Name: David Ríos.
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Appearance: i.imgur.com/1vzXFMl.jpgPersonality: A man burdened by expectations and blessed (cursed) with ambition to exceed them. Perhaps it is just as well -- to the eyes of magi, such mindset is perhaps the only one worth having. Generally speaking, he appears to people as a personable individual -- and this would be true. He carries with him the pride one would expect the heir of a reputable family to possess, but he tries to keep himself from being too overbearing about it. While he can be somewhat insensitive towards those of younger families, his opinion on individuals is based solely on individual achievements, so he will naturally find those who ride on their family’s coattails to be revolting. He is an easy man to converse with, and also an easy man to be friends with.
However, though he might truly consider friends as such, he will nonetheless throw them under the train (so to speak) when the time comes should it prove beneficial for his ambitions. He might be saddened and mourn it, but such things will not stop him from stabbing another in the back should he stand a chance of furthering his -- or his family’s -- position. Someone might be worth praising, someone might be worth loving, but in the end, everyone and everything are but steps to be used to reach further beyond.
Such is his nature as a magus, and he will make no effort to lie to himself about it. And in this case, if he must trample over other’s wishes to attain his own -- well, his choice will still be rather obvious.
Biography: Heir to a lineage dating back six generations, it was only natural that he would have had expectations piled upon him even before birth -- his family had dedicated itself seriously to the path of magecraft from the beginning, and so, he was clearly expected to follow such a tradition to the best of his abilities. His parents had married out of convenience rather than love, hoping to produce a strong heir that would carry the weight generations upon his back, and he was supposed to be the ‘reward’ for their efforts -- a duty he performed beautifully, possessing above-average Circuit Count and Quality. In a way, from the moment of his birth, he was seen as a trophy rather as an actual individual.
It was not the warmest childhood, but it was not a bad childhood either. His parents certainly appreciated him, even if it was the ‘affection of a magus’ rather than the ‘love of family’, and so, he naturally drifted towards the path that they and their forefathers had trodden before him.
Without looking back, he embarked upon the ‘path of a magus’. Through the years, he strove to meet the expectations that had been placed upon him, seeking to excel, to be better than he was the day before, to carry his lineage with pride, only keeping touch with the mundane so as to uphold the ‘mask of normalcy’ his family had crafted and shown to the society at large -- though, at times, mundane distractions had also been good ways to relieve stress accrued during his more esoteric pursuits.
Though he felt pride about each achievement, he felt no enthusiasm about the future that awaited him.
He wanted more. More than being a man whose only ambition was to further the family research and then pass it on to his own child. Though there were many that might have thought such an existence acceptable, to him it was something disgusting -- what was the purpose of being ‘one more’? Why not be ‘the one’ instead?
Delusions borne of childish pride. Though it was something any would hope for, down that path laid only disappointment, and he was aware of it -- nonetheless, it was still a thought that ate away at him.
Perhaps this Holy Grail is exactly what he needs, after all.
Family History: As mentioned, the Ríos’ lineage dates back six generations. Though certainly possessing their fair share of clout, they are not the most famous of families, quietly staying in their little lot of land in Spain, concerned mainly with their research -- though this is not to say they do not have pride in their abilities, either. The beginnings of their family, according to them, came about with their ancestor slowly becoming fascinated with ‘dreams’ and how they interact with ‘reality’.
Roots of this will be found in various philosophical currents -- for instance, the dream argument and, more specifically, the tale of Zhuangzi. Senses are but flawed tools that we cannot expect to flawlessly communicate the ‘absolute truth’, and dreaming was an argument used by a certain philosopher to illustrate this point -- after all, if senses were truly faultless, then one would always distinguish a dream from reality -- which is not the case a majority of the time. Yet, this poses an interesting question -- how can a man be sure that the ‘reality’ they are living isn't but a dream we are still unaware of?
This is the core of the Ríos magecraft -- to craft not ‘a dream’ but rather ‘the ultimate dream’, one so perfect that it might be reality itself, with all it entails -- for this reason and with this path, they seek to discover Akasha, the first and last source of this thing we call ‘reality’ -- after all, what else but it would be capable of such?
If the Grail is truly an omnipotent wish-granter, then it might allow him to advance his research further should he manage to be a witness to the miracle its use would entail.
Origin: Ambition.
Elemental Affinity: Air.
Circuit Number: B
Circuit Quality: B
Od: B
Magecraft:
General Magecraft.Bounded Fields Not mere illusions that trick the senses alone -- the Ríos’ family true focus lies within this area, after all. Their true purpose is twofold:
First, the Bounded Field is to induce a ‘dreamlike state’ on the conscious mind. Dreams cannot be distinguished from reality in most cases and this is in no small part because they are ‘things which should not be questioned’ -- in a dream, everything is perfectly normal. This is the case for the effects this mental interference causes -- should the target fall to it, then no matter what happens, they would take what they perceive as ‘normal’, and the feedback to the brain will be what is ‘expected’. It is then that the second phase can begin.
The dreams by themselves aren’t the main danger -- they are as mediums through which the ‘curses woven into the dreams’ can actualize, a sort of karma bestowed upon the target causes them to follow the same fate as their dream self. Thus, if one were to be told ‘fall off a cliff and die’, the brain would shut down the moment the ground was ‘touched’.
Rather than ‘something that brings misfortune to the target’, it could be called ‘something that brings the target to misfortune’ in that regard.
Elemental Magecraft (Air)Blasts of razor wind at high speeds, suffocation, pseudo-flight, mimicry...
Reinforcement.Formalcraft.Mystic Eyes of EnchantmentAn ‘artificial’ pair, nothing too uncommon in the world of magi but, nonetheless, it can be a useful tool considering his family’s focus…
Ríos Family CrestAs it implies, the Crest of his clan, dating back six generations, through the Circuits are still middling in Qualtity for the most part. Located on his right forearm.
Equipment: Enough funds to acquire a vehicle and then comfortably live through the War, provided responsible spending.
Various sets of clothes.
Mystic Code: ‘Tizona’. From an outside perspective, it looks like a finely-crafted wood handle with a small crossguard, likely dating back many years ago. ‘Air’ is a common element of his bloodline, and this particular tool was crafted to enhance their capabilities should a problem arise. Practically, this Mystic Code is inlaid with a formula that allows one to run prana through it in order to form a ‘blade of wind’, so to speak, changing the pressure in a localized area in order for this to happen. The air is not static, constantly cycling along the ‘edge’ in a manner not too dissimilar to a chainsaw, which is the main reason for its cutting power. Length can be altered depending on the Prana input, but it generally defaults to the size of a knife. Though hard to see, the distortion caused by the differing pressure means a keen eye (or an enhanced one) can make an accurate guess about its shape and overall length.
Skills: Driver: “It is far stranger if I don’t have a license, honestly.”
People Skills: He can be persuasive enough when he wants to.
Mean Fighter: “I might not have studied martial arts, but I am sure you haven’t been to Ramayosa on Friday night.”
Knifeplay/Swordplay: By no means great at it, but he knows enough to get by and not cut his own hand off.
