[u][b]Name: Father Ilya Bjornlie
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[b]Age:[/b] 21

[b]Height/Weight:[/b] 5'11", 197 lb. 

[b]Race:[/b] Native Varyan

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[b]Appearance:[/b] Though not unattractive, Father Ilya Bjornlie seems to think he's handsomer than he is. His body has a definitively light tone and though not as burly as most other successful inquisitors, his physique is quite well toned below the layers of official garb he wears. Every piece of kit, identification, and medal is always present, but half of it is always at a slightly altered angle. The belt droops slightly on his left, his official sword is slightly loose in its scabbard, and his goggles rest haphazardly around his neck, yet his powerful rifle is perfectly secured in its strap on his back. 

Father Ilya stays carefully clean shaven, and less successfully keeps a mostly charming smile on his face. His hair is short and styled somewhat, as he attempts to play off of the asymmetry of his outfit and play up his blue eyes and strong jawline. The look is practical as well, since there is no chance hair being caught in the straps of his googles or being caught in the seal when he's aiming a shot.  

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[img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/1808/f/2010/301/c/4/generation_kill__walt_hasser_by_daeg04-d31o5yb.png[/img]

The image is ripped from deviantart. Apparently the character is from a show called Generation Kill? No idea, but he looks close to what I'm going for and has approximately the right level of projected cockiness. 
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[b]Personality:[/b] It would be wrong to call Father Ilya Bjornlie an asshole. Yes, he can be abrasive, and yes, he mostly sees others as tools, but he's in truth a decent person. Well, alright. He's not a bad person. To most people.

Father Ilya is goal driven, and his life's goal is to be a great and successful hero. This means a number of things. First is to be exceedingly good at war, which is why he has gone through the Red Seminary - learning combat, magic, and tactics along the way. Second is to have grand exploits, hence being the very first Inquisitor to volunteer for this voyage. Third, is to recognized and loved for his achievements. This may be the most difficult part. 

Father Ilya does his best to project the image of a charming war hero, but that only applies to the general public. With his peers, he is far less concerned with appearances, and far more concerned with work and results. As such, he is often dismissive and irritable to people who insist on wasting time without something useful to offer him, and is a natural-born workaholic. He plans his days to the level of 10 minutes when he can, and in the pursuit of efficiency (in turn for the pursuit of glory), genuinely considered sleeping more productive than spending "free time" with other Inquisitors. As a result, the people he is closest to are not friends so much as business partners. 

The inspiration for Ilya's dedication comes in large part from Varya himself, as well as his chosen favorites over the centuries. However, one would be wrong to mistake his wrote memorization of the nation's grandest tales of conquest for pure devotion. He lies somewhere in between a fanatic servant and a lone wolf. He serves Varya because Varya is the greatest - everybody knows that, and to stand against such greatness is to guarantee ones failure. So instead, he works with this font of glory, because he is nothing if not practical in pursuing his ambition. 

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[b]Background:[/b] Poverty has never truly been known to Father Ilya Bjornlie, but that is not to say he has lived without want. Even before his time in the Red Seminary, Father Ilya was born into the wealthy Bjornlie family well above the surface of the ice surrounding Magnagrad. His father was a military man, and his mother the heiress to a booming ether business. However, both of them knew the dangers that lurked in cushy affluence, and so Ilya's only tastes of natural foods were major holidays and when a sufficiently important guest visited that he was required to dine with his parents while they worked their social circles. Indeed, though he spent more time with servants and slaves than his parents, they were omnipresent in his life. Not one day passed where he did not have an assignment. Some days he was exercising his control over his ether for as long as he could stay awake. Other days he was tested against challenger after challenger his father's closest companion selected from the slave pits. Periodically, his mother would take him along to social gatherings, and even leave him with "friends" of hers who needed to be charmed, or have facts she told him leaked on "accident." Such was Ilya's life until he enrolled with the Red Seminary and said farewell to his parents for the last time in 5 years. 

Though Ilya had achieved some impressive feats with ether, he was not nearly the best with magic in the Red Seminary. Though Ilya had defeated some skilled foes from the slave pits, he was not nearly the best fighter in the Red Seminary. Though Ilya had charmed some cynical nobles in courts, he was seen right through at the Red Seminary. With all of his skills not holding him above the rest, there was only one option available to Ilya Bjornlie: Do Better. 

Practice, study, and planning became Ilya's life. In his second year a relatively unique talent was revealed within him: marksmanship. Though forgone by most Inquisitors, Ilya's steady hand and keen eye found targets twice as easily compared to his peers. Perhaps it was the legacy of his father, or perhaps simply because he had seen them work a hundred times before, but Ilya Bjornlie took to the gun as readily as ice to the sea. He took this strength and promptly began pushing himself. Nowdays, he is the premier, if only, marksman among the Inquisitors. 

As it turns out, Ilya's eye was not only keen when it came to shooting targets, but also for strategic planning. Though occasionally thwarted by unexpected turns of events, the joke runs that Ilya could plan better and for more contingencies in an hour with a notebook than an army captain could with a day and a map. Though never put to the test, there are solid odds this is true. In the Red Seminary, he was initially praised for his capabilities. However, when they failed to push Ilya's brain by changing the situation, they began to change the rules. As soon situations - simulated or in practice, moved beyond his contingencies Ilya's actions began to break apart. Although practiced has improved this somewhat, Ilya still flounders when pressed for time and options. Indeed, instead of becoming more adaptable, his training has mostly increased his capacity to plan for a massive number of contingencies. 

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[b]Talents/Ethereal Abilities:[/b] Ilya is likely the best marksmen among the Inquisitors, which is, in truth, a relatively easy feat since nearly none bother learning more than the basics. Still, his aim is top notch, and he personally honed the ability to coat his bullets in a specialized paling, helping them to slide cleanly through the air and whatever winds it may hold. Thanks to this innovative technique (which he is attempting to teach to the army as "Father Ilya's Piercing Paling"), his range and precision are far above expected levels. Given a chance to aim, he can take out a target from nearly a thousand feet away. ((For reference, the shortest range of the modern top 10 snipers is ~4000 feet))

Some would argue that it's too much to call Ilya a tactical genius, but Ilya would disagree if it didn't mean going against his public image of moderate modesty. His plans are incredibly in depth - even if when they fall apart, they completely and utterly fall apart. If something isn't accounted for, its because he can't quite grasp the very idea of it happening and as such will flounder in the face of it. 

Ilya's spells officially revolve around the manipulation of water. He could, hypothetically, start messing with someone's blood, but to manipulate water so impure takes a major chunk of ether. In addition, the existence of a paling multiplies the enormity of the task, so that is almost never done. Indeed, the manipulation of water in the world is not what Father Ilya is known for - though he wears a tank of two gallons on his back beneath his cloak. Instead, its for his bullet paling, which he generally draws upon tiny slivers of his own ether for - unless he needs enough oomph to pierce a paling projected by his target. 

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[b]
Personal Seal:[/b] 
I don't know how to upload what I drew. Meanwhile: it's a blue circle with a crashing wave inside, its blue juxtaposed to the dark grey of a night sky. Under the curling water a 4 pointed star shines. 

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Character Relationships: ((Not yet decided. I'll need to talk with people and review everyone's CS once/if I'm accepted.))