Having looked around, it looks like Latin, rather than Hebrew naming schemes are in use for the forces of Heaven. So, that said, here's Iscah and Iacobos, i.e. the Biblical forms of Yiskah and Ya'aqov. It's, uh, in progress, so... I'll finish it off properly tomorrow, or at least attempt to. I should have time to do that, I believe, going by what was said earlier. [hider=For the Grace and Glory of The Creator!] [hider=Dramatic music plays as two angelic scions descend from the heavens!] [img]http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/img/gmw/docs/321/954/beyo16.jpg[/img] [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p09hhXbsB9c[/youtube] And then becomes more fightsey. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frbn5hxSHYo[/youtube] [/hider] [b]Name[/b]: Iscah and Iacobos [b]Gender[/b]: Iscah claims to be female, Iacobos claims to be male; as they are both hideous flesh monsters encased in coloured marble, the truth of the matter is unverifiable. [b]Age[/b]: 15 [b]Race[/b]: Angels of Laguna, specifically a Grace and Glory respectively. [b]Appearance[/b]: Iscah is slightly more feminine-looking than the typical Grace, and the red-armoured claws usually wielded by a Grace are heavily altered on her, bearing an oversized buckler-like construct across the back of each gauntlet, with claws that are longer, thinner, and straighter than usual, overall more reminiscent of swords; the overall impression is that of a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern_shield]lantern shield[/url], albeit one that is three-bladed. However, said blades can also shift upward and back slightly, prompting the reveal of a wide weapon barrel from the shield portion of each gauntlet. Iacobos' physical form is slightly more slender than the typical Glory, though no more or less masculine than would be typical; the claws on his gauntlets are similar to those of a standard Glory where Iscah's are notably different to those of the typical Grace, but have the capacity to slide across and merge with one another to form the front portion of a rifle-like gun. [b]Faction[/b]: Heaven, specifically the Hierarchy of Laguna. [hider=Personality] Naturally, both Iscah and Iacobos are fierce warriors, for such is the lot of any Grace and Glory, and indeed of many Laguna angels beyond them too. Unlike the majority of their kind, though, they are both imbued with the gift of tactical prowess: they are extremely crafty as individuals as well as fighters, to the point that they will often prefer to ambush any potential targets unawares, as well as striking the foe simultaneously where standard Graces and Glories may only move in one at a time, and in those rare cases where they are drafted for tasks unrelated to combat can produce complex plans that one would imagine was beyond mere Virtues, and the telepathic link the two share only further bolsters both these situations. This is not to say they are identical in mind, of course, though they are very similar beings: both enjoy the service that they can provide to the Hierarchy of Laguna, and to Paradiso as a whole; both constantly scan their foes during battle to establish powers, strengths and weaknesses, and determine counters for such abilities; and both are immensely protective of their respective sibling, such that if one begins to falter, the other will gladly charge in to distract whatever foe has caused this state of affairs to buy time for their counterpart to escape before making their own. However, they differ on a few key points, namely their opinions of humanity: Iscah is certainly the less kindly of the two about mortals, and though she does not actively hate them so long as they do not attempt to hold up Paradiso's activities, she also does not particularly care if her attacks happen to cause a lot of collateral damage in the human realm; by contrast, Iacobos greatly prefers not harming uninvolved humans where possible, as doing so can only result in less support for Paradiso, though neither will he hesitate to slay a mortal who has foolishly decided that Heaven is their enemy. Iscah is also somewhat more aggressive overall than Iacobos, as reflected in their preferred fighting styles, and has a tendency to take charge of the pair when no other authority presents itself, often developing the duo's plans more along her lines for sheer force of suggestion. [/hider] [hider=Biography] Most angels of the Hierarchy of Laguna are produced in manners which are near-incomprehensible to human beings, eldritch as they are. The Affinities, forming from the souls of ritually-sacrificed humans, and their larger cousins the Applauds are exceptions to this rule. Iscah and Iacobos are two more: rather than being "born", or otherwise formed in whatever fashion Laguna angels come into being, these two angels were quite deliberately created by a number of other angels working in unison to improve upon the current design of the Grace and Glory pairing, amongst other things by linking their souls together in a way that ensured they could not be killed unless both their physical forms were destroyed. The end result was, it seemed, successful: the two beings attained their own separate bodies, with all the power and combat skill one might expect of their sort, and it was noted that, for whatever reason, they were far more intelligent and open to suggestion than any normal Grace and Glory would be. Potentially a good thing, for the vast majority of their kind would fight in inefficient manners that could be resolved in these two with long hours of hard drilling; also potentially terrible for Paradiso, if an external force found a way to convince them that Paradiso was a corrupt or evil force. They were still fundamentally opposed to the fiends of Inferno, of course, but if a sufficiently-charismatic human or other unaligned entity got to them... Naturally, steps were taken to avoid this. For ten years, the two prototypes were, for want of a better word, "retrained" to work together as a team, to utilise their weapons more effectively (assisted later on by their request for personalised armaments, duly granted), and to ensure absolutely that neither would ever be tempted to betray the realm of Jubileus that had granted them life in the first place. An extremely short span of time for an angel, but as comparative newborns, this all had the desired effect on the two: at their apex as a team, they proved themselves nigh-unbeatable in combat even by angels of notably higher Spheres, and even alone could soundly best any lesser angel through a combination of unorthodox techniques and sheer raw power, all complemented by thorough indoctrination into the tenets of the Creator and her messengers. Of course, any prototype is likely to have a few glitches or bugs in its production process, and it was discovered at the ten year mark that Iscah and Iacobos had, in fact, developed a form of telepathy between themselves, only further bolstering their already-significant senses of self and tactical ability. This might have been considered a failure under some circumstances, but it occurred to one of the higher-ups on the project that perhaps it would instead prove itself a grand asset, if they could be convinced to work together. After all, they were smart enough to generate their own future improvements, and it always helps to double-check one's work against another mind... With little ceremony, Iscah and Iacobos were dumped into the human world, told only that they might evolve to reach greater Spheres than they were nominally part of if they trained hard enough, then left to their own devices. Naturally, both took this to mean that they ought to figure out ways to further boost their own fighting abilities; thus, Iscah almost immediately took the intuitive route, beginning to develop a method of combat that extrapolated from her own natural style, and incorporated her weaponry and flame-based powers into it in ways that further boosted its effectiveness. Iacobos was more hesitant to immediately leap into anything, and though he did figure out a method of improving his weaponry through use of his magic and a few scattered battle techniques over the next half a decade, he rapidly determined that perhaps he might learn a thing or two from those who bartered pacts with Paradiso's angels, if they were still around, and sought them alongside the being who may as well have been his sister, slaying a fair few demonic (or otherwise Heaven-opposed) foes along the way. As luck would have it, the Lumen Sages had only recently begun reorganising themselves, and after a time, a sect of the angel-worshipping humans discovered the two Virtues and gladly welcomed them into their fold, very appreciative of anything amounting to Heaven's assistance against the surges of hellish activity that had begun plaguing the world. They certainly benefited from the presence of a Grace and Glory, but the very same Glory received a much greater boon almost by accident: Iacobos noticed that, time and again, the Lumen Sages would both slow time to boost their speed and call down other angels to assist in combat. And he wondered to himself, "Why shouldn't I be able to do that? I'm an angel myself, my own brethren shouldn't be sealed away from me." And other such thoughts as those. Naturally, the Sages were more than happy to help, though at first their methods seemed practically impossible to pull off, for they achieved a connection to Heaven via pacts with its minions... but months passed, discussions were had, and Iacobos finally managed to work out a way of essentially hijacking his own ethereal bonds, directing them to draw lesser angels from Paradiso in much the way the Lumen Sages did. In effect, he forged a "pact" with himself. And no sooner had he managed this then the sect of the Lumen Sages he and Iscah were with came under attack by a gang of Umbra Witches. They, too, had been growing in strength in the past few years, and though all the warriors of Heaven so present fought hard, the Lumen Sages in the area were wiped out entirely. Indeed, it would have been very likely that Iscah and Iacobos themselves would have perished regardless of reinforcements, had it not transpired that a certain group required soldiers for its cause. The Grace and Glory were spirited away to the plane of the Charred Council, and given the offer to work under them as keepers of balance and, in essence, managers of the universe itself. Both refused almost instantly, Iscah on the grounds that Hell and its demons were a fundamentally evil force and deserved to be destroyed in favour of Heaven and its angels, and Iacobos on the basis that, whilst he'd been told his whole life that Hell and its minions were evil without solid proof, he'd just seen firsthand what the Umbra Witches were willing to do to their fellow humans, who had wanted nothing more than to protect the world from devastation, unite all peoples within their nation... and etcetera. In other words, the Council's warped idea of "balance" could shove it. They were unceremoniously returned to the human world, almost exactly where they'd been spirited away, complete with Witches. The angels worked together to fend the demon-aligned women off as long as they could, and even managed to kill some of their number, but they were inevitably swamped by the larger force heedless of teamwork, Iacobos taking a blow that sheared his head from his shoulders, and Iscah coming very close to impalement through the chest, if not for the intervention of Heaven itself. Or of the team who had created them, rather. They were too valuable, after all, to be discarded so readily, and could have been the basis of a new generation of angels entirely in the minds of these scientists; and so Iscah was drawn back into Paradiso, to recuperate for a time until she could return to full strength, and her brother's soul could be revived in a new body. As of now, they have both returned to their usual power, and are waiting for the moment when they can be sent back down to Earth, to continue their mission to denounce the evils of Hell, and extend the reach of Heaven across the whole of the mortal realm. [/hider] [u][b][Combat][/b][/u] Before anything else, it should be noted that as very closely intertwined entities with the capacity to share their perception of any given battle, Iscah and Iacobos essentially share a pool of style points between one another as though they were a single character. This has positives and negatives in various forms, but the effective outcome is that they can both benefit from investments in certain styles, equipment, and techniques, whilst others will assist only one of the pair; each style, technique, and piece of equipment is marked accordingly. [b]Powers and Abilities[/b]: [i]Laguna Biology[/i] - Iscah and Iacobos are both angels of the Laguna Hierarchy, and as such are just shy of being humanoid abominations if not for their marbled masks and armour: they do not age, possess incredible physical abilities, strength and agility in particular, and in unison are more than capable of tearing nearly any mortal to shreds, though they are nevertheless bound by their Sphere, and can have trouble dealing with beings beyond their level even given their own power. However... [i]-Divine Grace, Incandescent Glory[/i] - As described, Iscah and Iacobos' power and speed are practically unrivalled within their Sphere, especially when complemented by Iscah's fire-producing abilities and Iacobos' electrokinetic powers. Furthermore, being particularly well-tuned toward such a goal, their ability to work together to outmaneuver and defeat opponents is unparalleled by any, save perhaps the fabled Gracious and Glorious pairs of the First Sphere. This, however, comes at the cost of vastly reducing their effectiveness when separated, by choice or otherwise; they remain difficult foes alone, but struggle to adapt to the knowledge that they lack backup, causing them to attack far more aggressively than they ought to, as though their partner is still around to cover their back. [i]Telepathic Link[/i] - Possibly a contributor to their unnaturally-high intelligence, Iscah and Iacobos share a mind link that allows them to communicate with one another silently and extremely quickly, granting each access to the other's thoughts, ideas, strategies, and so on, to the point that new plans can be discussed with one another in the heat of battle with the opponent knowing nothing of whatever they are about to face off against next. Naturally, this only serves to further strengthen their teamwork; should it be broken, though, they'd lose this ability to communicate so readily, and would likely react... poorly, to put it lightly. [i]Surrender of Self[/i] - Amongst all Graces and Glories, Iscah and Iacobos are unique in that they are effectively D&D-style phylacteries for one another: should one of them die, their soul will be automatically drawn into the body of the surviving member of the duo rather than succumbing to whatever fate it would otherwise have been subjected to, allowing the "deceased" individual to be resurrected in a new body in Paradiso if the partner is given a chance to return there. Thus, it is necessary to kill both Iscah and Iacobos to ensure that they both remain dead, and they are both [i]very[/i] aware of this fact. As of current, the surviving partner does not gain any benefits from trapping the deceased partner's soul, though they have bounced ideas between one another in an effort to figure out possible ways of improving this situation. [b]Styles[/b]: [i]People's Unity Style L1 (Iacobos)[/i] - It is generally the case that most angels cannot actively summon one another, this functionality being restricted to those Lumen Sages who have formed contracts with the Hierarchy of Laguna and a few of the stronger Spheres. Iacobos is the exception, and though it does require a small energy input and the naming of a particular rank to perform this sort of summoning (naturally increasing as stronger angels are summoned), the rewards are typically more than worth the cost; this style is often combined with Iacobos' own attacks, be they melee or ranged. L1: At level 1, Iacobos can summon any angel to his side in the Third Sphere, up to and including the strongest of Principalities of both the Hierarchy of Laguna and, less frequently, the Army of Light. Though they are weak on their own, these angels can be summoned with practical impunity to swamp foes in bodies, to the point that mere Angels are effectively bound to Iacobos' will upon summoning, and it is only rarely that otherwise-idle Archangels and Principalities will even be able to summon the energy to question a Glory's orders, much less disobey them outright. Indeed, he often keeps a lone Decoration or Compassion about as a pet of sorts, replacing it whenever the current one is killed or otherwise removed from him, and apparently naming all of them Nyarlathotep (Nyarth for short) after "one of those quaint human mythological texts" regardless of which one is currently in thrall to him. [i]Evil Denouncement Style L1 (Iscah)[/i] - A highly agile style relying on number of hits and area damage, the claws of Iscah's gauntlets draw back to expose the weapon's barrel, and a burning stream of holy promethium (in various forms, depending on how strong Truth and Love are) pours forth, igniting whatever it touches, and serving as both a cloak to her actions and a much-needed boost to her attacks, assisted further by the shields attached to each gauntlet that can readily block incoming attacks as needed. At higher levels, Iscah moves and strikes faster and faster, incorporating her own summoned flames into her attacks more effectively as well. [i]Double Trouble Style L1 (Both)[/i] - As described, Iscah and Iacobos are both far more capable of ganging up on foes than a normal Grace and Glory pairing. This is described by the Double Trouble Style, which to some extent draws on both their standard tactics and personal combat styles to produce a combination style capable of ensnaring and beating down most foes very effectively, and their strategies only become more synergised as this style reaches higher levels. [i]Evolution Blastoff Style L0 (Both)[/i] - Not currently in effect, but it is known to both Iscah and Iacobos that they hold the potential to utilise this "style". Realistically, it is less a combat style and more a boost to their power: though they presently remain as Virtues, and initially invoking this style will require as much effort as generating a new style outright, each level up of this style will provide a massive boost to power in all areas for both partners, essentially raising the Sphere they are part of, from Virtue at "L0" to Dominion at L1, to Throne at L2, and so on up to the highest ranking of Seraphim, below only the Auditio and Dea themselves. Knowing that there exist beings similar to souped-up Graces and Glories at the highest levels, Iacobos has proposed that they are intended to transform into a Gracious and Glorious themselves at this style's maximum strength, though Iscah is far more sceptical about this theory's viability. They also have theories about how this style could be invoked to better synchronise their souls when one of them dies, though the process of achieving this will involve further thought and discussion on their parts. [b]Equipment[/b]: [i]Truth and Love L1 (Iscah)[/i] - Iscah's gauntlets, with sword-like claws and a shield construct on the back, and the barrel of a weapon hidden behind the claws. L1: The shield is roughly the size of a buckler, the claws are about the length and width of shortswords, and the weapon barrel is a sort of holy flamethrower - whilst her Evil Denouncement Style is in use, it will spew out a near-indefinite stream of magical flame akin to a regular flamethrower, the flames themselves not dissimilar to her own summoned flame, that form a wall of fire around Iscah as she moves and fights. [i]Reach Above Nations L1 (Iacobos)[/i] - Iacobos' gauntlets, more akin to a standard Glory's claws normally, but whose claws can shift and merge to create the barrel of a gun with seemingly limitless ammunition. L1: The gun's barrel is apparently that of a battle rifle, with a muzzle velocity of 850 m/s, a basic firerate of around 500 RPM, and- whilst Star Extend is in effect- a maximum firerate of 1300 RPM. Iacobos can apply force of will to further increase firerate beyond this point, but doing so risks melting the gun barrel and rendering the gun useless until it can be repaired. [i]Aegis of Grace and Glory L1 (Both)[/i] - The plating and masked full helms worn by any Grace or Glory. L1: Covers only as much area as the standard Aegis - the head, chest and shoulders, groin, and most of their legs, all of which is prone to shattering when enough damage is taken to reveal the angels' true features, as is the case for any Laguna angel. Their hands are largely protected by their clawed gauntlets, moreso for Iscah than Iacobos for reasons described above. [b]Techniques[/b]: [i][u]Standard Techniques[/u][/i] Standard Grace and Glory techniques. -Elemental Tether L1 (Both): Using their respective elements, Iscah and/or Iacobos extend their claws on long bonds, vastly increasing the range of their melee attacks. L1: The range increase is about one meter. -Wide Swing L1 (Iscah): Iscah takes a wide swipe at the area in front of her, potentially cleaving through multiple enemies at a time, or else dealing a great deal of damage to a single foe at the cost of a slightly slower attack than usual. -Tornado Strike L1 (Iscah): Iscah twirls toward an opponent, doling out a series of rapid melee attacks like a burning tornado once in range. -Counter Strike L1 (Iacobos): Iacobos attempts to dodge an incoming attack, in the same moment using his weapons to return an attack toward the opponent. -Shockwave L1 (Iacobos): Iacobos falls back and charges his claws with electricity, then leaps a few feet into the air and slams them into the ground, sending arcing lines of electricity in all directions to try and electrocute the opponent. This is evidently much more powerful if a direct hit is achieved. [i][u]Equipment Techniques[/u][/i] Techniques derived from Iscah and Iacobos' weaponry. -Searing Stab L1 (Iscah): Whilst utilising the flamethrower on her weapon, Iscah rams her claws into an opponent's body, forcibly roasting their flesh as the flamethrower spews fire directly into the wound, and ideally the internal organs as well. -Star Extend L1 (Iacobos): Iacobos charges the guns on his gauntlets with electricity, vastly increasing their firerate and imbuing each individual projectile with an electrical charge for greater damage, particularly against targets that are covered in or integrated with large quantities of metal. L1: This style is not particularly efficient, and can only increase the guns' firerate at a rate of around half their base firerate per minute, such that reaching maximum firerate takes a comparatively long time considering the speed at which supernatural battles are conducted. Fortunately for Iacobos, he does not need to constantly fire the guns to achieve this effect, meaning he can avoid excessive collateral damage, or even spend a few minutes before a fight charging up to start off at maximum firerate. Additional electrical damage from bullets is fairly small, though not insignificant. [i][u]People's Unity Style[/u][/i] Techniques only Iacobos can utilise based on the summoning of other angels to his side. The techniques themselves are fairly obvious, so only the maximum number of entities summoned per use will be listed next to them; fewer entities than this can be summoned if so desired, and additional summonings for more energy can obviously be implemented as desired. -Angel Calls - The lowest of the low, these angels require practically no energy to call into Purgatorio, and in the same stroke are cannon fodder in all but name. --Affinity Call L1: 6, in any of five forms --Cachet & Compassion Call L1: 3 (+4 per) --Dear & Decoration Call L1: 2 (+6 per) --Enchant Call L1: 4 --Acceptance Call L1: 3, in any of two forms -Archangel Calls - Angels in a pseudo-commanding position, they can help coordinate lesser angels and themselves take little energy to bring in, but are only somewhat tougher than their weaker counterparts. --Applaud Call L1: 3, in any of two forms --Accolade Call L1: 2, in any of four forms --Enrapture Call L1: 2 --Fidelity Call L1: 4 -Principality Calls - The strongest of the Third Sphere, and effective specialised shock troops and Third Sphere commanders, but still quite weak in the grand scheme of things, though they still do not require much energy input to bring in. --Ardor Call L1: 2, in any of two forms --Irenic Call L1: 1 --Allegiance Call L1: 1 [i][u]Evil Denouncement Style[/u][/i] Techniques only Iscah can utilise based on the use of her flamethrowers to swamp the area about her in holy fire, combining with a rapid attack style for heavy and rapid damage overall. -Burning Twister L1: Essentially a stronger version of the standard Tornado Strike, Iscah spins fast enough that the air about her forms currents, whipping the fire she emits into a veritable wall of flames surrounding her that sear anything foolish enough to move into her range on top of the physical damage dealt. -Pyro Cloak L1: A more crafty use of her fire to hide Iscah and distract her opponents, making it difficult to figure out where she is going to attack from next. -Wall of Flame L1: Slamming her hands to the ground, Iscah sends a wide wave of magically-manipulated fire outward, in an attempt to engulf any foe who chooses to stay put or simply dodge to one side or the other. -Curling Strikes L1: Rather than attacking head-on, Iscah actually strafes rapidly around her foe as she attacks, continuing to burn and strike them even as it becomes more difficult to turn in a way that lets them respond accordingly. -Funeral Pyre L1: A sort of finishing move against an apparently-weakened opponent, Iscah initiates this attack with a Searing Stab, then throws them upward a ways and follows after, impaling them from behind with another Searing Stab before flipping on top of them and dropping them to the ground, stabbing and slashing rapidly with her free claw until impact, and finishing them off with a final doublestab to the head, all accompanied by waves of fire throughout the technique. [i][u]Double Trouble Style[/u][/i] Techniques that Iscah and Iacobos can utilise in tandem for greater effect. Notably, most of the techniques previously described can also be utilised as part of this style, enhancing their capacity to deal damage as fending off both attackers becomes incredibly difficult. [s]-Light Speed L1 (Both): Taking a page from the Lumen Sages, both Iscah and Iacobos can use this style to slow the passage of time for everything other than themselves, essentially acting as a temporary speed and agility amplifier, though in any case it cannot be sustained for too long before deactivating, and any slowed time must "recharge" for a brief period before it can be utilised again. L1: The passage of time slows to about a quarter of its usual pace for up to three real seconds at a time; each slowed second takes ten seconds of real time to become reusable.[/s] we still need to discuss this - [/hider]