"Sometimes you have to find the trouble, other times it finds you, kid. Either way, you don't go in blind, yeah?"
Name
"Name's Voss. Weiland Voss. Pleasure's all mine, truly."
Race
"Human as human comes, despite the jokes I get some days."
Human
Age
"Just old enough to have been around the block a few times."
In his late forties.
Sex
"What, five o'clock shadow and general build don't give it away?"
Male
Appearance
"Whatcha see is whatcha get kid, lookin's usually free after all."
Weiland Voss is just about six foot even, assuming he isn't slouching or otherwise lower than his natural standing height would indicate, which tends to often be the case. Beneath the traveling coat and harness he wears, he has an extremely lean build, all wire like, lean muscles and very little fat on his bones at all. His attire is based out of his profession and research of choice, the coat hiding the magitech infused harness and bodysuit that reinforces his capabilities and helps protect him to a marginal degree. Beyond this, he doesn't actively conceal anything he bears, arms wise, though he readily could. The large handled blade typically rests in a sheath along the base of his back, while the pistol has a hip holster that it resides in whenever not in use.
Backstory:
"Me? Well kid, I'll keep it brief. The good stuff would make this take far longer."
Born the son of a magicians guild blacksmith, Weiland Voss was working with both arcane and mundane tools before he was even walking, sitting by his father's side while he worked, fascinated by the integration of the focusing crystals into arms and armor. While he lacked any sort of conventional magical talent or gifts, it was his natural obsession and focus on magitech that garnered the eyes of the guild leaders. With his father's blessings, he was taken into the militant arm of the guild, who utilized magitech heavily to make up for their usual lack of arcane prowess compared to the main guild magicians. He excelled, though he quickly grew bored with just sitting around playing guard for the guildhall in question. As such, once he had the means to, he struck out on his own with little forewarning. Not bothering to keep in touch with his peers, Weiland ranged out into the world on his own, without any sort of expressed goal. He pretty much operated as a sellsword, offering his skills in the wilds as well as his magitech enhanced capabilities to whomever would pay him. He preferred jobs that took him out into the wilds and the unknown, or gave him contact with other sources of magitech that he could further study and add to his running journals on alternate styles and approaches to something he had been born and raised with. The young man certainly grew older, though his constant adventuring and sell sword ways did not grow old on Weiland, simply causing him to seek out grander, more involved, and inherently more dangerous jobs and taskings. It would only be natural for him to always be heading towards where the next big discovery was found or, if he was lucky, where it would be. Who knows, along the way he might have stories to share with fellow travelers heading the same way he was, and maybe get some problems sorted out as he wandered.
Personality
"Wait and see kiddo, just you wait and see."
Weiland is very much a rather relaxed, calm fellow in even the most extreme of situations, known for making the odd flippant remark or otherwise keeping a level head amidst any sort of chaos, even humming a song apparently absentmindedly while on the road. Often times, perhaps due to his typically older age, he often refers to others as "kids" or "kiddo", though often times he is just poking fun and is hardly serious. When necessary, Weiland is blunt about a situation, not one for mincing words and wasting time when something needs to get done in a hurry. This can be offensive in word, but as far as Weiland is concerned, as long as he gets the message across, its fine. In regards to morality, he tends to be decidedly grey, doing what he has to in a given situation without losing any sleep over it, but he also seems to understand how some of his actions could be considered unsavory or otherwise unpleasant. Once he has decided to dig his heels in, sometimes literally, getting him to budge is often not worth the trouble, as he has finally decided that something just needs to be done. Whether or not the other parties involved might be pleased with this outcome, however, is another matter completely. Add in a wanderlust that originally drove him to leave his home and guild to wander the world, and he isn't comfortable just sitting around in any one given area for too long, much preferring to simply move on once he's seen what's worth seeing in a given area.
Of course, his outlook tends to give Weiland trouble operating in a team setting, far too used to operating on his own out of necessity. That calm and level head suppresses a rather dark temper, slow to build up and very slow to simmer down, and often times forges grudges that are rarely forgotten, and even more rarely forgiven without due vengeance taken. Add in his generally blunt, tactless means of reporting information and opinions, he can sometimes come across as hard to get along with. Not intentionally, mind you, but it is known to happen often enough to be noted.
Skills
"Sword and pistol ain't just for show, trust me. Besides, wouldn't make it this far if all I could do was hit something really hard."
-Paired Weapon Fighting-
True to his claims, Weiland's main show of force in a combat situation is his paired heavy sword and pistol (The details of each expanded on in his inventory). He has a great deal of experience in using the sword as both a defensive tool, shielding himself from incoming blows he cannot avoid, as well as lashing out against anyone within range of the hefty blows. The pistol is mostly used to distract and force opponents to react before they might be ready, the rounds not carrying as much power as a full sized firearm that someone else might use. Flexibility is the key to his fighting style, adapting to the changing events rather than attempting to force them into his own narrow views. Force the enemy to play to their weaknesses whenever he can, in other words.
-Situational Awareness-
Being almost always out in the wilds and scouting means that Voss often cannot afford to be caught unawares. If he isn't actively scouting out ahead or behind any group he is traveling with, he is at least scanning and keeping an eye on things that are going on. He has made it a habit of being inconspicuous of such things, since he is aware of the fact most people tend to not take kindly to being listened in or otherwise spied on. He is quick to notice out of place or otherwise unusual disturbances in their surroundings, chalking it up to an acquired sixth sense or 'gut instinct' though, as is often the case, not all bad feelings are necessarily true. But he trusts them all the same, it never hurts to be cautious.
-Singing Voice-
Despite appearances, Weiland has a rather impressive range and the ability to keep to a tune or rhythm. Often times breaking up the monotony of a long walk or march with a hummed tavern tune or sung marching cadence, its something that he is sheepishly proud of. After all, not everyone can hold a tune while they sing, and even if it isn't useful in a fight, not everything has to be focused on one's ability to stay alive in a brawl or outright war, after all.
-First Aid-
Out alone in the woods, or after a major battle, there often isn't a healer readily available for a variety of reasons, whether it be isolation or overloaded capacity of injured patients. As such, Weiland has learned how to treat injuries without any sort of magic, namely in getting someone stabilized so that proper healers and doctors can tend to the injured person once they are available. In a pinch, he can also move the wounded with little trouble, knowing how to move them safely if the situation demands it. This certainly is of no use in the heat of a fight, and is more meant for after fights or stumbling across traps the hard way.
-Magitechnican-
After years of maintaining his own gear and improving on it, coupled with a childhood surrounded with the stuff, Weiland considers himself an expert on a great deal of mechanisms and tricks in regards to magitech, including their operation and maintenance. Though he is more familiar with the arms and armor that magitech has spawned, he has the know how to puzzle out more obscure or civil magitech, though it may take him some time to do so if he lacks the tools or proper surroundings to do so. He also has a fascination with foreign magitech, even if the owners in question don't refer to it as such, and will go to lengths to see about studying it and adding it to his journal of notes and encountered ideas.
Abilities
"Whoever coined the idea that old dogs having trouble with new tricks is full of it."
-Energy Discharge (Conduit Blade Lvl.1)-
With each strike of the heavy blade, or in a pinch channeling mana from Weiland's surroundings into the crystal, the weapon builds up mana and charges the weapon, increasing the striking force with the stored mana. In a pinch, he can discharge the stored energy in the crystal, the effects changing with the movements of the blade. Stationary, it produces a directional blast of blinding energy, typically unable to reach someone unless they were in knife fighting range, though the light produced can disorientate or blind foes from a fair distance away. A thrust generates the farthest reaching blast, a focused lance of mana that, while highly effective against armor, is remarkably easy to avoid due to its focused point. Lastly, a slash generates a rather generic sword beam, the middle ground in range and damaging potential between its three primary discharge types, though this does make it a useful jack of all trades ability if he needs it. The currently installed focusing crystal in the blade has a limit on its power, meaning that alternative crystals could create alternate effects if properly introduced.
-Barrier Counter (Conduit Blade Lvl.1)-
While the blade itself serves well enough as a shield against most commonplace attacks or projectiles, there are times where Weiland just needs to outright stop an attack beyond his means to simply block or deflect. Venting off any charged energy beforehand, Weiland braces himself and brings his sword into a guarding stance, aiming to absorb the brunt of the incoming attack. Absorbing up to a certain threshold of energy from the attack, the absorbed energy can then be used to either lash out at the offending party who struck at him to begin with, or be explosively discharged against the rest of the attack if his sword's focusing crystal couldn't absorb all the energy being transferred to help stop the rest of the attack. A hit of sufficient strength will simply overwhelm the defensive posture, so gauging how strong an attack is necessary to avoid using this at the wrong time.
-Volatile Volley (Crystalline Repeater Lvl.1)-
Typically meant for putting a target out of commission in a hurry, Voss can trigger a cascade of mana from the charging crystal in his repeater and empty the entire weapon in one shot, bypassing the safety measures meant to prevent such things from accidentally happening. The shot in question lacks cohesion, unable to travel very far, though the impact it carries is impressive and capable of knocking a man sized target a noteworthy distance away and leave them dazed and reeling, assuming they survive the initial blast. The longer the Repeater was used prior to this, the less potent the shot as part of the crystal's charge has already been used. Much like his other gear, alternate focusing crystals could drastically change the effects of the gear.
-Arcane Mobility System (Personal Rig Lvl.1)-
A highly temperamental, experimental, and high maintenance system, the AMS effectively allows Voss to control his movements in situations that would otherwise leave him unable to act. The focusing crystals explosively discharge mana, launching Voss in the desired direction or adding extra impact behind the blows. The current focusing crystals are of generic make and, while more specialized crystals would allow for more focused activities, they would also limit the other effects the AMS allows for. As of right now, he has limited use of this system during prolonged fights, as the self charging crystals are slow to charge immediately after use and do not receive mana well when forced. This merely amplifies the agility and maneuverability of its user, rather than grant it, so it is still reliant on the reflexes and fast thinking of Voss to be used at its best.
-Defiance (Innate/Passive Lvl.1)-
Spurred on by normally suppressed spite, rage, as well as typically compounding injuries, Weiland can get into a mindset that just refuses to be brought down. Mentally speaking, his will overrides the pain of injuries that don't outright cripple his ability to function, and pushes him to his absolute limit. Not something he can just willingly choose to do, and more of a side effect of a fight going poorly, this sheer force of will has saved his life on more than one occasion. However, there is nothing being done to heal the injuries being sustained, and often times aggravates their effect, and he could very well collapse as soon as his will gives out, as well as a blow capable of outright crippling him would also bypass this. Of course, he is still currently restrained to the confines of what his body can physically do and put up with, as such it would not grant him the means to overpower someone who is already stronger or faster than him by a significant margin.
Inventory
"Been eyeing my toys, eh kids? They are a beaut one and all, I can promise you that much."
-Conduit Blade-
A heavy, wide designed blade with a central crystal installed into its center, this hefty blade has been Weiland's longest and most loyal companion throughout the years. Originally a far longer blade, it was cut down to rebalance it after the magitech was installed into the blade's base, though it retained the two handed grip and guard from its days as a far larger blade. With its new balance, Voss can wield the thing in a reversed grip or spin it in his grip with little issue, making it a deceptively dexterous weapon. The crystal itself siphons off mana with each strike, charging the blade with raw energy that can be discharged, though it can only store so much. This also makes it potent against foes that rely heavily on a large mana supply as it actively siphons off their reserves with each blow, and as an added insult, increases the harm each strike causes up to a limit, or until the energy is discharged.
-Crystalline Repeater-
A fancy name for the pistol he has on his hip, Weiland's sidearm is compact and sturdily built, intended for brutal, uncaring use by a soldier far less skilled in maintaining their own gear. The weapon draws off a crystal, shaped into a block, that is constantly charging with mana from the ambient surroundings, and slotted into place. This allows for a high volume of shots, made purely from mana, though modifications made by Weiland have altered the weapons versatility. Mainly, he can change to a charged shot mode that, the longer he waits between shots, the more potent the shot will be, up to a certain threshold where safety limiters kick in. With as sturdy as it is, it is not uncommon to see it get used as bludgeon, clubbing a man over the head to open him up to other attacks. Named as such due to the way the shots looked, being akin to 'crystal shards' made of pure mana.
-Personal Rig-
To aid in the already high mobility, high impact fighting style utilized by Weiland Voss is his personal rig, worn over his usual clothing. This rig has focusing crystals in key locations around his body, allowing him to fire off bursts of stored energy and amplify his speed and striking power with each burst. This also lets him move about a battlefield far more than one might consider at a glance, though he cannot actually maintain flight due to the strain it puts on the system and current focusing crystals. Also, their charge is slow to rebuild, meaning he can only use them sparingly if expecting back to back fights or other troubling situations. On a more mundane note, it helps distribute the weight of his weapons and tools while on the move, reducing the fatigue he suffers from long trips by a notable margin.
-Maintenance Kit-
Considering the strain Weiland puts on his kit at a given time, it is of no surprise he carries the tools and parts needed to implement repairs as needed. He could also use these tools to repair or modify other magitech, though he would have to understand such things well enough to be able to properly make such repairs or modifications.
Theme song
Aviators - Traveler's Song
Battle Theme
Fire Emblem Echos: Shadows of Valentia Soundtrack - Twilight of the Gods
Misc
To be used as needed.
**Optional**
Relationship sheet:
To be Added to as needed.
