Might need some finishing touches, but this is the gist of my character and faction. [hider=Johnathan] Name: Johnathan Stelridge, A.K.A Brother Johnathan, Sion Johnathan, Father/Father Johnathan Side: Magi Sex: Male Age: 45 Race: Human, Caucasian Appearance: Johnathan is a man who looks particularly unfit to be in any sort of holy capacity. He has a strong jawline with a short black/grey beard and a rough, but not quite ruggedly handsome, face, with strong features. His eyes are a steely grey/blue, and his hair is very dark brown with some hints of grey. He wears it short, and not particularly groomed. His body is broad and muscular, and he stands about 6ft 2” tall, with lightly tanned white skin. His nose is just a little crooked, and he has a faint scar under his left eye, all in all he looks more suitable as a boxer than a priest. His common attire is a simple home-spun brown priest robe, with the golden sword insignia of his holy order, underneath he wears tough black cargo trousers and a simple white vest. Personality: Johnathan is a virtuous man, with a fair intellect and a decent knowledge of the world around him. However, he is also what one could call a fanatic, blinded by his faith and capable of acts of immense cruelty when shielded by the law of his order. He is honest to the point of being blunt or tactless, however he is also loyal and trustworthy. He is slow to anger, except when it is his faith which is questioned, and even then he is just as quick to forgive. He belongs whole-heartedly to the Church of Remus, which is a faith group with similarities to Christianity, with a guiding principle of condemning dangerous technology. Johnathan has vowed abstinence since joining the order ten years prior, but was straight beforehand. Faction: Church of Remus Biography: Johnathan was born in Hevren, one of the large and ever growing cities in Magi-controlled Earth, on the continent of Europe and in the country of Germania. He grew up without his father, who had taken ill from alcohol and died when he was very young. His older brother Isaac abandoned the family the moment he turned 18, leaving Johnathan listless and unwilling to commit fully to studying. He dropped out a few years early and took up odd jobs, until news of his mother’s death drove him to drink. The story goes that he was picked up by the mysterious founder of the Church of Remus, and thrived under his personal tutelage. This led him to swiftly rise up among the ranks and become the official leader of the chapter, while the founder headed off to create new chapters across the continent. Skills: Johnathan would be loath to admit it, but he is actually a fairly competent fighter, after taking up illegal cage fighting for a few years. He would be considered adequate in what could basically be considered Boxing, Judo, and Krav Maga. Johnathan is a skilled Orator, after performing sermons for roughly nine years, he can control a crowd with relative ease. He has the basic skills of any adult who lives alone and looks after themselves, as well as the somewhat shifty skills of someone out of work for long periods of time. He has even lived on the streets for a short while. Johnathan is very good at sizing someone up. He also has a working knowledge of history, and could be considered a somewhat proficient tactician, this comes from his less than savoury work as part of the Church. Abilities: Spellcaster Evocation: The Book of Remus Johnathan learned from the founder of the Church of Remus how to summon the book of the order, a moderately sized tome comparative to the bible. Within this book is a wide variety of spoken spells, with effects rooted in spellcasting. The necessity to summon and read from the book offsets the advantage of a wide range of powerful spells. Each spell is linked to a page of chanting, which must be channelled as the spell takes effect. Hand of Life: The first, the Hand of Life is the closest ability linked to Remus himself, it allows one to sacrifice mana to regenerate someone’s cells or repair other forms of damage and combat disease, it is essentially a basic healing spell that works on contact. Hand of Death: The opposite of the coin, the Hand of Death is a contact based spell which works in the opposite fashion to the Hand of Life, taking the energy from whoever the user touches and using it to either bolster the magi’s own mana reserves or healing their bodies. (Energy drain spell.) Circle of Light: The most fundamental defensive spell in the Book, the circle of light can project a barrier of light energy around the user, up to a radius of six feet. Waters of the Tiber: A powerful ability that allows the user to saturate an area in water, quenching flame. After a minute of chanting, one may create a wave of water more than capable of knocking a grown man off his feet. It may also be used at a lower cost to manipulate already present water, though not as effectively as a devoted water manipulator. Feral Ferocity: An ability which takes direct effect upon the user, it causes the mage to become more feral in combat, with heightened reflexes and speed, this is a somewhat embarrassing ability to use, but highly effective in desperate situations. Commanding Presence: When holding the Book of Remus the user exudes some of the Deity’s aura, causing those afflicted to be filled with an unexplainable respect for the priest. This is only particularly effective against weaker willed/low intelligence beings. It is a fairly easy manipulation on someone’s mind however, because everyone has the capacity to respect someone they are far less likely to question the sudden liking of the priest or the special attention they pay to his words. Exorcism: An ability which requires a minute of reading even to take effect, this wears the target down with waves of energy, damaging electrical circuitry and reducing technology to ineffectiveness while similarly disorientating a mage. It has a particularly powerful effect against summons and possessive creatures, often forcing them to flee. Cleansing Flame: After a few moments of chanting, holy fire emerges from the user’s free hand, with the strange effect of only burning those the user deems immoral or unholy. This means it can be used with impunity in a large crowd, and only effect the person the user wishes. The reasons for this on a scientific level probably stem from the flame being purely visual until the heat is directed on a single source. It arcs like a flamethrower, and lasts for a full minute unless one stops chanting, it is highly costly in terms of mana. It may only burn inanimate objects if the user wills it, much like people. The Betrayed’s Paranoia: An ability which when channelled allows Johnathan to sense those around him, particularly powerful beings who would wish him harm. It only works on a radius of about 100 feet, and requires him to have the foresight to actually use it. Remus’ Body: An ability which requires a comparatively shorter period of time to channel, and which carries over until an end clause is spoken or the user’s mana runs out, provides a passive buff to the user’s physical capabilities. This covers the user in a skin of energy, increasing his strength, agility, speed, and durability to super-human levels. Martyr’s Blood: An ability which also requires the user’s blood to be shed on the page of the book, this ability allows the user to increase the power of the book of Remus for a short period. In this time three extra spells may be used. Martyr Abilities Sword of Remus: This ability breaks apart the Book, preventing it from being summoned for a 24 hour period. The user draws a steel longsword from the pages, imbued with the ability to either freeze or burn anything it comes within an inch of, other than the user. The user also gains the passive ability of Remus’ body while using the sword. It constantly requires mana to keep active, but is highly effective at cutting through armour or even thick plates of metal, making it a deadly weapon. (Evocation) Shield of Remus: The book breaks apart, shielding the user with its energy for over an hour, making them unnatural durable, Remus’ Body activates at the same time. This can allow Johnathan to survive things which should by all rights kill him, though at the cost of his Book for a day. It also allows him to subsist on the energy of the book alone for a short while, removing his need to breath etc. (Spellcasting) Blood of Remus: The most difficult ability to master, the Blood of Remus allows the user to personify the deity himself (by this I mean he assumes the form of an avatar of Remus, giving him incredible physical prowess and a few powerful elemental spells, he doesn’t actually become a god). Johnathan is not skilled enough to use this ability effectively, so from the outset he won’t be using it at all. (Shapeshifting) Possessions: Johnathan has relatively little of what one would call Worldly Possessions, other than the mundane items people would expect any priest and mage to have. He does however wear a necklace on the outside of his monk-like robes which looks similar to the Cross, but with the point more resembling a blade. [/hider] [Hider=The Church of Remus] Name: Church of Remus, Remus Faith, Remusite (someone belonging to the Church of Remus) Side: Magi Composition: 80% Human, 20% other assorted races on Earth (roughly representative, save that the chapters are in cities so non-urban races are disproportionately represented. Location: The Continent of Europe, chapters in every capitol city on the continent. Namely the country of Germania, Italia, and France, with their respective capitols being Hevren (Johnathan’s chapter) Damus and Retus. There are also smaller off-shoots of the main chapters, which are often unsanctioned but still run with similar functions and belief systems. Description: The Church Of Remus is one which as of recently simply opposes the Tech faction ideology. It condemns the use of dangerous technology and refers to past accidents to promote this. Behind this fairly popular motivation however lies the truth that it is a growing political entity which feeds off the fear of the highly ambitious and widely feared Tech faction. Though many of the principles may be likened to Christianity, it places the root of all evil in technological development of a militaristic or dangerous kind. Citing the death of the god Remus at the hands of industry and technology, a path which leads to the death of humanity. In the new age, these sort of principles are highly contentious, and have gained serious traction. Mages flock to the Church, believing it supports their ‘god given’ abilities and enjoying the belief that they are favoured by Remus himself. The Church was founded roughly ten years prior by Romus, a powerful magi who has trained a number of powerful magi under him to serve as his Solis, or ‘Fathers of Faith’. Johnathan is one such leader. Goals: The Church of Remus is devoted to reducing the influence of Technology in society, instead promoting the natural gift of magic. They have been thought to have directly eliminated certain groups or individuals which have used technology to harm others. They are also known to protect the people of Earth, even from their own folly in terms of magical abominations. Ultimately, they seek to preserve the ‘Gods’ earth and eliminate those who would usurp him with cold metal. Behind this there is a more subtle and cynical move being played, where Romus, the founder of the church, is creating a small but fanatically powerful army of magi who are willing to fight at his command, particularly against the incursions of the Tech faction. Notable Members: Johnathan Stelridge, Sion of Hevren Romus, Founder of the Church of Remus -Slot open- Faction master (Sion) of Damus -Slot open- Faction master (Sion) of Retus [/hider] If anyone is interested in joining the Magi crusade against the Tech faction let me know. (Though it is a little more subtle than that.)