. This is for the best.

Unable to bear the contradiction, unable to bear her guilt, Izaket herself completed her final transformation into an imperfect

automaton

angel

.

The drug of

denial

optimism

kept her from breaking apart completely.

Over the course of the following years, Izaket became a splendid killer.

On her eighteenth birthday, she was officially recognized as the head.

Izaket tilted her head at her parents.

Mother, Father, now that the Magic Crest is fully passed onto me, is there anything else you're able to teach me?

Naturally, Izaket killed both of them when they answered in the negative.

It was odd that they hadn't expected it.

After all, it was them who had ensured she could kill anyone without discrimination.

And with their Workshop in Grozny well hidden with Bounded Fields, nobody would ever be able to find the bodies.

She wasn't motivated by hatred.

After all... such a thing was not permitted to her.

An

automaton

angel

did not deviate or disobey.

That surety of purpose was surely why they were beautiful.

After burying her parents, Izaket traveled to London and enrolled in the Clock Tower under the

Eulyphis

Faculty of Spiritual Evocation,

taking great care not to demonstrate the true extent of her abilities. Her social awkwardness and her restraint meant she went more or less unnoticed, which left her rather lonely... but that definitely suited her just fine.

All that was necessary was to fulfill her

function

duty.

Yes... that is what the self proclaimed optimist told herself.

Magecraft Related Abilities

Fundamentally, Izaket is something of a mediocre magus. After all, her lineage is a mere two centuries old, her circuits fairly average both in quantity and quality. Certainly, she does make the best of her inherent limited potential. Both her Origin and her Elemental Affinity of Fire render themselves thoroughly useful to efficient usage and consumption of her magical energy. Izaket has a knack for finding the path of least resistance, breaking down even complex thaumaturgy into simple components that she can execute with ease. She both consciously and unconsciously operates to reduce consumption and reduce time wasted as much as possible. Though the end result is nigh identical, rather than being in a fuel efficient car that can travel far on comparatively little fuel, it could be said that she performs the driving itself in a way that requires less fuel.

Of course, such single minded focus does come at a cost. In executing her individual maneuvers with perfection, she fails to consider the larger picture. Putting fulfilling her duty and attaining results above all other considerations, she tends to burn through her reserves of magical energy and exhaust her circuits fairly quickly. While to be lethally efficient in a quick burst lends itself well to her purpose, it leaves her thoroughly vulnerable afterwards, a notion often forgotten amidst her passionate optimism of the moment. Even if she can use her limited potential well in the short term, that doesn't make it any less limited. Reduced consumption isn't equivalent to no consumption at all.

Compounding her inherit deficits, the thaumaturgy both stored on her Crest and personally taught to her is thoroughly narrow in scope. If it is not directly applicable to her family's foundation in Islamic eschatology or her function as a reaper, she basically doesn't know it. She is wholly ignorant of commonplace magical knowledge, to the point she'd barely be able to tell you what a dragon is and wouldn't remotely be able to decipher a grimoire. Even such fundamentals as Bounded Fields she can only shoddily create. Reinforcement is the only basic she possesses above average skill in; her self Reinforcement is significant in its physical power and her reduction allows for it to be used in rapid succession.

The only faculty of mysticism she could be said to have any real knowledge in is Spiritual Evocation, though her abilities are limited even there as well. Izaket generally only works with the spirits of those she has killed, leaving her deliberately bereft of ability in the fields of summoning and spiritual surgery. She does however have reasonable ability in banishing and cleansing wandering spirits and souls, in order to properly allow them to reach the afterlife. Her thaumaturgy in that regard is rooted in her foundation of Islamic eschatology and is brutally efficient, not dissimilar in methodology to that of the Church's Executors.

Signature Spells

Reaper Function

Angelic Form

Rather than simply a user of magecraft, Izaket is herself a vessel for magecraft, the living embodiment of the Varaev's thaumaturgy and aspirations. From her birth, numerous measures were taken to shape her body to take up the Varaev Magic Crest and draw out its full potential. While not to the extent that she has fully ceased functioning as an organism or as a human being, the Varaev Magic Crest and the cellular manipulation used to adapt her to it have tentatively taken her a step into the realm of death. Her body is ice cold to the touch, to the extent it would register thermally only as slightly above a corpse in heat, and her heartbeat is faint enough so as to be difficult to detect. She can function equivalently to a typical human being on only an hour of sleep a day, and she likewise can go without food and drink for a number of days longer than a typical human. Even without activating her circuits, she is capable of going well beyond normal human limits of fatigue in performing physical activity.

While there is for the most part little atypical about the operation of her magic circuits, they have been predisposed to thaumaturgy with a death attribute and struggle with thaumaturgy of a life affinity. Were it not for her affinity at reducing energy consumption and making use of her limited magical energy efficiently, her circuits would likewise struggle with processing her od properly. This also renders her somewhat resistant to the external imposition of death and thaumaturgy involving it, as her circuits are already intimately familiar with death. In this regard it is thoroughly difficult to attack her spiritually, allowing her to exorcise with little fear.

However, her body comes at a price. Her natural healing processes are considerably weakened; any wounds or injuries she receives will take considerably longer to heal, and will have far more impact on her health. If she pushes herself too hard and uses up too much of her considerably limited life force, she can very easily wind up in a vulnerable near death coma. Finally, her lifespan has considerably decreased. She is unlikely to live past her twenties.

Munkar and Nakir

Three Questions for the Dead

A methodology of spiritual evocation stored in Izaket's Crest but actualized via her body without need for incantation.

In Islamic eschatology, Munkar and Nakir, the Denied and the Denier, are two angels involved in the process of death. It is believed that after a person dies, their soul lingers within the grave. Once their funeral and burial are concluded, the soul is propped upright by the angels and asked three questions concerning their Islamic faith. If they answer incorrectly, they are beaten by the angels until Allah permits them to stop, or if the day is Friday. As a digression, the origins of Munkar and Nakir are thought to predate the Islamic faith, their roots in the Mesopotamian god Nergal. In this regard, their Conceptual Power is both stronger and more malleable than the other angels in Islamic mysticism, allowing Izaket to easily embody and modify their purpose.

Merely by setting her tongue ablaze to evoke Munkar and Nakir, something she can do with ease and without danger due to her affinities, Izaket is naturally able to perform an evocation of the

leftover thoughts

apparition

of a corpse, most easily one she created. Upon a successful evocation, Izaket is able to ask the apparition three questions. As a modification from the original purpose of the angels, the three questions can be about anything, not just the soul's faith. The apparition is left no choice but to answer using the records stored within it, though it cannot be compelled beyond this. This permits Izaket to perfectly interrogate someone she has killed, with clarity that would typically be reserved for higher level rituals of spiritual evocation well beyond her skill set and capacity.

Nāshiṭāt

Gentle Apoptosis

A natural trait of Izaket's death imbued body, normally inactive only because Izaket is able to deny the flow of magical energy to actualize it until she consciously desires to use it. The Nāshiṭāt are one of the two classes of death angels subordinate to Azrael in Islamic eschatology, responsible for reaping the souls of the dead. The Nāshiṭāt are called upon to take lives gently as opposed to violently, guiding humans towards a peaceful and natural death. Izaket's embodiment of their nature is used as a means to enact gentle death upon others via apoptosis. Apoptosis is programmed cell death, the highly regulated and controlled progress of cell death that brings about a natural end to all life. The name of Nāshiṭāt is a natural fit to render unto living cells the fate preordained for them since their birth. Once Izaket permits the unrestricted normal flow of her magical energy, her entire body becomes a means to enact apoptosis. Any cells that come into contact with her flesh begin forcibly undergo apoptosis, resulting in atrophy. The atrophy weakens and eventually kills the muscle in the affected area, and unless the point of contact is severed, the apoptosis will slowly begin to spread all throughout the body like a slowly consuming flame. Simply by touching one's head with her hand, she is capable of rendering a loss of consciousness within a matter of minutes.

Nāzi'āt

Forceful Necrosis

When Izaket not only permits the normal flow of her magical energy but actively burns away her life force to bolster it, her gentle apoptosis becomes something far deadlier. The Nāzi'āt are one of the two classes of death angels subordinate to Azrael in Islamic eschatology, responsible for reaping the souls of the dead. The Nāzi'āt are called upon to take lives forcefully as opposed to gently, violently killing those who have been deemed deserving of such punishment. Izaket's angelic embodimennt of their nature is used as a means to enact forceful death upon others via necrosis. Necrosis is traumatic cell death, the unnatural and premature death of cells long before their time as the result of external injury. The name of Nāzi'āt is a natural fit to render unto living cells the cruel fate that so happened to befall them. When Izaket begins to actively consume her magical energy to fuel her body, it becomes something antithetical to life. Cells that come into contact with her flesh in this state forcibly undergo necrosis. This leads to rapid decomposition of the affected area and its tissue, something far less reversible and recoverable from than apoptosis. Unlike the natural cellular function of apoptosis, this necrosis does not spread beyond the point of contact, and Izaket cannot maintain her body to induce necrosis for very long. Even so, but a single touch of necrosis to the right area can kill.

Azra'il

Bearer of Souls

The final and most inhuman aspect of Izaket's existence as a vessel modeled by thaumaturgy to imitate an angel of death. It is something that would not be possible without the growth and development of the Varaev Crest, what lies at its core, and its adaptation to her body. Only when she fulfills her duty, purpose, and function as a reaper of souls is she able to embody the nature of Azra'il. Azra'il, Malik Al-Mawt, the archangel of death in Islamic eschatology. It is he who reigns over death yet at the same time is wholly obedient to Allah. Without deviation, without disobedience, and with the most profound reverence, he reaps only the souls his Lord requests him to. Time and time again, his pitch black wings have borne the burden of a thousand thousand souls, guiding them to where they ultimately belong. It is he that Izaket aspires to in all regards. Her very body aspiring to emulate his could be called culmination of her devotion, and the closest attempt to the dream of the Varaev clan yet.

Her Magic Crest in conjunction with her body possesses the unique trait of being able to

bear

harvest

the soul of a deceased human. When Izaket has killed someone, though its true realization is outside of her capabilities, it is her sacred purpose to carry their soul to the afterlife. Her body naturally functions to take up the soul of the dead and store it within her Magic Crest. The Magic Crest processes and utilizes the energy of the soul in order to fulfill its original identity and purpose. Shining black wings extend outwards from the Magic Crest in Izaket's back, principally composed of the energy of the soul that it at the same time bears, anchored by Izaket's own body and life force. These wings act as a natural extension of Izaket's body, and she is able to freely control them as she pleases. They are capable of powered flight, and also considerably aid her maneuverability and agility on a smaller scale. Naturally, they also embody her gentle apoptosis, and are capable of enacting it when they come into contact with flesh.

She is only capable of maintaining her magically created wings for a short time before they dissipate, as her grasp on the soul she bears is finite. Though the soul inevitably leaves her Magic Crest, a portion of it is processed and left behind in order to bolster and maintain her life force. Without this function, it is likely she would have already passed on from the toll maintaining her body takes. She lives in order to kill, and kills in order to live. While this aspect of her body functions best with a soul she herself has reaped, she is capable of a lesser deployment with the spiritual energy of any freshly deceased body. And even without a soul to bear, she is capable of temporary actualization of her wings by burning through her od and the traces of souls past within it, though this will leave her thoroughly exhausted and in the worst case scenario at risk of death.

While as a step towards reaching the Root it is significant, in effect it is somewhat frivolous. Yet, that clumsiness, that

denial

optimism

that reaches towards the sky and creates something beautiful out of death...

It is, just this once, the

dream

freedom

of Izaket the human, rather than the

function

duty

of Izaket the

automaton

angel

.

Mystic Codes

None to speak of. Izaket has fundamentally rejected the notion of killing with anything other than her body and magecraft. A true angel of death must itself be a weapon.

Familiars

None to speak of. Izaket has fundamentally rejected the notion of making use of other lifeforms to end life; she must in of herself by herself be a complete angel of death.

Non-Magecraft Abilities

Similarly to her deficient knowledge of thaumaturgy that isn't directly relevant to her purpose of reaping lives, there is little that Izaket has ability in that isn't pertinent to killing. She has formally trained herself in martial arts in order to hone herself into a living weapon, both in order to kill and to defend herself and her purpose. Because little of the thaumaturgy she uses is useful at range, she has thoroughly drilled ability in close quarters combat into her body. While she's learned from multiple schools, it could be said her primary focus is a form of the Russian martial art of Systema sourced sloe to her home in Chechnya. She likewise actively practices parkour in order to navigate the urban environments where an abundance of human lives are found. Her physical adeptness and flexibility so atypical of magi could be said to be her greatest asset. Though she is not formally trained, she has proven reasonably capable of gathering information and appraising potential targets of her reaping, if primarily through clumsy and often risky experience.

While she does often lend it to her purpose, Izaket is generally skilled at mathematics, capable of doing even complex equations with relative ease due to a knack for simplifying them. This skill's practical application also comes through when it comes to calculating and budgeting, whether it be determining a risk assessment for pursuing a target or saving money on clothes. Her arithomania also means she's unmatched at keeping track of even the most incidental numbers, which at times can prove quite useful. She's also unmatched at sudoku as an incidental result.

Creator Remarks

Previously posted this for Monthly Make-A-Magus Contest, have made heavy revisions to the magecraft part and didn't want to necro the contest thread so I'll just leave a copy here, basically.

[the god of world-0]

Name: Hatei Urthekau
Alias: Dog Star Magician, Clock Tower's Number One Older Brother
Age: 23
Element: Average one
Origen: Family
Circuit Quality: C
Circuit Quantity: A
Circuit Composition: Square Shaped

Talents/Likes: Magecraft, Cooking, child caretaking
Weakness/Dislikes: Rude people, child harm, Loner types
Natural enemies: Elene Bianchi, Andrea Bianchi

Background

Hatei is a member of the esteemed Urthekau family of Egyptian magi. Although the family has only joined the association recently, their hundreds of years of history helped then secure a high status and good alliances from the get-go.

Because of the special trait of their family, the Urthekau don't limit themselves to a single offspring like most mage families but instead often have as many children as they can. Hateu himself is supposed to have seven siblings and a lot of other Cousins and relatives, but the only other people of his family who he has had contact with, beyond the family elder, is the uncle who raised him and the man's small daughter. He never even met his parents and is the first member to live permanently outside of the family's base in Cairo.

Although he was granted the honor of being the first Urthekau to frequent the Clock Tower, Hatei doesn't really know what purpose his family has for sending him there. However, he just does what he was told and continues his days in London, unaware of his family's dark secret.

Personality

Hatei is a Charismatic guy. His lively disposition and aura of reliability ended up giving him the fame of "substitute older brother" between the younger folk around the Clock Tower. He is a great cook, very good with children, and has an incredible charm that got him placed just below Lord El-Melloi II in the "man female students would like to sleep with" chart. He found the fact very funny.

Because of the way his Uncle raised him, Hatei has a strong sense of loyalty and places great value on family. However, his definition of family is "people who I can count with, and in turn, can count on me" meaning he could come to consider people with no blood relations as family.

He is also somewhat naive, easily falling for pranks. The fact that he finds it difficult to hold a grudge also contributed to him becoming the target of a certain mischievous Clock Tower student, with who he ended up becoming friends.

Abilities

Net of Familial Bond

Sodpet Sah

The special trait of the Urthekau, which allows its members to remotely connect their Magic Circuits, creating a vast network of Mana that is shared between the members of the family.

In essence, it gives the user access to a gigantic amount of Mana that can be used for any purpose, although it is limited to the Circuits of the user. Thankfully, in Hatei's case, his high number of circuits allow him to store big amounts of mana, although he needs to be careful to not overcharge their capacities and fry them.

Theoretically, it should also be possible to trade visual and auditory information for the purpose of communication, but for some reason, he was never taught that.

Great one of Magic

Weret Hekau

The specific brand of magecraft of the Urthekau, it is derived from the Heka arts of ancient Egypt.

It is a modified ritual that cannibalizes an artificial God, temporarily elevating the user to a euphoric state and allowing him to become a catalysis throughout which Mana can more easily flow. In essence, Hatei uses a combination of gestures, words, and color-coded items to cast a vast array of spells. His most utilized ones are as follow:

Desher Wedjet: an offensive fire-based spell that manifests a flaming serpent to attack. It is Hatei's most used spell, Cast simply by holding onto something red and pointing to a target.

Khesbed Anuket: a simple healing water-based spell that is effective in nullifying other magical effects. It is, however highly Mana costly. It is cast by placing something blue into the designated person's area of treatment.

Wadj Shu Aker: A combined Earth and wind-based spell, it creates a temporary sandstorm on a specific local. Useful for confusing an opponent, allowing either a surprise attack or a tactical retreat. Cast by touching the ground while holding something green.

Kem Bennu: Hatei's strongest spell, surrounds him with a radiant aura of power that enhances his physical capabilities well beyond what reinforcement magic is capable of, it also temporary shields him from the effect of other magecraft. Highly costly and very stressful to maintain, it cannot be safely used for more than 30 seconds. Cast by ingesting something black.

Items

Spiritual guide - Dog Star

Sophis

An artificial spirit contained in a golden cube that serves as Hatei's pseudo-familiar, helping him manage his borrowed Mana. It also provides him with small colorful threads of fabric that he can use to cast spells.

Sophis as its own simulated personality and is capable of human speech but does not appear to have actual emotions. She was gifted to Hatei by his uncle as a parting gift and her voice was specifically tuned to resemble that of his younger cousin.

[the god of world-0]

Name: Carys Gaerwen
Alias: Librarian of Lore, Book Fairy
Age: 20
Element: Wind, Fire
Origen: Sensitivity
Circuit quality: A
Circuit quantity: C
Circuit composition: Regular

Talents/Likes: reading, tea, silence
Weakness/Dislikes: noises, soda, being treated like a child
Natural enemies: Hatei Urthekau

Background

Carys is the current heir to the Welsh Gaerwen family of Magi and bibliothecaries who is part of the Clock Tower under the department of Lore. More specifically, they take care of the Library section, which houses hundreds of exotic Grimoires and Magical texts.

The lineage of the Gaerwen clan goes back hundreds of years, to a poet who's lover was a

Fairy Maiden

Leannan Sidhe

. Thanks to this, they inherited a number of Magic Traits from their Nature Spirit ancestor which they were very proud of, and which allowed them to get a decent status and good relations inside of the Magicians Association.

However, in more recent generations, those traits have been getting rarer and rarer, as fewer decedents inherit them. To try and prevent the complete loss of their lineage, a radical method: forcibly reawaken the dormant Mystery by infusing their newborns with a Magical Relic.
After several failed attempts, they finally found success in Carys. As a result, not only she possesses Magic Circuits of very high quality, but she also fully inherited their Magical trait. The only expenses were that her growth was stunted and she developed a sensory anomaly, but those side effects were considered negligent and she was accepted as the family heir.

Carys has a condition known as Synesthesia, a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in second sensory or cognitive pathways, such as seeing sounds or hearing tastes. Because of that, overexposure to loud noises can cause Carys to suffer sensory overload. This, combined with the fact that she is the jewel of the Gaerwen family, caused her to be isolated from others during her upbringing.

Personality

Carys has a very Anti-social attitude. At first, Growing up isolated from the brunt of the world, she was very curious about everything and eager to experience things herself. However, painful first experiences had a negative impact on her, causing Carys to retreat back to her safe haven and transforming her into a bitter loner.

She spends her day's coup up in the Library department, reading her days away in complete silence. Her attitude to most people who try to disturb her would be to shoo them away and then promptly ignore them. One would need to be very patient, and continue to visit her every day, to get her to at least acknowledge them. There is still a bit of the curious girl inside of her, although it is hard to see it.

She loves tea, as drinking it is a very pleasant experience to her, which she describes as "listening to the beautiful melody of a nightingale". In comparison, she describes the only time she drank soda as "Having your ears swapped with honking horns".

Abilities

Fairy Eyes

Gleam Sight

The Magical trait of the Gaerwen family that they inherited from their Nature Spirit ancestor. These are rare Mystic Eyes, which enables Carys to easily perceive and adapt to any information that can't be normally processed by the brain. They are normally dormant and must be activated by running Mana through the Circuits around them.

This power, combined with her Synesthesia which interprets this information, allows her to be completely conscient of the space around her, along with everything in it. This high degree of spatial awareness allows her to sense the intention of others and react seemingly before they even carry their actions like she has a sixth sense or precognitive abilities. She also possesses a degree of focus and accuracy that borders on superhuman.

However, continued use of these Mystic eyes is insanely taxing, not only on her Mana but also on her mind. The strain of receiving such an amount of information for long intervals of time can knock her out for a full weak, and even short periods of use can cause nosebleeds and other adverse effects.

The Book of Taliesin

Llyfr Taliesyn

Carys's personal style of magecraft, which is derivated from the school of her family. It works by harmonization between her Magic Circuits and the relic grimoire with which she was fused with.

The main way by which Carys casts spells is by singing. She uses the different vibrations of her voice to manipulate and mold the Mana in the air around her and generate different effects. Since the elements she is more attuned are Fire and Wind, it is easy to reproduce effects like moving objects around without touching them and even going so far as causing things to spontaneously combust, although such a radical feat would put a strain on her voice.

Since noise is necessary for her to cast her spells, if she can't properly speak her magecraft becomes unusable. Furthermore, because of her own condition, Carys must be careful with her tone and level of sound, as to not overwhelm her senses.

Familiar

Mana Regulator = Cat Familiar

Tim Tom

A familiar created the Gaerwen family to accompany Carys, he is a pseudo

fairy cat

Caith sith

made out of a sample of her own Magic Circuits. His main purpose is to help her deal with the disadvantages of her Magecraft by being directly connected to her flow of mana.

As such, should the need arise, he can shut down her Circuits to try and prevent any reversible damage. He is also capable of temporarily shutting off all of her senses, although that is considered an extreme measure only for dire situations. Outside of that, Tim Tom also acts as a normal familiar, helping Carys with tasks she can't or doesn't want to do and also keeping her company.

Strictly speaking, he is not a true Caith Sith, but an imitation made by modifying a regular cat into a false phantasmal beast. As such, he is lacking a little in intellect and, although he is capable of human speech, his vocabulary is somewhat limited.

[King of Padoru]

I've been recently toying with the idea of an imposter mage that actually doesn't actually use magecraft and is just extremely good at convincing others that his stuff actually works, something like Kaiki Deishuu from the Monogatari series (in fact, he's the inspiration for the character). Would that count as a valid mage or should I give him at least a bit of magical stuff?

[Skull]

I suppose it would depend on how far this chicanery would go, like is he just a Mr Satan character who just takes credit but is otherwise powerless or is his fakes actually doing something because "an imitation can surpass the real thing" shtick?

[King of Padoru]

I'd say he's more like a Mr Satan kind of character. Though he'd like to achieve the "fake > ideal" thing, his stuff doesn't really work, but he's so convincing that people fall for it anyway.

[Skull]

Well, I'm not a mod so I can't give any official advice but to me it sounds - whilst an entertaining idea, perhaps not right for this thread specifically.

[King of Padoru]

I thought so. Thanks, Skull.

[King of Padoru]

“What I sell may solve your problems. I don't do miracles, but I offer a temporary, hopefully definitive solution to what afflicts you and your surroundings. That's how the Placebo Man works. ”

Name: Császár Tevepokhal
Also known as: The Placebo Man, ‘Kurogiri Satsuki’ (fake name)
Gender: Male
Age: 30+
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 66 kg
Birthplace: Hungary
Likes: Easy money, coffee-flavored sweets, actors
Dislikes: Straightforwardness, transparence, being doubted
Talents: Deceit, fraud, scams, falsehood, and lies

Circuit quantity: D
Circuit quality: C
Circuit composition: Normal
Elemental affinity: Wind

Profile

The second child from a Hungarian family of mages with barely 150 years of antiquity. Following the standards of magical society, he wasn’t instructed in magecraft, and his old brother inherited the family’s Crest. Though destined to live a life as an average person, Császár secretly acquired basic knowledge on magecraft from his brother, and from time to time studied spellbooks and grimoires on his own. He didn’t do this because he wanted to become a proper mage, but out of mere curiosity. He just happened to have the chance to learn about something, so he tried to satisfy his thirst of knowledge.

During his mid-late teens, Császár moved out from his parents’ house to England, his brother having begun to study at the Clock Tower. Continuing to study magecraft in secret, he started to develop his own spells, and soon managed to find his way around the Clock Tower despite not being a student or an official mage. However, rumors of a mysterious figure sneaking into the library soon began to be spread around the mages, and security was increased. Not knowing it, Császár was caught red-handed trying to pry open the library’s Bounded Field with a crowbar. His family was immediately notified, and neglected their son. His brother couldn’t do anything to defend him, and asked him to leave England.

Without a place to stay nor a job to make a living of, Császár found himself at the bottom of society. Wandering through Europe’s slums, he occasionally encountered independent mages that lived off questionable activities, such as traffic of homunculi or production of drugs. Thanks to these encounters, Császár learned how to work in the black market of magical society, and soon received praises from the colleagues that hired him for his usage of magecraft to sell any sort of product, sometimes forcing mages who didn’t want to be involved with the black market by turning them into his customers through his personal magecraft.

Over time, Császár had earned enough money to create an independent business of his own. Thanks to his basic yet extensive knowledge of magecraft and his ability to practically sell anything to anyone, he soon became a renowned con artist who used normal materials to create counterfeits of magical items and later sold them to both mages and normal people alike, claiming that they worked despite lacking any magical properties. His name reached the ears of the Mage’s Association, which naturally deemed him as a criminal. Since the capture order came out, Császár was forced to travel constantly, using stolen credentials and giving fake names to avoid being found by any envoy of the Association. This has proven to work against him once, when he accidentally used the name of Kurogiri Satsuki, a mage with a Sealing Designation. Discovered by a mage who thought to be following Kurogiri’s tracks, Császár somehow managed to escape by using his magecraft, but this only worsened things for him, as the enemy mage reported to have found ‘a mage that used his words to control others’. Though the report wasn’t enough proof of Császár being the famous God Word, it did include evidence of him using magecraft in public and attempting to reveal Mystery to the masses, thus earning him a Sealing Designation.

Character

Contrary to his gloomy and apathetic appearance, Császár is a rather positive and good-hearted man. Once he opens his mouth to speak, people who judged him as untrustworthy based on his looks usually lower their guard, feeling guilty for their prejudices. Something like, “Ah, this person actually looks quite nice. Now I feel horrible for having thought he was a bad person”. This is a basic trick that works particularly well with marks of a simple or weak mind.

As a con artist, Császár has developed the oratory skills that any salesman worth their salt requires in order to sell their products to their customers. Having analyzed the circumstances surrounding his potential marks before contacting them, he knows which are their weak points and what chords to strike, enabling him to prepare his speech and arguments to assure that the business proceeds smoothly. Thanks to this, he has become not only a good orator, but also a liar that lies as easily as he breathes.

His modus operandi consists in taking advantage of poor families. A family with money can always solve their problems by paying a doctor or a counselor, but those without money can’t do that so easily, so they tend to be more desperate. If the family is superstitious, business comes out more smoothly, since they will rely more on unconventional means like ‘magic’ or ‘a miracle’. That’s why Császár makes of the poor his main target, though he never discards the idea of targeting a bigger fish. He doesn’t see this as evil, since he always makes sure to inform the customers that his products may not work as intended, and the potential troubles that could appear on the buyer’s surroundings are derived only from their idiocy to trust him.

Outside business Császár must be careful to avoid standing out. Despite being good at lying and convincing others, he’s still a wanted criminal with a Sealing Designation, so there are times when he must keep a low profile. Even so, one can’t be always cowering in fear like a kitty. Sometimes one must steal other person’s credentials and relax from the stress of running away and hiding at a 5-star hotel’s spa. A good meal at the most luxurious restaurant in town isn’t a bad plan either.

Regarding his likes and dislikes, as it’d be fitting for a man who makes a living of deceiving others, Császár is fond of things that aren’t what they appear to be, and dislikes honesty and doubts. Not only he admires the irony of sweets with the bitter flavor of coffee, he’s an avid cinemaphile as well. No matter how realistic the plot, at the end of the day a good movie depends on a good acting, and acting is a form of deceit that the audience willingly accepts. Out of love for the art, Császár’s collection of movies is quite vast. Needless to say, all the movies have been pirated.

Non-magical abilities

Suggestion: Not illusions, not hypnosis. Just suggesting. Just convincing others to do something they didn’t think of, like believing a blatant lie. There is nothing magical about it, even a complete amateur could do it if they put some thought into it, and even a complete amateur could see through it if they paid some attention. But someone gifted with words can use their talent to deceive even people that know of it.

The key for a successful suggestion is ‘telling a lie so convincing that the speaker themselves believes it’. That’s Scams 101. If you’re not convinced about what you yourself are saying, people will never fall for your lies. Császár has refined this skill of his throughout the years simply so he could keep deceiving his customers, and has done so to the point that he lies as easily as he speaks. He weaves his web by intertwining truth and lies in such a way that distinguishing them is almost impossible, and so is refuting his arguments.

Magecraft

Placebo Talk: A variant of hypnosis that doesn’t require any sign or gesture to trigger. It is actually the result of applying magecraft to the vocal cords, and thus it would be more accurate to describe it as a type of sound-based magecraft than as hypnotism. Császár barely needs to clear his throat to activate it, thus amplifying the “weight” of his words to the point that the brain of the listeners can’t process a response that goes against them. Even if he’s telling a blatant lie, as long as he speaks with this spell, everyone will be convinced that what he says is true.

This spell is generally used as a trump card for dealing with customers that are hard to convince through conventional means, but it has some potential usability in battle. Császár can allow a fatigued ally to continue fighting just by saying they are not tired enough, or provoke a distraction by announcing aloud the presence or absence of something. However, this magecraft won’t have any effect if he says something that is literally impossible. He may say a wound doesn’t hurt to suppress the pain, but it would be useless to say that a detached limb is still there, or that someone at the brink of death still has the power to fight. Another demerit of this magecraft is that extended use may strain the vocal cords and potentially cause severe damage.

“Placebo” refers to a medicine that a patient takes believing it will heal them despite it actually doing nothing. Making customers believe that he could solve their problems with worthless knick-knacks, Császár was once compared to a placebo by a friend. Since then, that word has been stuck to the name of his magecraft.

Items

Counterfeits: Non-magical products that are sold as magical nevertheless. There is a wide variety of articles, from potions to amulets and even remains of Phantasmals, but of course none of them are genuine, and their effects are null. Every single of them has been personally crafted by Császár himself or by some of his acquaintances with normal materials that have no magical value, and then sold as ‘miraculous magic’ to gullible customers.

Payments and rewards: Császár’s business has a strong ‘no magecraft’ policy, and he himself doesn’t like using his spells unless strictly necessary, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any magical item at all. From time to time, some of the mages that hired him as an assistant or became his mark paid him with ancient relics, family jewels, and the occasional hydra baby instead of with cash. Over time, his collection has grown considerably, but he doesn’t really have much use for these objects. In counted occasions, he has used them on experiments to find out the minimal amount of magecraft required for his products to become truly magical, but he hasn’t obtained any acceptable results for the time being.
Leaving all that aside, Császár admits he wouldn’t mind getting his hands on some Volumen Hydrargyrum to protect himself when he’s alone.

Cough drops: Just a little metallic box with honey-flavored candy. Since both his job and his magecraft require speaking a lot, he needs it to avoid having a sore throat at the end of the day.

The main idea has experimented some changes as I was developing it, but at the end of the day he's still a "convincing scammer". I like to think that his magecraft isn't very OP despite it being mistaken with Unified Language by a (quite confused) mage, and that the encounter that caused this confusion was just a funny but unfortunate incident.

[Hex]

This is first time I am making a mage so I want peoples feedback on my ideas so far. The idea is a mage who is from an old Italian family that uses diseases and plagues as vectors as curses. The goal of the family is to recreate the Curses of Gods. In many cultures one way gods showed displeasure was through a divine plague, the family wants to make a plague that would match those divine plagues in strength. I am thinking of giving them a sorcery trait that allows them to draw power form disease they infect themselves with, so if the infect themselves with a plague that reaches the strength of a divine plague they could maybe reach a divine power. Some mystic tools I am thinking of would be a plague doctors mask, plague blankets, and a book of plagues. So any feedback for this idea?