Create-a-Mage

[RoydGolden]

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?

Sounds promising. Though if this mage infects themselves with plague to gain power, what stops them from being killed by it too? A cool idea might be that they infect themselves with like a million plagues so the effects cancel each other out within their own body, immunizing themselves (while anything that touches them isn't so lucky and rots away instantly). Then again, that could be getting too close to Nrvnqsr's territory...

[Kabalisto Koga]

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?

Interesting idea i must say ,though i must give you this question >how and why had they made their Goal ? Are they the descendants of cultists of an old God ,basically Relict keepers ? Are their sorcery trait like Bazetts one a divine gift or through a sign of heretage to some magical beings that crystalised in the sorcery trait or a special origin like that Shirous was transformed into Sword by Avalon ? And this origin is the source of the power ?

Also why did you thought of a Italian Mage family actually?

I know that were now more questions as real feedback but you should use them to give your idea and concept depth as i self have thought out two Mage clans with unique abbillities ?

[Hex]

Sounds promising. Though if this mage infects themselves with plague to gain power, what stops them from being killed by it too? A cool idea might be that they infect themselves with like a million plagues so the effects cancel each other out within their own body, immunizing themselves (while anything that touches them isn't so lucky and rots away instantly). Then again, that could be getting too close to Nrvnqsr's territory...

I might make them Typhoid Marys where they are asymptomatic carriers of their plagues. Anybody who is unprotected who interacts with them will have a chance of getting some nasty diseases (not the rots away instantly type, but the necrotizing of flesh over long period of time type).

Edit:

Interesting idea i must say ,though i must give you this question >how and why had they made their Goal ? Are they the descendants of cultists of an old God ,basically Relict keepers ? Are their sorcery trait like Bazetts one a divine gift or through a sign of heretage to some magical beings that crystalised in the sorcery trait or a special origin like that Shirous was transformed into Sword by Avalon ? And this origin is the source of the power ?

The family used to use traditional Italian curse until the Black Plague. During the Black Plague the family was holed up in their castle like any sensible mages would have done. That is until the family head got a letter from an associate called the plague a Curse of God. That got the family head thinking, if plagues are Curses of Gods then if I make super plagues I will be casting a Godly Curse. Of course that didn't work out for him, he shortly died from a disease he made. So did the next family head and then the next one. So the family got together and tried to solve that little problem of them dying to their own plagues. They decide on the traditional approach, eugenics. By having children and infecting them with mild diseases and having all the survivors do the same to their children but only with deadlier diseases. So that after a couple of generations they would have a child immune to the deadliest of diseases.

[Kabalisto Koga]

I might make them Typhoid Marys where they are asymptomatic carriers of their plagues. Anybody who is unprotected who interacts with them will have a chance of getting some nasty diseases (not the rots away instantly type, but the necrotizing of flesh over long period of time type).

Edit:

The family used to use traditional Italian curse until the Black Plague. During the Black Plague the family was holed up in their castle like any sensible mages would have done. That is until the family head got a letter from an associate called the plague a Curse of God. That got the family head thinking, if plagues are Curses of Gods then if I make super plagues I will be casting a Godly Curse. Of course that didn't work out for him, he shortly died from a disease he made. So did the next family head and then the next one. So the family got together and tried to solve that little problem of them dying to their own plagues. They decide on the traditional approach, eugenics. By having children and infecting them with mild diseases and having all the survivors do the same to their children but only with deadlier diseases. So that after a couple of generations they would have a child immune to the deadliest of diseases.

i understant , so the Family has no ties or certain connnections to certain deities ? have you a Name already for the Family ? that means also the sorcery trait is more a longterm aquired atttribute then a short time gain .

Also am i asuming rightthat the main aplication of their Magecraft is the creation of Miasma Right ,also a gaseous form of curse Right ? and lease tell me before the Family head goot that idea were they already a MAge Family specialised in curses or were they skilled also in other Domains ?

as comparison my Mage tribe were descendants of the servants of the nordic goddess Hel and concentrated not in the raising of the fallen bodies but to conserve the Soul and they got after awhle so powerfull that te early Mage association Clocktower branch and Church cooperated to exterminate them so are they today "a extinct" clan but if it is really ? But more cant i say as the Family Play a certain role in my FAte Hokkaido Jiken Story if you like please take a look as i have three chapters already out .

And for a Mage i have already revealed and posted one here please take a look > Narkhar Imm Malik please tell me what you think .

[King of Padoru]

The idea of Plague mages sounds really interesting. I was about to suggest the idea of them either using homunculi as guinea pigs or just having many children to ensure they will have at least one healthy heir, but the gradual immunization sounds sort of good too. I assume that over time the family's blood could become resistant not only to disease, but to other curses and poisons as well.

A cool idea might be that they infect themselves with like a million plagues so the effects cancel each other out within their own body, immunizing themselves (while anything that touches them isn't so lucky and rots away instantly)

This reminds me of that episode of The Simpsons in which Mr. Burns was told after his medical check-up that he actually had so many diseases that they all cancelled each other.


Btw, any thoughts on Császár?

[Kabalisto Koga]

The idea of Plague mages sounds really interesting. I was about to suggest the idea of them either using homunculi as guinea pigs or just having many children to ensure they will have at least one healthy heir, but the gradual immunization sounds sort of good too. I assume that over time the family's blood could become resistant not only to disease, but to other curses and poisons as well.



This reminds me of that episode of The Simpsons in which Mr. Burns was told after his medical check-up that he actually had so many diseases that they all cancelled each other.


Btw, any thoughts on Császár?

Csaszar is a interesting Mage i must say Padoru not bad , i woulld be curious how he would interact with Shirou and co .

reminds me i had also the idea of a Mage which is rather a Trader then Researcher . perhaps i should post some Mages i have in mind since Long time . and would you say that only Living Mages are allowed to post or are also persons of the past like some Ancestors of the Mages ?

besides : how was the last weeks etc for you i hope you were save in the whole Crisis ?

[King of Padoru]

Thanks Koga. If you have watched the Monogatari series (and if you haven't, you should), you could assume that the relation between Császár and Shirou would be similar to Araragi and Kaiki's: Basically, they can't see each other.

I think that past mages should be fine, though it'd be better to wait for an answer from a mod or someone who knows better than me. (I just hope they're not as wanked as your Servants, though my prayers are in vain...).

Thankfully, I've been safe all this time, though I'm seriously concerned about how will everything go now that I have to return to college...

[Hex]

Here is the the family's main mystical code
A Mad Mans Tome
Libro delle Piaghe: The Libro delle Piaghe is a tome mystic code that is made from victims of the Black Death skin. It is the Rizzos family's greatest treasure for it not only holds all the information that the Rizzo family knows about plagues and disease. But it also serves as a powerful focus for the mage craft of the Rizzos. All the suffering from the victims in life from the worst plague in human history boost any spell the user casts that is related to disease.

[Kabalisto Koga]

Thanks Koga. If you have watched the Monogatari series (and if you haven't, you should), you could assume that the relation between Császár and Shirou would be similar to Araragi and Kaiki's: Basically, they can't see each other.

I think that past mages should be fine, though it'd be better to wait for an answer from a mod or someone who knows better than me. (I just hope they're not as wanked as your Servants, though my prayers are in vain...).

Thankfully, I've been safe all this time, though I'm seriously concerned about how will everything go now that I have to return to college...

I haven't watched the monogatari series as puh my list of anime has become quite long ,about my Mages they are some powerfull Lord league Mages but also average ones amongst them ,example wise is there one High Dragon which could or rather is able to defeat a Lord ? Or a pure succubus cbaracktere .

[Kabalisto Koga]

Here is the the family's main mystical code
A Mad Mans Tome
Libro delle Piaghe: The Libro delle Piaghe is a tome mystic code that is made from victims of the Black Death skin. It is the Rizzos family's greatest treasure for it not only holds all the information that the Rizzo family knows about plagues and disease. But it also serves as a powerful focus for the mage craft of the Rizzos. All the suffering from the victims in life from the worst plague in human history boost any spell the user casts that is related to disease.

interesting idea that makes sense it reminds me Abit of Prelatis Spellbock , and am i Right that they specialise in Miasma craft ? also just out of curiousity have you read my charackter Narkhar ?

[Cursed by Fortuna]

​0

[LeadDemon]

Welcome back to another episode of "LeadDemon decides he might as well post another old sheet from his docs here."

Doctor West from Demonbane

Caster Daedalus

was a consideration, but a magus felt more right since this thread's eternally underutilized.

**

May the child of man acquire the world.

May the child of man uplift the world.

May the child of man save the world.

A Blessing

To make another hurt is evil.

To take another's life is evil.

To end another's dream is evil.

An Orchelas cannot be evil.

Yes, undoubtedly, evil is to be rejected. Slough off the shackles of sin and ascend. Strive forwards as shining monuments to the purity of human will, reason, and love. Prosper, flourish, and be fruitful. Offer a hand to the needy. Offer a smile to the hated. Become as a god.

Such precious brilliance is something befitting mankind.

...But at the same time-

Terrifying and fearful negative thoughts, and things that can certainly be called evil. These have also been gathered in this world. Even if it is justified, killing will always be evil.

It is therefore a tragedy that I must commit evil.

Oh, great one, brought to the Seat of God. My dearest ancestor. Artificial Divinity of the Orchelas.

-I announce: Here is my oath.

Appearance

Nature

Name: Cerzelium Orchelas
Gender: Male
Age: 211
Alignment: Lawful Good
Natural Enemy: Monji Gatou

Personality

A rather genial old man, all things considered. Cordial in conversation, generous in negotiation, there is an almost 'Saint-like' quality that he seems to exude, as if he is someone who doesn't care about his own life. Beneath that, though, there is an iron will, a determination to aid his family, that will allow no quarter.

Family History

The Orchelas are a family of roughly seven hundred years of age, based out of Southern Italy. They are of no particular reputation, and largely keep to themselves. They reject most functions of magus society, and have neither a Magic Crest nor a designated family head, instead living in a centralized internal community with their family members.

Their path to the Root is through attempting to reach Enlightenment while alive, something they achieve by attempting to use the family's faith and a near-mastery over karmic ties to raise a single family member to the status of an artificial god, and allowing the other family members to become more able to walk that gradual path towards becoming something "extinguished while alive" through their connection with the artificial god.

Through the karmic line connecting them by blood, the family members are able to call on the authority of the artificial god; however, this is merely ‘power’ and ‘meaning’ given the nature of their karmic line.

Cerzelium is of the elder members of the Orchelas family, though not a grand elder or any such title. There is little to say that deserves its own mention, as he has largely lived in the community of the Orchelas all his life. As a family member with low enough standing but high enough competence to be worth sending as a representative, he is one of few who are sent from the family territory for external acts such as recruitment.

Magical Attributes

Origin: Fall
Elemental Affinity: Imaginary Numbers

Magic Circuit Switch: Prayer.

Number of Magic Circuits: D
Quality of Magic Circuits: D
Magic Circuit Composition: Abnormal, suited to "sharing".

Magecraft

As is typical for most Orchelas, this individual largely does not know magecraft theory, and is an incompetent in most things magecraft. The vast majority of things he accomplishes are done through calling on a shard of the Orchelas's god's power. This process might be analogized to how magi in the Age of Gods used a piece of their god's Authority. Obviously, the gap in power between the Orchelas god and a genuine Divine Spirit is large enough that even the gap between the heaven and earth seems inadequate. A more reasonable individual would better call it "use of the Orchelas god as a living being that is itself a magic foundation."

Imaginary Numbers: Not learned in the theory. His achievements in the space are limited to those things that all imaginary numbers magi can innately do.

General Magecraft: Barely even knows the basics of the basics.

Spiritual Surgery: An area of relative talent. While not a world-class prodigy such as a certain Executor, aptitude is significant.

???: Not magecraft, but rather an abnormal channel in the brain that allows for one to form a karmic link to the artificial god of the Orchelas family. In theory, this could also be used to raise an existence to the status of artificial god in a similar way, though this requires copious time and resources, in addition to others with a similar or equivalent aptitude.

A Curse

To make another hurt is evil.

To take another's life is evil.

To end another's dream is evil.

An Orchelas cannot be evil.

Yes, undoubtedly, evil is to be rejected. Slough off the shackles of sin, and ascend. Strive forwards as shining monuments to the purity of human will, reason, and love. Prosper and be happy. Offer a hand to the needy. Offer a smile to the hated. Become as a god.

Such precious brilliance is something befitting mankind.

...But at the same time-

Terrifying and fearful negative thoughts, and things that can certainly be called evil. These have also been gathered in this world. Even if it is justified, killing will always be evil.

It is therefore a tragedy that I must commit evil.

...however, that burden is not mine to bear.

For men to become as gods, something in that inverted image must be made. That is the cornerstone that bears the burden. That is the foundation that shoulders evil. That is the ladder we shall climb to reach Enlightenment.

An Orchelas cannot be evil.

It is not a prescriptive statement, but rather a descriptive one. Any evils I take upon myself shall in turn be shouldered by 'it'.

Lost child, imprisoned in the Seat of God. Know only sorrow and tragedy, enmity and fury. Know nothing but hate. Know nothing but evil. This is your duty, because if you are All The World's Evil, then we are All The World's Good.

Lost child, my dearest ancestor. Artificial Divinity of the Orchelas. Evil God. I thank you for being a canvas of black, for it means that we cannot err.

An Orchelas cannot be evil.

So long as the Evil God shoulders our darkness, an Orchelas cannot be evil.

-I announce: Here is my oath.

To expand the domain of the Evil God, to acquire the world, to uplift humanity and bring us into Enlightenment at the cost of casting a forgotten child into a manmade hell, I will commit evil.

Let the caged child shoulder my sins, for with these hands, I will create All the World's Good.

Appearance

Orchelas Artificial Divinity

The means by which an artificial god is created is by designating a member of the family as such, and heaping all evils of the family onto him through a hyperspecific form of curse transfer, the family's inherited psychic talent, that exploits the duality of curses and blessings. This is accomplished in conjunction with calling upon the 'angel' of the original Sin to simultaneously enrich the artificial god with sin and the other family members with blessings.

The artificial god, then, is corroded and enriched by the collective curses of the family. However, as malignant information corrodes reality, he is kept in a bounded space ‘outside’ of reality made to mimic the seat of god, which offers both containment and further conflation with the principle of exalting him into a god due to the resemblance to modern day divine spirits.

At the time when this locus dies, the passage from god to Divine Spirit will be executed. Ordinarily, this would lead to a weakening process, but in a case like this where all ideas are true and concepts are absolute, it is possible for the evils themselves which are limited to the scope of a family to be exceeded by their deification.

The principle isn’t unlike the difference between that villager in life and what he could have become were his wish granted.

This is an aside, but the family further practices the induction of other existences into the karmic web to further strengthen the evil god through forced consumption of fragments, using the concept of the Eucharist. As their evils are robbed from them at the time of contract, it is a form of internal mental compulsion which functions outside of the scope of mental interference. An enlightened cannot make an error.

Evil God Fragments

The Orchelas practice the excision of the evil god’s body parts, which are used as foci for the magecraft and for designing of Mystic Codes using its nature. This is grounded in the holy shrouds of Christianity, but in Christianity a god is something that cannot be robbed. To accomplish this, the name of Eve is linked to the name of Pandora, “first women who bring about All the World’s Evils”. The name of Pandora is similarly tied to the theft of divine authority, and the pithos of Pandora’s function as a wishing device is brought into the fold of the wishgranting functions of the one-way curse transfer’s line. The shards of gods in the Greek tradition such as the war god’s sash are similarly utilized for conflation.

The extracter then takes the role of Pandora/Eve, as they tread into the

Seat of God

sealed chamber

and plunder something beyond their authority. The extractor thus cannot be a member of the family as they must possess the ‘fault of disobeying god’, and are something corroded at by malignant information during the extraction process. For this reason, they are a homunculus designed by the family, allowing for further linkage into Pandora/Eve as a ‘created being’ rather than a ‘born being’.

The resulting Mystic Codes are used as counterbalancers for the family, the self-imposition of adversity to ‘taint’ them for that taint to flow back towards the evil god. Even if that evil originated in the god, the concept of deification lets what should be a closed system amplify internally. At the same time, the more ‘evil’ the evil god becomes, the more ‘pure’ the family members must become to mirror it.

An Aside

A sheet from about five years back that was inspired from The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas getting mentioned in an undergraduate course I was in at the time, which I tuned up a year or two ago kudos of Case Files.

The original concept is obviously an alternate take on Angra from a more magus-centric perspective, and also wound up retroactively feeling like a rip-off of a certain master plan in a work I won't get into because of spoilers, which I chose to lean into a bit more during the more recent revision for better or for worse. In addition, it's much more of a family concept piece than an individualized character sheet, and is ultimately a bit barren for what I like to do with my magus sheets, but it was fun to write, which is the important thing I suppose.

It goes without saying that, while it is theoretically possible for this family to cause a calamity on par with a Heavens Feel bad end, something at that scale happening is unlikely to say the least. As is typical for cases like this, they are likely to be sniffed out and eliminated or otherwise self-destruct before reaching such a point where that becomes possible, and of course their overall "power" is well below what the sheet itself might implicate in its writing, but unlike the Corpalatium Case File where pointing out their failures was a key part of the sheet, here I felt like it'd harm the flow of the writing if injected there. I genuinely had to hold myself back from injecting lines about that sort of thing into the sheet, because I felt dirty about writing 'creation of an artificial god' without mentioning the fifty associated caveats and limitations associated with that, so if while reading this you went "isn't this too excessive?!", that would be why.

In light of all of these factors, I'd wouldn't say it's a sheet I adore either in terms of flair or execution, but I've got a soft spot for the concept and had fun writing it, so hope you enjoyed regardless!

[RoydGolden]

Orchelas: This is a pretty cool sheet and concept. I like the way it's set up where it starts off seeming pretty innocuous and builds up to be more and more creepy as the truth is revealed. The sheer fanaticism of believing you're totally "right" by tautology no matter what evil things you do is pretty terrifying, and the utterly genial vibe he gives off in the personality blurb only makes it eerier. The character-aspect does feel a bit lacking as you said, and I'm a little curious what some of the Mystic Codes created from the Evil God would do, since in terms of practical abilities he's also pretty basic, but concept-wise this is very solid.

[the god of world-0]

Name: Hanano Shiranui
Alias: God of Calamity, Demon Child
Age: 17
Element: Fire
Origin: Loss
Circuit Quality: N/A
Circuit Quantity: N/A
Circuit Composition: N/A

Talents/Likes: Chocolate, reading, priests
Weakness/Dislikes: Fire, bullies, herself
Natural enemies: Azaka Kokutou

Background

Hanano Shiranui was born to a normal family, in a small coastal city of japan. Her mother died during childbirth, and her father died the next day when the hospital Hanano was mysteriously caught on fire, a tragedy she was the only survivor of.

She was allocated to an orphanage, managed by a local church. However, a series of accidents where toys were found burned caused rumors about her to spread. The other children started bullying Hanano, and the nuns started calling her demon child behind her back. Suddenly, the day after Hanano turned 11 years old, the orphanage was the site of a gas leak, resulting in an explosion. This time, Hanano was not found, and there were presumed no survivors.

However, she did survive, leaving the place before anyone arrived. Hanano then lived on the streets for about three years, during which she traveled to a neighboring city before being taken in by a Buddhist temple. This time, she was warmingly welcomed by an older priest, who took her under his wing and taught her about focus and meditation. Still, there was an insistence by the other priests that she never leave the temple

The freak accidents lessened in the following four years, but didn't stop. Small wildfires popped up from time to time in the woods near the temple. One time, a ravenous dog who was wandering the neighborhood exploded in the middle of an empty street. A man was found completely charred, after an apparent attempt to break in into the temple. Rumors started spreading again.

"There is a god of calamity living in the temple uphill, and it's the cause of all those bad things happening lately"

Eventually, Hanano herself started to believe those rumors. The majority of priests decided that it would be better if she moved to an isolated hut deeper into the woods, and despite the old priest protests, she accepted. This is where Hanano lives now, although she still hopes for a better place for her, with people who accept her.

Personality

Hanano is a shy and meek girl. Because of her complicated life, she doesn't have much confidence or self-esteem. In fact, she outright dislikes her own existence, since it has caused so much destruction, and she loathes her own abilities. Still, through meditation and the teachings of her surrogate father, Hanano has managed to find some semblance of peace and comfort.

She loves reading and does so all the time. The only luxury she asked when the priests told her to go live in seclusion was that they send, along with the food they were already planning on supplying, new books to keep her entertained.

She also loves chocolate, and one of her most fond memories is of a cold night when an old priest gave her a piece of chocolate and a place that, even if just for a while, she could call home.

Abilities

False Samadhi

Spontaneous Combustion

The unexplained phenomena of human combustion. It's not Magecraft, but an ESP ability, also known as pyrokinesis. There are many theories that explain Spontaneous Combustion, the most popular being the Charged Corpus Theory and the Electromagnetism theory. Hanano, in particular, uses Pyrotron sub-particle theory.

She subconsciously emits a completely new particle from her body, called a Pyrotron, which is governed by completely new and different laws than the rest of the particles of this universe. The form and type of emission, as well as the state of said particle, is intimately connected to Hanano's mental and emotional state. Originally, the flames produced by her were bright orange, but because of the change in the way she views herself, the flames changed accordingly.

As Hanano believes she is a god of calamity, her flames ended up changing to match such beliefs, adopting the characteristics of the blue-colored purifying flames of Samadhi. While she is not really a god, her belief is so strong that this False Samadhi Flame gained the ability to burn not only on a physical level but also on a conceptual level, meaning it can burn through mysteries such as curses and bounded fields, although accomplishing such feats on purpose would require a finer deal of control over the ability, which Hanano currently lacks.

Beyond that, this ability also grants Hanano immunity to fire. Initially, it was only against the flames she produced herself, but after her change in cognition, she gained immunity against all forms of fire.

Items

Flame Warding Talismans

These are a special type of talisman made to guard one against fire. It was given to her by the priests of the Buddhist temple she lived in, and she keeps them all over herself to help keep her ability in check.

In truth, the Talisman's effect is only a psychological one. Since Hanano believes that they help in warding against the flames she produces, then her ability acts accordingly and makes so she doesn't produce her flames as easily.

However, this placebo effect is very unstable and strong emotional stimuli, like an attempt on her life, can cause her to break, releasing her flames with an even more explosive force than normal. This has not happened yet, but if such a situation was reached, it would surely lead to a tragedy.

[Bugs]

Silvano Tibicena

Basic Info Name Silvano Tibicena Alias Dragon of the Hesperides Gender Male Birthday August 4th Height 6’4” Weight 200 lbs Alignment Lawful Neutral Affiliation Yumina (student) Enforcers (current) Personal Attributes Likes Bright sun, cold food Dislikes Classified Talents Breathing and walking, lame jokes Enemy Classified Magic Attributes Origin Sanguine Element Fire Circuit Quantity 30 Circuit Quality 500 units (maximum output) Thaumaturgy Botanical

Profile: The family history and magical lineage of the Tibicenas began, like many do in Europe, as a result of one of the many adventures of Heracles. Ladon, hundred-headed guardian dragon, one of the many awful sons of Typhon and Echidna employed by Hera to do the bloody bidding of the White Queen of the Gods, and the Eleventh Labor of Heracles. The exact nature of the story concerning this particular Labor varies. Whether or not Heracles truly shouldered the cosmic sphere while the Titan Atlas stole the apples in his stead, rather than Heracles simply annihilating the dragon with the bow technique accrued from his defeat of the Hydra, is moot at best. The results remain the same: that Heracles had completed his task, and that the monster lay slain. Blood. Streams. Rivers. Drowning tidal waves and veritable oceans. Blood enough to dye the fertile earth of Hera’s garden crimson down to the island’s very core. Yet even monsters can perform miracles, if given the chance. From Ladon’s blood spawned an entirely new species of tree, hundred heads towering into the sky just as its ancestor did not so long ago. This is the dragon tree (Dracaena draco), native only to the Canary Islands. Famous throughout the ancient world for the bright red “blood” the plant secretes, dragon’s blood was a popular restorative for respiratory and gastrointestinal problems from Rome to China. However, due to rarity and exclusivity, what was often bandied about in place of the genuine blood was the sap of poisonous cinnabar. The trees themselves were worshiped as gods by the island natives: the Guanche. Even as the Spanish colonized the tiny archipelago in the 16th century, discerning Spanish magi did everything they could to get their hands on the priceless red sap. Keywords: Dragon’s Blood The only magecraft allowed to the Tibicenas, yet the family’s meticulous experimentation and protection of their bloodline’s singular treasure has produced something of such potency as to be noticed by the internal hierarchies of both Yumina and Policies alike. Through generational consumption and absorption of the dragon tree’s blood, Silvano’s lung bacteria and gut flora have been completely replaced by the dragon’s blood, replicating in a way the “inner world” of the king of the Phantasmal Species. Merely breathing is enough to generate mana, technically moving the range of Silvano’s available magical energy at any given time into the realm of “potentially infinite”. Of course, this only applies to the “reservoir” that Silvano may pull from, while his “faucet” is no bigger or smaller than any other magus of his genetic pedigree. Ignition of the mana he breathes is no more complicated than his body recognizing it and a subsequent activation of his circuits--a Single-Action Spell at most. Like this, Silvano may be classified as a DPS unit among the Enforcers. The true aim of the Tibicenas is more complex than merely adapting their lungs, but that should go without saying. Dragons were once the apex terminals of the World when they walked the earth. In a world devoid of True Ancestors, trees can be argued to be the successors of dragons in their role as “something with a direct connection to the Root” that could feasibly exist into the modern day. “Becoming the tree” is the same as “becoming the dragon” is the same as “receiving a direct connection to pure knowledge”. Perhaps in time the Tibicenas themselves may be subject to a sealing designation. Klironomia Hesperides A network of microscopic botanical Mystic Codes that exists as a comprehensive system that serves to regulate and govern several of Silvano’s internal processes. As Silvano’s Dragon Blood is a self-derivative phantasm of Ladon, Klironomia Hesperides is an attempt to recapture the Authority of the dragon’s apple-tending siblings, however hollow the endeavor may ultimately be. What can be described as the final, necessary piece to finalize the triumvirate concepts of Dragon/Tree/Nymphs to transform Silvano’s internal world into a complete representation of the Hesperides’ Garden. Concerned with repair and replication primarily, each subroutine the matrix performs follows the assigned mythological role of the individual Hesperides nymphs, and as such bears their names depending on the current need of Silvano’s body. For example, Aegle (“Radiance” or “dazzling light”) encapsulates the Hesperides’ photosynthetic quality, consuming small bits of nutrients naturally absorbed from Silvano’s skin to power and further nurture the hive of internal flora. Ironically, the Mystic Code shares a name and concept with a certain inheritance system endemic to a “Greece of another time and place”, but this is purely coincidental.

Formatting might be a fucky. Oh well.

[Spartacus]

:O

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dragon tree/tree dragon is a cool concept

[Wyvern]

Crypter File #01 - Dr. Pompey

Name: Loa Nakamura
Aliás/Nickname: Dr. Pompey
Age: 35
Height/Weight:1.85m/ 77kg
Birthplace: Volcano, Hawaii
Alignment:Chaotic Good

Forte/Likes: Research.
Weakness/Dislikes: Being broke.
Natural Talents: Calculation, redirection of energy.
Natural Enemies: Tourists, nosy, no-good research thieves.

Affiliations: Mage’s Association
Origin: Incite
Elemental Alignment:Earth
Crest Location:Left thigh.
Circuit Quantity/Quality: C / C
Circuit Composition: Abnormal

Personality

A researcher through and through, Loa believes that failure and experimentation are the mothers of success and spares no expense or risk in trying to forward the field of Geothermal magecraft, having delved into the world of modern theory after science debunked many of her family’s past accomplishments. She moves forward with all the grace of a bull in a china shop, stubbornly bulldozing all opposition.

Working tirelessly since she was a teenager, Loa’s obsession with recreating the phenomenons of volcanism through magecraft is all-consuming, to where she is considered both insane by most of her peers and fellow researchers.

Had her field of study not required practical experimentation, she would have long since vanished within the hallways of the Magus Association. Her primary goal isn’t just recreating the power of a volcanic eruption, but to pioneer the means through which recreating the phenomenon of terra formation becomes possible.

She is always working and barely stops for anything other than health-related issues. Being strangely open about her research with no fear, Loa will often go into tangents about her work and its specifics for all who can hear.

Now… whether they can understand what she is saying is another matter entirely

Background

The Eldest daughter of a young family of Hawaiian mages, Loa’s family originated from Japan but moved to a different country a generation ago. Having lost prestige because of scientific advancements on understanding volcanoes and eruptions.

Rather than safeguarding the last remaining secrets of her bloodline, Loa took a proactive role in recreating the field of geothermal magecraft by studying modern theories and adapting her family craft with newfound purpose.

Not to destroy, but to create.

However, research takes money and funds require influence. And she as an outsider with a ruined legacy was seen with disdain for her ideas and methods. Though she eventually found herself a home at the Modern Magecraft department as an understudy of Doctor Heartless. Loa's methods and results had become significant enough for her to receive an offer of funding, as well as many attached strings and limitations on her methods. Something she disdained as sabotage.

Which lead to her eventually leaving the Clock Tower to return to her home. Once there, she received a strange proposal from a man claiming he would help her perfect her research, and that together they would create a new world.

Magecraft

Geothermal Volcanology

The study of ley line patterns found in the Circum-Pacific Belt, area famed for its earthquakes and volcanic activity. Loa's Magecraft lies in recreating these patterns in locations, objects and individuals in order to recreate different aspects of the concept of Volcano. As a young branch of Magecraft, it is still in its infancy, and thus only a few spells based on Loa's areas of study exist.

Spells

Mauna Loa
The pattern used to mimic the properties of a volcano by creating temporary connections between Ley Lines in a pattern similar to those seen in Mauna Loa. This causes an immediate release of geothermal energy, which Loa uses for different means such as releasing explosive blasts like buried mines, or funneling molten stone to create large holes.

Mauna Kea
A ley line pattern inscribed on Loa herself in order to mimic the properties of the Mauna Kea Volcano. This includes regulating her own temperature and maintaining bodily functions. She can discharge energy into objects and the surrounding atmosphere, creating bursts of heat and flame.

Lo´ihi
A submarine volcanic pattern, used to trap heat within objects rather than releasing it. The energy stored within the medium functions in the same way a jewelcraft user would priceless gems. The concept is so close that using materials present in volcanos, such as obsidian and glass, are the most compatible.

Lostbelt

Name: Endless Ocean of Snow, Burning Island of Ash - Tir na nOg
Subtitle: “Fragarach of Retaliation"
Location: Arctic

Servant

Rider of Tir na nOg:
A champion of the past who wields a cursed spear with barbs. She serves as Loa's bodyguard and assistant, hunting and fishing for their food but also helping her on her research, establishing the ritual which they plan to enact on the Crypter's bid to stabilize the Lostbelt they have been made to watch over.

[Cursed by Fortuna]

​0

[Bugs]

Name: Napoli Dís Croft
Alias/Nickname: Lady Grendel
Age: 30
Height/Weight: 189cm/96kg
Birthplace: ???, United States
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Forte/Likes: Unequivocal victories, pastries (donuts)
Weakness/Dislikes: “Hunger”
Natural Talents: Public speaking, baking, swordplay
Natural Enemies: Scladio Family

Affiliations: Snowfield Police Department
Origin: Aglæca
Elemental Alignment: Water
Crest Location: Inner left thigh
Circuit Quantity/Quality: ■■ / ■■
Circuit Composition: Abnormal


Background:

The Snowfield Holy Grail War was an unmitigated disaster.

None of the participants or varied eyewitnesses could truthfully answer to the contrary, the deaths and destruction of property was of a magnitude simply too large to properly contain. The Exposure of Mystery on a potentially global scale was a very real threat to the United States governmental body responsible for the ritual’s propagation. Through certain unforeseen factors and the occasional lucky coincidence, the participants in Snowfield’s bloodbath were able to keep events of the war contained within the city’s borders. Mostly.

The aftermath, however, was no less bloody.

Though he escaped the federal government’s emergency purge of those considered “problem assets”, police chief Orlando Reeve was still forced into an early retirement for his and the government’s own protection. Well, the truth of the matter is that he himself tendered his resignation preemptively… No fault in Orlando’s actions during the war could be found even if there had been an attempt to smear him, and his fellows in the ritual’s formation knew it. As a gesture of good will, Orlando’s successor came from within his own family--his vocal distaste of making the Snowfield HGW a public affair a bitter, if ultimately correct reminder to his contemporaries.

Napoli Croft, Orlando’s first cousin, was the ideal choice.

A similar bloodline. Similar views on justice. A similar build, much to the chagrin of her shorter compatriots. Napoli’s appointed leadership to Clan Calatin was intended to be as smooth a transition as possible, by virtue of the relative close approximations of her and her cousin’s personalities. On a more macabre note, at least a half dozen of the original outfit had been killed by the conclusion of the Snowfield War. The replacements for these valiant men and women were much more difficult to come by, but their inclusion in the revitalized Clan Calatin assisted in bridging the gap between Napoli and her new subordinates as well.

The lesson her ancestor failed to learn--no, was incapable of learning--perhaps she could...

Family Background:

The simplest thing to remember about a curse is that it can never truly be broken, only passed along.

The simplest thing to remember about monsters is that they are not born, but created.

Can the creation of monsters then be called the pinnacle of sin? Like a virus, what was once thought to be destroyed by some divine providence will rear its eternal, ugly head. Grudges left behind by the vanquished will beget new grudges.

Creation. Destruction. The life cycle of a monster is virtually endless, a blight left on the fabric of reality that only the utter annihilation of history can ever truly remove.

One can’t blame a certain king for believing dismemberment and decapitation of his enemy would end the cycle there, so long ago. His embittered foe had other plans. Rather, they had already been put into motion before his cursed arm had even been cleft from his shoulder.

Beowulf.

Grendel.

It is from the latter that Napoli’s lineage springs. Grendel’s bitter hatred for all of humanity--a species he himself belonged to at least in part--continued on in direct offspring that went unrecorded by Beowulf or Hrothgar. It was thought by elder members of the family that by assuming the form of a certain warrior of Heorot, Grendel ensured his grudges were carried on by more than the long-lived memory of the land itself.

Or perhaps the stain left behind by Grendel saturated too deeply the land of Hrothgar, infecting and overwriting the fates of those that remained behind to remember him. Grendel as a creature can only exist, learn, and propagate through destruction, after all.

Well, the exact truth doesn’t really matter anymore, does it.

The Clock Tower, for what it’s worth, didn’t let the tales coming out of Northumbria of a monstrously strong clan go unnoticed. There was little that brute strength could offer the establishment, of course, but the additional rumor that each successive generation turned out even mightier than the last fully pricked the ears of at least one department: Policies.

Reaching out to the current patriarch, the representatives from Policies discovered that the ancient Crofts were indeed in possession of a Magic Crest. Passed on naturally through birth rather than the Association’s familiar method of organ transplant, this wriggling series of circuits could be called the remnants of Grendel’s “core” that continued to exist housed within a shell of Grendel’s own descent. In order to maintain its own future existence, the Crest semi-consciously transferred to the healthiest and most viable host: that usually being a newborn.

Merely due to convenience, the Crest usually ended up within women. Conclusions concerning Grendel’s nature as a mama’s boy can be drawn at one’s own discretion.

Covetous of their discovery, Policies offered the Croft clan freedom from recurring nightmares that infamously plagued the holder of the Crest for generations. Establishing the first member inducted into the Clock Tower as an Enforcer, it became clear to anyone with an outside perspective that the department was merely attempting to set up a dynasty under their own control. A backbone of pure strength that at one end held the Enforcers as a group together, while still answering loyally to the 13th department.

Can a sin be contained? Can a monster be used for justice? So it would seem. Or perhaps, acquiring another’s sin of one’s own will is the only way to release those cursed. In this way, why wouldn’t the Crofts see Policies as their saviors?

“Well, it’s not like I asked for any of that in the first place.”

Napoli is fully aware that no one will ever be able to call her a “good person”, Grendel’s influence will never be truly excised from her or her family. That being said, if her actions display enough to the contrary, doesn’t that reinforce a truth she refuses to accept?

Maybe so. That’s for the eggheads to figure out, after all. You’d do better to just shut up and let me live my life already.

Personality:

In short: it’s bad...according to her, at least. She’s gluttonous. She’s lazy. She’s selfish. Her fuse is nonexistent and she’s more than willing to act on it. She hates talking about herself. She hates other people, but she loves other people.

It’s the contradictions she’s forced to deal with on a daily basis that somehow result in a net positive of sorts. Her forceful charisma derives simply from the fact that she has nothing to hide. Confidence is infectious, that’s all. The weak will just always look to the strong to set the guidelines. So she’ll work hard, because she wants to live up to her own expectations.

“No, I don’t mind. Well, I do, but it’s still my choice that I’m doing it like this.”

While presenting an image that gives in to her negative traits, in reality she’s fighting with every scrap of her being to confront and defeat them. Maybe that’s what draws people to her, after all.

Her views on justice are tempestuous at best. A beast-woman who can unabashedly declare that might makes right, but one who still chooses to reinforce the natural order of things. A warlord that conquers injustice not because she truly believes in any just cause, but because it’s an insult to her own values that won’t be suffered to continue. Is she sure she isn’t just hiding something? Regardless, she’s an aberration that puts her at diametric odds with her cousin Orlando.

She likes the cold. She likes cats. She likes being away from the sun and more than anything else; she likes violence.

At the cost of the near-death of one of her officers, it was discovered that she sleeps naked.

Her greatest weakness? Donuts, of course. What, were you expecting her to say something like “I don’t have one”? The kind with sprinkles are obviously the best...the surprising crunch is one of life’s simple pleasures, don’t you know. That being said, don’t expect to bring in a bear claw or cruller and think it will save you.

Abilities:

Palisade Grendel

Palisade Grendel, the name attributed to Napoli’s Sorcery Trait as well as a specific technique that calls upon the abilities of the demon’s sleeping blood. In essence, it denotes the replication of Grendel’s protean nature through the manipulation of natural processes already found within the human body. Though a monster he may have been, his arms and armor were composed entirely from parts still recognizable as “human”.

Rather than making use of Grendel’s nature of “absorption”, it draws upon the data of the human body already collected to use inside the monster’s new “hardware”: that being Napoli’s body itself.

The applications are limitless in theory, but things like “moving the location of the heart” and “surviving without a head” are beyond human ability and fully within the domain of bloodsuckers.

Of course, the form Grendel took during his conflict with Beowulf is the most impactful to the World’s memory. As translated by Heaney:

Every nail, claw-scale and spur, every spike
and welt on the hand of that heathen brute
was like barbed steel. Everybody said
there was no honed iron hard enough
to pierce him through, no time proofed blade
that could cut his brutal blood caked claw.

A “default” transformation that takes the form of beaten, black armor. Though it’s segmented and sounds like steel when struck, it’s actually all biological. Hair condenses and hardens into horn. Skin thickens and deadens to become like iron. Musculature swells with so much additional output that it can no longer be contained by the body. To say she looks a bit like a certain anime’s Toguro when she’s like this wouldn’t be incorrect.

But by far the most useful aspect of Palisade Grendel is the embodiment of the initial curse exhibited by Grendel. The curse inherited from Grendel and Napoli’s common ancestor, the very foundation for the concept of the “sins of the father are visited upon the son”.

The Mark of Cain.

The “rejection of weaponry” rivaling those similar curses borne by the likes of Caenis or the Nemean Lion. Being so heavily diluted, of course, it’s nothing compared to the magical defenses of a first-rate magus. At most, she is effectively invulnerable against anything less than a missile strike in terms of the mundane (when activated). Even the magical has reduced effect against her, though not quite at the level of Grendel’s skin rejecting Hrunting.

Still, it’s this potent combination of natural defense and offense that afford her the infamy around the Clock Tower’s halls as “The Living Heroic Spirit”.

Sublimated Noble Phantasm 004-- “Heat Broadsword”

An infant relic of the first-generation Clan Calatin, and one of the many false Noble Phantasms crafted by Alexandre Dumas at the direction of Orlando Reeve. As with the rest of the weapons making up the collection, the sword remained behind in the world after Dumas’ death. A falsity that was accepted by the World as truth. However, the “false Mystery” attached to it immediately began to degrade after the ultimate disappearance of Dumas, no longer attached to a direct source but working from “battery power” as it were. The same holds true for the rest of Clan Calatin’s ordnance, the half-life of each weapon leading towards the eventual collapse of the weapons’ utility.

Its true purpose is thus used sparingly. Ironically, using it as a regular blade is more suited to Napoli’s style anyway.

A deceptively simple, if Mystery-laden archetype was applied to the sword, one seen in many other cultures that initially stems from the Claíomh Solais of Irish lore. Dumas created this flashy weapon for Orlando initially, but of course it didn’t match the former chief’s preferences. It was handed down to another officer, unfortunately killed in battle by Alcides. There were several options given to Napoli when she came aboard, but she still picked this one.

Now she’s collecting the curse of a guy she’d never even met? What a pain in the ass...

She’s privately nicknamed it Svangur--Great Red Dragon. So the chief is someone like that after all, huh.

That sure is one big image.

[Rowknan]

Huh. May as well put some of my favorite ideas here. So is it alright if the format is a bit like a Servant sheet? Or should I rewrite the format?