[hider=Jacques Baron] [center][img]https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/668295959147745280/NtLaxe-5_400x400.jpg[/img][/center][center][h2][color=darkviolet]Baron[/color][/h2][/center] [center][color=9966CC][i]"No, I'm not trying to become a demon, that's ridiculous. I'm already there."[/i][/color][/center] [center][url=https://youtu.be/7qFF2v8VsaA?t=38s]Mood Music[/url][/center] [hr] [b][u][color=darkviolet]N A M E[/color][/u][/b] Jacques Baron [b][u][color=darkviolet]A G E[/color][/u][/b] 25 (244, technically) [b][u][color=darkviolet]G E N D E R[/color][/u][/b] Male [b][u][color=darkviolet]S P E C I E S[/color][/u][/b] Demon-tainted Human [b][u][color=darkviolet]A P P E A R A N C E[/color][/u][/b] Jacques stands at 6'5", and sports a rather skinny build -not terribly out of shape, but not powerful by any stretch of the imagination. Too skinny to be considered conventionally attractive, yet not hard on the eyes either. One of his more notable physical features is his lack of a right arm. Nothing but a stump at his shoulder, it was long ago replaced with a robotic prosthetic in sleek black and grey. The flesh surrounding his stump is ashen and leathery, resembling that of a corpse. Perhaps even more noteworthy than the prosthetic are his tattoos -intricate designs and sigils that wrap and twist around his body. They span from just below his neck to his waist, winding down his good arm just to the elbow. While they appear first to be tattoos, closer inspection reveals them to be iridescent lines of crystal embedded in his flesh. His face has a small scar less than an inch across just above his right eye. His eyes themselves sport dark brown irises, easily mistaken for black in poor lighting. Dark circles wreath his eyes, accenting bags caused by stress and lack of sleep. Typically, Jacques is seen dressed well. Day to day, he is seen wearing a full suit -most commonly full white, with a silky black button up, and a vest of some varying color from day to day. Depending on the occasion, he may or may not put in the effort to wear a tie, though this is a rare sight. When feeling more casual, he will leave behind the suit jacket, rolling the sleeves of his button ups to the elbow. When wearing this more casual outfit, he tends to wear black slacks and white button up more often than the reverse. On his wrist he sports a shiny platinum watch, with a minimalistic face of simply two hands. Ever present in his robotic hand is a walking cane -simple black design, topped with a silver grip. One looking at Jacques would notice first his seemingly laissez-faire attitude. In standing, he leans back to form an oddly obtuse angle with the ground at almost all times. Given a wall, counter of suitable height, or a table, he'll be seen using it for support. When such a crutch isn't available, Jacques puts his weight on the cane he carries so frequently. Everything he does, from speaking to walking, he does at an almost infuriatingly slow pace. His movements and words are always carefully measured, a necessary precaution to prevent any incidents relating to his extreme clumsiness. [b][u][color=darkviolet]B A C K G R O U N D[/color][/u][/b] The year, 1788. The place, France. A country on the verge of revolution faces problems far deeper rooted than the overturning of a king. Beneath the streets, hidden in the shadows, an ancient demon of immeasurable power stirred. Likely the cause of the raising chaos in the region, the demon known only to a very few locals as [i]Baron[/i] had gone unchecked for far too long. A cult of demonologists live at the fringe of the city, shunned as witches, plot a solution to the utterly inevitable downfall of France, and likely all of Europe after that. Plans were drawn, and resources were collected by the witches, who set a massive pyre in the square of Paris. Along with the fire and a thousand arcane reagents was the sacrifice of thirteen children -each child hand picked to be innocent and of pure bloodline. The demon, taking notice of the plot against him, reared an ugly head from the shadows to disrupt the ritual. Baron; however, was not the only one who seemed disapproving of the ritual. Records of history have expunged all note of the demons presence -those who recall the events from memory will more than likely fail to recall that which came to stop the demon. Tales passed down from generation to generation describe it only as a burst of light from the sky -simultaneously taking the sacrifices to safety and smiting down the demon. Fools regard it as an angel -those who know better believe it to simply be a more powerful demon. [center]...[/center] New York, New York, 1923. A young child aged no more than ten is found wandering the streets, pale and wasting away, right arm missing. As luck would have it, or possibly fate, a philanthropist of a man was the first to find the boy, and took him in. A lawyer by trade, at least on paper, the man was in possession of far more... interesting talents off of the books. A master of the arcane, the lawyer by name of Frank Murdoch was a generous benefactor. Though he was able to teach his new prodigy the secrets of the arcane after introducing him to the world of magic, he never did give lessons on other schools of magic. Mr. Murdoch took special note of the boys interest towards morphology in particular. Their companionship was regrettably short lived -Mr. Murdoch made rather regrettable deals with some shady characters. When Frank was unable to pay a debt, the debtors came in storm. Realizing his time was coming to a rather swift end, Frank left the world in one final act of selflessness -sacrificing himself to hide away and save the child. Though the debtors came with a violent vengeance, they appeared to be satisfied on taking the life of Frank Murdoch and moved on after his blood was spilled. This left the young boy, a teenager now, heartbroken and alone. Whisked away from his life under unknown circumstances, only to have his new life torn away from him in a bloody mess. Had his relationship with Murdoch been stormy? Absolutely, the two seemed to disagree at every turn. But still, he loved Frank like a father, and was devastated at his loss. Depressed, he spent years locked away within the estate of Mr. Murdoch, studying all he could from the plethora of knowledge stacked on bookshelves. Though he briefly skimmed through all schools of magic, he was determined that Diabolism was the only place he would find the cure to his woes, and a way to save the life of his father. Eventually, Jacques' sweet memories of Frank Murdoch turned bitter, leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Years of dealings with various demons gained him naught but pain and suffering, and he soon saw his 'father' to be at fault. He felt betrayed, abandoned by the man, and made an oath to himself to trust no one. He dedicated years of study to the study of self-transformation through morphology, inspired by his time surrounded by demons to make himself powerful, even moreso than the devils of legend. After much time dedicated to perfecting this art, Jacques found his scars only deepened after his training. In the rather mislead belief that only time now could heal his scars, Jacques found an arcane ritual from his fathers books -one to put him into an impenetrable stasis for a lifetime. [center]...[/center] On his awakening, Jacques found himself in an entirely alien world. A small town by the coast -Belfast, Main, appeared to be his new home. The year 2016(?) and he had no idea how he had been moved to this small town, but he was soon confronted by Seph Kane and Markiel Relov, seemingly intrigued by the time-travelling morphologist. His skills in mixing and mingling the Arcane arts and Shifting arts were something prodigal, and almost unheard of. [hider=Tl;Dr/Timeline] [u][color=9966CC]Tl;Dr?[/color][/u] 1788, Paris, France there's a massive demon attack. A cult sacrifices a bunch of kids to stop it, but an unknown force ends up whisking away the kids and smiting the demon. 1923, New York, NY a one-armed child is seen limping around. Cool-guy arcanologist Frank Murdoch saves the kid, tells him about magic. Frank gets in debt with the wrong people, and gets magic shiv'd. The kid gets all angst-y and starts summoning demons to bring back Frank. Doesn't work, so the kid turns himself into a magic squid The kid gets daddy issues, and casts a magic coma on himself. The kid wakes up face to face with the dynamic duo themselves [s]Wells and Raick?[/s] [s]Batman and Robin?[/s] [s]Will Ferrel and Pharrel Williams?[/s] Seph Kane and Markiel Relov. Then goes on to train his magic squid powers further [u][color=9966CC]Timeline[/color][/u] 1781:[right]Jacques Baron is born[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1781-1788:[right]Normal childhood[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1788:[right]Jacques Baron (9 years old) half-sacrificed, then hidden away[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1788-1923:[right]Jacques kept in stasis by mysterious force[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1923:[right]Jacques (9 years old) reemerges, is taken in by Frank Murdoch[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1923-1930:[right]Jacques training under Frank Murdoch[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1930:[right]Frank Murdoch is killed, orphaning Jacques (16 years old)[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1930-1939:[right]Jacques self training[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1939:[right]Jacques (age 24) puts self in magic stasis[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1939-A year before present:[right]Jacques (age 24) wakes up under counsel of Wells and Raick[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A year before present-Present year:[right]Jacques acclimating to the new year, as well as training.[/right] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Present year: [right]Jaques (age 25) doing the best he can[/right] [/hider] [b][u][color=darkviolet]C U R R E N T L I F E[/color][/u][/b] While not officially on the payroll of Wells & Raick, Jacques has been in contact with the firm excessively. As of late, he has been rather reclusive, spending the bulk of his time acclimating to the new world as well as honing his skills. [b][u][color=darkviolet]P E R S O N A L I T Y[/color][/u][/b] Jacques' apparent laissez-faire attitude evident in simply looking at him is, more than anything else, a facade. One of his most prominent traits is his fake indifference. That being said, he tends to have trouble understanding consequences, instead seeking out instant gratification. He also has trouble taking things seriously. He makes wisecracks whenever he deems it fit, whether or not it is truly tasteful. Linked rather closely to his careless attitude is a chronic sense of boredom that plagues Jacques. Jacques has trouble finding interest in anything that doesn't show immediate results, and gets bored quickly with things and even people who don't further his goals. Even then, Jacques' personality also shows a careful, measured side. His big picture skills are rather lacking, but in the face of immediate danger he is ever present, acting and reacting only with the utmost precision, as long as his relative clumsiness doesn't get in his way, that is. His paranoia is likely his greatest asset in this -having so much experience with demons has taught him to be paranoid of everything. Nothing is true until it's done as far as Jacques is concerned. Because of this paranoia induced stress, Jacques is often pushed to make impulsive decisions on the spot, often dangerous calls, despite seeming calculated and in control. Hand in hand with this impulsive behavior comes his most dangerous trait -years of suffering and trials, has given him a deadly temper. He often has a rather inappropriate rage in reaction to relatively small transgressions. He has trouble controlling this often unsanctioned anger, especially when in reaction to perceived threats -he follows closely the philosophy of shoot first, ask questions later. Of course, there is more to Jacques than just these negative traits. Though he has trouble putting enough effort into anything to care, when he finds a person whom he truly cares for, he is unfalteringly loyal. Despite his anger issues, vengeful is not a word one would use to describe Jacques. He is very forgiving, even of those who directly betray him. On a more general note, Jacques truly enjoys happiness. If he's in a good mood and sees an opportunity to make someone smile or laugh, he will take it happily. Seeing others sad tends to only bring down his own mood. [b][u][color=darkviolet]S C H O O L S O F S T U D Y[/color][/u][/b] Morphology / Arcanology [b][u][color=darkviolet]S P E L L S P E C I A L I Z A T I O N[/color][/u][/b] Jacques specializes in a arcane spellcasting augmented by self-transformation for powerful effects. He has less power in utility, and more in versatile burst effects to deal with situations in the most efficient manner. [b][u][color=darkviolet]S P E L L S A N D A B I L I T I E S[/color][/u][/b] [b][u][color=9966CC]Loup, Renard, Belette[/color][/u][/b] In using his powers, Jacques spawns a multitude of tentacles from his body, made of an ethereal energy. Though they are fluid and blur in and out of existence, any time they are in use he has a set of twelve active -never more, never less. The tentacles move in tandem, grouping themselves in groups of four as they weave in and out of existence. The tentacles themselves are able to exert influence within a range of about twelve feet of Jacques. While active, the tentacles present themselves in any of three forms. The first form, [color=aqua]Loup[/color], allows his tentacles to manifest in an iridescent teal color, appearing to be made of crystalline shards supported by arcane energy. Each set of tentacles manifesting as [color=aqua]Loup[/color] increases his own magical resistances. In addition, [color=aqua]Loup[/color] tentacles can fire small bolts of arcane energy -about as powerful as a heavyweight boxers punch. The second form, [color=magenta]Renard[/color], manifests as oily black tentacles surrounded in bright magenta smoke. Bright arcane energy can be seen sparking throughout the mist. Tentacles manifesting in the form of [color=magenta]Renard[/color] passively makes Jacques more evasive. Faster to facilitate escape, and somewhat difficult to focus on. Direct contact with the oily black tentacles or long exposure to the smoke is quite disorienting, similar to the effects of a concussion grenade. When in the form of [color=orange]Belette[/color], his tentacles are a matte black metal, impossibly fluid. Cracks run throughout the tentacles, each crack glowing with orange light. When in use, [color=orange]Belette[/color] tentacles increase Jacques durability and strength. Though naturally very frail, the use of enough [color=orange]Belette[/color] tentacles can put Jacques above even great athletes in physical power. The tentacles themselves, though not particularly special in effect, are effectively impenetrable to any mundane physical attacks. These tentacles put very little strain on Jacques' mana -and are in fact almost muscle memory to cast. His true power comes in his ability to 'detonate' the tentacles in a burst of arcane magic. This detonation has a different effect depending on what combination of [color=aqua]Loup[/color], [color=magenta]Wex[/color], and [color=orange]Belette[/color] are active. The possible effects are as follows- [list] [*][color=Aqua]Loup, Loup, Loup-[/color] [color=9966CC]Arcane Binding:[/color] Focused in a line that Jacques can aim, four feet wide and twelve feet long, Arcane Binding effectively stuns all caught in this range. The effect lasts for a matter of three seconds. [*][color=Aqua]Loup, Loup,[/color] [color=magenta]Renard-[/color] [color=9966CC]Arcane Sleight:[/color] Jacques turns effectively invisible, hidden from mundane perception. This effect lasts for about thirty seconds. [*][color=Aqua]Loup, Loup,[/color] [color=orange]Belette-[/color] [color=9966CC]Arcane Barrier:[/color] A magical circle is drawn on the ground, about three feet in radius. The circle glows with arcane energy, and is generally impassable. Of course, a powerful enough creature of spell can break the line, but save for such conditions, it lasts as long as Jacques keeps it active. [*][color=magenta]Renard, Renard, Renard-[/color] [color=9966CC]Silence:[/color] A cone of energy cast in front of Jacques, reaching about fifteen feet out, dispels any magic effects in the zone. The silence lasts for about five seconds, indicated by shiny magenta particles that slowly fall to indicate duration left. [*][color=magenta]Renard, Renard,[/color] [color=aqua]Loup-[/color] [color=9966CC]Flash:[/color] Jacques blinks anywhere between five and ten feet in a straight line. Anyone who is on the line between point A and point B of his travel is momentarily blinded, this effect lasting for about two seconds. [*][color=magenta]Renard, Renard,[/color] [color=orange]Belette-[/color] [color=9966CC]Counter:[/color]v Jacques surrounds himself with an iridescent field of magenta energy. The next attack to target Jacques will break the barrier and will instead target the aggressor. This lasts until the effect is triggered. [*][color=orange]Belette, Belette, Belette-[/color] [color=9966CC]Challenge:[/color] A beam of energy is directed at an enemy, marking them with a pulsing energy. The next damage this enemy takes is amplified twofold by the energy. Lasts until triggered. [*][color=orange]Belette, Belette,[/color] [color=aqua]Loup-[/color] [color=9966CC]Spawn:[/color] A trio of spirits are summoned to do the bidding of Jacques. Taking a form of pure arcane energy, the spirits look and behave similar to attack dogs. Upon taking almost any damage from an arcane source, the spirits overload with energy before being dispelled in a blast of energy. [*][color=orange]Belette, Belette,[/color] [color=magenta]Renard-[/color] [color=9966CC]Phantom Limb:[/color] An extension of his will, Jacques gains a second phantom body that is invisible to most forms of perception. This body is capable of the vaguest mockery of locomotion, but is overall clumsy. Only useful for the movement or manipulation of objects as though it were telekinesis, it is useless in a fight. It lasts for about a minute at full strength, slowly fading from existence after a second minute. [*][color=aqua]Loup,[/color] [color=magenta]Renard,[/color] [color=orange]Belette-[/color] [color=9966CC]Power Overwhelming:[/color] In a circle centered on Jacques with a radius of three feet, a wave of powerful energy is released. Anything caught in this blast is thrown back with impressive force. [/list] After 'detonating' his spell, Jacques is no longer able to enter his tentacled form until the spells effect are completely resolved. While this allows him to jump instantly back into the action with some spells such as Power Overwhelming, other spells like Spawn leave him vulnerable for long periods of time. Detonating a spell is rather taxing on his mana -he can only do it about thrice before needing to replenish his energy. [b][u][color=darkviolet]E Q U I P M E N T[/color][/u][/b] [list] [*][color=9966CC]Textbook behavior-[/color] Jacques carries a tome filled with pages on pages of text and pictures, detailing thousands of arcane creatures and spells. [*][color=9966CC]Handy-capped-[/color] His robotic arm -a simple prosthetic model made by the bebionic company. While it has little function past basic gestures and grips, a specialized magnetic grip is keyed to his walking cane. [*][color=9966CC]"Lightning bolt!"-[/color] His walking cane has a rechargeable stun gun built into the tip -one that will only activate when used in tandem with his bionic arm. [*][color=9966CC]Liberté-[/color] .44 Remington magnum, polished silver. Bullets are infused with his own arcane energy, specifically made to counter magical effects. Shoot a magical barrier, it's far more likely to break. Shoot a fireball, and it weakens, etc. [*][color=9966CC]Égalité-[/color] A set of arcane crystals carried by Jacques, this set of twelve eight-sided gems contain pure arcane energy. Jacques can channel the energy in these stones to replenish his mana stores, taking about 6 stones to 'fill his tank', so to speak. Replenishing his mana in this way is much like taking out a loan from a bank -though in the moment it allows you to spend more in the moment, it must be paid off eventually, and with interest. [*][color=9966CC]Fraternité-[/color] A relic of his past, Jacques carries at some times an elegant sword bearing his family name on the hilt. A family heirloom obtained rather recently at an auction, Jacques treasures the blade. Enchanted through arcane magic, he can use it as a channel for his form, making it usable in battle with the arcane. When using predominantly [color=aqua]Loup[/color], the blade gains an ethereal partner, mimicking it's movement in midair. This magical blade hovers about five feet out from the actual location of the blade. When using [color=magenta]Renard[/color], the blade takes on a property of reflection. Magical attacks parried or blocked by the blade are deflected away from Jacques, not necessarily in the direction of the attacker. When in a stance of [color=orange]Belette[/color], the blade strikes twice for every one successful hit, the second attack coming from seemingly nowhere. [/list] [b][u][color=darkviolet]O T H E R[/color][/u][/b] Skilled with a violin, card tricks, and painting. [/hider]