Name: Lindorm
Servant Class: Rider
Alternate Classes: Berserker, Avenger
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7”
Weight: 157 lbs
Source: Folklore
Country of Origin: Various
Alignment: Lawful Good/Lawful Evil
PARAMETERS
Strength: B+
Endurance: C+
Agility: A++
Mana: B+
Luck: D
NP: B+
CLASS SKILLS
Riding [B+]
Though Rider was never known for riding a beast in life, many tales of the Lindworm describe its agility as well as its ability to chase down its prey by swallowing its own tail and turning itself into a rolling wheel. Through the use of his Noble Phantasms, he is somewhat able to recreate this, while also utilizing the mobility Lord Lindworm offers.
Magic Resistance [A++]
As a Dragonkin, Rider has a great deal of magic resistance made possible by his birth as the Lindworm, as such most magecraft spells and magic-based attacks used against him have a high chance of being dispelled upon contact.
PERSONAL SKILLS
Dragon Kind [B+]
In many tales, the Lindworm is a mythical creature in Northern and Central European folklore living deep in the forest that traditionally has the shape of a giant serpent monster. It can be seen as a sort of dragon. According to legend, everything that lies under the lindworm will increase as the lindworm grows, giving rise to tales of dragons that brood over treasures to become richer. Having been born and lived a life as a Lindworm, Rider has the same traits as the legendary Phantasmal, granting him a great deal of power. However, this also makes him weak to skills and noble phantasms that carry dragon-slaying attributes.
Breath of the Dragon [C++]
As a Dragonkin, the Lindworm has been attested to being able to spew the legendary breath of destruction. In many stories, the Lindworm carries a poisonous bite and breath. Through this skill, Rider is able to release blasts of torrenting flames, but in most cases will release a breath attack consisting of poisonous smog or a high pressured blasts of venom which carry corrosive properties.
Sevenskins [A]
In almost every variation of the story, Rider’s curse is undone as his final, true, bride fools him into shedding his skin a number of times before eventually being disenchanted of his curse through a sign of affection or the burning of his shed skins, sometimes both. This skill applies a sevenfold Battle Continuation effect to Rider, where his stamina is restored and skin-deep wounds are healed each time he sheds his skin. However he can only do this seven times within a Grail War or Singularity, and upon shedding his seventh skin the skill will no longer be available. Furthermore, utilizing this skill does take mana away from Rider, thus repeated and successive use of the skill in a single instance can heavily weaken him for a moment.
NOBLE PHANTASMS
Spoiler:Misbegotten Elder Son; Prince Lindorm
Ranking: C++
Classification: Anti-Unit (Self)
A Noble Phantasm that acts as Rider’s primary method of fighting, this crystalizes the curse he was born with and re-conceptualizes it as an ability Rider can freely use in and out of combat. Prince Lindorm allows Rider's body to be altered into that of his former cursed body, the Lindworm, his skin changing into scales, his teeth turning into fangs, his nails into claws, along with horns, or a tail protruding from his body. The transformation itself goes down to the cellular level, the transformation happening in real-time and in rapid succession as though Rider's body was going through an evolution, rather than a flashy transformation. Interestingly enough, despite what many would assume, Rider is able to cause these changes to occur anywhere on his body, no matter what the proper placement of the monstrous part may be. This means Rider could alter any body part into any part of his former monstrous form, no matter how absurd the chances of such a thing may be, one example being turning his hand into the head of a Lindworm which he can use to bite or grab his target, or even utilize its breath attack as if the head was an arm cannon. Not only this, but so long as he has the energy to put to use, he is capable of creating multiple monstrous body parts from his being rather than simply altering one of his own. Rider is also able to control the size of the evolved part in sections allowing it to be just as big as any human body part or make it as big as it truly should be. Indeed, with these transformations being on the cellular level, Rider is freely able to alter any and all altered body parts, not just simply enlarging them. Rider is capable of creating more natural weaponry on his body even if it is not where it is supposed to be, razor-sharp talons along his arms, monstrous fangs along the inside of his fingers, an entire forearm being turned into a tail, a hand turning into a serpentine head to bite or release venomous attacks, horns on his chest, so long as Rider has the imagination, along with energy to spare, he can use the parts and natural weaponry of his more monstrous form anywhere on his body as he pleases. Among his attacks, he seems to be fond of growing Lindworms from his body as a means to create additional limbs to further attack his opponent by using their long bodies to ensnare, and their fangs to bite.
White Scaled King; Lord Lindworm
Ranking: A+
Classification: Anti-Army
Rider’s primary Noble Phantasm allows him to manifest his past self, the giant dragonkin serpent which he had spent 20 years living as. A sentient and intelligent Noble Phantasm, Lord Lindworm, shortened to Lindworm, will automatically attack all opposition before him and his future self, all the while displaying the might of a dragonkin. When manifested and brought into the realm of his future self, Lindworm will seek to accomplish any task before him, whether this is fighting alongside Rider or in his stead, providing support for Rider's Master, or even simple tasks such as helping Rider move from one area to the next as a reluctant mount. No matter the task, Lindworm will always do whatever he can in his capacity and ability to succeed in carrying the command out. Rider as well is able to partially manifest Lindworm, enabling quicker and more efficient uses of his past self, though not necessarily as strong compared to a full manifestation. Furthermore, commands given to Lindworm are efficiently given, as he and Rider are connected to one another on a spiritual level, Lindworm is instantly aware of what Rider needs him to do and any specificities behind it. With this spiritual connection and link, Rider and Lindworm are constantly synchronized with each other, knowing what action the other is about to take, allowing them to take full advantage when fighting together.
As a Dragonkin phantasmal, Lindworm is able to display and make use of all attributes and abilities that are associated with lindwyrms, from his hard scales, magic resistance, breath attacks of fire or venom, to his powerful jaws and venomous fangs. As a large serpent, he of course is able to crawl, climb, and swim with such speed and force that the surface he moves against can only be torn apart. With his status being a Noble Phantasm, his monstrous abilities are only strengthened, allowing him to display a level of might on par with the Anti-Army class. It as well should be noted that Lindworm can manifest himself whenever he pleases, due to his intelligence and sentience, he does not necessarily need to rely on Rider in order to be called upon, in fact he can be considered another Servant summoned alongside Rider, but has been regulated to the role of Rider’s mount and partner.
Tales of the Lonesome Ophidians; Prince as Serpent
Ranking: A++
Classification: Anti-Fortress
Classified in the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index as tale type ATU 433B, the Prince as Serpent, or Snake-Bridegroom trope is a type of story that deals with maidens disenchanting serpentine husbands. This trope has been utilized in many fairy tales across the globe, including Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Greece, and even China. This Noble Phantasm crystalizes these tales of the Snake-Bridegroom trope into a singular attack, where Rider, Lindworm, and their every variation is manifested to release a curtain of destruction upon the target. This begins with Lindworm first needing to be manifested onto the field of battle, who Rider will then mount, standing upon his head as he calls out an incantation that serves as a catalyst to manifest his other selves.
“Curse born from the barren, existence born from roses.
O misbegotten sons, o cursed princes.
Shed your skins, shed your hate
Grasp her warmth, grasp our humanity
Become our true selves!”
Upon speaking this incantation, many esoteric Lindworms and serpents of great size will rise from the Earth, either surrounding the target or standing side by side with Rider and his past self, mana is gathered within each of the spirit-based dragonkin as well as their summoner. They take aim, flames and venom gathering and condensing within their maws, and upon Rider calling out the Noble Phantasm’s name, he and his variants will release a multitude of high-pressure breath attacks upon the target, creating a multi-hitting wave of destruction that scorches and corrodes the earth it races across. A Noble Phantasm that can be described as the wrath of a Dragonkin army, the potential devastation the gathered breath attacks can cause more likely than not can reduce an area to ash and death, the earth becoming too scorched and poisoned to ever support life again. As one can imagine, this Noble Phantasm costs a great deal of mana to utilize, often requiring a Command Seal to activate, making this a Noble Phantasm that cannot be repeatedly used and should be saved for dire circumstances or turning points.
LORE
Spoiler:“There once lived a king and a queen who ruled over a very great kingdom. They had large revenues, and lived happily with each other; but, as the years went past, the king’s heart became heavy, because the queen had no children. She also sorrowed greatly over it, because, although the king said nothing to her about this trouble, yet she could see that it vexed him that they had no heir to the kingdom; and she wished every day that she might have one. One day a poor old woman came to the castle and asked to speak with the queen. The royal servants answered that they could not let such a poor beggar-woman go in to their royal mistress. They offered her a penny, and told her to go away. Then the woman desired them to tell the queen that there stood at the palace gate one who would help her secret sorrow. This message was taken to the queen, who gave orders to bring the old woman to her. This was done, and the old woman said to her: ‘I know your secret sorrow, O queen, and am come to help you in it. You wish to have a son; you shall have two if you follow my instructions.’ The queen was greatly surprised that the old woman knew her secret wish so well, and promised to follow her advice. ‘You must have a bath set in your room, O queen,’ said she, ‘and filled with running water. When you have bathed in this you will find. under the bath two red onions. These you must carefully peel and eat, and in time your wish will be fulfilled.’ The queen did as the poor woman told her; and after she had bathed she found the two onions under the bath. They were both alike in size and appearance. When she saw these she knew that the woman had been something more than she seemed to be, and in her delight she ate up one of the onions, skin and all. When she had done so she remembered that the woman had told her to peel them carefully before she ate them. It was now too late for the one of them, but she peeled the other and then ate it too. In due time it happened as the woman had said; but the first that the queen gave birth to was a hideous lindorm, or serpent. No one saw this but her waiting-woman, who threw it out of the window into the forest beside the castle. The next that came into the world was the most beautiful little prince, and he was shown to the king and queen, who knew nothing about his brother the lindorm.
There was now joy in all the palace and over the whole country on account of the beautiful prince; but no one knew that the queen’s first-born was a lindorm, and lay in the wild forest. Time passed with the king, the queen, and the young prince in all happiness and prosperity, until he was twenty years of his age. Then his parents said to him that he should journey to another kingdom and seek for himself a bride, for they were beginning to grow old, and would fain see their son married. before they were laid in their grave. The prince obeyed, had his horses harnessed to his gilded chariot, and set out to woo his bride. But when he came to the first cross-ways there lay a huge and terrible lindorm right across the road, so that his horses had to come to a standstill. ‘Where are you driving to? ‘ asked the lindorm with a hideous voice. ‘That does not concern you,’ said the prince. ‘I am the prince, and can drive where I please.’ ‘Turn back,’ said the lindorm. ‘I know your errand, but you shall get no bride until I have got a mate and slept by her side.’ The prince turned home again, and told the king and the queen what he had met at the cross-roads; but they thought that he should try again on the following day, and see whether he could not get past it, so that he might seek a bride in another kingdom. The prince did so, but got no further than the first cross-roads; there lay the lindorm again, who stopped him in the same way as before. The same thing happened on the third day when the prince tried to get past: the lindorm said, with a threatening voice, that before the prince could get a bride he himself must find a mate.
When the king and queen heard this for the third time they could think of no better plan than to invite the lindorm to the palace, and they should find him a mate. They thought that a lindorm would be quite well satisfied with anyone that they might give him, and so they would get some slave-woman to marry the monster. The lindorm came to the palace and received a bride of this kind, but in the morning she lay torn in pieces. So it happened every time that the king and queen compelled any woman to be his bride. The report of this soon spread over all the country. Now it happened that there was a man who had married a second time, and his wife heard of the lindorm with great delight. Her husband had a daughter by his first wife who was more beautiful than all other maidens, and so gentle and good that she won the heart of all who knew her. His second wife, however, had also a grown-up daughter, who by herself would have been ugly and disagreeable enough, but beside her good and beautiful stepsister seemed still more ugly and wicked, so that all turned from her with loathing. The stepmother had long been annoyed that her husband’s daughter was so much more beautiful than her own, and in her heart she conceived a bitter hatred for her stepdaughter. When she now heard that there was in the king’s palace a lindorm which tore in pieces all the women that were married to him, and demanded a beautiful maiden for his bride, she went to the king, and said that her stepdaughter wished to wed the lindorm, so that the country’s only prince might travel and seek a bride. At this the king was greatly delighted, and gave orders that the young girl should be brought to the palace.
When the messengers came to fetch her she was terribly frightened, for she knew that it was her wicked stepmother who in this way was aiming at her life. She begged that she might be allowed to spend another night in her father’s house. This was granted her, and she went to her mother’s grave. There she lamented her hard fate in being given over to the lindorm, and earnestly prayed her mother for counsel. How long she lay there by the grave and wept one cannot tell, but sure it is that she fell asleep and slept until the sun rose. Then she rose up from the grave, went home, and set out quite willingly with the king’s messengers. When these arrived at the palace with the beautiful young maiden everyone pitied her fate; but she herself was of good courage, and asked the queen for another bridal chamber than the one the lindorm had had before. She got this, and then she requested them to put a pot full of strong lye on the fire and lay down three new scrubbing brushes. The queen gave orders that everything should be done as she desired; and then the maiden dressed herself in seven clean snow-white shirts, and held her wedding with the lindorm. When they were left alone in the bridal chamber the lindorm, in a threatening voice, ordered her to undress herself. ‘Undress yourself first!’ said she. ‘None of the others bade me do that,’ said he in surprise. ‘But I bid you,’ said she. Then the lindorm began to writhe, and groan, and breathe heavily; and after a little he had cast his outer skin, which lay on the floor, hideous to behold. Then his bride took off one of her snow-white shirts, and cast it on the lindorm’s skin. Again he ordered her to undress, and again she commanded him to do so first. He had to obey, and with groaning and pain cast off one skin after another, and for each skin the maiden threw off one of her shirts, until there lay on the floor seven lindorm skins and six snow-white shirts; the seventh she still had on. The lindorm now lay before her as a formless, slimy mass, which she with all her might began to scrub with the lye and new scrubbing brushes.
When she had nearly worn out the last of these there stood before her the loveliest youth in the world. He thanked her for having saved him from his enchantment, and told her that he was the king and queen’s eldest son, and heir to the kingdom. Then he asked her whether she would keep the promise she had made to the lindorm, to share everything with him. To this she was well content to answer ‘Yes.’ Each time that the lindorm had held his wedding one of the king’s retainers was sent next morning to open the door of the bridal chamber and see whether the bride was alive. This next morning also he peeped in at the door, but what he saw there surprised him so much that he shut the door in a hurry, and hastened to the king and queen, who were waiting for his report. He told them of the wonderful sight he had seen. On the floor lay seven lindorm skins and six snow-white shirts, and beside these three worn-out scrubbing brushes, while in the bed a beautiful youth was lying asleep beside the fair young maiden. The king and queen marvelled greatly what this could mean; but just then the old woman who was spoken of in the beginning of the story was again brought in to the queen. She reminded her how she had not followed her instructions, but had eaten the first onion with all its skins, on which account her first-born had been a lindorm. The waiting-woman was then summoned, and admitted that she had thrown it out through the window into the forest. The king and queen now sent for their eldest son and his young bride. They took them both in their arms, and asked him to tell about his sorrowful lot during the twenty years he had lived in the forest as a hideous lindorm. This he did, and then his parents had it proclaimed over the whole country that he was their eldest son, and along with his spouse should inherit the country and kingdom after them. Prince Lindorm and his beautiful wife now lived in joy and prosperity for a time in the palace; and when his father was laid in the grave, not long after this, he obtained the whole kingdom.”
Rider’s identity is a composite entity, one that is made up of all the variations of the “Snake-Bridegroom” character trope found in many tales across the world, most significant of all being “King Lindworm.” Though he can be summoned as a Berserker, or even as an Avenger, Rider’s present class is due to the dichotomy between his dragonkin-self and his human-self, where in many tales the former is more than willing to devour would-be brides before being disenchanted by a third, whereafter Rider is now noble and kind. One can make a case that these were two separate entities, where the Lindworm had remained the dominant aspect before his seven skins were shed, freeing the misbegotten prince from his curse. As this is the case, Lindorm and Lindworm can be considered two separate entities summoned as a singular servant, two aspects of a single Heroic Spirit given physical forms.
PERSONALITY
Spoiler:Rider is what one could certainly call “Absent Minded” for good reason, never seeming to be fully there during idle times, often staring off into some direction, either thinking about something or none at all. Indeed this habit of his often leaves him with a zoned-out expression, as though the current situation before him is of no consequence to him, that he has absolutely nothing to take from what is happening. This absent-mindedness often leaves him with a short attention span, only momentarily giving his attention to someone before losing focus, either a wandering thought or something else that happens to catch his interest stealing the attention away. Thus it is important that those who interact with him get their words out quickly, make it simple, or simply shorten whatever they’re going to say, sometimes even doing something captivating is necessary to keep his attention. He does not necessarily bother apologizing when he’s caught not paying attention either, seeing it as neither a problem nor his concern. There is no deep reasoning or tragedy behind this absent-mindedness of his, it is simply a natural part of him that seems ever active during idle times, rarely happening amid combat or undergoing a task that seems to be where his focus is at its sharpest. To make this worse, he’s rather air-headed as well, being oblivious to many things, such as relationships between people, the mood of a room, or the severity of a situation.
This is especially prevalent when it comes to his interactions with people, whatever intentions they may have been for the most part washed over him, Rider always assumes that the intent is to benefit him, or "pamper" him in some way. He simply seems to have a hard time reading others, holding difficulty in registering the mood and intent of others. If someone were to ask him the mood of a group of people hanging their heads, he would simply assume they were bored; if he were asked why a group seemed so excited, he would answer that it was because they were going to pamper him and then proceed to join the group under that assumption. He is someone that will automatically assume the best-case scenario of any intention or mood, in most cases this is about him being pampered, any possibility that things might be inherently negative washing over him as if there was none, to begin with. Rider himself sees this as a non-issue, rather he is thankful for it. To Rider, the fact he is unable to read a person's or situation's mood means he can simply focus on his own, living in the moment as he pleases while enjoying the world through shades of positivity. However, he isn't completely incapable of reading a mood. When one is intense enough, even Rider will be able to tell just how severe it is and more than likely get upset by it, as well as feel caught off guard. It is during such moments that he will either retreat from the situation, feeling far too out of his element to do anything about it or if the people involved are dear to him, he will try to do what he can to remedy the situation, paying them back for "pampering" him with their bond, a pang of guilt for not being able to figure out their mood hanging over him all the while.
On the flipside, his counterpart Lindworm carries an unsociable nature, which in itself is considered to be quite somber. Lindworm simply seems to be largely inconvenienced by social responsibilities and common behavior, never really coming off as friendly to just about anyone. He often prefers brooding by himself in a corner away from the nearest social activity, not interacting with anyone willfully and simply waiting for the best moment to leave. He has shown the bad habit of not really contributing to any conversation that comes his way unless it is a subject that interests him enough to actually speak about it, yet he still attempts to make the conversation short, getting straight to the point without any tangents or unnecessary details. He will always try to cut right to the point in a conversation.
Though he may appear to be the sort of person who finds the concept of friends disgusting, this is not the case, he does see value in forming social relationships, but chooses to prioritize his own life and well being over others, not in the way he wouldn’t go out of his way to save someone, but rather he wishes to focus on worrying about where life takes him rather than others, though he is capable of making an exception, as much as he argues such a rare occurrence is simply “necessary” for reaching a fair life. Though should one indeed make friends with him, they should not automatically assume they become a treasure he dares not to see harm come to, rather he absolutely will not shy away from inflicting mild violence, or threaten it, upon anyone he deems annoying, and what determines this is mostly how long they choose to hang around him or force one too many social interaction. He often comes off as brash, coming off as a mix of impudent and tactless, truly appearing as though he holds himself above others and has little care to their feelings or beliefs. Though this may appear as arrogance to others, overall his brash behavior is simply his will to see his goal to the end manifesting, showing just how much he wishes to focus on obtaining a fair life than worry about the struggle of others. Though in truth, he does believe his goal and others like it have more precedence than others, believing that obtaining a fair life is what everyone wants. His unsocial and brash nature are multiplied by his willingness to be completely rude to others, openly mocking others and showing little to no respect to them or their ideals. He shows little to no manners when in the presence of others, doing what he wants in that moment rather than worry if he was polite or friendly when doing so. He is not above sticking to an insult and rubbing it in, even the occasional inconvenience that may befall someone. He has little care to how ill-mannered he may be in the eyes of others, as he simply wishes to live the life he wants to without any interference.
Notes
Spoiler:Went through a lot of different Rider ideas before settling on this one, at first I was set on King Gesar, but there's so much to his story that I couldn't think of a way to best balance it and choose what to use for his Skills and Noble Phantasms. I also considered multiple Pirates and other sea farers, but I wanted to do something new. I tried finding folkloric and mythological figures that had befriended animals or had some kind of animal companion that wasn't just a horse, but many of those were gods. I as well considered using the Wild Hunt itself, but I couldn't settle on which leader I wanted to use as the figurehead for the Servant. So I started reading up on snakes and dragons, and there I found King Lindworm. I was originally just going to give him Prince Lindorm and Prince as Serpents, but I thought without something to act as a mount he'd be better suited as a Berserker or Avenger, which finally brought me to the idea of using the snake AND the prince together as a duo. Reading the story, it really is striking to me that the Prince just ate the previous brides with zero afterthought once he got his curse lifted, so with that in mind I figured writing it as such that they were two different entities in a sense would work AND make a unique servant! Really proud of this little dude, and the whole trope he represents is underutilized in today's media.
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Originally Posted by ThreadNomad
