Edric
Name: Edric M. D’Karst
Nicknames/Aliases: “Eddy”
Age: 25
Race: Human/Vessel
Abilities:
-Dualsoul Wisdom: Edric shares knowledge, skills, and memories with Azamor and vice versa. Thus, Edric is subconsciously capable of many things that he's never learned how to do, though he won't know exactly what sorts of things until he tries them, or Azamor lets him know.
-Shadowboxing:Azamor temporarily breaks free from the pendant in the form of pure, demonic energy. As his soul is still forcefully linked to Edric's, this energy surrounds him in a vaguely humanoid shadow or aura. While shadowed, Edric's strength, reach, stamina, pain tolerance are enhanced. When Azamor returns to his pendant, both parties are left exhausted. In this recovery state, Edric has no access to any of his abilities until he rests.
-Perfect Duality: Edric and Azamor share control of Edric's body. As opposed to Partial Possession, where Azamor lends only his strength, and a loss of control, where Azamor gains full control of his body, in Perfect Duality, they become one mind, controlling Edric's body with the grace and precision of two skilled collaborators. Ironically, having a dual-mind narrow Edric's focus. While he and Aza share control, their multitasking abilities take a big hit. When doing something mundane like, say, dumb labor, this isn't a big deal. In a combat situation, it is a very big deal. When confronted with multiple opponents, Sharedric (I'm proud of that) will only be able to focus on one at a time. Furthermore, he will not be able to, say, communicate with allies and attack at the same time.
-Possession: Edric can allow Azamor, in part or completely, to have control over his body. When under Azamor’s control, in any capacity, his pain tolerance and stamina increase. However, in partial control, Edric tends not to move as efficiently, since he and Aza aren’t in complete concord. There are a few noticeable differences that astute observes may recognize. Edric has a bt of a slouch, but Azamor carries himself ramrod straight. Azamor’s eyes are hard and shrewd, with a near-constant squint. Edric’s are wide and observant. Most damningly, Azamor speaks with an accent that matches no place in mortal Sarastrea.
-Healing: Edric can heal almost all physical wounds. As long as a person is still breathing, and isn’t in danger of dying within the minute-ish it would take to stabilize a mortal wound, he can save them. This power comes at a price. Healing is a taxing and painful process. Very painful, in fact. However, Edric can choose who shoulders this pain, either he or the person being healed. There are advantages to both, of course. Taking the pain allows a seriously wounded person to relax. However, the pain can be so intense that, during a complex healing, if Edric’s at it for too long, he could pass out. And how can one heal if one is unconscious. If Edric has direct physical contact with the wounded person, there should be minimal, or even no scarring. He can heal someone from a few feet away, but the process is more taxing and is prone to leaving scars.
Strengths/Weaknesses:
-Swordsman: Natural talent and extensive experience have made Edric quite adept at swinging his sword around. Able to properly balance attack and defense, with a solid guard, sly parries, and crushing counterattacks
-Out of Practice: Some say that shooting is like riding a bike, it’s something you never forget how to do. Edric isn’t so sure. He lost his pistol not long after he left Athalia, and hasn’t fired a gun in quite a while. Though he’s a bit better of a shot than your average Sartrean, he’d be no match for anyone with even mildly professional training. And that if he even managed to find a new gun.
-One Hell of A Crit Spot: Edric’s pendant is lifelinked to both he and Azamor. Should the pendant break, both would be instantly killed. This is a problem, since he becomes physically weak if separated from the pendant by more than a few feet. As such, the pendant must be on his person at all times, making it a bit of a liability in combat. Thankfully, few of his opponents know about the weakness, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get lucky.
-Medical Expertise: Though his healing abilities mean that he rarely has a need for it, Edric has quite a bit of medical knowledge. He’s no doctor, but with the right tools, and in the right situation, he could save your life without his magic.
-Punching Bag: With Edric’s healing abilities, Azamor as backup, and a tempered pain tolerance, he can last a while in a fight. However, staying alive and remaining effective are two very different things. By the end of a bad fight, Edric might be a better shield than a fighter.
Kit:
-Edric's Scimitar: Lighter than many normal blades of a similar length, but heavier than many scimitars (or other curved blades), Edric's sword is sturdy, sharp, and dependable. The old Oasarian woman he bought he from claimed it was enchanted. Edric's not sure about that, but it worked fine against the demons, bandits, and other assorted nasties he's come across.
-Edric's bag: a very bulky messenger bag containing a waterproof tarp, a sleeping bag, some miscelaneous medical supplies, a whetstone, a mortar and pestle, and a book on herbs on loan from Aileen Faraday.
-Edric's Dagger: An unremarkable, mass-produced dagger from Kora, Edric uses it more for utility than as a weapon. That said, it's still plenty sharp.
-Flip-phone: Edric has a Koran, prepaid flip phone. Currently out of minutes. He has the numbers of a few students and teachers from Athalia, but none of his contacts are labeled and he believes a few of the numbers might be out of date. Currently out of minutes.
Personality: Edric, generally speaking, is a genuinely benevolent person who honestly enjoys helping people. His dream since childhood has been to be a hero. He may deny that, now, or use different words, but his goal hasn't changed. The romanticized ideal of being the light in the dark, the righteous blade, the shield that guards the innocent from wickedness. It’s a dream that, perhaps, has little place in the real world, but he’s kept it close to his chest since he was a boy.
Beyond his silly aspirations, Edric can be stubborn and impulsive. He has a tendency to speak his mind and act without thinking. Though he’s far from being stoic or stern, he’s grown a bit in the years since Athalia’s closure. His optimism has been challenged by experience, leading to a more realistic expectations. However, he’s a firm believer that expectations and hopes are two very different things.
He's relaxed, easy-going, and approachable. He considers himself able to talk to anyone, and believes that he has a good sense of empathy.
Background: Edric was born in the town of Ulrichstead, on October 30th, 2003, in Eoslai. His father, Jon D'Karst, was a prematurely retired Koran detective-turned-farmer, and his mother Alys Colb, was a formerly cloistered sister of The Church of Plenty. He was a farmer's son, and lived like it. His childhood was not all work and lovelessness, but it was not one of luxury and ease. His mother died when he was two years old, taken by an illness no doctor could cure. It came suddenly and mysteriously. There were theories, of course. Some said that Jon poisoned her (untrue), some said it was a simple hereditary disease (possible, but unlikely), others said that The Church of Plenty poisoned her to preserve any secrets she may have learned during her short tenure as a cloistered sister (possible), and still others said that it was just a resilient strain of Oldrot (possible). To Jon's credit, he soldiered on. He still had Edric, and he was his world entire. Edric didn't remember his mother, but he remembered the days where his father was sad. Edric thought the best way to help him was to be a good son. He did his chores, never came home late, and rarely complained. He was happy, and his father began to heal.
That was, until a demon came to Jon. His request was simple. He would revive Alys and come to collect his payment at a later date. The emotional repair that Jon had worked so hard for was undone instantly, and he accepted the demon's deal. When he returned home, Alys was there, waiting. She appeared no worse for wear, and Jon was ecstatic. At first, Edric was frightened by the woman he vaguely recognized, frightened at the sudden change in his father. Within a few days, though, he came to accept her, though he had trouble linking the woman to his fragmented memories of his mother. After a week, she was sick again. Four days after that, she was dead. Edric was eight. Both Jon and Edric were devastated. Edric would recover. Jon would not. He started drinking heavily. Though never abusive, Jon became distant and oblivious. Edric's maternal uncle, Jeremy Colb, moved in with them. For the next ten years, he was raised more by Jeremy than Jon.
When Edric was nine, only a few months after Alys's second death, the demon returned while Jeremy was away. Jon tried, with all his might, to fight him off, but failed. He screamed at the demon, raged fruitlessly, cried that he'd been deceived. The demon would hear none of it. He'd promised to revive Alys, not to cure the disease that still haunted her. The demon had a prisoner, another demon, as well as an old human mage. The mage cast a spell, trapping the struggling demon within a pendant, then cast another, binding Azamor's soul to Edric's. The demon left, satisfied that his prisoner was no longer a threat to Hell. This plagued his father with guilt, and he managed to lessen (but not cease) his alcohol. Edric and Azamor, were, at first, at odds. Azamor constantly fought for control of Edric's body. Sometimes, he won. When Edric was sixteen, he and Azamor came to an understanding, that they needed to work together if they were ever going to undo the lifelink. Soon, that understanding blossomed into a friendship.
Later, Edric attended Athalia, studying swordsmanship, healing, literature, fashion, and cooking. Due to a complete lack of talent, he failed Cooking four times in a row, and was barred from ever taking the class again. When Athalia closed, he and a fellow student, Aileen Faraday, began travelling together as healers. A year into their partnership, Edric left in search of a way to split himself from Azamor. This search took on a new urgency as Edric began to suffer from Soulrot, a potentially fatal disease born from his lifelink.
As of 2029, Edric is in Kora, awaiting The World's Fair.
Appearance: Edric is tall and lean. His formerly boyish appearance has been tempered by his temporary nomadic lifestyle. A visible scar across his face serves as a reminder of a time when he fought sloppily. He’s grown his hair out because he’s not very good at cutting it. His stubble is the result of six months hard work trying to grow a beard, to little avail.
Gnarly Facts:
-Edric's musical theme is a very thinly veiled plug of Nevix's favorite band.
-Edric is totally incapable of all but the simplest cooking.
-Edric plays guitar, and at one point owned a beat-up old acoustic, though he had to sell it on his travels.
-Edric's middle initial is the same as his creator's.
