Monthly Make-A-Magus Contest

[Bird of Hermes]

Back from holiday so scores and reviews are a go.

3 Points - Lucas Adlbert
2 Points - Henry Rong
1 Point - Alain Sofia Tokarim

Words about things

Koko - I really like the magecraft behind it, It's a good take on Heavy Weathers ability and the workings of the spell in particular are are very good. However she doesn't stand out much as a character and is rather dull, what I'd like to see ideally is a scenario for that to grow and develop further so we can discover more about her (fanfic or a quest would work well) which is unfortunately what held her back for me.

Lucus - A great character and an excellent ability. Fits into the Nasuverse perfectly IMO and ultimately one I would really like to see more of.

Kit Scorza - Was originally the #2 slot. The effort shows quite clearly and well written in every sense. Unfortunetly almost everyone has heard of vodoo so it's not really 'unconventional' per-se. Unless you count the something falling out of the sky and crushing someone which I've already seen in a few D&D games of mine/friends.

Alain - Brief and hits the point hard. It's also very concise and a very clever magecraft as well. Props.

Merci - Not bad but doesn't particularly stand out. The abilities are a little disjointed (which my own sheet had as well in hindsight), that and combined with the personality and background of the character, it doesn't really click for me.

Henry Rong - Creative, funny and well written, Royd and Daneel have voiced all my opinions of the guy but more fluently. If you continue with Kaleido-Nope I'd enjoy it if he showed up as an NPC.

Ikuto - This is tied with Kit Scorza for the #4 slot. The background and magecraft are fantastic (a consistent theme which really is a strength of yours) but overshadow the individual greatly which make the mage himself less interesting than his families tale. This is what held the sheet back from a scoring perspective.

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Bird of Hermes - York Lancaster

The character and biography sections showed me a vague image of an almost-cliche-by-this-point "young, unexpectedly-talented magus from a family supposedly in decline". Then the magecraft section sent whatever expectations I had crashing to rock bottom. The base idea of "the mind recognizing illusions as reality" is great if not groundbreaking, but the individual list of spells looks like something out of Kamachi Kazuma's worst days rather than the Nasuverse. Nasuverse magi overspecialize; having a variety of overly different effects (even if they share the same foundation) suggests a rather unique mindset, which the earlier sections did not show me. How can she even conceive "an illusion of conceptual nothingness"? What kind of training do you do to achieve that? Has she attained a form of enlightenment?

As usual, I can see the cool idea that catalyzed this entry, but the execution I found disappointing. And why are the spells of a British magus in Japanese, anyway!? Chuunibyou!?

Also, "York Lancaster" is a terrible British name and you should be ashamed of yourself. Just because Nasuverse mages have ridiculous names does notmean you have to lower yourself to that point. I sure as hell hope that's supposed to be an alias. It would go well with the overwhelming chuuni aura around this whole character.

A tad blunt but very fair commentary. You're right as 'Great Idea, Disappointing Conclusion' does appear to be a trend with me and these things. I do have plans with this character though so hopefully some of the superficial flaws at least can be fixed in due time.

[You]

But, seriously, is there some new canon I'm not aware of that drives everyone to define "Circuit Composition" as "some sort of shape"?

No, it's always been "Normal" and "Unusuall" and stuff like that. Never a shape.

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gdi I can't source this, did I mix it up with her mirrored Mystic Eyes or sth

@You HELP LOL NEVER MIND IT WAS ON THIS VERY PAGE



Gotta be either Mahoyo or Case Files.

It's case files and it's not the shape of her circuits but how she flows her magical energy through her circuits.

[zikari8]

But, seriously, is there some new canon I'm not aware of that drives everyone to define "Circuit Composition" as "some sort of shape"?

It's just sort of a misconception that's spiraled out of control since a lot of people don't know what it means and the assumption that composition = shape is an easy one and then people see other people doing it and now we're here.

[Leftovers]

It's case files and it's not the shape of her circuits but how she flows her magical energy through her circuits.

She certainly seems to like that mechanism, considering the self-cursing puppet as well.

[You]

She certainly seems to like that mechanism, considering the self-cursing puppet as well.

It might have to do with how in CM it says her circuits are super precise. So other than having EX quality circuits, maybe she can pass magical energy through them in all sorts of fashion.

[You]

I'll tally up the results later today.

[You]

Well thank you for all the votes. Time to count up the votes.

- - - Updated - - -

Third Place is

Spoiler:

getting 8 points.

Second is

Spoiler:

with 10 points

And finally first is

Spoiler:

Lukas Adalbert

with whoping 25 points

Gratz, sunny, you get to go on the wall of fame on the OP and get to choose the prompt for January.
Until then everyone,

go make a Servant or something

[Sunny]

Read that on Super Milk Chan voice and giggles, eheh.

I am both surprised and confused but I’m glad people liked it. ^^; Thank you muchly. I’ve been prepping for a trip but I’ll do reviews of my own tonight while I’m at the airport.

In the meantime, time to start thinking up a theme for next month, panicking about tonight, and planning a Servant (in more or less that order).

[You]

Our winner sunny has decided that this shall be our topic this month.

For this month, I was thinking about a number of themes, but the one I kind of wanted to see was hybrid magi or magi of unusual species - the idea is someone who is only partially, or not at all, human. Something along the lines of a Natalia Kaminski who was born that way, or someone who mixed themselves with another race on purpose. It could even be another race entirely. But I'd like to see a creative start to the new year, and new blood is a fun way to do that, eheh. I hope it works!

stuff to get juices flowing

In the distant past, Natalia's ancestors crossbred with succubi, and while she doesn't have eternal youth or regenerative abilities, she does boast inhuman reflexes and coordination, as well as the special ability to boost her magical energy stores by consuming semen.

A “Red” Master. His nickname is Silver Lizard. Just like the other “Red” Masters such as Gene Ram and the Pentel Brothers, he has fought both together and against Shishigou at various times in the past. He is obsessed with animals, particularly lizards, and the skin on almost all his vital spots besides his face are covered with silver scales.

Merlin was born from the union of a Welsh princess and an incubus. As a cambion, you could consider him a higher form of life, equipped with both a spiritual nature and the ability to subsist on humans, beings which were capable of concepting futures - if he were not in fact a halfway creation standing on neither side. Merlin himself had pondered life as an incubus's child, existing only to bring antics to the world of human minds. At the same time, he developed the individuality that was humanity, and believed it a blessing to be able to function not simply within the dreams of others, but his own as well.

Despite the circumstances of his birth, Merlin never came to despise humanity. If anything, he grew fond of them to an unnatural degree. Rather than the Fae and the Giants - his brethren - Merlin found himself allied with man, fostering and advising many a king, all to create a better era for them to exist. While standing amidst the people and the knights, he never let the smile slip off his face, and he found enjoyment in human activity. He aimed to administer as he would nurture a flower - something that would lead to him going down in history as one of the greatest kingmakers to ever live. All of this came about from Merlin's desire to complete this tapestry in a way that he would find beautiful - as a 'happy ending' for humanity.

In fact, it left no room for love towards any single human being, or humanity at all.

To man, Merlin might appear a sterling figure; however, from a general human perspective, the nature of Merlin was in truth closer to a sort of locust. He was entirely too mechanical, too objective; his thoughts advanced by leaps and bounds, irreconcilably beyond the comprehension of the intelligent beings born of this planet. He was attracted to the exquisite and the beautiful, but he did not love them; exquisite, beautiful things simply, comfortably, snugly filled the hole in his heart. He loved the concept of 'humanity's legacy' but he was utterly incapable of transferring that emotion to the actual human beings taking part in creating it.

He might find a work of art lovely - but he would never be interested by its content, or see any worth in the emotional highs and lows experienced by the one who created it. He would only see the beauty of the piece, without understanding the meaning.

Merlin himself knew that this peculiar appetite was an appalling thing, but he could hardly change it; after all, he was born with the morals of a different kind of creature. Incubi did not evaluate the contents of the dreams they devoured, only the degree to which it sustained their existence. It was no different from humans gathering at the table and partaking in their meals, with little thought for what the animals they devoured might have accomplished beforehand.

Good Luck

The Submission Deadline is 01/24/2017 11:59PM PST which is also when voting will begin. The Voting Deadline is 01/31/2017 11:59PM PST.

[JetKinen]

Would the Tohno family be another example of this month category

[Leftovers]

Make-a-Magus

[Balthizar]

Damn, my first entry would have been perfect for this theme. It'll be difficult to do something similar without treading over old ground, but I'll see what I can do.

[SleepMode]

...Would a Rakshasa work?

[You]

As long as it's a magus and fits the prompt. Also remember your peers are your judges.

[Express]

If only I hadn't posted something perfect for this month in the regular thread already

[the god of world-0]

i actualy had this half made for some weaks now, but seen the theme finaly push me to finish


Name: Adrienne Beaumont

Alias: the silver witch
Age: looks young, actualy 88
Element: water and fire
Origen: beauty
Circuit quality: A
Circuit quantity: B
Circuit composition: extraordinary

Talents: memorization, teatrics, singing
Weakness: lack of social abilities, difficulty trusting people, dealing with modern society
Natural enemies: modern magus, church members

backstory: Adrienne Beaumont is the decendent of the beaumont family of magus, a old french family who comes from a long lineage of practitioners of witchcraft and has ties with legendary witches. however, much like several old families, their number of magic circuits started to decreese.
when the situation became critical the last magus of the beaumont, using the creation of homunculus as base, made a ritual to degrade and fuse an nature spirit into a human body, with that resulted in a being with extraordinary magic circuits at the cost of his life.
And so Adrienne was born, the last desperate attempt of an already dead clan

personality: Adrienne has a natural double face, she is selfish and does not hesitate to use people to her favor, but never let's people know until its needed or too late. however, she has a hard time dealing with modern concepts (even more than most magicians) since her basis is something not from this time.
she also has a big soft spot to genuine and loyal people, to the point where she will not just not harm them but, deliberately and without being asked, work behind the curtains to help them if needed.

abilities:

melusine: the serpent is hidden underneath
the manifestation of Adrienne's nature of an half-nature spirit, a spell based on the reasons of "to trick your enemies, you must first trick your allies" and "your only true ally is yourself".
a self-aplied illusion that changes her own perspective of her self allowing her to change forms to almost any living being she wants. however, only living beings, objects are out of question.
while transformed, she has all natural capabilites that the form has but not any of its knowlegde, so if she is a bird she will know how to fly naturaly but not how to best manuver and such.

agathion: all purpose witch assistant
a spell that imparts a type of sentience in objects and make them into familiars, while it may seem like she its bringing them to life, they are not actualy living neither from a biological sense (as they lack biological process) or a spiritual sense (as they lack proper souls).
adrienne can have twelve weak familiars or three strong ones at a time, they can act on simple order like "protect me" or more complicated ones but cannot make decisions by them selfs.
if the object is broken, one of the pieces will retain the spell at random, the spell is only nulify if the object is completely destroy.

items/familiars:

balai: the witch's right hand
a magic broom that appers to be alive, it is actualy a artificial demon created with adrienne's lifeforce.
while something like an shard of her, balai has achived a kind of personal identity uncommon in familiars like him, having his own interests and ideas separated from adrienne but still being conected in a empathic level.
he can demonstrate the ability to fly at very high speed and strenght to lift several hundreds of kilograms, he can also convey information telepathically to adrienne but its connected to her lifeforce and will die if she does.

[zikari8]

Zhu Daiji



"I look like an animal, was raised by a human, and am treated like a monster. So, tell me, what am I?

Gender: Male
Age: 24
Birthplace: Gao Village, China
Alignment: Neutral Good

Character:
A pig-looking man from China. He is an amateur magus trained in Chinese shaman arts, but more relies on his monstrous physical strength to subdue his foes. Due to his appearance, he has been ostracized by humanity and must live in the wilderness, away from the eyes of man.

He is currently on a journey to find his father, who he suspects is a magus from London. In his search, he travels westwards towards London alongside companions he met along the way: a hot-blooded swordsman from Japan, a young Chinese seductress, and a first-class western magus with amnesia. Past countless battles and trials, the answer to all their goals and questions lies in the headquarters of western magecraft, Clock Tower.

(Read more in the non-existent fanfic, Odyssey to the West)

Personality
Forte/Likes: Cleaning/Smiles
Weaknesses/Dislikes: Restraint/Temptations
Natural Talents: Transformation
Natural Enemy: Nanaya

Magical Attributes
Origin: Temperance
Elemental Alignment: Fire & Water

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

Character

Background:
Long, long ago, there was once a powerful pig demon, now known as Zhu Bajie. Before he joined Wukong and Sanzang on their journey, Zhu Bajie kidnapped the daughter of a village elder and wedded her. Although the demon was eventually subdued and became one of Sanzang’s disciples, the abducted girl bore his child, a freakish pig-human. With time, thanks to Zhu Bajie’s efforts, those physical traits became auspicious and so Bajie’s blood was passed down through time, diminishing with each generation, until it was practically lost.

Fast-forward to the modern day, a magus from London travels to China, during the British rule of Hong Kong, and falls in love with a Chinese woman. Trapped between his identity as a magus and love for the woman, the magus eventually decides to leave, abandoning her in favor of the supernatural world. He did not stay to see the face of his son, so he could never have known that the woman he bedded was a descendent of Zhu Bajie. After centuries, the pig-like physical traits of Bajie’s descendants had thinned to the point that they no longer appeared, but the introduction of western magus blood into the family line created a mutation. For the first time in generations, a child was born with the face of a pig. Terrified that she had birthed a beast, the woman abandoned the child far, far away from civilization. That child would become Zhu Daiji.

Young and defenseless, Daiji was picked up by an old hermit, who found him abandoned in a forest. The hermit sympathized with the child and raised him in the ways of a human, regardless of his beast-like appearance. Through training, Daiji’s mind, soul, and body were shaped into a proper man, learning both the art of temperance and shaman mysticism. Although his upbringing was strict and difficult, Daiji felt compassion and warmth. Yet, whenever a traveler would come to visit the hermit, they would see Daiji and flee in terror. So to, did he understand that he wasn’t wanted by the world.

With time, the old hermit eventually passed away, leaving Daiji alone without companions. On his deathbed, the hermit told him to leave their secluded abode and find people in the world who would understand him. Prior to death, the hermit had told Daiji of how he was found abandoned and theorized that his father was likely one of the western-devils who had invaded their homeland. After the hermit died, Daiji decided to go and find his father in London.
Because of his appearance, he could not use modern-day transportation and had to walk the way there. On his travels, he finally found people who he could call friends, and together they sought out their goals in the land of magecraft.

Characteristics:
Zhu Daiji is a man of both vices and virtues. He is incredibly witty and cynical, exhibiting nonchalant pessimism towards almost every situation. Although he is not extremely eloquent with words, he somehow finds a way to say the right things, often times in simple and straight-forward language. Despite his wit, he is not particularly bright and has trouble following simple trains of thought, at times. When challenged with a problem, his first instinct is to brute force it.

At all times, he is burdened by the will of his flesh. He bears an incredible fondness for good food and pretty women, yet he purposely tries to restrain himself, thanks to his hermit upbringing. If he allowed himself to fall victim to his gluttony and lust, he would be no better than any beast. But he is a human, no matter what he looks like, and will act accordingly. Following these beliefs, he is very strict about acting with manners and respect.

The one thing Daiji appreciates the most are smiles. Not fake ones born from politeness, but genuine happiness. So often he has seen the face of terror from those who see his visage, he has come to take a liking towards those who can still smile alongside him. On his journey, he heads to London not only to find his father but also partially in hopes that one of the powerful mages there can remove him of his pig-like appearance, so that he may walk among society as a normal human being.

Abilities

Magecraft Related Abilities:
Transformation:
A form of magecraft that lies in his flesh, the ability to transform into other objects and creatures. It is a type of illusion magecraft, but in doing so he actually gains the properties of the thing he transforms into. At his level, he only has eight transformations and cannot hold them for very long.

The things he can transform into are:
· Fat Man
· Boulder
· Tree
· Boar
· Bush
· Cow
· Hammer
· Bucket

Shaman Arts:
Magecraft taught to Daiji by his hermit guardian. It is the traditional Chinese-style of shaman mysticism dates back to over 3000 years. Daiji is but an amateur at it and can only use it to perform small divinations or create anti-demon wards.

Mysterious Ice:
A strange ability that may or may not be magecraft. Daiji possesses the power to create small amount of some form of ice-like substance, but doing so drains his energy very quickly. He is not sure what the substance is and what kind of power it possesses. He suspects that he inherited it from his father, but nobody has any clue as to its true identity.

Non-Magecraft Related Abilities:
Monstrous Strength:
Raw physical strength that goes beyond the limits of humans. Even without training, he is able to lift, push, and strike with more force than a human at their peak.

Weapons:
Broom of Body and Spirit
A broom Daiji used to clean during his upbringing. It is made of some sturdy-metal and weighs a crazy amount. Originally, it is a temple item meant to help train a disciple’s body and spirit. The disciple would be told to clean with the heavy broom and in doing so become stronger. With each day, the master would secretly increase the weight of the broom with magecraft, so that the disciple could continue to grow.

In Daiji’s case, his monstrous strength was already so high that the old hermit had no choice but the increase the weight of the broom to crazy amounts, and continued to do so. The resulting item was a broom that was so heavy that few normal men could even attempt to carry it and so too did Daiji’s strength grow astronomically.

Now on his journey, he uses the broom as his weapon due to its crazy weight. As one would expect, getting hit by it is lethal for most human beings.

[You]

nice face claim

[Nuclear]

Getting this in early so I don't forget.

Appearance

Bio
Name: Roo Ulfed Lavretsson
Alias/Embarrassing Family Nickname: "Kangaroo" Ulfed
Gender: Male
Age: 28
Height/Weight: 181 cm, 79 kg
Horoscope: Leo
Birthplace: Montreal, Canada

Personality
Forte/Likes: Solidarity, introspection
Weakness/Dislikes: Exhibitionists, egregious behavior
Talent: Crisis management, babysitting ("I'm sorry, what?")
Natural Enemy: Soujuurou Shizuki
Image Color: Inky black

Magical Abilities
Origin: Reclamation
Elemental Alignment: Wood (has no equivalent in the Western system)

Magic Circuits
Circuit Quantity: A
Circuit Quality: B
Circuit Composition: Matted

Biography
Once upon a time, in tenth century Scandinavia, a certain sorcerer mingled his blood with that of the region's magical wolves in the belief that it would grant him great power. So begins the tale of the Ulfeds, a clan of spellcasters that carved their mark in history with sword and claw. Thanks to the efforts of their patriarch, Ulfed Ragnarsson, members of the Ulfed clan would go on to be known as some of the finest warriors in the region, using their magic and the inherent power of their mixed blood to dominate battlefields and ultimately shape the destiny of the region. Thanks to Ulfed and his children's efforts, the clan gained great fame and riches.

However, this prosperity was not to last. The wolf blood in Ulfed's clan was steadily declining, and persecution from the increasingly Christianized Nordic people forced the clan to move south to France in the twelfth century, where they worked as mercenaries in service to the French. At this time, the Ulfeds adapted their sorcery to their new home, incorporating elements of witchcraft into their repertoire. By the sixteenth century, the Ulfeds were witches in all but name, and their craft, along with their status as mixed-bloods, made the witch hunts that gripped Europe in those days particularly devastating for them. Unable to cope with the persecution, the younger of two Ulfed scions took his wife and children and joined the French explorers journeying to the New World, becoming one of the first people to settle the lands that would now be called Canada.

Roo was born during a particularly tenuous time in the Canadian Ulfeds. The number of members that had an affinity for the wolf blood was growing fewer each year, and only seven members, Roo included, had Magic Circuits with which to control the blood. Perhaps in exchange for this dearth in suitable magical heirs, Roo was born with an unprecedented quantity and quality of Magic Circuits, resulting in him being considered the prodigy of the Canadian Ulfeds.

Because of the outstanding circumstances of his birth, Roo did not have a happy childhood, which was instead spent in intense training to become "the ideal successor of the Ulfeds". However, personal differences led Roo to split from his parents and quit his studies in London's Clock Tower a few years ago. Roo now spends his time as a freelancer, doing odd jobs in wherever he happens to be while trying to fulfill his parents' wishes on his own terms.

"So... You want to know more about me. Better start taking notes."

Personality
Roo Ulfed Lavretsson is essentially a wolf: fiercely independent, but willing to accept help; fiercely loyal, but knows when to question others. The kind of man who always looks like he knows and believes in what he's doing, even when it's clear that he doesn't. Though he looks like someone who could kill with a glance, he is surprisingly open-minded, and has a soft spot for children and small animals, especially dogs.

"'Am I cutting into your brooding time?' Er, no... Besides, I wouldn't call what I was doing 'brooding'..."

Magecraft-related Abilities:
Blood Excitation
A technique that involves temporarily exciting the foreign blood in the user's body in order to achieve a predetermined result. It requires great concentration and no small amount of practice, as improper usage of the technique could cause the user to surrender to their Inversion Impulse. For the Ulfeds, the manner of excitation is thaumaturgy, and the end result is the transformation into a wolf.

The current method used by the Ulfeds to perform Blood Excitation has its roots in Witchcraft and French folklore. The trigger used is the cycling of magical energy through the body while disrobing, a method of transformation derived from Marie de France's description in the tale of Bisclavret. Under this foundation, [taking off one's clothes] becomes shorthand for [taking off one's humanity], allowing for the caster's innate wolf aspect to surface and temporarily recompose the body into a more fitting form.

The resulting wolf transformation is highly volatile and consumes large amounts of magical energy, leaving the caster completely vulnerable after the maximum duration of three minutes. Roo believes that these drawbacks are a result of a mismatch between the spell's foundation and its intended effect. With this in mind, he quit his studies in the Clock Tower and decided to solve the quandary of his family's sorcery.

Other Magecraft-related Abilities
Roo was not taught much of Witchcraft outside of the Blood Excitation ritual. He can make minor talismans and potions, but little else. He does, however, perform considerably better with Formalcraft, which he studied in the Clock Tower.

"If there's one thing I have to thank the Clock Tower for, it's giving me something other than Witchcraft to work with."

Non-Magecraft related Abilities
Roo has a natural affinity for canids of all kinds. A small pack of them can be seen trailing after him from time to time. This should come as no surprise, quite frankly.

"A favorite breed? It's hard to say..."

Creator's Notes

For the prompt, I went with something classic: werewolves. From that general concept, I went Wikipedia walking for inspiration, which I got in the form of the Ulfhednar, Bisclavret, etc. You can kind of see my thought process here with the character's family history. One small tidbit I found was that accusations for werewolves and witches tended to overlap somewhat during the European witch hunts, which I tried (and probably failed) to work into the sheet thanks to a quick review of how Tamamo's Witchcraft works. The Blood Excitation thing was something I ripped from Too Moe's skillset, with a bit of extrapolation based on what was written in her profile.

I'd like to save this for a future fanfic I'd probably never write, but the super secret plot twist to the Ulfed blood excitation ritual is that it was originally based off of seidr and old Norse shamanistic practices. Wikipedia defines shamanism as "a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with a spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world". In the original foundation, [taking off one's clothes] would mean [taking off one's human cares], kind of like an initializing step into a meditative state of consciousness. Once in the trance, the caster then freely taps into the wolf aspects of himself and channels its various aspects using his body as a medium. This way, the wolf traits are expressed while the caster is still clearly aware of what he's doing. This ties back to the original description of the Ulfhednar as fighting bare-chested and barefoot. Unfortunately, this foundation was only stable in the Nordic countries, so the Ulfeds had to adapt the ritual into the "modern" form during their migration to France.

There are quite a bit of wolf puns (both intentional and not) and in-jokes scattered around the sheet. Good luck trying to find them. The name "Roo" is one of them, but it actually comes from Roo Panes, my new music bias and dream boyfriend. Give him a listen, if you like.

Thanks for reading through this rambling. I greatly appreciate it. Critiques and comments are always welcome.

[Express]

1--What Came of the Coral's Dance

Sedimentary rock has quite a few things in common with humans if one stops to think about it for all of a second. Many individual deposits of sediment contribute to a growing entity; upon which after a certain amount of foundational time has passed, is referred to as an individual among others.

But this understanding is flawed. A layer of rock as well as a human being owes everything it has to its history, to what personally came before it and contributed to its creation. While sedimentary epochs are judged far more leniently in this regard--one such layer may hold a perfectly preserved fossil, another carrying obvious stress indicators of cataclysmic change--humans actively reject any notion that challenges their perceived individuality. Perhaps this is just the most base manifestation of what’s called the “sin of pride”.

In her mind, rocks have it rougher than humans by quite a long shot. Exposed to harsher elements yet without the consciousness and mobility to combat the indifferences of nature, humans remain blissfully unaware of the hardship of the common rock. Most thoughts had no use reappearing in a mind like hers; but in this place the concept was intrusive enough, as a reminder of why she was forced to live like this.

But was forced really the correct term to be using? She didn’t give it much thought. It was moot, after all. She simply continued to gaze upwards toward the lip of her grotto, the gentle lullaby of the tide rocking her back and forth on the sandy seafloor. It was easier to breathe here, if only slightly. The world and its gravity didn’t weigh so heavily upon her underwater, and the small fish that passed through and the various barnacles clinging to the craggy walls were company enough for her.

Stray white hairs drifted in front of her face, reminding her of the one she was patiently waiting for. “Hairs” was really just a term that vaguely fit the concept, as her body didn’t produce keratin anymore. It was a kind of linguistic laziness that was unlike her, but maybe it was just the last vestiges of the humanity she’d left behind exhibiting itself wherever it could.
Still, she was reminded of his beard all the same. And the alienness that he represented to her.

She’d been expecting Medusa. No, not expecting. That word had too much of a positive connotation. Dreading, perhaps. It was inevitable that the Gorgon would appear to her, given her heritage, yet all the same she had held a bitterness against such an eventual occurrence. The truth was, she had nothing to say to Medusa. An ancestor that had had no conscious input in being such an ancestor was little more than a stranger.

An offhand gift to her family by way of Heracles, there was never any powerful emotion attached to the bit of dead snake the queen of Tegea received that day, at least not from the perspective of the mighty son of Zeus. There were far more important things to think about, course. It was little more than a favor to an ally of war. Yet this prize was coveted and cherished. So much so that it became a part of her family’s being. She was the product of a selfish wish to cling to a meaningless gesture, all thousands of years before her birth.

And yet, she was highly--and, perhaps, happily--surprised when the one that appeared before her was nothing like the monster she’d been expecting. The first thing she noticed when the glowing light had died down was how white his hair was. A shaggy, snow white beard stretched down to rest between his wide-set chest. The hair curved up along his rugged cheeks, topping his ears to circle around his very bald pate. He was clearly elderly, at least in comparison to how most of the beings like him composed themselves. His age was nothing more than a number, given the extreme context of his body, she knew. Barrel-chested and rippling with muscle, he was in far better physical condition than men half his age with twice his power. His clothes were simple, and he wore nothing on his feet. Pale skin exploded into ruddy patches on his nose and extremities, unable to hide that he had once been quite comfortable living under a hot sun.

Harsh blue eyes regarded her, and then he asked that most fateful of questions.

“「 」”

She gave her answer.

“Know then that I am one who shall protect thee, Master.”

He hadn’t given her a name, or anything to call him. It was fine, she hadn’t either.

“It's a wonder they can sit down at all, and when they walk, nothing touches their legs under the billowing skirts, except their shifts and stockings. They are like swans, drifting along on unseen feet; or else like the jellyfish in the waters of the rocky harbour near our house, when I was little, before I ever made the long sad journey across the ocean. They were bell-shaped and ruffled, gracefully waving and lovely under the sea; but if they washed up on the beach and dried out in the sun there was nothing left of them. And that is what the ladies are like: mostly water.”



Name: Cassiopeia Ketas Mikrísapoikías
Alias/Nickname/Title: The Scylla
Gender: Female
Age: Unknown
Height/Weight: 165cm/54kg
Birthplace: Somewhere in the Peloponnese
Alignment: True Neutral

Personality
Forte/Likes: Arcadia, the ocean,
Weaknesses/Dislikes: “true” electricity, seals
Natural Talents: Self-replication, fishing
Natural Enemy: Spartacus

Magical Attributes
Origin: Jellyfish (originally Stagnation)
Elemental Alignment: Water

Magic Circuits
Circuit Quantity: D
Circuit Quality: EX
Circuit Composition: “Normal”

Biography

Long ago, there existed an ancient town in the lower Peloponnese of Arcadia, known as Tegea. The king at the time, Cepheus, was a well-respected man and a former Argonaut. When Heracles was beginning his campaign against Hippocoon, king of Sparta, the great son of Zeus approached Cepheus and his twenty sons for aid. The men gathered their instruments of war, with Heracles leaving a gift behind for the women of Tegea. It was a lock of the Gorgon Medusa’s hair, plucked from Aegis by Athena herself. Heracles promised it to Tegea’s queen as a boon of protection, one that would ensure the safety of the women in the absence of men.

The battle, unfortunately, was disastrous. Cepheus and his sons, as well as Heracles’ own mortal twin brother Iphicles, were all slain.

While this particular battle was fought as revenge for events that happened on the Argo on Heracles’ behalf, the queen of Tegea that Cepheus left behind recognized it for what it was: a horrendously bad omen. Sparta was in the middle of a revitalization, and would soon begin expanding its borders. With all of the men of age dead, Tegea was probably seen as easy pickings by the cocky Spartans. She was right.

According to Herodotus, the Spartans consulted the Delphic Oracle before taking military action. They were told that they would not conquer all of Arcadia but it was possible for Tegea to fall, for the oracle would "give you Tegea to dance in with stamping feet and her fair plain to measure out the line". The Spartans misinterpreted this oracle, believing that it referred to them measuring out the line to split it into kleros (the land allocated to each Spartan citizen upon coming of age). They then marched to battle carrying rods with which to parcel out their soon-to-be-conquered land and chains (fetters) with which to shackle their soon-to-be-conquered Arcadian Helots. Instead, they themselves became prisoners of war and ended up wearing the very chains they had brought with them.

Sparta, still recoiling from the defeat at Hysiai and Messian revolts, in need of more land and resources took to attacking Arcadian Tegea. Though few details are known today of the battle itself, the upset victory for Tegea is legendary. The fetters, the chains that the Spartans brought, were put on display for centuries to come in the temple of Athene Alea, in Tegea. Sparta's cocky attitude and Tegea's non-militaristic status was often remarked on by Herodotus, Greek historian of the time, saying the battle's failure for the Spartans and the shame that came with it inspired Sparta to further improve their military.

Heracles was right about one thing, though, in that the hair of Medusa was a potent charm. What he wasn’t aware of after he left the women of Tegea, is that the dead snake bit the queen’s arm at the first sign of Spartan infiltration into Arcadia. Terrified, the queen could only watch as the snake burrowed its way inside her arm, forcibly infusing Medusa’s power into the queen’s being. While this gave the queen the necessary power to drive the Spartans back during the Battle of the Fetters, it presented a far more unique problem.

The queen was for all intents and purposes rendered infertile, as she was incapable of conceiving from a normal human now that the monster’s blood ran in her veins. Consanguineous relationships were the only readily available solution to this issue, and for a time the family prospered. But another trial formed in the distance: inbreeding depression. Genetic diversity of the clan was at an all time low, and there was a fear death had finally come for the Tegeans.

But then, a miracle.

The cells of Medusa, which had been steadily degrading along with the Mikrísapoikías, underwent a sudden and violent mutation. Medusa’s carrier alleles forcibly converted themselves from recessive to dominant, allowing for the potential of outbreeding in the clan once more. But after this point, future generations became...strange. Three times the number of hermaphroditic individuals began cropping up, as well as each generation becoming progressively paler and more transparent. It didn’t take long for the family’s neighbors and mutuals in mage society to make the comparison to jellyfish, and it stuck.

Soon after, the first heir to the clan underwent true asexual reproduction; the details of which are protected with the clan’s life. The queen had finally given her family what she had dreamed of. Bloodline purity could now be maintained practically indefinitely between asexual reproduction and dominant outbreeding.

Cassiopeia is simply the current matriarch of the clan, as well as the only surviving member. Leading from her remote position of power in Southern Greece, Cassiopeia continues research and experimentation on the magical nature of jellyfish relating to her physiology. The fact that her family once possessed the blood of one of the greatest monsters in Greece has lost importance, becoming irrelevant the second the mutation took place all those years ago.
It should come as no surprise that a Sealing Designation was placed on Cassiopeia the second she revealed herself to “public” mage society. The inhuman abilities and the deathless existence asexual reproduction brings were clear threats to the Clock Tower, who viewed Cassiopeia as little more than a marine variant Dead Apostle. Enforcers were dispatched, and subsequently never returned. Some say the Enforcers were “harvested” for their genetic supply, or forcibly changed into a clone of Cassiopeia “like that Agent from the Cohen Brothers movie” before they died, but the truth remains unknown.
What is known is Cassiopeia returned to her quiet life on the Greek coast...or perhaps back to a certain undersea kingdom.

Magecraft Related Abilities:
Mixed Blood--Genesis Gorgoneion
“A jellyfish, if you watch it long enough, begins to look like a heart beating. It doesn't matter what kind: the blooded Atolla with its flashing siren lights, the frilly flower hat variety, or the near-transparent moon jelly, Aurelia aurita. It's their pulse, the way they contract swiftly, than release. Like a ghost heart-- a heart you can see right through, right into some other world where everything you ever lost as gone to hide.
Jellyfish don't even have hearts, of course-- no heart, no brain, no bone, no blood. But watch them for a while. You will see them beating.”

Medusa’s corrupted blood that flows throughout Cassiopeia’s body. Not a shred of the earth goddess’s previous divinity remained in the dessicated snake absorbed by Cassiopeia’s ancestor; her mixed blood is firmly that of the Monstrous Beast Gorgon. She possesses far greater physical strength than that of an average human, but due to her unique frailty, she’s more liable to rip herself in half should she try to make use of it. Her body is quite squishy, even in places that would otherwise contain keratin or bone, as well as slightly translucent.
Thus, the only magecraft Cassiopeia is capable of using effectively is the “magecraft of one whose body is of mystical origin”, which takes on a variety of sub-spells applications based on various jellyfish species.

Dohrnii Ouroboros
An ability derived from moon jellies and the immortal jellyfish of Japan, and the singular cause for Cassiopeia’s Sealing Designation. After reaching sexual maturity, the species listed above have developed a process by which to reverse the biotic cycle. Mature medusae, when exposed to stress, have been shown to revert to immature polyps and repeat the process of growing into medusae all over again. High levels of stress will trigger the same reaction in Cassiopeia, albeit to a highly diluted degree. After reaching a certain biological age, Cassiopeia will enter a stasis-like state wherein she appears to rapidly drain her body’s liquid and shrink. Once it’s over, a young girl will pop out of the mass of dried flesh. This process isn’t considered refined enough, however, and cannot be depended upon for Cassiopeia’s eternal life, resulting in the continued need for reproduction.

Aurelia Hydra
Embodies the properties of the aurelia genus of jellyfish, and their highly attuned regenerative abilities, expanded upon in Cassiopeia’s body. It is a subaction healing type that activates should Dohrnii Ouroboros not be applicable; in the case of separation of limbs from the body especially. Rapid cell regeneration begins soon after, extending even to the Magic Circuits. Because Cassiopeia doesn’t technically possess a central nervous system, there’s a chance the severed limb or other matter will regenerate on its own into a separate clone.
Aurelia Hydra also governs Cassiopeia’s reproduction system. As above, she is capable of purposefully producing buds of herself that will eventually grow into polyps. However, this method isn’t one to rely on, given that the environment required should be completely free of outside stress factors. She is also capable of physically altering her sex organs to male or hermaphroditic, impregnating her own eggs or allowing others to do the same. Because she is still a lady of noble birth, she doesn’t like to talk about how she mates much.

Chrysaora Cybele
The powerful petrification magic of her “ancestor” Medusa, reimagined within Cassiopeia as the cnidocyte cells housed over her entire body, including her prehensile hair. The nematocysts (the actual “sting” of a jellyfish) and neurotoxins housed within the cnidocytes are absurdly potent, affecting a magus’ Magical Nervous System as much as it does their ordinary biological system. Cassiopeia states that it takes about ten seconds for prey to be rendered completely immobile, her favorite method involves enveloping her victim within her hair. As with other jellyfish, the nematocysts may also be fired at range, for a maximum of 10 meters.

Mystic Codes/Familiars:
Symvíosis Andromeda
A network of microscopic biological Mystic Codes that exist as a system living inside Cassiopeia’s skin cells. Based on the zooxanthellae that cohabitate with regular jellyfish, Symvíosis Andromeda is an innate Amplifier type that trades the waste of bodily functions for improved magecraft power. Photosynthetic like the genuine article, Symvíosis Andromeda provides for over 80% of Cassiopeia's natural bodily functions in exchange for the CO2 her body naturally produces, as well as other waste byproducts. It can be considered a necessary organ akin to her heart, as her unique biology has made life as a human difficult without the system of tiny helpers. Should Cassiopeia split into multiple polyps or be physically injured, additional individuals must be introduced to the colony as they are incapable of replicating themselves.
Because of their naturally aquatic existence, Symvíosis Andromeda also allows Cassiopeia to operate underwater indefinitely.

Creator Remarks

The first thing that popped into my head when I read the prompt was “I wanna make a goddamn jellyfish mage”, without maybe realizing that it probably meant magical beasts instead.
Really, I’d been thinking about mage bloodline purity the past few weeks and how one would combat the ill effects of inbreeding, and sort of built everything around that after I remembered that some jellyfish can asexually reproduce. The fact that Greeks call jellyfish “medusas” lead me to believe that there was some legend about Medusa’s head becoming the first jellyfish or something, but there wasn’t any that I could find. The story of Heracles giving the bit of Medusa’s hair to the Arcadian king was just a lucky bit of icing on the cake. You’ll notice there’s no attempt at not powerleveling jellyfish-hybrids, which I hope isn’t annoying. I also think I spent too much time establishing Cassiopeia’s family history rather than her personal life, but whatever.

I felt like I ended up giving myself a crash course in genetics, marine biology, and Greek history all at once just to write this thing, so that must mean I’m doing something right. I hope. There are plenty of fics I’d like to include Cassiopeia in, especially since I never put that much thought into the human side of most HGW ideas I’ve had. Maybe this would’ve gotten me into F/Reclamation…
Critique and comments welcome as always.