DrowsyPangolin

Fate/Empty Providence

Hmm... I feel like Nimrod would be an interesting servant for Ernest, though both assassins look pretty interesting too.

Fate/Empty Providence

Hullo everybody!

Fate/Empty Providence

Master: Ernest LaCreux

Name/Title:
Lord Ernest LaCreux

Gender:
Male

Age:
33

Personality:
Ernest is a grim, reserved man that carries an air of coldness about him. He speaks very little, and is a man usually quietly consumed by his own thoughts. There is an aspect of culture and knowledge to him, no doubt a result of his aristocratic upbringing, but it is executed in a frigid, almost machine-like capacity. He attempts to hide any emotion, but the romantic soul of his youth still cries deep within him, as if he is in a state of perpetual mourning. He executes his plans with a measured, calculating methodology that inspires a certain level of intimidation and respect. There is little room for pity or hesitation left in his heart, though he takes no pleasure in causing pain. In fact, even his harshest judgments tend to carry a sense of absolute necessity to them.

Appearance:
Ernest is a tall, thin, funereal man who seems aged far beyond his years. His skin is pale to the point of near-translucence, with a thin, delicate appearance to it. His hair is coal-black, with numerous slivers of silver cutting through, and is usually slicked back away from his face. His eyes are a pale blue, bordering on grey and possess a certain air of emptiness. He is typically dressed in a ink-black suit and tie, with meticulously polished dress shoes. In spite of his distinguished, aristocratic trappings, he has poor posture and a crooked, curving spine that further accentuates his sickly appearance. The LaCreux family crest resides on his left forearm.

Biography:
Ernest, in his early years, was regarded as a bright boy with exceptional potential. He, along with his younger sister, were born to the head of the LaCreux family and were trained in the ways of magecraft from an early age. Ernest excelled in the family's peculiar studies, and showed great promise as a mage even as a child. As he grew older, he grew into an even more formidable mage, and cemented his place as the seventh family head, much to his sister's chagrin. Their father passed the LaCreux family crest down to Ernest when he reached adulthood, and began teaching him the more closely guarded secrets of the family's magecraft. At the age of twenty-five, Ernest married a young woman named Marie, the daughter of a notable American mage family. The two lived a happy life for many years.

Poor fortune, however, often strikes at the moment of greatest bliss. Marie died in childbirth despite Ernest's best efforts to save her. The loss of his wife fundamentally destroyed the man Ernest had been, and the energetic young prodigy of the LaCreux family was no more. In his place was a sullen husk of a man, scarcely more alive than the corpses upon which he worked. Ernest became a recluse, and his behavior became more questionable by the day. He neglected his young daughter, leaving the girl in the care of his sister, and devoted himself wholly to magecraft. It was at this point that Ernest became aware of his origin: Loss, a fundamental loss of the irreplaceable. Rumors began to spread about the head of the family, with many claiming that he had lost his mind. Still, whenever the need arose, Ernest represented the family as its grave, though incredibly capable, patriarch. The prospect of gaining the Holy Grail drew his interest, officially as a means of venerating the LaCreux family name, though many have suggested ulterior motives.

Family History (if applicable): The LaCreux family has a long, storied, and mildly notorious history stretching back to the early 1700s. Almost from their inception, the family devoted itself to magecraft involving the manipulation of the dead. While many mages view necromancy as distasteful and ultimately pointless, the LaCreux have pursued the art with characteristic vigor, and have distinguished themselves time and time again through their efforts. Seemingly unfazed by the popular view of their magecraft, the LaCreux treat necromancy as an entirely valid field of study, and have produced a massive volume of literature detailing the finer points of the subject. They carry themselves as a prestigious mage family, and though many still question the legitimacy of their studies, they have managed to garner some modicum of respect from the Mage's Association. The family originally hails from France, but at some point relocated to the American city of New Orleans.

Origin: Loss

Elemental Affinity: Earth

Number of Magic Circuits: C

Quality of Magic Circuits: A

Od: D

Magecraft:
Necromancy
The LaCreux's magecraft centers around the reanimation of corpses as familiars called Thralls. These familiars, while not on the level of golems or homunculi, are far from the typical rotting hulk of flesh used by many. They are somewhat 'intelligent', and can be programmed to follow a set of orders given by their master. In addition, the LaCreux often meld together pieces from multiple bodies to produce 'chimera' or amalgamate Thralls. Though Ernest is a respectable mage in his own right, he has never been able to reach the heights of some of his more gifted forebears.

Healing Magecraft
Ernest possesses a fairly robust knowledge of healing magecraft, which is primarily used in the maintenance of his Thralls, though he is more than capable of healing lesser wounds on himself or others. The magecraft functions through coursing magical energy through injured flesh to encourage and accelerate the growth of cells. While minor injuries are fairly simple, more serious damage can take quite a bit of time and energy to repair.

Shared Perception
Used by Ernest to employ his Thralls in reconnaissance operations, the effect is broken if Ernest himself is disturbed in any way.

Command/Telepathic Suggestion
A surprisingly weak magecraft employed by Ernest to command his Thralls. The use of telepathy makes long-range alteration of orders possible, though even the slightest interference can interrupt this connection. In case of such interference, a Thrall will follow the previous order parameters that were given to it.

Rudimentary Magecraft
Ernest has a decent knowledge of most basic magecraft, taught to him by his family to supplement his necromancy.

Equipment:

Mystic Code: La Fontaine
A tiny basin made of pale green crystal. The basin was supposedly crafted in ancient times and was looted from an Egyptian tomb by one of the LaCreux ancestors. Whether the story of its origin is true or not, the relic is an incredibly useful tool for any mage, as it draws in and stores residual mana from its environment. The relic has been passed down through the family for generations, and has made possible some of the more daring efforts of Ernest's ancestors.

In more recent times, La Fontaine has been used by LaCreux mages to supplement their own magical energy, particularly if their natural reservoir is lacking. The relic serves as a renewable mana source, though it takes a considerable amount of time for the vessel to 'fill'. This being the case, La Fontaine is typically used as a sort of magical battery, to provide an outside mana source should the need arise. When fully charged, the relic provides a reservoir of mana of about 50 units, requiring 3-7 days to refill, depending on leylines. The relic was at some point attached to a brass cane, which is now carried by Ernest at all times.

Other Equipment:

Various weaponry for the armament of his Thralls during the war.
-x4 CZ 97 B Handguns
-x1 Saiga 12 Shotgun
-x2 Bizon Submachine guns
-x4 Combat Knives, x2 Hatchets, x2 Machetes

A fair amount of funding.

A small supply of very expensive cigars.

A gold-plated lighter.

A limousine.

Two Thralls, constructed just prior to Ernest's arrival in Fuyuki.

A violin.

A very detailed map of Fuyuki.

A black umbrella.

Skills:

Semi-accomplished violinist.

Moderately good cook.

Above-average intelligence.

Camp Wachata: Summer Fun For Everyone!

Ana smiled her typical sleepy smile. "This bag comes in handy all the time. Sometimes in ways I'd never expect." The girl lovingly patted the sturdy grey canvas. Old as the bag was, it was still holding up heroically. It had been a gift from her mother on her birthday a long time ago... or had it been a Christmas present? The memory was a bit hazy, it seemed as though she had always had the bag by her side at this point, her constant, and sometimes only, companion. Ana placed the bag down gently at her feet, still watching the fire.

Ana shook her head at Mya's warning. "Oh no, cheesy is fine. I've always liked cheesy things. There's something so honest about them... Innocent, y'know? Like a little animal or something." The girl spoke the words softly while she watched the embers flitter through the air. "Also always liked cheese..." And like that, the girl's seemingly thoughtful and philosophical train of thought had derailed into a bottomless reservoir of abstraction and attention deficiency.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ana noticed Sky sitting nearby, looking up at the stars. It seemed she was back to work with drawing the constellations. Ana gave her an encouraging thumbs-up that lasted perhaps a bit longer than was comfortable.

Camp Wachata: Summer Fun For Everyone!

Ana had shown up for the bonfire rather early to make sure she got a seat near the fire. Ordinarily, sitting close to the front of any sizable gathering would be bothersome to her, but she loved fire. Plus, she didn't want to be cold, which was an almost constant struggle for the girl. She currently sat cross-legged on the front row, basking in the warm, flickering glow of the fire. Her hood was pulled up over her hat, and her hands were tucked snugly into the pocket of her hoodie. Her eyes gleefully followed the embers as they floated into the air like tiny orange fairies. For once, Ana looked somewhat awake, though 'alert' might have been a bit of an overstatement. Regardless, she seemed to be enjoying herself, if the small smile across her lips was any indication. She had heard some conversation about a Campmaster or something. She didn't know anything about that, but she was content to sit there as long as the fire burned.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ana noticed a movement in the trees nearby. She saw Mya walking out of the woods. The girl seemed to be looking for a place to sit, a difficult task as many campers had already arrived. Ana waved to her bunk-mate and motioned to the seat beside her, which was currently occupied by her messenger bag. It had not yet occurred to the girl that she had already made friends, or that this was what having friends was like. When she finally did realize that fact, she would probably think long and hard about it. She had never had many friends. Few had the patience to deal with the girl's oddities and quirks for any extended period of time, if they were willing to talk to her at all. She probably would've been quite lonely if she had ever stopped to think about it too much.

Camp Wachata: Summer Fun For Everyone!

Ana nodded at Sky's information regarding the book. "That would work... Thank you!" She gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up, a strange and somewhat juvenile gesture she had developed long ago and never quite grown out of. Mya left, as Sky was evidently more than knowledgeable about the camp. Ana waved at her as she left. "Oh... bye, I'll see you later then." Mya had mentioned a fire, which sounded nice. Fire had always been a friend to Ana. It was warm, and bright, and something about it just felt like home. The smell of burning wood, the crackling of the embers, the gleaming coals, shimmering like some enchanted gem from a fairy tale... yes, fire was familiar and pleasant... not like water. Water was cold and deep. Water was dark and foreign, and the thought of what lurked in the dark abyss just beneath the surface terrified Ana to her very core. If fire was home then deep water was some strange, alien land: a bubbling, black, murky nightmare begging to pull the unsuspecting down beneath its depths. Ana shivered slightly at the thought.

After Mya left, Ana took a seat on her bed and began rummaging through the contents of her messenger bag. There were some clothes in it, which she quickly emptied out and folded with the most halfhearted of efforts. She was glad to have them out of the bag though. Its primary purpose had always been to carry her art supplies, and keeping anything else in it felt a bit wrong. After a moment, the girl emptied the supplies out on her bed. Numerous sketchbooks, many of which seemed quite old, dropped out onto the sheets. A handful of pencils rolled out as well, many of which were considerably worn down. Ana began flipping through her sketchbooks rather loudly, though she didn't notice the loud swishing as she flipped through the pages. There were drawings of a vast assortment of subjects: animals, plants, landscapes, one of a Cadillac that had belonged to her brother, a few of buildings, and several seemingly incomplete sketches of people, all of which had faces ruined with eraser marks, as though an accurate representation had been attempted again and again with no success until the artist had eventually just given up. Turning to one, what seemed to have been an aborted family portrait of four people, she sighed rather loudly with a touch of sincere, and uncharacteristic, disappointment.

Camp Wachata: Summer Fun For Everyone!

A vague look of surprise crossed Ana's face when Sky mentioned the rudeness associated with staring. She seemed to recall having heard that before at some point somewhere... Unfortunately, the more serious issue was Ana's complete lack of ability in recognizing that she was, in fact, staring at someone. Still, a small voice in the back of her head seemed utterly convinced that it would notice this breach of etiquette next time. Only time would tell. Sky's apology, however, got a shake of the head. "Oh, don't worry about it. I get the same way sometimes. It takes a lot to disturb me though." In truth, anything short of a derailing train or a particularly enthusiastic elephant stampede was unlikely to draw Ana's attention when she was focused. Her absent-mindedness had gotten her in trouble more than once, not that those incidents had managed to change much.

Ana's eyebrows rose slightly upon being informed of the book's subject. Mythology had always been interesting to her, science not so much. Still, the juxtaposition was at least somewhat intriguing to the girl. "That sounds... neat." The girl's dreamy voice floated lazily across the room. "Maybe I should read about that sometime..." The thought of borrowing the book hadn't occurred to her, even though that was essentially what she had just implied, in a roundabout fashion. Mya didn't seem to know the girl from anywhere, which probably meant Sky was new to Wachata's finer points as well.

Camp Wachata: Summer Fun For Everyone!

Sky's sudden, sharp reply took Ana slightly by surprise. Her mindset being as it was, she hadn't exactly considered that staring at someone might be interpreted as impolite. Still, even the sudden jolt only drew the reaction of a slight raising of the eyebrows. Ana shook her head before replying. "Need? Um... no, I don't think so anyway. Thanks for asking though. I just noticed that you were drawing earlier." She pointed toward the sketch of the constellations. The girl's voice was still the same lazy, dreamy drone that she seemed utterly incapable of inflecting in any meaningful way, or perhaps she just couldn't be bothered. It was difficult to tell exactly what emotion the girl was attempting to convey at any given moment, an unfortunate fact that often meant people misunderstood her, taking ordinary speech as expert sarcasm. "But... I'm Ana. I draw too... and, uh, this is Mya." She motioned toward Mya, who had a strange expression for a reason that Ana couldn't precisely placed. Following her introduction, which might have been a bit lacking, the girl took a few steps toward Sky, leaning forward to get a better look at her book. "Whatcha reading?" For a sentence directly showing interest, it still sounded agonizingly flat.

Camp Wachata: Summer Fun For Everyone!

Ana followed Mya into the cabin as she described the roommate situation. Twelve. It was a decent enough number: even, not associated with any particular misfortune, divisible by six. Yes, twelve would be fine. Of course, less than twelve wasn't really objectionable either. As the pair entered the cabin, Ana surveyed the others in the room with a vague look of interest, raising a hand kin a vague attempt at a wave. Mya had secured a bed, and thankfully had chosen the top bunk. Ana had fallen off of tall things before: trees, mostly, and this had instilled in her a belief that gravity had silently been plotting her demise for years now. She walked over to the bottom bunk, taking a seat to judge the bed's comfiness. It seemed passable enough. "Sure thing." She pointed up at the bunk above her. "You should be careful up there though, you never know when gravity might strike." She spoke the words with a foreboding tone, wiggling her finger purposefully to encourage caution.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ana noticed one of their new roommates drawing nearby. With an unintended level of stealth, she inched toward the girl, trying to get a look at whatever it was she was drawing. She gradually grew closer and closer, attempting not to disturb the girl's work. Eventually, she stood on her tiptoes. Stars. Stars were an interesting subject, to be sure, and there were so many to draw, one might never run out of models. After a bit, though, the girl took a break from her drawing to read a book that Ana was just too far away to make out the title of.

Camp Wachata: Summer Fun For Everyone!

Ana followed behind Mya, nodding decisively at her observation of the camp's beauty. "I think so too." A nearby butterfly caught the girl's eye as she followed along, its bright yellow-orange wings fluttering about like a lively little flame. Ana's lips briefly into what looked like an attempted frown as her companion asserted her lack of artistic talent. "Eh, I'm sure there's something you'd be good at. Like I said before, my mom was a painter, but I was never too good at it. You'd think they'd be similar enough, but nope... Was never a big fan of brushes. I think it was the brushes that did it. Honestly, brushes are just overrated. I mean, a pencil is solid and precise and a brush is so floppy and hard to manage and..." The girl trailed off into her train of thought.

Ana's eyes drifted along, surveying each of the cabins as they arrived. They didn't seem too different, and the quandary of the good bunk/bad bunk injustice seemed settled in the girl's mind. She paid special attention to the one on the end that Mya seemed enthused about. "Hmm... Sunrises are nice..." She mulled over the situation for a few tense seconds, as if it was a decision that would change the course of her life permanently. "Yeah, I think that one sounds good..." She looked at Mya out of the corner of her eye. "So, um, how many people usually stay in one cabin?" The prospect of roommates didn't necessarily worry her, but it was something she wanted to be prepared for.