It's happening again. I have been visited by a soviet mad scientist, a king, a penguin prince of darkness, a house plant god thing, a mystical ancient member, a tired reaper (thank god) + a greeting.
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8 yrs ago
For the same reason Rome 2 was attacked by thousands of players who don't know what they're talking about. lleeeeeeemmmmings
Name: Artholath Age: Specific age unknown; around a millennium old. Gender: Appears as male. Race: Demon Allegiance: Evil
Appearance
In human form
He looks like an elf, with striking eyes that people who are trained to hunt demons or are greater beings can see the evil within. He has blonde hair and a “cold” (you’ll see why I put quotations on that later) expression on his face. Other than that, he looks normal (as you can get for an elf). This form he uses for normal travelling and light combat situations.
(I would have an image, but all the ones I find are either the wrong gender, not applicable for some reason or one of the main characters from LOTR).
In demon form
The most striking feature of his are his eyes, which pull you in as you look at them. They are not firey like some of his brethren, but reflect the icy cold of his soul. This form he uses only in a difficult portion of combat or when talking to another being he is comfortable revealing his true form to.
Weapons
A one-handed Scythe.
If he loses the scythe, he can pick up and use a lot of other weapons as well. He doesn’t like two-handed ones, or ones of low quality.
Magic
Being a demon, he inherits the general set of traits/strengths/weaknesses that are common with his kind. His primary demon magic is Corruption - those around him are tainted by thoughts of evil, from doubting their best friends to the idea that they should become serial killers. This effect depends on who is in the area; greater beings are not affected, only disgusted. The aftereffects of him using spells or being in an area for an extended period carry lingering traces of this magic.
His aura of evil can be detected by almost anyone in some small form. However, a majority of people do not know how to interpret it. Those around this character feel colder than normal for the environment. Trained demon hunters, magic users, and greater beings can detect the specific aura that gives him away as a demon.
Using a powerful spell or a revealing spell can make him reveal his true form. When hit by such a spell, it is like his true form is expelled out of his body, which vanishes. In his true form, the feeling of cold is much more noticeable.
In demon form, he is capable of seeing things his human form cannot; including souls (which would include ghosts) and hidden forms, such as that of another demon in human form.
Specific spells of his are below.
Abilities
-Ice Bolt: He can shoot ice at relatively low cost, the shape of icicles but at very high speed, or a basketball-sized sphere. Hitting an object makes the said object much colder, even if it is something like a fireplace (in which case it would immediately extinguish the fire on top of making the fireplace like stepping on an ice cube in heat). Hitting someone alive either pierces all but strong armor and in effect is a frozen arrow, or it hits the armor and shatters, having the same effect on the armor as it does an object (it feels like being inside an ice cube at that point). He shoots either small swarms of icicles at lower power in the shape of a bolt, or he can shoot a ball (the shape of a basketball) that fires like a shot from a cannon (however, instead of smashing through things, it explodes immediately on impact). The ball explodes, sending bitter cold and pieces of ice flying while leaving a mist behind. The ball takes a while to cool down, but depending on his attitude, power level and form of the spell the icicles can be shot pretty quickly for a period of around a minute.
-Frozen Touch: Touching someone with this spell active can freeze them, depending on how powerful the opposition is. For use usually when he is moving in stealth against guards.
-Melee: he is skilled with weapons and in his true form can use all parts of his body to advantage.
History
He was one of the few of his kind; an experiment created by a Warlord a millennium ago, back when the world was faced with rising and falling mages who were attempting to take power for themselves. The mage who created him, one of many lost in history, was a sort of early frankenstein trying to make the “next biggest thing”. The result was a hundred or so beings that were fiercely independent and quickly adopted the idea of “evil” to their false souls. Unleashed upon the world, almost all of them were hunted down by their creator and several other warlords who saw them as a great danger before they could do severe damage (although there were several brutally massacred villages by the time they ended). They proved to be too difficult to kill, so a special volcano was reserved for them in which they were all cast down. Almost all of them.
Not the strongest nor most intelligent of his race, Artholath was one of an odd few that evaded capture. His advantage was resisting the primal urge for chaos and destruction, and not presenting himself as a major target. Unfortunately, the Warlord who created him knew there had to be some that escaped. He created an order specifically dedicated to hunting down the newly termed “demons” that survived.
The order lasted even after the last of the Warlords were finally toppled. However, their effectiveness and dedication waned, allowing Artholath to move a little more freely.
In the past two hundred years, he had an idea. This idea was to show the races of the world that had created him and hunted him down exactly what he was capable of. He set out to free his brothers from the Volcano in which they were imprisoned.
The volcano proved too heavily protected to breach. The Warlords had done their work too well. However, he heard rumors of something very interesting - someone dabbling in the creation of beings from experimentation.
Now, he has gathered his wits and power to search for this new experimenter. The plan is simple: Find him and make him create a new generation of demons.
The Warlords
The time of the Warlords extended for an odd 230 years and ended around 900 years ago. It was started when the top mages alive were in charge of powerful orders of magic, and had disputes that erupted similar to how World War 1 started in real life. The difference was there was not two sides - there were temporary alliances at best, which were prone to backstabbing, and the situation was a free-for-all that affected many areas, some of which became habitable again only as soon as 300 years ago.
The period saw the creation of several very dangerous spells and one species. Most of the spells are long forgotten, and for good reason; the most powerful of them had the capabilities of a nuclear bomb. Others included spells to take control of bodies from afar without the will of the host and a potent one that could steal souls. After this chaotic period, four major things remained as a legacy.
The first was a race of what are known as “demons”, beings forged from the souls of dead warriors into the bodies of abominations crafted for war. These demons had unique powers and were not designed to be evil; only to be an army for one of the stronger warlords. They rebelled and adopted the ideals of Evil, which best fit their chaotic and warrior nature.
The second was an order that was the direct consequence of demons being created. This order is now weak and uninspired, but still holds high level members across the kingdom in secret. It was partially effective but not completely; only half of the escaped demons were captured.
The third is a very magically active volcano on the very far side of the kingdom. The magic comes from the warlords banding together to seal the demons inside forever. A demon could only enter if they were banished by a Warlord or descendent of one. Obviously, this takes a lot more than just words, considering demons wouldn’t willingly go into the volcano to never be seen again. Surviving demons are not officially banished. The spell over the mountain is powerful to the point of being unbreakable by anyone in the kingdom.
The fourth surviving reminder of their legacy is several “hot spots”, locations charged with elemental energy that were created during the wars between the various Warlords.
The Warlords fall was caused by the extremely large amount of energy they used on the mountain. Disgruntled servants, soldiers, greater beings and lesser mages banded together to overthrow them.
Appearance: Scraggly, not well kept up. Light skinned with a large body mass, with muscles from years of work and fighting (although it’s not as obvious now, having sat in a barrel of wine for seven years).. About 5’8. Blue eyes and looks like he always has a scowl on his face (that’s just normal, though). He is very rarely without armor, although now that armor looks as bad as he does. Skills:
-Strong fighter. He can use a variety of weapons well, although axes (and particularly his axe) are his preference. Very skilled, although he likes to also throw his body weight around when fighting (slamming into enemies, punching when the option is open, kicking, etc).
-Muscular. One good punch by this guy can floor a man in armor, although that effect is reduced when very drunk and slightly weakened over the years of simple bar-brawls.
-Coldly determined. His years in the Knights, especially in his youth, trained him to make sacrifices whenever they are necessary, and he will not shy from killing his foes.
Type of Magic:
-Aura of battle. He lives for war and makes a fearsome opponent, even more so when he is “activated” (ie, his power). He suffers less from minor wounds and can take more punishment than is usual, although anything fatal will immediately make this ability useless. The aura strikes fear into the hearts of lesser foes, although this is less effective against opponents with strong wills or equal in his battle ability.
Weapon: A one handed battle axe (although it can be used in both hands as well, although that’s a bit awkward given that the axe isn’t all that long). Roughly the size of a pickaxe, with a curved blade that has seen many enemies.
Personality:
He cares not very much for emotions of other people. This makes him seem like a very dark and unforgiving person, but if someone does make friends with him, he sticks by then for a long time, particularly in battle. He’s useless with advice on relationships. He says what he thinks and has gotten in trouble for it.
Flaws:
His fighting style is more aimed to take on small groups of people, not large groups or individuals, so although he can hold off, say, a team of brigands, he isn’t quite as effective against a single skilled opponent.
He isn’t very agile and his age hasn’t helped with that.
Never give him a bow, or he would be more likely to shoot himself in the head than do anything else.
Drinking is a very big problem for him. It’s what gets him into fights the most and amplifies his weaknesses. 7 years of drinking is not easy to break, and he won’t be too good in RP combat until folks get him fully sober.
Background
Bane started off in a family that was renowned for its bar brawls, in a small western town called Tarvanon. His father was a regular at the bar and the one to teach his son how to fight initially (he’s the one where the dirty fighting comes from). He started drinking at 8 years old. He didn’t have a mother (nothing is known as to what happened to her) and he lived with three brothers, all smaller than he was. All three brothers joined brigand groups and were, over time, taken out by Knights.
The guard recruited him at a young age. He went through all standard training quite well, and was accepted as a Squire. This was in a time of rebellions coming up more frequently, so he quickly advanced himself by swiftly eliminating rebellions, first with his team, and then smaller suspected ones in ambushes by himself. These “honorary duties” earned him the title of “Knight Commander” at the mere age of 36; a very rare occurrence.
His first doubts came when he had a special mission: take his team to exterminate a small village that had been a root of many rebellious people. He saw everything wrong with it; the vast majority of the villagers were innocent and included many women and children. He never was much for emotion, but this struck him as completely unnecessary.
Being a good soldier, he completed the mission with a team of knights and was praised for his honor. He made it clear, in no short words, to the Knight Supreme his disagreement with the decision.
A week later came his response - three knights, all from his old team, sent to kill him for treason. It was around the time that the Revival went to the King, and he had heard of the declarations that all of the Revival (some of whom were friends of his) were marked traitors. he regretfully disabled two of the knights and killed the third before running away.
Now fully disillusioned of the Order, he joined the Revival as an outcast and participated in its battles until the end, when he was overcome by the Knight Supreme. The sacrifice of the leader of the Revival gave him one opportunity for survival, and choking down his pride he took it.
Over seven years, he has frequented a bar as a regular. Once quite muscular, powerful, and proud, he lost all that to drink. His own friends wouldn’t even recognise what he has become.
Other:
In roleplay, his habit of drinking would have to be broken. Not nicely either; he pursues the bottle.
I took a little liberty with the Knight Supreme bit, so if I have a hope of being accepted and you just want that bit changed, perfectly OK.
Desalith first saw Oryx make tribute outside to the fallen, and then heard Cerwi’s song. Well, tribute is a whole part of this reunion. He remembered with fondness and sadness in particular his friend Concara; they had learned from each other’s differing roots.
He joined Oryx outside, raised his own cup, and poured it on the same spot. “Rest in peace, old friends.”
As he thought of his old friends, other thoughts intruded. Darker ones. Ones of what he saw in the Necromancer’s mind… images of... evil...
He shook his head to dispel the thoughts, but they still lingered, and it troubled him.
