[center][color=lightcoral]And he may explore the kingdoms and gardens of Heaven[/color][/center] [center][color=dodgerblue]He may roam the alleyways and brothels of the world[/color][/center] [center][color=lightcoral]He may keep his wits intact and his head upright[/color][/center] [center][color=dodgerblue]He may keep his blade sheathed and his legs walking[/color][/center] [center]But wait, [b][i]who are these guys?[/i][/b] [/center] [center]Introducing...[/center] [center][h1]The [color=lightcoral]God of Deceit[/color] and His [color=dodgerblue]Right Hand Man[/color][/h1][/center] [hider=Astus][color=lightcoral] [center][h1]Astus[/h1][/center] [center][img]http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28600000/Meowth-meowth-28666624-678-582.jpg[/img][/center] [center]"Did you expect a bearded, heavily-chiseled hunk of a man? If I were you, I'd expect that too, but now you're here stuck with me."[/center] [hr] [b]Appearance[/b] Astus doesn't have an actual appearance. In where he comes from, Gods are primordial masses of cosmic energy without thought or agency. However, Astus has taken on the form of a cat. A walking, talking cat. This is because cats are annoying creatures that only want to eat your lunch and are also really cute (that fits Astus well). I would have picked another faceclaim other than Meowth, but Meowth fits the description the best, just take off that dumb jewel thing on its forehead. [b]Age:[/b] in the 3000s or so [b]Personality[/b] Astus was once a trickster god, and nothing else but that. His main goal was to cause wacky hijinks to happen and make people's lives as miserable as he could. It was as if he had this wicked sense of humor that went beyond the comprehension of humans. However, as time passed by, Astus realized that his behavior was caused by his inadequacy and by the fact that the other Gods didn't really care about him. Plus, he never really tried to kill people. It really wasn't in him to snatch people's lives away, and so it came to him that he should stop being a jackass before he did end up killing anyone. He's now a motivated and ambitious deity driven to save his world. He cares for the lives of everyone, human and God alike. He's [i]still[/i] a trickster god though, so he can't avoid pulling a prank every now and then. [hr] [b]Bio[/b] Once upon a time, there were two worlds, interconnected yet separated. One world was nothing but a mass of spiritual energy, while the other one was a newly-formed Earth, reeking of lava and stone and absolutely no life at all. Time passed by, and life came into existence. Evolution did its thing until beings capable of observing and understanding the world around them came to be. They were the first humans. These humans felt the need to explain all that happened around them, find meaning in their lives, and survive. They began to create tales, stories and epics of Gods and heroes triumphing over evil and shaping the world into what it was. With that, Gods arose from the other world. The pure spiritual energy took shape into what humans perceived them to be, and Gods and humans lived in harmony, with Gods using their power to guide and protect humans and humans subconsciously willing them into existence. There were the Gods of Heaven, the Gods of Earth, the Gods of the Seas and Oceans, the Gods of Death, Life, Calamity, and Prosperity. However, some humans became entitled and sleazy, and decided that they could blame the Gods for every single minor thing that inconvenienced them. Thus, Astus was born. He was the God of Trickery, Deceit, and Misfortune. Astus first took joy in tormenting other people. It was his only purpose in life. There was this one time when a group of heroes were travelling to the center of the earth when a giant dragon appeared out of the ground, making them wet the skirts of their armor. That dragon was Astus. He also ruined people's weddings by causing people's pants to fall off for a wild variety of reasons. As the minds of these humans developed, they began to seek personality and individuality in each of their deities. Each God became more human and formed relationships with each other. That's when Astus realized that he was inadequate, that no other God would notice him because he was created just to be blamed. Soon, for some reason, the two worlds began to move apart. This caused the gods to revert into pure masses of spiritual energy. The first one to go was Raeda, the God of Carriage Riding. Humans were beginning to build automobiles, so he became pretty much useless. Astus didn't like that, because both of them were good friends because the other Gods didn't mind both of them. More and more Gods disappeared and without the Gods' guidance, humans waged wars with one another and everything went to hell. Some Gods tried to keep their power, others resigned to their fates and just moped around. Astus, however, found his true calling in life and decided to investigate the reason behind the separation of the worlds. He took the form of a cat and used what little power he had left to jump right into the other world. [hr] [b]Skills[/b] Astus isn't in the realm of the Gods, so his power is severely limited. [list] [*] [b]Illusion Magic:[/b] Astus is a trickster god, of course he'll be able to do this. [list] [*] [b]Illusory Magic:[/b] Astus can create illusions near him for everyone to see. If he is familiar with his surroundings, he can close his little cat eyes, concentrate, and create illusions wherever he wants to. This takes up more energy and may send him into a trance-like state if overdone. [*] [b]Limited Mind Control:[/b] Astus can reach out to anyone in sight and make them perceive something as another thing. For example, he can make you see a trash can as a monster truck. What the original thing "transforms" into should be familiar to the target. He can also read minds and get information on peoples lives, but this takes up more energy when done to people with very tragic or traumatic lives. Lastly, he can insert an idea into someone's mind and strengthen it to control them, but if someone is too strong-willed, he'll end up being the one controlled instead. [/list] [*] [b]Enhanced Cat Physiology:[/b] He's a cat, but he's also a God. The cat is merely a vessel of the God. It can run really fast, hit really hard, and for some reason meow really loud. [*] [b]Cunning:[/b] Astus is a trickster god, he knows how to negotiate and manipulate people. [/list] meow [/color][/hider] [hider=Yuuta Yuudai][color=dodgerblue] [center][h1]Yuuta Yudai[/h1][/center] [center][img]https://i5.mangapanda.com/yongbi/43/yongbi-3739243.jpg[/img][/center] [center]"When life gives you lemons, thank it for the free meal."[/center] [hr] [b]Appearance:[/b] Yes, I know, the faceclaim sucks. It's ripped right from a manga, unedited, and worst of all it doesn't give much away about the character's appearance. I don't regret it though. It looks badass. Here's a better picture. I don't really know what he's wearing, so I'll describe it as a blue robe fastened onto his waist by a red ribbon and white semi-puffy pants. His hair is in a long ponytail. He caries his pole and a dagger with him. He also wears sandals. [hider][img]https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s_vBufXmws8/W82usTYgMlI/AAAAAAAAjUY/EoXKQAi1g_syXw8rb-abzfsKLBfnBVqvwCLcBGAs/s1600/ta_31-yongbi-the-invincible-a-side-story.png[/img][/hider] He's an average-sized Asian (Asian-esque, Asia doesn't exist in where he comes from) man with slightly tanned skin and really sexy eyes. [b]Age:[/b] Late twenties [b]Personality:[/b] Yuuta is usually laid-back and somewhat lazy, as he rarely sees the need to help people who are minding their own business. He also gambles a lot and likes spicy food and spunky girls. Since he's broke, he often devises the most crude and unorthodox ways of getting money from other people. Despite that, he is still a warrior at heart, and he is willing to throw his life away to right what is wrong. He feels guilt and regret over killing people and being unable to protect those dear to him. He hates greedy and abusive people and will do anything to screw them over. However, he despises killing people, since in all his years of killing he feels he has not accomplished [i]anything[/i]. That won't stop him from using his staff to beat people up. Cool dude. [hr] [b]Bio[/b] Yuuta is a man of the Eastern Lands, where he was born. He was raised as a killing machine, used by society to do all of its dirty work for it. He got into death matches as a little kid, and he bathed in blood more often then in water. Soldiers would tell the tale of a creature that relied purely on its instincts and raw strength and martial ability to slaughter armies, and that creature was Yuuta. He fought under the Yoshirou Clan, a group of large lands ruled by dictators only interested the three Ws: wealth, women, and wholesome food. They really didn't care about the welfare of their workers, so they sucked a lot. Eventually, the patriarch of the Yoshirou Clan, the one that ruled over the land in the very middle of the lands and exercised the most influence, got assassinated. As the patriarch's many concubines and guards rushed all throughout the palace, the assasins struggled to escape. Eventually they met Yuuta, who was ordered to patrol the place. Yuuta went down hard on their leader, who despite putting up his best fight, was crushed like a cockroach under a newspaper. After seeing the rest of the assassins cry and mourn the apparent death of their leader, he was struck with something he never felt before: guilt. He made it up to the assassins by giving the leader a baby stroller he could use as a cane and joining them. He realized that there was more to life. Having the assassins, who were now his "family", behind his back was always relieving. They came from the Yuudai Clan, a clan that didn't treat its people like dirt, so he also realized that there was some good in the world and that it would welcome him with open arms. Eventually, the much bigger Divine Sanctuary attacked, and the smaller Eastern Lands found themselves at a massive disadvantage. That didn't discourage Yuuta, and he did what he did best: kill. In front of him and the other Easterners stood a massive army. There were armored soldiers holding guns, armored vehicles with even more guns, and massive beasts tamed by aliies of the Sanctuary. He swung his blade like a man possessed, cutting through skin and steel and scales and other things I am too afraid to recount. Body after body turned into corpses, and soon the battlefield had become a ruin of its own, filled with broken vehicles and corpses of beasts Easterners had never heard of. Beyond the horizon, Yuuta saw the descendants of the Yoshirou patriarch raising the white flag. They had lost the war. Yuuta laughed. Violence never really solved anything. He gave himself the name Yuuta Yuudai, Yuudai after his new clan and Yuuta because the leader of the assassins was named Yuuta and he wanted to carry on his legacy. He now wanders the land, having pretty much nothing to do. [hr] [b]Skills[/b] [list] [*] [b]Martial Arts:[/b] Yuuta is [i]ridiculously[/i] good at martial arts. He can read one's stance and movements and determine what they'll do next. He can mimic people's styles if he sees it fit. He's more of a striker than a grappler, influenced by Eastern martial arts, but he can adjust if needed to. His dexterity and reflexes are almost magical. Still, lifelong practitioners and skilled prodigies can beat him at his own game with the same amount of wariness and ingenuity. [*] [b]Strength:[/b] Yuuta can lift boulders with some ease. All the training was worth it. [*] [b]Ki Manipulation:[/b] [list] [*] [b]Enhancement:[/b] Yuuta can absorb ki by putting effort into his breathing and getting into the proper stance. His allows him to become stronger as long as his limits aren't broken and there is ki (or magical energy, since other worlds have a different concept of it). If his limits are broken, he'll also enter a trance-like state. He can also enhance weapons with ki. [*] [b]Endurance:[/b] Ki can dampen the strain on the body caused by wounds and tiredness and heal if given enough time. [/list] [/list] "It's us who determine our purposes in life. I haven't quite thought of mine yet." [/color][/hider] [center]Together, they make a team. A pretty awful one, but a team nonetheless. Anyways, from where do they hail?[/center] [hider=The Merged World] [center][img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7NQ-W_oK9Vk/UEsZ7LmEWOI/AAAAAAAADJQ/PYiGLFVNKU4/s1600/1327993217_20_10_2008_0499312001224516235_inga_nielsen.jpg[/img][/center] Once upon a time, there were two worlds. The world of the Gods and the world of Man. Man's collective subconscious sculpted the Gods from the immense spiritual energy in the other world, and in return, the Gods guided Man and kept them at peace. However, the two world have begun to move apart, and the Gods began to revert into raw spiritual energy while Man plunged itself into war and violence. (Astus' profile explained the world even better than this. Check it out.) [b]Great Powers[/b] [list] [*] [b]Divine Sanctuary:[/b] A huge organization dedicated to serving the Gods. As the Gods grew more distant, the organization began to get filled with greedy diplomats and abusive soldiers both hungering for power and luxury. They wage war a lot, since they want to "rebuild the world in the image of the Gods", but everyone knows it's because they just want more influence. Also, they never really did that back then. [*] [b]Enlightenment's Reach:[/b] A group of countries wherein the world's Enlightenment grew. They used to be a bunch of wimps pushed aside by barbarians until they they uncovered the "knowledge of the ancients" and made the growth of science, technology, and philosophy rapid. They and their huge Magitek-powered armies (they discovered a metal that could contain magical energy and named it Phlebotinum) keep the Sanctuary from taking over the world. They're really classy. [*] [b]Freedom's Abode:[/b] This world's America. Through trade and innovation, what was once a bunch of run-down colonies run by former Enlightenment's Reach residents became a major world power. [*] [b]People's Domain:[/b] Freedom's Abode but communist. They thrive on an odd mixture of traditionalism and socialism. People there are happier but poorer. [*] [b]The Eastern Lands:[/b] A bunch of clans and territories united by their own distinct culture. Once a proud and mighty quasi-civilization, they failed to catch up with industrialism early and are now an anachronistic mess. Everyone goes here for vacation. [/list] [b]Overall Technology Level:[/b] Futuristic, due to Magitek. Certain metals and magic inscriptions harness magical energy to work, and so they run on it rather than oil or electricity. Cars have been replaced by flying polygon-shaped aircraft that are as accessible as cars. In fact, entire floating islands that carry countries and run on magical energy exist. However, technology's spread is erratic at best, and people in People's Domain, the Eastern Lands, and other far-off places don't have much access to it. [/hider] [center]Together, they shall so on an adventure of some sort. Pretty epic, I guess.[/center]