(Bi)Monthly Don't-Create-A-Servant Contest

[NinetyNineLies]

Does anyone have the collected lores on Dead Apostle? I have an idea for a bardic vampire that I want to write for this prompt but I'm kinda rusty on this side of the lore. Anything specifically on TATARI would be nice too.

[MuramasaMachII]

Best I can give is Terminology-Vampires, TYPE-MOON Wiki - Dead Apostles, and TATARI(look at the first 3 entries).

[MuramasaMachII]

The young Konstantinos Annius Adamantos ran through the streets of Benghazi, his eyes filled with terror.
It had been his first official mission to support the NATO intervention in the 2011 Libyan Civil War.
While he was only 18 years old, he had already gained the title 'Living Missile' through his supporting of NATO convoys.
Everything had gone well... until she appeared.
A tall Frenchwoman who walked like a predator through the streets, licking her lips at the constant bloodshed as she sang:
"Aux armes, citoyens, formez vos bataillons, marchons, marchons!"
While it seemed calming at first, everything came crashing down in pure terror as the woman sang the last words:
"Chanson-nous la Liberté ou la Mort! Oui, cela c'est

Desire Demonstration Domain

La Marseillaise

."


Our Lady of Bloodshed

Louisette Sans-Merci

Alias:Madame Guillotine, Marianne	Gender: Female
Age: 500+(Chronologically)	Height/Weight: 184 cm / 69 kg
Birthplace: Paris, France	Affiliation: The Shadow of God
Origin: Insurrection / Dethroning	Sorcery Trait: L’Esprit Absolue
Magecraft: La Terreur Divine	Circuit Composition:Abnormal

Personality:
Likes: The constant revolution,

Justice

God

, Robespierres
Dislikes: Oppressors, boredom,
Natural Talents: Causing instability, French cuisine
Natural Enemy: Lord El-Melloi II, the GMS

Magic Circuits:
Circuit Quantity: B++
Circuit Quality: B

Biography - Part 1:

The girl who would become known as "Our Lady of Bloodshed" was originally a nameless Jacobin revolutionary during the French Revolution of 1789.
She would have remained unknown, if not for her interactions with a certain Maximilien de Robespierre.

Character:
While originally, Louisette may have been a joyous idealist, focused on the three glories of "Liberté, Fraternité, Égalité", as an incarnation of the French Revolution manifested as a Dead Apostle, she can no longer be called human in any sort of way. The ideals of justice, and the use of terror to ensure virtue propagated by Maximilien de Robespierre have been engraved into her very soul and become the motivators for her existence. When faced by something that goes against

God

justice

, there is only one response: death to all tyranny. For justice must be ensured, even if it is at the cost of oneÂ’s own humanity. The revolution must go onwards eternally, to purge every last

sin

oppressor

and create the perfect utopia.

Biography - Part 2:

Louisette was originally part of a poor family who was essentially enslaved to an aristocratic mage family in Paris.

Her perpetual suffering was only stopped when a young Maximilien de Robespierre found her in the road, and asked her to become his revolutionary. It was Robespierre who gave the name "Marianne" to Louisette, after his envisioned personification of freedom. Even when the violence became greater in the French Revolution, "Marianne" never strayed from Robespierre’s side. In fact, she dipped her handkerchief in Louis XVI’s blood after he was executed, and led the mage family who enslaved her to the fated scaffolding.

The radical himself taught her the bases of magecraft, based on the Revolutionary’s theories of the Supreme Deity and of the Coup D'État: By gathering enough people under a singular ideal and using a certain ritual, it was possible to 『Dethrone』God and replace it with pure Reason.

Magecraft Related Abilities:

La Terreur Divine
The Divine Terror, the result of the remnants of Robespierre’s magecraft fused with Louisette’s Origin and the grudges of the French Revolution. It represents her as a special type of Dead Apostle who is closer to a phenomenon given form in 1794.

Louisette is essentially, a culmination of subconscious terror, paranoia and a desire for warped justice—in other words, the concept of a "violent insurrection" given form. She constantly absorbs desires related in that regard, and when they become potent enough, she manifests them around her. However, that is not the exact answer because there are three exceptions: 1. The desire must be potent enough in a collective sense. 2. The desire must have the opportunity for violence, and 3. The desires are manifested according to Louisette’s mindset in the form of self-destructive fantasies which treat terror and massacre as justice.

Due to these exceptions, Louisette does not have a precise lair, instead often manifesting during coup d'états, civil wars, and revolutions to feed and spread her magecraft further.

It would not be unfitting to call La Terreur Divine a specialised Curse Art focused around humanity’s self-destructive nature which uses it to its fullest. In fact, it even emanates a degraded form of Robespierre’s Origin of 『Dethroning』combined with Louisiette’s original Origin of 『Insurrection』which causes people’s rationality to be "dethroned" and replaced with the subconscious desire to rebel.

While there are similarities to Robespierre's original Thaumaturgical Theory, there are also two major differences: terror is used as a self-propagating fuel which unifies through chaos, and instead of simply dethroning God, It is replaced—the desires for revolution and change by any means necessary reflect onto Louisette and become her Pseudo-Authority, making her a "God of Revolutions."

All together shall shout "Liberty or Death!"

Desire Demonstration Domain

La Marseillaise

The Bounded Field which is activated the moment Louisette arrives in a place suited to La Terreur Divine. It is the full manifestation of Louisette’s existence as a special Dead Apostle which elevates her to a phenomenon closer to an imitation Divine Spirit known simply as "Madame Guillotine."

Within this special area, any blood that is shed automatically flows towards Louisette to become both her buffet, and further fuel for

Desire Demonstration Domain

La Marseillaise

. However, its true strength is the manifestation of the stored desires within her not as simple grudges, but as full blown pseudo-ghouls.

This Bounded Field could essentially be called an Idea Blood which could not fully manifest due to Louisette being a patchwork existence, and her not having enough fame since she was not sired by a Dead Apostle herself.

Grudge Canvas

Sans-Culottes

A name for the creatures Madame Guillotine creates. They are the curses within her existence manifested due to

Desire Demonstration Domain

La Marseillaise

in the form of the radicals she fought beside in the French Revolution. Their very existence radiates death and terror, and their goal is always to provide more food for their mistress, and spread the revolution. Those who wander close enough are either instantly slaughtered, or infected with their curse to propagate Louisette's ideals with one sole exception: those who are found to be special. Those special few are taken to her for judging. While these creatures may seem like Ghouls, in reality they are closer to the phenomenon in the Fate/EXTRA timeline called "Dead Face."

Our Lady of Bloodshed

Lacrimosa

The temporary form which Louisette can incarnate as, given she has consumed enough blood, and the area she is materialized is reaching its "climax."
Given these terms, blood begins to both pour out of Louisette's eyes and gather behind her head in the form of a halo. A crimson spectre--the Supreme Being incarnated--appears behind her, wielding her Mystic Code.

In this state, all in a 6 metre radius are forced to be judged, with the "chosen" being turned into one of Louisette's ghouls, and the "unworthy" being forced to kneel so that they may reach Heaven-- that is, a perfect

death

transcendence

given by the guillotine. Moreover, Louisette can infuse blood with her magecraft and unleash it in arcing slices which replicate the strikes of a guillotine.

This state can only last until either the target of the revolution is eliminated, or for a maximum time of nine minutes.

Biography - Part 3:
However, Robespierre too was sent to the guillotine as a result for his actions during The Reign of Terror.
"Marianne," being ever loyal, followed him to his demise, and was put to the death alongside her one true friend.
However, "Marianne" was not fated to rest. On Robespierre's death, he recited a prayer to the Supreme Being which interacted with the girl's Sorcery Trait and the magecraft system engraved into her, designating the Revolution as "God."
Thus, but an hour after the girl's death, she was reconstructed as a special Dead Apostle incarnating the Revolution's chaos and desires permanently.
"Marianne" ceased to exist, so she took her name from the weapon that symbolized the truth: "Louisette," the original name for the guillotine.


~Mystic Codes:~
Les Bois de Justice
Louisette Sans-Merci's Mystic Code, taking the form of the guillotine blade that killed her.
While normally it is a simple blade, it is in reality instilled with the concept of "Judgement" and determines who to become Louisette's scions.
The blade hovers over the chosen, and if they are worthy, it passes through harmlessly while instilling part of Louisette into them, otherwise killing the person instantly if they are unworthy.


Non-Magecraft Abilities:
Adept Chef
In Louisette's time as "Marianne" while being both a revolutionary, and a slave to a magus family, she served as a chef often.
Louisette specialises in French haute cuisine, especially with soufflés and pastries.

Creator Remarks:

This is technically the third entry in the GMS series, which started with Konstantinos, my first mage and the protagonist in the beginning of this story.
Louisette was pretty fun to make honestly. I mainly took inspiration from TATARI for how her basic magecraft worked, and from Alucard's Release State Level 0 for La Marseillaise. It all came together when I remembered I had a French Lostbelt idea somewhere in the back of my head... so she might be the Crypter for that.

[PA270]

Louisette Sans-Merci: Another fantastic entry! I loved both previous entries in the GMS series so far, and this one is certainly no exception. The French Revolution theming is a really strong thread to tie the whole sheet together, and Louisette truly does feel like a concept distilled, which is exactly what a TATARI-inspired DA should feel like. Not to mention her fantastic Magecraft and her rich backstory! Great job!

[You]

We're going to have a one week extension.
Voting will automatically begin on Feb 8th 12:01 am PST and finish Feb 15th 12:01 am PST.

[zikari8]

Draynor Xanier
The Cancer



"What will tomorrow bring? The only way to find out is to run towards it with all your might."

Name: Draynor Xanier
Epithet: The Cancer
Age: 82
Sex: Male
Height: 390 cm (186 cm)
Weight: 264 kg
Alignment: Neutral Evil

Personal Attributes:
Likes: The pursuit of success, a passionate romance, the feeling of progress
Dislikes: Peace, mediocrity
Forte: Never giving up
Weakness: Never giving up

Status:
Race: Dead Apostle
DA Rank: IV
Affiliation: Clock Tower
Faculty: Zoology
CT Rank: Fes

Magical Attributes:
Element: Water
Circuit Quality: B
Circuit Quantity: C
Circuit Composition: Aberrant
Origin: Stagnation

Profile:
The Cancer of London. A Dead Apostle created by magecraft.

Draynor Xanier is a talented magus and an esteemed member of the Clock Tower’s Faculty of Zoology. Despite his old age, he is a youthful, charismatic fellow who could easily pass as a fresh-eyed, green-faced student. His magical talents speak for themselves and he has experienced a rapid and steady rise through the ranks of the Clock Tower over the decades. Due to his natural aptitude at magecraft and magnetic personality, he has many admirers within the Clock Tower who both celebrate and envy his talents. He has managed to remain within the Top 50 of the Clock Tower’s “the man at the Clock Tower you want to sleep with the most” ranking among the female students.

Unbeknownst to most, however, Draynor’s youthfulness is not merely the result of typical anti-aging magecraft. He is actually a Dead Apostle, a former human who became a vampire through magecraft. For decades now, he has managed to hide this fact from the rest of the Mage’s Association, just pretending to be an ordinary magus in London retaining their youth with anti-aging magecraft. Unlike many other magi who seek the immortality of the Dead Apostle solely to buy themselves more time to fulfill their true goals, Draynor’s current existenc as a vampire was his goal.

Through the power of magecraft, Draynor Xanier has obtained what he considers the true form of Ideal Immortality.

Biography

Draynor Xanier was once a prodigy.

Born into a frankly mediocre magus family, Draynor showed signs of brilliance from a young age. His parents were quick to recognize these talents and didn’t hesitate to do everything in their power to foster it. They spared no effort when it came to his education and every one of his successes was amply rewarded with praise and prizes. Furthermore, whenever they would meet another magus, they would happily flaunt him like a trophy and brag about how talented he was. Soon enough, he had learned everything that his parents could teach him and so he was sent to study at the Clock Tower at a remarkably young age.

It was there in that hyper-competitive hierarchal viper’s den that Draynor’s talents and ego fully blossomed. His talent was indeed the real deal and the world-class education as well as the high-pressure environment pushed his abilities as a magus to grow leaps and bounds at an astounding rate. It wasn’t long before other magi to take notice of his rapid growth and begin singing his praises as well. Peers, teachers, nobles alike, they all watched his meteoric rise with wide eyes and bated breaths, lionizing him as a true prodigy.

What everyone watching him was interested in, however, was not his actual ability as a magus. He was still a child from a middling family just starting to rise up the ranks after all. No, what had attracted their attentions was Draynor’s potential.

What they were interested in, however, was not his actual ability as a magus. He was, after all, still just a child from a middling family. No, what had attracted their attentions was Draynor’s potential. It was all they talked about around him: How much potential did he have? What will he be like when he’s grown up? What might he accomplish in the future? How do we stimulate his growth and bring out his maximum potential? They had no interest in his present, only in his future. Although they had their eyes on him, they were not looking at him at all.

Nevertheless, Draynor continued to climb. Whereas others may have buckled under the weight of such heavy expectations, Draynor only thrived. He took pride and pleasure in being someone with such extraordinary potential and reveled in all the adoration. He simply pushed himself to work even harder in order to meet those expectations, not just those of others, but mostly his own expectations for himself. Using his absolute faith in his own potential as a guiding star, he continued to just rise higher and grow even more. There at the center of the magical world, he basked in the spotlight with a captive audience all wondering with awe just how far he would go.

And then, he peaked.

Shortly after his graduation, everything fell apart. His once rapid rise through the Mage’s Association slowed to a crawl. His magical research plateaued. Interest in him among other magi dried up. In seemingly a blink of an eye, he went from a shooting star to a common gem.

The reason was simple. He had finally reached the limits of his potential.

He was now an adult. Thus, he could no longer be a prodigy.

It was only natural that his once adoring supporters abandoned him. They had only been interested in his potential to begin with. Once he reached it, there was nothing special about him any longer. He was just an ordinary person.

This fact drove him to despair. His entire life he had received adulation for having great potential. His own sense of self-value was predicated around his potential. He had dreamt of what he would be like in the future and pushed himself to reach closer to it, but now that it was in his grasp, what did he have left? Nothing. He was nothing.

Although he did lament not being special anymore, it was this emptiness that drained the light from his soul. How could he have hope when there was no future for him any longer? Having plateaued, he would not grow any longer. He would not grow any taller, get any stronger, become any smarter. He would just stay the same for the rest of his life, or even worse deteriorate. If that was the only future for him, what was even the point of continuing to live?

But in the depths of this despair, Draynor found a sliver of hope in a single humble animal.

The lobster.

A creature said to be immortal. Unlike humans and many other animals, lobsters do not slow down, weaken, or lose fertility with age. In fact, they just continue to grow, becoming bigger, stronger, and more virile over time without limit.

This common marine crustacean gave Draynor the inspiration to keep going. If a simple lobster can continue growing after getting old, why couldn’t he? He simply had to apply his talents into making it happen. He would modify himself with magecraft and obtain the power of infinite growth. That way, his potential would become limitless, and he would never again have to suffer the despair of peaking.

Thus, he began researching immortality through magecraft and reached the path of the Dead Apostle. The regular immortality of a Dead Apostle, however, was not enough for him. What did endless life matter if he would just continue to stagnate? That would just be eternal torment for him. No, what he needed was an Ideal Immortality. One in which he would continue to grow as he grew older.

After much hard work and genius breakthroughs, he finally reached it. A Dead Apostle with the Immortality of the Lobster. A creature that never has to experience the stagnation of age. A state of being with infinite potential.

That is Draynor Xanier, the Eternal Prodigy.

Abilities

Draynor Xanier is a talented magus who was able to use magecraft to become a Dead Apostle. He is a prodigy when it comes to magecraft and has achieved a level of mastery comparable to other elite magi at the Clock Tower, despite coming from a mediocre lineage. After only 80 or so years of life, he has already achieved the rank of Fes within the Mage’s Association, a remarkably impressive feat considering his parents were only Count. His magic circuits aren’t very impressive, and he wasn’t born with any special sorcery traits, but when it comes to pure academic magecraft and magical application, he is a true genius who only keeps getting better with age.

In order to obtain what he calls Ideal Immortality, Draynor has used magecraft to fuse his existence with that of a lobster and turned himself into a Dead Apostle. This has made him quite the strange and monstrous creature with a very unique physiology and set of abilities. Although far from his specialty, his monstrous body makes him rather adept at physical combat, capable of superhuman feats even beyond typical magi reinforcement. In the end, though, the true value of his existence lies in the reason he sought it out: his Ideal Immortality.

Magecraft:
Draynor Xanier is a member of the Faculty of Zoology and, likewise, his magecraft revolves around the study of magical beasts and phantasmal species. Specifically, his primary magecraft lies in the field of chimera creation, creating hybrid magical beasts by mixing different species together through magecraft. In particular, Draynor specializes in marine chimeras.

Throughout mythology and folklore, the sea has always been home to numerous mystical and dangerous monsters. The Kraken, Leviathan, Scylla, Charybdis, Sirens, Sea Serpents. These are just some of the aquatic creatures that once lived in the Age of Gods and brought both terror and awe to mankind. The sea itself has always been a mysterious place. Even in the modern day, the darkness of its depths is still a terrifying unknown for humanity. One can only imagine what fantastical creatures may still be living there, far away from the light of the surface. As such, compared to many other phantasmal species, the Mystery behind sea-based magical beasts has remained relatively strong even in the modern day. Some magi even theorize whether or not certain phantasmal species from the Age of Gods may still be alive in the depths of the ocean.

Draynor’s magecraft allows him to create chimeras in the image of these mythical beasts. He is able to magically fuse the existences of different species to create chimeras that specifically mirror the traits of a specific mythical beast. For example, mixing octopi, snakes, and dogs to create something resembling Scylla. In doing so, the chimera becomes an idol of the mythical beast and can draw upon part of their Mystery (specifically it allows Draynor to perform magecraft spells drawing upon that Mystery on the chimera by using it as a ritual substitute). The closer the chimera gets to replicating the mythical beast’s traits, the more Mystery it can draw, so the success of the magecraft depends largely on the magus creating the perfect recipe for mixing species together.

Throughout his time at the Clock Tower, Draynor has used his magical genius to develop several of these recipes and earn great adulation for them. The chimeras created with these recipes tend to become his familiars, though he shows little care for them as living beings – only valuing them as rare magical artifacts.

The greatest chimera he has ever created, though – his Magnum Opus – is no doubt himself. He applied the same type of magecraft and methodology to fuse himself with a lobster before becoming a Dead Apostle in order to achieve the immortality he wanted.

Physical Abilities:
As far as Dead Apostle go, Draynor is on the weaker side. He is only a Rank IV Dead Apostle, not even a fully-fledged vampire and can still be considered half-human. His regenerative powers aren’t overwhelming, and he hasn’t developed any special abilities as a Dead Apostle. Based on these factors alone, the average Executor pair from the Holy Church should be able to dispatch him with some difficulty.

All of this, however, is only when evaluating him as a Dead Apostle alone. Having been modified into a chimera, though, he has also inherited some traits from the species he has fused with and gained a special set of physical abilities from it. In addition, becoming a Dead Apostle has also amplified these physical abilities to mystical levels, just as it grants normal humans superhuman powers too.

Just like a lobster, Draynor possesses a hard protective exoskeleton that can shield him from damage. This thick natural armor amplified by magecraft is as hard as metal and can even repel bullets from certain firearms. Over time, he has learned to dismiss and manifest this shell from his body so that it won’t completely get in the way of his everyday life. In addition, Draynor is able to manifest giant lobster claws from his body which he can wield like additional appendages of his body. These claws are not only powerful, but they are also very sharp, capable of easily snipping through steel. With these extra weapons on top of his improved physical strength, Draynor can be quite the combatant when pushed to violence.

As a side note, the chimera recipe Draynor used when transforming himself was modeled after the Cancer, a magical creature from Greek Mythology that appeared during Heracles’s Twelve Labours. Sent by Hera, it assaulted the great hero during his battle with the Hydra, attacking his legs to throw him off so that the Hydra could deal a finishing blow. This plan, however, failed and the creature was promptly crushed under Heracles’s foot. As a reward for its efforts and sacrifice, Hera immortalized the creature as a constellation, making it one of the Twelve Zodiacs. Although most people consider Cancer to be a giant crab monster, some interpretations say that it was actually a lobster. Like his other chimeras, Draynor himself draws Mystery from his model and can be, in some ways, considered a replica of the Cancer.

Ideal Immortality
Draynor’s dream and guiding star. The power of limitless potential.

Having conceptually fused himself with a lobster, Draynor has obtained the crustacean’s ability to grow indefinitely. Unlike normal humans who eventually stop growing and even deteriorate with age, Draynor’s body, mind, and soul continue to grow with time, no matter how old he gets.

All humans have a set limit of potential within them. Even the best athletes eventually hit a peak where their bodies can no longer be improved, no matter how hard they train. On an even simpler, more relatable level, once you reach a certain age, you inevitably stop growing any taller. Draynor, however, had broken from such limitations. With each passing year, his body will only get bigger, better, and stronger. This doesn’t just apply to his physical body either. In his current state, Draynor is capable of learning new things as quickly and easily as an adolescent would. Where his magical development once stalled in the past, he now makes new magecraft breakthroughs at the same pace as he did in his prime, always having room in his mind to grow mentally.

There are no longer any limits to Draynor’s potential. Whether it will be easy or not, he will always be able to grow and improve himself even further. There will always be something to look forward to in the future. There will always be a path for him to move forward.

That is the immortality that Draynor sought.

His immortality is not limited to just that, of course. He also possesses the immortality of the Dead Apostle, the Curse of Restoration with which he can regenerate even from serious wounds. In addition, his lobster-type immortality has had a strangely synergistic effect with his Dead Apostle physiology. Put simple, unlike other Dead Apostles, Draynor does not need to suck blood in order to survive.

The reason Dead Apostles need to suck blood is because their inhuman bodies are causing their genetic information to constantly degenerate. The only way to reverse this degeneration is by absorbing the genetic information of others through the ingestion of blood. On the other hand, the source behind the lobster’s immortality is an enzyme called telomerase. Put in simple terms, these enzymes are able to repair one’s genetic code. That is why lobsters do not deteriorate with age; their infinite supply of telomerase continues to repair their genetic code whenever it begins to degrade. Thus, thanks to his own supply of telomerase gained from his lobster side, Draynor is able to reverse and repair the damage to his genetic code without sucking the blood of others.

Draynor does possess some bloodthirst as a natural instinct, but it is not a necessity for him nor is it as uncontrollably severe. Thanks to this fact, he has never actually sucked the blood of another person, which has been instrumental in him keeping his identity as a Dead Apostle a secret. Without any victims, there a few clues besides his aversion to sunlight and holy imagery for the Mage’s Association to deduce his true nature.

Although it hasn’t truly been tested whether or not this method will truly be able to withstand centuries of degeneration, in theory, Draynor will be able to live forever without aging and without every needing to suck the blood of another person.

It certainly can be considered an Ideal Immortality.

Other Details and Weaknesses:
Although it is said that lobsters are immortal, this is actually technically not true. When lobsters grow too old, they become too big and require more energy to sustain themselves than before. In most cases, they end up dying from exhaustion whenever they try to molt.

The same is true for Draynor. The older he gets and the more he grows, the more energy is needed to sustain his body. As a result, his appetite has only increased with age, and he can now easily wolf down a meal for three just to keep himself going. Molting season is especially tough on him and his many attempts to deal with it economically have gotten him blacklisted from a number of buffets in London.

Also, as mentioned above, Draynor’s body continues to grow larger with age. In the current day, he has already grown to almost four meters tall. Luckily, he is able to hide this appearance thanks to the Zoology Department’s signature transformation magic, morphing his body back to his original adult form. This method isn’t True Shapeshifting, though, and has its limitations though. For one, it doesn’t actually change his mass.

Draynor's True Form

Like any other Dead Apostle, Draynor has all the usual weaknesses, including sunlight and holy power. Luckily, because he’s a lower rank Dead Apostle, his weakness to the sun isn’t actually that bad. At his rank, it is only at the level of draining his strength and making him anemic, so he does not need to completely fear the sun just yet. His resistance to the Holy Church’s weaponry, though, is as expected.

On a final note, just as Draynor has never sucked another person’s blood, he has never turned anyone else into a Dead Apostle. He does not have any sires nor a parent; he is just a lone vampire rising through the Moonlit World on his lonesome.

Just once in the past, though, there was indeed a single person who he wanted more than anything to join him on his infinite journey…

Character

The former and ever after prodigy. A man who will never stop growing, no matter what.

All things considered, Draynor Xanier is more or less a typical magus. He has dedicated his entire life to magical research and he will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. Despite this, he doesn’t come across as a snobby, stick-in-the-ass curmudgeon as one might expect. Instead, he’s actually a rather agreeable person. He’s cheerful, fun, and respectful. He’s open to new ideas and he likes making new friends. He sure as hell knows how to party, but he’s also responsible and diligent when it comes to serious matters. Most of all, he just radiates a certain unwavering confidence that attracts to him. When they look at him and his youthful go-getter energy, they can’t help but believe that things will be okay and that anything is possible as long as you do your best and don’t give up. All traits you would not expect from a man in his 80’s, much less a Dead Apostle. That he can be such a fresh, sunny person is a testament to Draynor’s ideals.

Of course, he isn’t without is faults. Considering the circumstances in which he was raised, it was perhaps almost inevitable how he would grow up. Conceited. Spoiled. Self-centered. All around, just a bit of a narcissist who has completely bought into his own hype. That said, his arrogance is not completely unearned. He is truly talented, and he puts in the work to foster that talent. In fact, there is perhaps nothing more important to him in the world than promoting his abilities.

The one thing Draynor values the most is his own potential. His entire self-worth centers around his identity as a prodigy with extraordinary potential. All of the effort he puts in and all of the challenges he overcomes are in service of developing that potential. And although he does like receiving praise and attention from others for being amazing and special, he would still do everything he can to learn more and train more even if no one else cared about him. He simply wants to be able to keep growing forever and ever. Frankly, he is obsessed with it.

What Draynor seeks is not eternity, but eternal growth. Being able to fill each day with progress and accomplishment. Likewise, what Draynor fears the most is not being able to grow any further. It is something that he has already faced once when he reached the natural limits of his potential and peaked. Back then, it drove him to utter despair. The idea that he had reached his prime and that there was nothing left above him that he could reach tore his heart apart. If you will never surpass your current self ever again, no matter how hard you try, no matter how long you wait, is there even any reason to keep living? What future self do you even have to look forward to or work towards if it’s just the same as what you are now? That cruel fate was what drove him to become a Dead Apostle and obtain infinite potential through his Ideal Immortality.

Now that he has achieved this limitless growth and immortality, he is able to devote himself fully to his own growth. While others get old and stagnate, he alone will keep moving forward and grow more and more. He will become stronger. He will become more skilled. He will develop more magecraft. He will earn more accolades. More, more, and more!

But of course, this single-minded pursuit of eternal growth is a one-man trip. It inevitably leaves everyone else behind…

In fact, the truth is, there was once a person he considered a partner in life. It was a woman that he loved. They had met as peers at the Clock Tower, before soon recognizing each other as their greatest rival. For a prodigy like Draynor, she had been his only intellectual equal and the only person who could relate to them. Draynor saw her as the only person who could keep up with his rapid growth and vice versa she felt the same. It was perhaps inevitable then that their rivalry would become a companionship and then blossom love.

Even after graduating, they continued dating with an eventual marriage in mind. He even shared his plans to become a Dead Apostle with her and she accepted his choice graciously, still loving him after he became an undead monster. It seemed like nothing could ever get in between them. And yet, unfortunately, that halcyon romance did eventually fall apart. The reason for it was painfully simply:

He cheated on her.

He had fallen in love with another woman as well and started a romantic relationship with her as well. Naturally, once she found out, they broke up right then and there. Funny thing is, he was the one who told her, being completely honest about everything.

In truth, it wasn’t that Draynor no longer loved her. Nor was it that he loved the other woman even more. His love was as strong and pure as ever. It was just that it was no longer enough for him. He needed more. His heart yearned to experience falling in love again. It wanted to be in that chaotic and thrilling whirlwind of adolescent romance. It had grown too large for all of its love to be contained to a single person.

That is the curse of infinite growth. To never be satisfied. To never be content. An endless greed that demands you to always be moving forward, even if it means leaving what you have behind.

It is still the same thing for him now. At any given time, Draynor has a harem of young girls that he’s dating, attracting them with his stunning talents and magnetic charisma. They aren’t even just toys or plaything for him either; his love for each one of them is genuine. It’s just that he can’t be satisfied only loving a single person anymore.

Naturally, no matter who it is or what relationship they form with him, he never ends up settling down with any of them. They eventually get older, stagnate, and leave him too, unable to keep up with him any longer. The same can be said of the many people he befriends as well. No matter what bond he forms, there can be no future for it when their future is so empty and devoid of potential.

But there’s little time for him to lament such things as he’ll already have moved on to the next person or the next thing. That’s how it always be for him. Always growing, always finding new things, always leaving things behind, always moving on.

A journey with limitless potential. A life without an end.

Intermission

It was raining heavily that night.

The city street was as dark as it was empty. Only a single figure could be seen enduring the gloomy weather and wading through the flooded roads.

Draynor Xanier shielded himself with an expensive umbrella as he walked down the street with an uncharacteristically solemn face. Tonight, he was not cooped up in his workshop or blowing some steam at a nightclub as he often did. Tonight, he was taking a rare break from his endless pursuit of self-improvement to reminisce.

His destination was a certain retirement home in the area. Normally, they did not allow visitors so late at night, but he pulled a few strings to make it happen. Upon arrival, he was allowed in and guided to a certain private room. Inside, he found an elderly woman sitting weakly in bed.

“Hey.” He greeted her casually.

“Hello.” She responded peacefully. “You’ve finally come to visit.”

Silence followed their brief, initial greetings. The two just stood and sat there, staring at each other intently, as if parsing some answer hidden in each other’s faces. There was neither animosity or caution in their gazes; only a sense of familiarity bordering on nostalgia.

“… you’ve gotten old.” Draynor finally said, breaking the silence.

“And you haven’t changed one bit.” She replied wistfully.

“I… I heard you don’t have much time left.” He revealed hesitantly.

“No. No, I don’t.” She answered gently. “There’s no specific timeline, but the doctors say I probably won’t see the New Year.”

“I see…” He lowered his head somberly, removing his hat and revealing the complicated frown on his face.

“I’m glad you came by, though. This whole thing’s got me feeling sentimental lately. I’ve been wanting to see your face one last time before I go.” She stated with a light smile. “Will you hear me out one last time?”

“Of course…” He affirmed.

With her permission, he removed his wet coat and stood next to her bedside, his grim face looming over her peaceful one.

“Let’s see… do you remember when we first met?” She mused nostalgically.

“Yeah. Of course. It was when you jumped on stage and announced to the whole school that you’d be graduating valedictorian.” He recalled.

“Hahaha, yeah, that did happen. How silly I was back then.” She chuckled. “Then… do you remember when we broke up?”

“I’d never forget.” He said seriously.

“I see. That’s good.” She affirmed tranquilly, perhaps taking comfort in the fact that this immortal creature would never forget her. “You know… thinking back, I wasn’t really that angry at you for cheating on me. Well, no, I was furious actually. I wanted to drive a stake through your heart. But I don’t think I ever really blamed you for it.”

“What?” He blinked at the sudden revelation.

“How could I? After all, I knew you better than anyone. That’s why I knew it was inevitable.” She muttered solemnly, almost sighing. “I had gotten old. I became an adult. I couldn’t keep up with you any longer. You needed someone else. Someone younger, someone faster, someone who still had room to grow. You had to move on from me. How could I blame you for that?”

“N-no, it wasn’t like that… I just…” He tried to explain.

“You just couldn’t settle for just me, right? You just needed more than I could offer. I get it.” She keenly added.

“…” He did not respond, unable to deny her statement.

“In the end, it was best for both of us that we broke up. Our futures were just incompatible. We would’ve never gotten married anyways. You couldn’t ever settle for me, so there was no way you would settle down with me. That’s why, I never held any hard feelings after that…” She explained contemplatively.

As much as he wanted to say otherwise, Draynor stayed silent as deep down he knew she was probably right. The moment one of them became a Dead Apostle and the other remained human, their fates had been sealed. Which was why…

“Then… do you remember what I offered you before we broke up?” He asked her plaintively.

“… yes.” She answered plainly, as if the memory had never left her mind.

Shortly before they broke up, some time after Draynor became a Dead Apostle, he offered to do the same for her. He asked her if she would like him to grant her Ideal Immortality too, fully expecting her to accept. But to his surprise, she refused his offer with a smile.

“Then, do you regret it now?” He questioned her a little forcefully. “Don’t you wish you had taken my offer back then?”

“No.” She answered immediately. “Not one bit.”

“… why? Why!?” He asked loudly, nearly yelling. “How can you say that now? In your condition?”

“Because it’s the truth. I have no regrets.” She explained with a smile.

“How!? Look at you. You’re so weak. So small. You can’t even stand up on your own anymore!” He spouted, taking hold of her arm to feel how thin and frail it now was. “How could you even live with yourself after you peaked? How have you managed after feeling yourself stagnate and begin to degrade?”

“I don’t know. I guess I was just… okay with it. I was happy with what I had.”

“How? Didn’t you have ambitions? Didn’t you want to go further and become greater? You could’ve been more. You could’ve been stronger, smarter, more beautiful. Don’t you have any regrets over what you could’ve been if you just kept going? Did you really just give up on your future like that?”

“No… no, that’s not it.” She denied softly. “I didn’t give up on my future. I faced it.”

“What?” He gasped incredulously. “What, what future? All you did was plateau and settle down. You only got weaker and dumber with time. So, what have you even gained in this future of yours?”

With a content smile, she slowly turned her head to the look at the other side of the bed. There at her bedside stood a nightstand upon which many picture frames were placed.

“I got married.” She said joyfully, her quiet elderly voice blossoming with emotions. “We had a kid together. We bought a house. Started a family. Had two more kids. Saw them grow up and get married too. Saw our grandkids be born. Got to see him pass on peacefully with tears and a smile.”

She then turned her head back to him as he just stood there incredulously with a blank expression.

“Everything’s different for me now. I’ve gained and lost so much.” She said contently. “But what about you? How is your future different from your past?”

She looked at him intently with clear, beautiful eyes in which his dumbfounded face was reflected – a face that has not changed for decades.

“Humans, you see, we stop growing when we’re ready to face the next stage of our lives. We become complete because there’s nothing else we need to learn. Instead, we take what we’ve gained and use it to navigate the wider world out there. We stop caring about our own growth and learn to help the world around us grow instead. That’s what it means to grow up.”

Her words echoed across the room, ringing pure and true.

It was the same for everything else he loved. They became adults and were ready to move on. To settle down and figure out what they could do with their lives. Not to just keep pursuing an endless goal for the sake of it, but to do something with the little power they had managed to foster in their youth. That’s why they couldn’t stay with him. They needed to move forward.

But for him, he would never stop growing. He would never reach his full potential. Thus, he will never be ready to face the next stage and take the next step in life.

“I have only one regret now. Back then, I wish I had stopped you.” She declared yearningly. “I was naïve. All I wanted was for you to be happy. I thought I would love you no matter what you became. But I was wrong… You didn’t become anything different at all; I did. I became an adult.”

A single tear drips down her cheek as she says goodbye to final unresolved dream.

“I know now that it was inevitable, but still… I really would’ve liked to grow up with you, Dray.”

Shortly after that, Draynor bid his farewell and left the retirement home, promising to see her off at her funeral.

Those final words of hers bounced around heavily in his heart and he knew that they were completely correct. But even so, they would have no effect on him. He wouldn’t change. He couldn’t change. He would never be able to stop what he had started.

Growing more and more every single day and also getting nowhere. The life of limitless potential that he wanted. His curse to bear.

Even this night would not put an end to story.

It was nothing more than an intermission in his endless journey.

He will forever more continue to grow and never be able to grow up.

[PA270]

Draynor Xanier: Woo, just in the nick of time by my count! Shame about the limited number of entries this time, but considering that it had to compete with Secret Santa, I can't say I'm too surprised. And hey, quality over quantity is always a good thing!

Speaking of quality, Draynor is really fascinating. I love how you took a seemingly silly concept (immortal lobster man) and managed to impart it with genuine pathos and tragedy. Draynor is a tragic figure, someone who tried to avoid stagnation and ended up trapped in it all the same. A different kind of stagnation, perhaps, but still. It's a relatively simple entry, but it feels very weighty, and I really enjoyed reading it! Great work!

[You]

We're going to have another one week extension, this one will be the last one.
Voting will automatically begin on Feb 15th 12:01 am PST and finish Feb 22th 12:01 am PST.

[You]

Last day to get your entries in

[Spartacus]

What Enlightenment Can't Protect

A cake on the table, with a very pronounced ‘20’ in bright red stands proud in the middle.

The girl in a hospital garb folded her hand with a smile brighter than the sun.

As requested, perhaps with a little sense of entitlement, the room is decorated with cheerful red balloons to dye the pure white walls she was sick of. Red is her favorite color, and if possible she would rather paint the room she spent half of her life in with the color of her likings.

Yet, the atmosphere of the room is somber like it supposed to be.

“Thank you for coming! I’m so happy!” she clasped her hands.

She is surrounded by her loved ones. The parents that love her, the friends that are always there, and the doctor and nurses that she felt thankful for.

But none of them can give a genuine smile, despite being their duty, as the lone girl in front of them has not broken in tears, and they know she is entitled for it the most.

"Excuse me, I'm... I'm going to... I need to go…!"

Another girl, a childhood friend of hers, storms the room while holding a handkerchief in her mouth.

Everyone says nothing despite the rude behavior. None of them can blame her. After all, they are also barely holding themselves back from being shattered into pieces.

"Thank you, Lena," the girl smiles, knowing her best friend did her best.

Once again, silence envelops the entire room.

The suffocating feeling begins to creep to the girl, despite her best effort to face this with hope.

“So umm… I think it’s time to cut the cake, right?”

“...” no answers.

Everyone knows they must say something. But no one knows what they should say, most of them never experience anything remotely like this. Those who had experienced this like the nurses, still haven't found the correct words to say. The doctor, meanwhile, has chosen not to say a word despite her disagreement with the occasion.

Only the one that will directly experience it knows what is needed to say.

“Hey, everyone. This is my 20th birthday,” says the girl.

“So please, let’s make today a happy one,” she once again smiles radiantly.

* * *

It’s now past 12 PM.

The birthday party ended with happiness and treasured memory.

Her friends have excused themselves to go home. The nurses need to monitor the rest of the patients. And her parents are currently in a private discussion they don’t want her to hear, but she can guess what it is about.

It’s only the doctor left with her, who has spent more time with her than anyone in the past 10 years.

“Thank you, doctor. For following my selfish whim like this,” says the girl.

“Don’t mention it, dear. It’s a doctor’s job to make sure their patients are healthy,” the doctor replies with a smile.

“No, seriously, I know there are reports you need to make every night. So staying up late like this will trouble you.”

“That’s nothing. I’m the CEO of this hospital, you know? No one can force me to meet daily deadlines like that,” the doctor says as she flexes her small arm.

“Hahaha! True! If it’s you, doc, I don’t doubt you can do everything!”

It may be flattery, but that is not a lie.

As far as she remembers, the doctor never seems tired of anything. Working from days and nights never despirited her, nor makes her any less beautiful, and she barely ages ever since they met 10 years ago. Nor does her sunny disposition ever break, always reaching to the patients without giving up on them.

Within her small and confined world, she is someone admired the most, but she is also an endless source of envy. Someone that she wishes to be and will never be. A glittering light and grim reminder of reality, the world truly is cruel to give such a capable and perfect human being to care for her.

Which the doctor knows too well.

“I’m already 20, doc.”

“Yeah.”

The doctor gently held the girl’s hand, and she can feel the girl has been trembling all this time.

“I do my best all these time.”

“You did.”

“Am I a good girl?”

“You are.”

“Am I allowed to be happy?”

“Of course you do.”

The doctor understands more than anyone that this girl has been fighting without tiring, and today is her most difficult battle she has fought. And she fought bravely, extremely so, to the point that the endeavor was painful for the doctor to see.

“Even if this might be the end for me, I don’t want to give up on myself. I did everything I could think of and wanted to do. So, even if it's a short one, I suppose I led a meaningful life.”

She crossed her hands, trying as hard as she could to be at peace with her fate.

However, the doctor clenched her fists, eyes narrowed in frustration. For the first time, the girl saw the doctor she admired in frustration.

"You can cry. It was unfair to you," says the doctor, clenching her teeth.

“Mm,” the girl shakes her head. “What good crying will do at this point, doc? I have suffered enough already. I just hope in my next life, I can become as cool, smart and pretty as you.”

The girl saw for the first time again, that the doctor snapped and tears streamed from her beautiful red eyes.

“Don’t you understand?! No one can guarantee if there is such a thing as reincarnation or the afterlife. This is the only life that you know you had! We can’t gamble our precious life like that!” her hands sink to the girl’s shoulder, as if she doesn't want to let her go.

“D-doc? You are hurting me.”

“We tried to give value to it, but in the end, that’s just our own self-affirmation to feel better about our misfortune!”

“...?!”

“There is no further meaning in life! Once we die, there is nothing left…!”

It wasn’t the doctor's plan to lash out at the girl like this. It wasn’t her fault to seek comforting salvation like religion and the afterlife when science was no longer able to give her peace. However the thought that the girl will die as if she doesn’t matter is too much for her to bear.

If what she needs is a heaven, a place where her eternal salvation is promised, then…

“S-so that’s it? I will die, and that’s the end?”

“...”

“Then what am I supposed to do…? No, no, no…! But mom and dad, my friends, I still want to meet them! If there is no such thing as heaven then, I, I…!”

“...”

“D-doc? Please, I don’t know what to do, I’m scared…!”

“I have a solution.”

They simply need to be eternal.

“You don’t need to go.

You deserve to stay in the place where our loves lived. Just like everyone else.”

---

Personal Information
Name: Dr. Amalea Apelhoven
Epithet: Denier of Enlightenment, Dr. Nozen Allmind (Dead Apostle Name)
Birthdate: 7th March, 1920
Nationality: Switzerland
Height/Weight: 167 cm/ 48 kg
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Image CV: Tomori Kusunoki

Likes: saving life, good ending, determination
Dislikes: comforting lie, giving up, fate
Talents: surgery
Natural Enemy: Michael Roa Valdamjong
Decisive Battle: The day her father decided to reach the Root and fail

Magical Attributes and Information
Affiliation: None (Formerly Clock Tower)
Origin: Material Existence
Attribute: Ether
Composition: Normal
Circuit Quality: C
Circuit Quantity: C

“Even toxins can save lives depending on how one uses it. Even the vilest of curses can be used to prolong the life of others. Even monsters can be a savior of humanity if we understand their nature.”

That is what Amalea believes in her heart.

Background of the Apelhoven

A well respected member of the Clock Tower, the Apelhoven served as a family of mystic healers that offered their service to both mages and mundanes alike. Their good reputation and honest practice has been well known, to the point magi that normally suspicious to each other trusted them. In the mundane world, they worked as surgeons and one of the initial supporters of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

This is because their path to the Root is through emulating the secret behind Odin’s tree-hanging ritual, where the chief god sacrificed his eye and life to gain immense knowledge above the well of Mimisbrunnr and be reborn with it. The well is located below the Root of Yggdrasil, and it was once the primordial plane Ginnungagap once existed, which the family interpret as a path to the Root. Their ultimate goal is resurrection magecraft, and they use their patients’ near death experiences as research materials.

However, for the last five generations, the Apelhoven has stagnated near the end goal. Having reached their own ‘well’ of the Root, with only one step left, yet none of them has returned when they attempt to venture within. A dead end right in front the finish line, forever admiring its light, but never able to claim its glory.

Every time an heir has matured, the parent will cast away their Crest, and sacrifice themselves in a one last attempt to reach the Root, and never come back. This is the kind of environment Amalea was born in, a family where throwing away their life repeatedly for a miniscule chance that they don’t even know exists is the norm.

Amalea, a prodigy born in the 1920s was different from the rest. Unlike the last five generations before her, she shows promise. From how fast she learns to perform her healing magecraft, how natural she is on handling her patients, and how she incorporates new ideas gathered from their data; it’s clear she possesses a talent not found in her predecessors. Her father knows this, and gives her the best environment and full support she needs in both physical, psychological and magical sense to nurture her talents.

But that wasn’t what makes her different, because if that’s the case, she will be simply an improvement.

During her younger days, she saw World War II with her own eyes. Unlike most magi that decided to stay in the sideline, the Apelhoven sees it as an opportunity to expand their craft. Not only they can witness many near death experiences, but also those that failed to survive. Thousands of patients and valuable data can be gathered within a short time span, skipping 3 to 4 generations worth of research within a few years.

“Amalea, listen. Never look down on your patients regardless of their upbringing. Whether a magus or a mundane, All of them are equally important for us. Once the prospect of death appears, regardless of the vow we make as a magus, we ultimately face it all the same.”

That’s what her father teaches her, a creed of the Apelhoven that she follows with her heart.

And so, regardless of who was in front of her, be it an allied and enemy combatant, magi or normal person alike, she tried her best to save them all. She listens to their plea, their desire to continue to live, to fight for their homeland, or even the rare magi’s desire to reach to Root, all of them possess a desire to continue living. She holds their arms, their hearts, their everything, she can feel them all, until they finally calmed down, and sometimes for eternity.

Humans fear death. No, it will be more accurate that living beings, be it humans, animals, or even gods fear death. After all, no one can tell what happens after their end. Even if there is such a thing as an afterlife like Valhalla or heaven, no one can guarantee its existence, let alone to be accepted to it. That’s the conclusion Amalea arrived at.

And she too, fears death. Not hers alone, but also the people around her, the people she loves. She doesn’t want any of them to disappear from her life, and tries her best to prolong their existence with her. She saw so much suffering and crying, so much determination unable to defeat mortality, so much regrets from her patients, that she can’t help to see herself in their shoes, so many times, as if she has experienced death a thousand times.

The reason why she was so capable wasn’t an innate talent alone. She simply loves what she is doing: not magecraft, but saving people. Entirely motivated in helping others and hoped to improve her practices and medicines, the smiles of thankful patients genuinely sooth her heart. And likewise, the regret of dying people is too heartbreaking to get used to. That’s all what magecraft is to her, a tool to save others, no different than drugs or stethoscopes doctors had.

That’s why she doesn’t understand her family’s obsession toward immaterial things like the Root. The thought that her father will sacrifice himself for something so abstract once he passed down the Crest haunts her mind. She tried to persuade him not to throw away his life, but she was incapable of convincing him to abandon his lifelong dream, saying that pursuing it is the reason why he is alive in the first place.

But during the day her father is about to venture to reach the Root, she sees him trembling and breathing uncontrollably. Through magecraft, she can hear his heartbeat, and sees his blood pressure rise. His eyes were yellow and red, he grasped at his own chest as if to not let it go, and his magical energy control was all over the place.

It's clear to her that he was scared.

The father that is so adamant and certain to reach the Root all the time, is now scared from the prospect of death.

Her father values his life as much as everyone else, and this dream of his is simply a madness that should be stopped even with force.

But the moment he realizes she was about to stop him, he immediately pushes himself to walk the path they had carved.

And her father immediately collapsed into a soulless husk, without leaving a final word.

His heartbeat stopped beating, his blood stopped circulating, and his brain stopped functioning.

Within a few minutes, she herself pronounced that her father had died.

Just like that, she lost the most important person in her life.

Magecraft - Odin's sacrifice ritual

The Apelhoven is a unique family of healers in a way that they don’t base their magecraft from existing healing practices in Norse mythology, but an unorthodox application in regards to Odin's sacrifice ritual. When Odin hanged himself, he reached the state between life and death, allowing him to deceive the world as dying and return to the world as living being once again. They simply use this method to put the life of their patients on pause, making their body continue to be stable regardless of what happens afterward, allowing them to perform surgery with massively reduced risk in comparison to scientific procedures.

Combined with scientific healing procedures and conventional healing magecrafts, the Apelhoven has been sought by the elites for their services multiple times.

However, to perform such magecraft that could resist death to that point, one must possess the physiology of a god or something on par with them. To possess the body of the chief god is out of question, but there is a creature that is able to live in the Root of Yggdrasil safely just like him, no, even far longer than him. That is the monster Nidhoggr, the mysterious wyrm that heralds the end of the world, living on the well of Hvergelmir for countless aeon without losing itself.

When Nidhoggr freed itself from Yggdrasil and flew to the horizon, corpses of the damned stuck on its wings, and they fell to the ground. Among them there are scales of the dragon scrapped off, excavated by the Apelhoven. The majority of the scales turned into their Crest, while the rest turned into their special anesthesia that pauses the life of their patients.

There are two interpretations of Nidhoggr’s role in Ragnarok. One can see it as a warning that there is still evil left in the new world, or it can also be seen as a redemption of the damned monster to be in that new world. The Apelhoven prefers the latter interpretation.

Just like how a snake venom can become medicine, they created various potions from studying Nidhoggr. And just like how leeches are used to remove blood and reattach veins, the dragon’s bloodsucking properties are used to separate curses and other unwanted elements from the body.

But although they could resist death, and live near the well of the Root much the same, a deity and a monster is fundamentally different. A monster wasn’t meant to be respected regardless of their allegiance, as they are by definition, something out of the natural order of this world. They are a warning and an aesop personified, not to be followed, but to be avoided or surpassed.

Amalea understood that there is something more about their method than putting themselves in the state of living and dead to reach the Root. By emulating Odin and using Nidhoggr’s body part as a Crest, the method and body of immortal beings, she could achieve immortality. She completely understands the implication of achieving it through Nidhoggr, a corpse eater, means she will turn herself into a Dead Apostle. And doing so will make her an enemy of humanity.

But as a doctor, there is no reason for her to pass on such an opportunity, it will be against her creed.

To her, magecraft is simply a means to save others.

The desperation of the dying continued to scar her mind.

The joyful smiles of the saved bring eternal warmth to her heart.

By sacrificing their humanity, many lives could be saved in return.

Character

Cheerful, positive, sunny and empathetic, Amalea not only possesses the brain of an ideal doctor, but the heart as well.

Despite being a surgeon, she always provides the psychological needs of her patients. She always hangs out and treats them like a friend, while encouraging them whenever they begin to stress. She never tired or complained about it despite working past midnight a lot, which resulted in her own patients instead worrying for her own health.

Because nothing can make her smile more than the smiles of others. The happiness born from conquering the challenge of living, understanding that life itself is a blessing, and simply trying their best to live their life, she loves people like that.

All of them are something she genuinely feels, she is an honest person that took great pleasure in extending her hand. But this also makes parting with any of them, seeing their efforts to lives failed in front of her very eyes, isn’t something she could bear. She can’t fathom why many people need to die, and she can’t get used to death even after witnessing them a thousand times.

At the same time, those who do not value their own life, she is not fond of them, to put it lightly. People that endanger their own life willingly, complain about being born, and never do anything to improve their life, she thought life is wasted on them. Likewise, she dislikes most magi as they value ‘to be a Magus is to walk with Death’ like a dogma, unable to comprehend their boundless dream.

But don’t mistake her as a non-Magus, because even if she doesn’t seek the Root, she was grown in the same environment they are in, and values many things they valued. She will push all conventional boundaries if it means to progress. She will gladly do something inhuman if it means to save human lives.

Which includes vampirism.

If she tries to rationalize it, bloodsucking is no different than transplantation procedures. It was simply an attempt to prolong the life of a critical individual through the organs of a healthier individual. It was simply a matter of scale, which is something she never valued as a Magus.

And just like Valhalla only accepts the souls of warriors and denies those who have no fighting spirit left, it would be more useful for those that desire nothing to share their lives with those truly needed to chase their dream on Earth. If many people don't want to live, will they please kindly give something they do not value to those who need it? She thinks.

In the first place, why would one deny an opportunity to evolve, when humanity itself is a product of evolution? Certainly, there are disadvantages such as weakness to sunlight and far stronger hunger, but the benefits of physical immortality and immense strength outweigh the negatives. Conversely, is there any difference with land animals sacrificing their gills and fins and no longer being able to live on the ocean as a result?

Why put so much weight on remaining human, when we can be much more? Why frown the clear progress to be something greater? Why do we act as if being human is sacred? We aren’t The Holy Church where we champion humanity as the greatest creation of all, we could be more and be greater!

That’s why, when she saw her father die, someone she extremely loved, she finally made her decision.

To take a step forward to be a Dead Apostle and cure the sickness of mortality.

Dead Apostle - Dr. Nozen Allmind

By understanding the link between Apelhoven’s Magecraft with Odin and Nidhoggr, she has perfected the theory to turn herself into a Dead Apostle long ago. By sacrificing their organ and putting her in a near death situation, she could reenact Odin’s ritual sacrifice and be reborn to the state before she dies, or in other words, Curse of Restoration.

As she desires to stay in the world and reject anything that comes after it, it becomes her vampiric Principle, Material Existence. This Principle may not appear to be powerful, as it doesn’t grant any external offensive ability like most Principles do, but it changes the relationship between Body, Mind and Soul of a person.

Normally, the Soul acts as a blueprint that contains the necessary data of an individual such as Circuit, memories and mind, while the Body acts as the external hardware to process this data physically, which results in the Soul influencing the Body overtime and remold the appearance to the original, while the Mind act as an anchor that links between the two. However, she has changed the role between Body and Soul, turning the Body into the blueprint, while the Soul simply becomes an automated system that executes the command from the Body.

The result is a unique Dead Apostle that could sire others despite still being on Rank V. This is done by registering the Body of her chosen children on her Mind as part of hers’, allowing her to mold her own Soul to match the Body. The process is akin to forcing a rectangle inside a triangle mold, with her Soul being modified to match the children’s Body and receiving the information of her children to her Mind as a result.

However, doing so will slowly destroy her sense of self, as her Soul continues to be split for her children. Anticipating this, she lobotomizes her own brain and separates it from her head. She needs to constantly maintain her brain to have the necessary capacity and brainpower to process multiple people at once.

Regularly, she gives special pills containing the bloods and brains of her victim to be drunk by the patients that agreed to be turned into a Vampire. Her patients are aware that they turned into something inhuman, and they avoid sunlight as much as possible, and she has told them that it is not a ‘true’ cure. After all, they continue to have their sickness within their body, just like how Odin remains missing an eye for the rest of his life, they simply are no longer able to die from it, but the agony remains. But this is an extremely cheap payment in comparison to continuing living.

But one thing they don’t know is Amalea hunts others to maintain them. As her patients grow, so does her brain need to be upgraded. Which means not only does she need blood to survive, she also needs to steal others’ brains to be added to her own. This makes her need to prey on humans more frequently than most Dead Apostles, while her patients are oblivious to the fact and continue their lives normally.

However, despite all her anticipation, she still can’t predict humans. Sometimes an event experienced by her children was so impactful, that it exceeded her calculated capacity for her brain to safely take them. Whenever this happens, their experience will creep to the Soul and forcefully mold it as her own experience, allowing her to experience what they feel, while slowly corroding the person called ‘Amalea’.

But that doesn’t matter, right? After all, now they are one with her, they will no longer be separated from eternity, isn’t that for the best?

Even if she becomes a Nidhoggr that preys over the undeserving, at least she will be the Nidhoggr that heralds the new dawn for those that deserve the world.

---

Author's Note

The idea of a Dead Apostle Hospital has always been lingering in my mind for a while, but I was never able to actualize it until I learned more about Norse mythology, mostly my fascination toward Nidhoggr. Originally, I wanted her to be something more clearly malicious, but upon learning more about Nidhoggr, I decided to make her a much more ambiguous figure. I suppose that fits the spirit of Valentine?

Regardless, I love what I managed to make out of this idea, I hope I can share some of that excitement to you!

[PA270]

Dr. Amalea Apelhoven: Absolutely amazing work! Amalea is a truly fascinating individual, deeply disturbed and yet heartbreakingly relatable, especially to anyone who has an especially acute fear of mortality. The basis of her Magecraft is fascinating, and it translates really well into a Dead Apostle's skillset, which helps the whole sheet feel even more complete! Excellent job!

EDIT:
3 PTS: Louisette Sans-Merci
2 PTS: Draynor Xanier
1 PT: Knox Dow Royales
Honorable Mention: Dr. Amalea Apelhoven

[Sunny]

Knox Dow Royales
You came up with a neat reason for vampirism in this one, and a pretty powerfl magecraft system for the DA transformation. It leading where it did due to such a grudge, and the choice to tie it into the Barthomeloi lore was fun. It's a nice exploration of devotion, and while this one focuses a lot on things and organizations, you mix in a lot of her own views so you still get a strong sense of character despite how easily she could have ended up lost in the details.

It still feels, on the whole, a tiny bit more along the lines of a faction or setting/world bible than a singular character, but... taken as a mix of both, I think it went pretty well.

Louisette Sans-Merci
Mm... I like the decision to render her similar to a TATARI phenomenon, and the connection to the French revolution and the policy of Terror is really neat (especially the idea of trying to turn it into a magecraft system). Her upbringing and connection to the revolution is well-established and it gives a strong image.

Personally, where I feel it falters is that the magecraft aspect feels a bit... coincidental or nailed on, in so far as it's really a coincidence she becomes what she is and the connection between the cool Thermidorian magecraft idea and the DA that ends up coming of it doesn't quite bridge for me.

But the two halves, while they don't quite meet, are still both strong conceptually. There’s also less time than I might have liked given to her character and personality, both before and after, and the actual individual is a bit glossed over or summarized - which is fine if they’re purely a concept, but she’s given existence outside of the Terror incidents so I have to look at the character as well.

Draynor Xanier

It's interesting how what could be a very goofy idea played earnestly can become a pretty emotional affair. The premise of the magecraft that led to the DA transformation is, and can be, goofy, but it's explored in interesting and serious ways and tied pretty well to the singular issue of his story.

A good DA, even one via magecraft, should definitely have that sort of unending/unresolveable path they'll always walk, and his is set up methodically and clearly. Funny FC aside, you do a nice job of exploring the costs, benefits, and needs the transformation entailed, and it's tied into the Cancer myth in a cool way. Plus the lobster facts were just fun to learn about.

The real cost and what's left behind in the pursuit being saved for the end was a good decision, and the intermission at the end was ouchies. ;.; Especially since it was, and only could be, an intermission, which is a good capstone choice for the sheet. Nothing can be more than that, when there's no end to reach.

Amalea Apelhoven

Oh, this was an interesting one... The FC was very well chosen, and it shows that you had this on your mind in various forms for awhile, given the depth of references. She's very single-minded and pure in convictions.

There's a few things I'm not totally sold on which are mostly lore quibbles (the family having technically reached the Root already and repeatably being one of them), but the sincerity behind the obsession is really clearly conveyed and the writing is heartfelt.

One of those times where the character is more concept than person, but intentionally so. I think the decision to render her more ambiguous was a good one, versus something more muddy which might have cheapened her obsession/POV towards being a DA.

She feels unstable for a DA, but that too would go in an interesting place, so she's a fun character narratively.

That being said, my votes… hmm…

3: Draynor Xanier
2: Amelia Apelhoven
1: Knox Dow Royales

honorable mention: Louisette Sans-Merci

[SaberBlue2]

1Pt Draynor Xanier: You has the knack to write something silly and 'LNy' while remaining an authentic character with interesting character study, Draynor is one of them. The concept of lobster magus is so dumb yet very in line with Dead Apostle mechanic. But I don't enjoy reading the lover part as much, I feel like it doesn't integrated well with the rest of the Sheet.

2Pts Knox Dow Royales: I must say the idea of A Dead Apostle "King Maker" is really-really cool, I really love the image of a crown controlling the host, it makes me think a scenario where the crown become the center of the plot. And I really like that it is a crown, something a ruler will pride themselves in, but it is also function as a cog, something that makes me think of a 'slave'.

3Pts Dr. Amalea Apelhoven: I love the irony of her existence you are going with her here. She become a Dead Apostle entirely because she loves human, she doesn't understand Magi's obsession over the Root despite nearly arrived there, and I love how a Mage like her become twisted because she seek something normal. Her magecraft is also a very interesting interpretation, and I like how natural it shifted from pro-humanity god-based magecraft into the anti-humanity Dead Apostle power.

But I think the part that makes me impressed the most is how easily you can imagine story scenarios from this character. There is a conflict of morality, my mind immediately think "if she is killed, that would be unfair to her children (which I imagine they will die too as they share the same Soul?), they did nothing wrong" or I can just imagine a protagonist sympathize with her as the story goes on; the birthday girl too, geez, you sadistic bastard, she deserve to live...! And that's part is the reason why I rate this highly.

[zikari8]

3 Points: Dr. Amelia Apelhoven
The idea of a DA hospital is ingenious and such a strong premise for a character. I could honestly have considered this sheet for the top spot on that basis alone, but the sheet itself is also full of heart and consideration. The core of the Dead Apostle named Amelia is so rooted in humanity and morality that her turn to the inhuman feels not only reasonable but perhaps inevitable. Not only that, Amelia as a character has so much potential for more to be told with her. My only minor quip would be that some of the lore stuff like the Root business might be a little iffy to me, but that’s all small fry to the brilliance of this sheet. Great work all around.

2 Points: Knox Dow Royales
A powerful and evocative sheet that doesn’t feel like it was made with the fastest hand in the west. It’s full of varied detail that shows that you really thought things through regarding the character and her place in the world. And despite the focus on her history and surroundings, a vivid picture of Knox herself resonates through the wording.

My biggest gripe with the sheet, though, is the Black Crown itself. As cool as it is, as a magecraft, it feels a little… loose to me. I struggle to put this into words but, in essence, I think it feels too DA and not enough magus. Normally, magecraft synergizing with DA abilities is a mark of a well put-together set of abilities for a DA Magus, but here it feels like it leans too closely to the DA side while the foundation of the magecraft itself seems neglected. As it is, it just feels like a super DA ability rather than a magecraft that takes advantage of DA abilities. And since prompt is “A Dead Apostle is created or born because of Magecraft.” I feel like that’s a big mark against it.

1 Point: Louisette Sans-Merci
A really interesting idea, tying together the general ideas of Tatari with the Terror of the French Revolution. It feels appropriately haunting and demonic while staying true to its themes. You went really hard on the concept of La Terreur Divine and all the fear that surrounded it, and I think that really shines through in the sheet.

Unfortunately, while I think Marianne was pretty well-established with the little we get of her biography, it’s Louisette Sans-Merci as a Dead Apostle herself that feels a little underbaked. I would’ve liked to get a bit more of how she is now that she’s a DA. Even if she’s just a living event or phenomenon, a bit more on that would’ve really nailed it in, I think. Also, Robespierre just casually being a magus is a little jarring and hard to swallow when sprung up like that.

Special Note:
For a while, I struggled to pick between Knox Dow Royales and Louisette Sans-Merci for my 2 point pick. They were pretty close in my mind for a while. I think Louisette had the cooler, more interesting idea, but Knox was the more developed character. If I could, I would’ve let them tie for it, but eventually I weighed them together and judged I liked Knox a bit more. They were still both really cool sheets though, so a shame I couldn’t give them both the 2 points they deserved.

[SleepMode]

3pt - Draynor Xanier
Goodness. Zikari has a uncanny affinity for turning seemingly silly concepts into really well thought-out content with heart, and Draynor is no different. The desire for infinite potential for growth is a great motive for DA-hood as well, a breath of fresh air from the likes of immortality. While the mythological Cancer was the core of Draynor's foundation, the biological factor about lobsters' infinite growth is a great addition and gives more weight to his attachment to the animal in his background.

Most importantly, what really charmed me about Draynor is that while he is not a threat to humans due to his synergistic brand of "immortality," he is still fundamentally incompatible with them. Humans cannot sustain a consistent growth or potential by themselves, and as someone physically and personally never settles, the Lobster-Man will naturally leave everyone behind in his never-ending road (obsession). A "gifted" person destined for loneliness, forever running forward and never looking back. Needless to say, well done Zikari.


2pt - Amalea Apelhoven
Oh man, Amalea's motives is sympathetic in its sincerity yet unnerving in her intensity. The principles of a doctor and determination of a magus makes for a dangerous combination, a really nice example of DAs being a monster born of a person's earnest ideal (obsession). How the Apelhoven magecraft evolving into a Dead Apostle metamorphosis through Amalea's genius application was a detail that I appreciate, a "senseless" self-sacrifice morphing into sacrifice of the self for the sake of many.

If there was something I have to wish there were more about, then it would be more outside perspective of Amalea, for someone whose intentions are wholly benevolent, it would be fascinating to hear a persepctive of one of her "children." And the depths of her convictions makes me wanting to see more examples of her breach of ethics for human betterment -- with how her Principle swaps the function of Body and Soul, I kinda wish to see more applications of it besides her siring more undead.

It was really a toss-up between Dr. Allmind and Mr. Cancer, so take comfort knowing that deciding who gets the 3-points took way longer than I like to admit, ahaha.


1pt - Louisette Sans-Merci
A DA/Vampire embodying the mania of revolution is already a great foundation, an automatic function that incites and demands endless upheaval leaves a striking impression. A monster preying on humans desire for change and justice, a perversion of the ideals of revolution. Rather than a person whose ideals (obsession) warped them into a monster, Louisette can be considered a monster spawned from that person's ideals -- and in that distinction from the rest of the submissions, she stand out nicely.

At the same time, however, I feel that the idea and abilities of something embodying "Violent Insurrection" solely revolving around the trappings of the Reign of Terror is kind of limiting. While the idea of Divine Terror is of French origins, its use of humanity's self-destructive drive and desire for change is universal. Personally, seeing how the conditions worm itself to the factors of other revolutions as examples would have elevated the sheet further -- with the Libyan Civil War mentioned at the starting snippet, it feels even more like missed potential.

Including how coincidental the Thermidorian magecraft was linked to her, Madame Guillotine cannot go higher than 1-point for me.


Honorable Mention: Knox Dow Royales
The nature of the Black Crown and its corruption to a Dead Apostle artifact is a highlight -- something originally intended to reach [ ] through soverignty, but the selfish nature of the undead has subverted into a mere mantle to carry out their whims. The personal -- if not petty -- vendetta Knox has for the Bartomeloi embodying the devotion of her anger was also a neat interpretation/exploration of "Devotion" as well.

As Sunny mentioned, how the profiles feels more like a faction sheet than wholly focusing on her character. Not a negative point per say, but it does end up feeling more divorced from a 100% personal focus.
In the end, what kept Knox from attaining 1-point place was purely on preference of concept.

[Spartacus]

1Pt Louisette:
I have a soft spot on Dead Apostles that born from admiration toward humans, I always find the idea is deliciously ironic considering their nature as anti-humanity. I wish you expand more on the whole designating the revolution itself as 'God' thing, which I find the most interesting part of her.

2Pt Draynor:
If people tell me they make a Dead Apostle Lobster, I will laugh in its silliness. If Zikari tell me he make a Dead Apostle Lobster, I will laugh in it silliness and the sheer absurdity that I somehow can take it seriously. Simping aside, I always sees Magus as the seeker of the infinite, and the fact what he seek is infinite growth fits that impression. I think he is the one that felt the most Magus among the entry, which I can very appreciate.

3Pts Knox:
Out of the three, I think Knox felt the most focused on being a DA and that too is something I appreciate a lot. I agree that Knox the Sheet felt more about a faction Sheet than herself, but I also think that enhance the experience of reading her. She is less a person but more about the concept of devotion, be it fanaticism or pure spite out of Barthemeloi, and that's concept transcend life and death in the form of the Crown. Just like the Sheet pointed out, it's in line with Idea Blood, and I really vibe with that.

[You]

Event Contestation Band​ = 4 possibilities

• Dr. Amalea Apelhoven by Spartacus = 10 QP
• Draynor Xanier by Zikari = 11 QP
• Louisette Sans-Merci by MuramasaMachII = 6 QP
• Knox Dow Royales by GilgameshKingOfMemes = 9 QP

REPRESENTATIVE OF MYSTERY HAS BEEN DESIGNATED:




Draynor Xanier : The Cancer

THE DREAM MUST CONTINUE

[Spartacus]

Congratulation for the well deserved win, Zikari!

[SleepMode]

Congrats on the winning the DA prompt, Zikari! Lobster supremacy prevails.

[PA270]

Congrats Zikari! Absolutely a well-earned win!