nonsequitur

The Call of the Realms

Magus stumbled backwards, eyes fixed on the archer as the latter screamed and collapsed to the ground. The aura returned to its multicoloured hue and shrunk to its previous size, surrounding him. The merest desire to get him out of the way, and it had happened. How had he done it?

"Oh Nine Divines!" A woman's voice screamed. "What is this creature!?"

Creature? Turning around, he saw that she was wearing a blue robe. She had a large brow, but everything else about her looked the same fuzzy shade of grey. There really had to be something wrong with his eyes. Magus reached up to rub them, and found they were dry and faceted...

Before he could do anything, she raised her hands, moved them in a circle and said something. He didn't know the language, but he knew the motions people with innate magic used to cast spells.

He dodged, aura spiking outwards, just as the woman threw the flames that appeared in her hands at him. The fireball whistled past, only barely missing him. The fabric on his sleeve smoked slightly.

"Stop! I mean you no harm!" Surely she would know he wasn't a creature if he could speak. The light around him fluttered rapidly, and he took a deep breath, willing it to calm. It dimmed and settled somewhat, to his relief.

The sounds of a battle approached. More of the stranger-looking armoured beings ran into view, in hot pursuit by a wolf and a man who looked the very image of a barbarian. As Magus watched, the wolf changed into a man and pulled out a bow, while the barbarian fired ice beams at the soldiers, trapping them. "Get over here and help us!" The man who had been a wolf earlier shouted. Another soldier charged at him, and he shot it down with his bow.

There were more? His aura brightened considerably, and he stopped himself. Another flare would definitely draw more of them in.

"How many of them are there? And who are you?" He yelled back. Those two were definitely good, but he doubted even all of them together could face an entire battalion. Better to distract and scatter the soldiers. The light had complied in blinding the archer: would it bend further to his will?

The barbarian would do nicely to scare them. He tried shaping the light; it took on a vaguely humanoid form but that was all.

Then again, he could still hope it would blind them. He released the light in the direction that soldier had come, and the humanoid form sped forwards.

The Call of the Realms

When he returned to consciousness he was falling.

Bright blue light swirled around him, his robe flapping in the wind. An aura of multicoloured light extended around him, flickering rapidly. As he noticed this, a well-worn book flew out of his grip. He hadn't noticed he had it.

The book was important, he realised with a jolt. It had things in it that he needed and he had to get it back. He reached for it, but it was too late. A flash of white light and it burned up, leaving no sign it had ever existed.

More importantly, he'd caught sight of his arms. They were jointed in too many places, bending in ways no arm should have done. He wasn't as certain about this, but he could've sworn they used to be shorter.

Abruptly, the blue light faded and he landed on solid ground with a thump. It was not as painful as he expected. Was there magic at work? He was in a forest, and there were no forests near...wherever he was before this. Where was he?

Who was he? He remembered people being respectful to him, bowing and calling him "Magus". Perhaps that was his name—

A metallic clanking interrupted his thoughts. His vision had been blurry since he'd fallen out the blue vortex, but he could make out several armoured men, as well as others who looked more monstrous.

Not like I'm in a position to judge.

Magus tried to stand, and found that his legs had been transformed similarly to his arms. After some effort he managed to get to his feet.

At the same moment, a cry of alarm rang out. One of the men had spotted him and raised his bow. Panic surged through him—

and the aura of light surrounding him flared a brilliant white and exploded.

The Call of the Realms

Name: "Magus" (Athanos Gilmott)
Race: Formerly human, now mutated with an insect-like appearance.
Age (estimated if needed): 35
Appearance: As a human he was of average height with shoulder-length black hair and light grey eyes. Currently, his eyes have been changed into two large insect eyes covering half his face and his limbs elongated and restructured to resemble insect legs. Antennae extend from his head and an aura of multicoloured light extends half a metre from his body.
Personality: Driven, intelligent and ambitious; looks down on those he perceives as less intelligent but will defer to people with authority or power over him. To people he considers his intellectual equals, he is friendly and personable, but can be inconsiderate on occasion. His transformation humbled him slightly and made him more willing to work with others, but remains somewhat stubborn.
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Universe: Original setting
Powers?: Creation of visual and aural illusions (which causes the aura)
Magic: Used to specialise in runes, but nearly all of that knowledge was wiped during his transformation.
Specialties: Visual hallucinations (limited to temporarily blinding people at present), lying, research
Special weapons?: Chisel, scalpel and pen for drawing runic diagrams. Right now he only has vague memories of what they're for.
Strengths:
-Heightened sense of smell and motion due to antennae.
-Compound eyes allow wider field of vision and better detection of movement.
-Patient
-Near-photographic memory
Weaknesses:
-Blurry vision from compound eyes, results in frequent headaches
-Antennae are long and thin, making them vulnerable to damage.
-Powers heavily influenced by his emotions and instinct, may occasionally affect allies.
Bio: Athanos was left at the doorstep of a guild of mages as a baby and raised as one of their students. He had no innate magic, unlike some of the other students and mages, but his excellent memory and willingness to study made him especially talented at runes. As he grew older he rose through the ranks quickly, eventually becoming a magus (a title given to mages in charge of researching magical effects). Despite this, he envied those with natural magic and wanted that power for himself. After years of study and experiments with animals, he designed a ritual meant to commune with the spirits and grant him instinctive magic.

Athanos does not remember all of this. What he does remember is something looking at him with immense fury, extreme pain and a feeling of falling. He remembers he used to be important, and that he was not as monstrous as he is now. He thinks he used to be able to do more than just blind people, but he does not know how he would have done that. The word "magus" sounds familiar, and he thinks he remembers people addressing him by that, so he has taken it as his name. The only thing he is certain of is that the world he has landed in is not his own, and he will do whatever it takes to return.

magic academy (revival of an old one but anyone can join)

Interested!

The Call of the Realms

Is this still open?

Monsters and other childish things

I'm interested

Semi-Freeform Massive Multiversal Crossover: Interest Check and Signups

Changed Bob's powers a bit. He shouldn't be able to cause nuclear explosions now.

Semi-Freeform Massive Multiversal Crossover: Interest Check and Signups

He can't actually manipulate time, just the physical state of the object.

Semi-Freeform Massive Multiversal Crossover: Interest Check and Signups

Name: Bob the Hyper-butterfly
Age: 27
Gender: (Identifies as) Male
Appearance: Bob is tall (about 3 metres), has an insectoid body with compound eyes and two long antennae on his head. He has a human nose and mouth, but those are purely cosmetic. Several multicoloured energy fields shaped like butterfly wings extend from his back, with the largest "pair" about one metre wide. They change colour constantly.
Canon, AU, or OC?: OC
Universe of Origin: Original setting
Personality: Bob is optimistic and friendly, and strives to help others as much as possible within his capabilities. He enjoys research, exploring and discovering new things. He believes in being prepared for any eventuality, and has prepared a cache in his house with various items he might need, ranging from rope and a flashlight to spare pens and notepads. At times, he can be nosy and occasionally pry too much into others' private business, but this is more a result of not fully understanding why they prefer to keep those things to themselves. Not being human himself, he finds people fascinating and often observes their interactions with interest.
Abilities/Weapons:
-As a hyper-butterfly, Bob survives off sunlight and radiation (in outer space), removing the need for air, food or water.
-He can open small portals to any location he is familiar with using his wings; he usually uses it to retrieve items he needs at that time from a cache in his house. With practice he could open larger portals, but he has not considered this yet.
-Bob's wings also allow him some control over matter and entropy. This includes affecting intermolecular bonds, altering phase states of various substances and "rewinding" the physical state of objects. However, he needs line of sight in order to do these, and he cannot affect living things (except himself). Also, he can only "rewind" an object to its state from a few seconds ago. He has less experience with this aspect of his powers, only using them to speak (by vibrating air molecules).
Backstory: Bob's home planet had a human majority and a small population of hyper-butterflies. As a child, he looked human and was adopted by human parents. He made friends easily in school until his insect-like features and powers began to manifest, which caused most people to shun him. After graduating, he joined a research institute studying their abilities. His mentor thought that the hyper-butterflies' powers made use of parallel universes, and enlisted Bob's help in opening a portal to an alternate reality. Instead, they found the multiverse.
Faction: Factionless