"
Ha hahaha! I ride once again! Master, I am servant assassin and so long as we stick together our victory is assured!"
Sources: Billy Christian, Artstation.com.
Class: Assassin
True Name:
Stingy JackJack-O-Lantern
Origin: Irish Mythology
Alignment: Chaotic-Neutral
Likes: Alcohol, Fun, Gambling, and Artwork.
Dislikes: Dying, Old Age, and Sobriety.
Talents: Trickery, Deceit, and Exploitation.
Natural Enemies: Foreigners.
Catalyst: A jack-o-lantern or an Ember of Hell.
Other Classes: Caster, Foreigner, or Faker.
Armaments: A jack-o-lanthorn (C-rank)
"
Heheh... interest'in. Quite an accurate doodad ya got here. Hmmm... tell me, is it portable? Nah? Shame..."
Parameters
Str: D |
End: D |
Agi: D |
Mna: C |
Lck: A+ |
NP: B |
"
Tsk. Weak... ugh, this is why I hate this class... so weak..."
Lore
A legend in the folklore of Ireland, the man that started the Jack-O’-Lantern tradition, also known as Stingy Jack. A drunkard and gambler in life, his claim to fame is tricking the devil not once, not twice, but three times.
First was securing a year of freedom from hell with a clever ruse, second was trapping the devil atop a tree while he attempted to gather fruit, and thrice was using the very contract the devil forged to force him to give him a guiding light. However, for his misdeeds and unsavoury character he will never know heaven and his foolishness damns him to an eternity of wandering the earth… or so the story goes.
As the story goes, Stingy Jack was a drunkard that lived in a sleepy ireland hamlet. He would spend each night drinking the days earnings away. One night, the devil visited the hamlet and chose to drink at the tavern. He recognized the devil for who he was and invited him to drink. After a night of heavy drinking, Jack suggested they swindle the last payment by having the devil turn into a coin and paying with him.
The devil agreed and turned into a coin, which he then pocketed. In the pocket with satan was a crucifix that prevented him from transforming again. The devil demanded release and Jack demanded a year free of the devil. The devil agreed, was released, and left, bound to the agreement.
A year and a night later, the devil returned to enact vengeance. Jack strangely accepted the devils wrath. He merely asked for some fruit in a tree, that he might enjoy a last meal. The devil agreed and climbed the tree to poison the apples and feed them to jack. Jack was cleverer though and placed many crucifixs around the tree. Trapped, the devil asked what Jack wanted now.
Jack proposed a contract; that should Jack die before 10 years, the devil and his minions would not harm or lay claim to his soul nor would they drag him into hell. If he died after that, Jack would silently accept his death and go quietly into hell. The devil was forced to sign the contract or be trapped forever and left thereafter.
9 years later, his drinking caught up to him and he died at the tavern table. However, heaven forbade him entry for countless sins and consorting with demons and devils. He attempted to parlay with the devil for entry and the devil refused, citing the contract they made. Jack, rereading the contract, pointed out that without someway to be guided through the world that he could not be refused.
The devil took a particular coal from hell, put it in a turnip pumpkin, and offered it, as the coal would always guide Jack to the safest place at any one time. Eventually, this pumpkin would become his head.
"
Heh... always the trickster and always the winner so long as I'm gamblin'. Wanna test that theory, master?"
Class Skills
Presence Concealment: C
He is entitled to the skill as an Assassin. However his own legend has some interesting anecdotes that point to his elusive nature. For example the devil did not immediately know his location when entering the village, only noting him when he laid eyes on him. Further none knew what his day job was, only noting his existence when he entered the tavern for a drink.
"
I'm considered stealthy? Me? A drunk? Eh, whatever. I ain't gonna argue"
Personal Skills
Contract With the Devil: EX
A powerful dual skill that performs three functions; It guides his actions, it protects him from demons, and it warps his existence akin to a foreigner. Its entire basis is based on both the legend of his lanthorn and his head. The ember of hell. It also acts as a C-rank armament but it is fire-elemental with demonic attributes attached.
In terms of guidance the coal acts somewhat like Revelations but instead of visions it instead flickers in ways that only Jack-O-Lantern can discern. Seemingly, it reacts purely to his desires and guides him towards fulfilling them. Due to its nature, it renders most illusions and trickery ineffective... though not impossible.
As for protection it is an absolute defense. Even killing blows and noble phantasms utilized by christian, catholic, or abrahamic demons deal absolutely no damage and are incapable of piercing through. So absolute is it that even those that bend reality or bypass such protections find a stalwart defense blocking them. If a demon from another origin attacks him, their effectiveness is halved out the gate. Similarly, this defense is near impossible to bypass.
However these defenses and guidance come at a cost. Whoever Jack-O-Lantern was as a human, all that remains are two traits; A proficiency with trickery and deceit as well as a love of spirits. He can be found with a bottle at almost all times, where he acquires it up to the imagination. Everything else of him is twisted into the image of the man turned pumpkin-headed spirit Jack-O-Lantern, even going as far as replacing his head with a comical jack-o-lantern. Even he is unsure of what he was in life, only what he thinks he was.
Naturally sealing, hindering, weakening, or altering this skill is near impossible.
"
Heh... serv'in me even in death... what a great boon!"
Tongue of the Devil: A
A skill similar to Trickster or Charisma but also not quite. It is a skill that denotes his highly deceptive nature. Rather than grant him bonuses to deceiving others he instead gains bonuses to hiding his intentions. When someone attempts to get a read on his nature, intentions, thoughts, or other subjective matters regarding such things they are forced to make a luck check. On a failure they instead receive information he wants them to know or believe.
Further this skill hides his evasive nature. Any attempts to discern his skills are met with false skills Presence Concealment E, Trickster E, Protection of the Underworld A, and Subversive Tactics D. A luck check can see through this but they must be aware that they are being tricked.
"
Mmmm... I can think of a few uses fer this skill... right, master?"
Exploiting the Devil: C
A similar skill to Subversive Tactics but different methodology and result. Rather than focus on armies this skill focuses on targets. Further it results not in a decrease in parameters and skills but a sealing of them and only decreasing if it can't. However unlike Subversive Tactics it has a requirement to activate; He must research the individual and utilize a part of their legend. For example if facing Cu Chulainn he can simply have dog meat and forcefeed it in order to seal one of his skills mid-battle.
"
Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Sad, sad, sad... if only you had hid your identity just a mite better mate an' I'd 'ave no answer fer ye. Buuuut I did and now I have this! Behold, dog meat! Your worst weakness!"
Personality
Jack O’ Lantern is a drunk through and through. Despite being incapable of inebriation, he will attempt it irregardless. He often orders ridiculous amounts of alcohol for himself during his summons. Unsurprisingly, he is a very deceptive individual, not telling the full truth of any one thing to anyone most of the time. In the rare moments he is, his demeanor varies between being contemplative, philosophical, or depressed.
Initially, he trusts not even his own master but if his master proves to be accepting and trustworthy, he will divulge the details of his powers and past. Until such a point, he will attempt to make bluffs about his strength or play at being unsure. Once he forms a bond with a master, he will attempt to play the role of mentor to the master, trying to ‘show him the ways of life’. This generally involves large quantities of alcohol and large parties.
However, he will always try to impart one thing onto such a master, to learn from the mistakes he made in life. Despite the holiday being the cause of the warped legend, Jack O’ Lantern actually quite enjoys halloween. He finds the acts around it extremely entertaining and if summoned near the holiday will strive to participate in any halloween festivities.
These of course will also involve large quantities of alcohol for which he can drink but cannot get drunk due to his nature as a ghost. His wish for the holy grail is to be allowed to rest in heaven. However if he is forced to use his full noble phantasm, he will attempt to sabotage all of his own attempts at securing the deal.
"
Heh... yeah... what can I say? I'm a hopeless drunk hop'in fer a little rest... can ya blame me?"
Interactions
Master
"
Eh...? Why is my master so scrawny? Ya should have a little more muscle! I have an excuse I'm an assassin! I'm supposed ta be scrawny!"
Joseph II
"
... Ya love erryone? The bloody 'ell does that mean?"
Maria Theresa
"
... Pity... I hate fight'in woman... but I ain't gonna hold back jus' cause a' it. Sorry. I jus' ain't that kinda gent."
the Pallanides
"
... huh... Interest'in... say ladies... can I interest you in the opportunity of a lifetime?"
Guthrum
"
Hm. A ruler eh? The we got no quarrel? Good. Then... can ya jus' leave me be?"
Saul
"
... Tsk. Jealous kings... yer lots all the same... well, lucky you I gots a deal. I know where david is holed up... ya want revenge or nay?"
Epione
"
Ugh... damn... why does my master insist on pittin' me against woman...? Is he some kinda sicko...? Whatever. 'ey lady. Sure we can't work somethin' out? I'd rather settle this peacefully than pull out the pitchforks and torches."
Wolfgang Alter
"
... Hmph. What utterly dreadful music. Thank god- er the devil that I'm immune to death by horrid cacaphony.
Sir Orfeo
Hahahaha! Love! What an utterly trite notion! Fine though! Let us see if your love wins out! Who knows, it actually might!
Sir Jack
Oh-ho! One who shares my name and even is... before me? after? Dunno. Hard to remember. Regardless... I'm interested. What sort of fellow are you?
Oswald Mosley
'Ideal Britian'? Piss off and leave me ta my drink. I gotta keep try'in an' yer disturb'in me.
Ursula Southiel
Psh. Book types... but ye got yer uses. After all, t'was a certain holy book that let me beat the devil thrice...
Kaguyahime
A princess from the moon? Ha! What a ludicrous tale people came up with!... Well? Keep go'in... how does this tale end...?
Christian Caldwell
He refuses to speak of, look at, or even acknowledge Caldwells very existence. They fear him, for some reason
Unsinkable Sam
Unsinkable...? Hmm. I guess... I guess that tracks. Ya never did got down with the ship did ya...?
Noble Phantasms
Na Seifteanna Infamous de Jack-O-Lantern
Thrice Cheated
Type: Anti-Unit
Rank: C+
The legend of him tricking the devil three times. First he trapped him as a coin, then he trapped him in a tree, and then he forced the devil to guide him through the world after death. Crystallized into this noble phantasm, it is a powerful but somewhat deceptive noble phantasm and only a facet of his true noble phantasm... yet strong enough to stand out on its own.
Effectively it acts akin to a high-level trickster skill. Any words he speaks are laced with mental interference magecraft and he receives natural bonuses when attempting to secure an agreement. This is merely its passive strength and is always active, only targeting one target at a time. However its strongest use is when its true name is used.
When utilized it effectively allows him to enforce an agreement as he see's fit. When he does it works exactly like a command spell. While he cannot wholly distort the agreement he can be very liberal with his interpretation. Breaking the compulsion is as difficult as breaking very specific command spells backed by a proper magus.
"
Oh, hello... you wanna fight? That's too bad cause we got an agreement... huh? I looked different? Ahhh don't think like that... even if it were true, that's not part of the agreement, is it?"
An Pionós Infamous de Jack-O-Lantern
Thrice Cheated, Thrice Punished
Type: Anti-Self
Rank: B+
The true noble phantasm of Jack-O-Lantern. He tricked the devil thrice and escaped hell. Yet the devil is always craftier than man. All at once his punishment was threefold. He would lose his right to heaven, he would be unable to enter hell and forced to wander the earth, and he would lose his identity to the gift of the devil.
It cannot be utilized in many ways as passively it acts exactly like the above noble phantasm sans the enforcement, that being relegated to that noble phantasm. Rather this noble phantasm has a single powerful effect when its true name is invoked. An absolute contract between two parties of the holy grail war.
While he is allowed to be deceptive, the text of the contract is what ultimately matters. It is what will be enforced, not the individual perspectives of the party. Further, once signed both gain a command spell or regain a command spell that may be utilized to enforce the contract at will. Unlike normal command spells, they can instead be partially used to simply notify the other party of a desire to have a term fulfilled or utilized.
The exact terms can be very broad. Everything from switching servants, switching parameters, and so on. Time limits may be placed, conditions may be set... so long as both mutually sign the contract the terms may be any number of things including a ceasefire between parties. However there is one hidden term that none but he is aware of. His assured defeat at the hands of the enemy.
While this does not apply to his master, he is guaranteed to lose should he come into conflict with the other party signing. This is enforced by an alteration of fate. No other terms in the contract can overturn this established fate. It can even manifest as him tripping into the armament of his enemy in a fatal way.
He dislikes utilizing this noble phantasm as it is a massive gamble but for a master he trusts and is confident in he will use it if requested.
"
... tsk... so even that wasn't enough... guess the contract really is absolute... still... I'm glad you signed... cause now my victory is guaranteed... shoulda read the contract closer, ya daft fool... ya really think ya can beat 'im while fight'in on the level of a human?"