Rin — Roleplayer Guild

Finally! I really hope it's okay. ^^;

• Name: Natsumi Aida (western order)
• Codename: Eldritch Knight Shiranui
• Age: 21
• Gender: Female
• Place of Birth: Unknown location in Japan. Currently operates out of Arkham, Massachusetts.
• Affiliations: The League (due to their close proximity, she occasionally teams up with Strix), Miskatonic University, the White Fellowship of Sorcerers (technically, due to her position as Eldritch Knight, although the relationship is a rather strained one).
• Occupation: Assistant Librarian at Miskatonic University; this is mostly an excuse for her to be close to the vast collection of occult books, though.
• Appearance:
•• Natsumi: Here we go!
•• Eldritch Knight Shiranui: And here we go again!

• Powers: Natsumi is highly skilled in magic, especially spells that invoke the power of the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods; it is assumed that the Eldritch Knights believed in the concept of fighting fire with fire. Her most notable spells are as follows:

•• Elder Sign: Both the simplest and most important spell in Natsumi's repertoire, the Elder Sign is a sigil comprosing a flaming eye at the center of a warped pentagram. It is a protective ward that guards against supernatural malevolence and evil magic. By drawing it onto a surface, it dampens the effects of harmful magic used on the surrounding area, in addition to warding off hostile magical creatures like a cross wards off a vampire; however, trying to use a simple Elder Sign to hold back the most powerful magical beings would be like trying to block a tsunami by simply standing in its way. By drawing a larger than usual Elder Sign on the ground, Natsumi can use it to either bind a summoned entity so that it does not lash out in hostility, or use it as a barrier to keep somewhat more powerful creatures out; notably, she has one of these larger signs painted around her bed at Miskatonic University.

•• Tindalos Traverse: A teleportion spell that copies the bizarre transportation abilities of the Hounds of Tindalos. By casting this spell, Natsumi is able to travel to and from any corner with an angle of 120° or less, her arrival being heralded by smoke billowing from her destination before her body materializes starting with her head and working down. If someone is holding onto her at the time, she is able to transport them with her, although she advises that they close their eyes beforehand as the space travelled through can be quite distressing and disorientating to some. However, there is a rather major drawback to this spell, that being that if it is used too often in rapid succession, it will attract the attention of the Hounds of Tindalos themselves. The Hounds are ravenous hunters, and once one spots a target it will never stop pursuing them until either they kill them, or are killed during the pursuit. The Hounds are no pushovers either, and thus attracting their attention is not something Natsumi wishes to do, making this spell far more suited to single long distance trips rather several short ones.

•• Incinerating Ire of Cthugha: Quite possibly the least subtle of all of Natsumi's spells, by invoking The Living Flame she is able to summon fire. She can use this in two different ways; either as a fireball around the same size as a football (soccer ball) which she can toss at her enemy, causing a small explosion on impact, or as a short burst of flames akin to a flamethrower.

•• Twisting Tendrils of Cthulhu: By invoking Great Cthulhu, Natsumi is able to summon small facsimiles of one of his most notable features: his tentacles. After chanting a short verse, several (between three and five) black tendrils emerge from a surface of her choice and do her bidding; most often these are used either to restrain an enemy or for a whipping attack. The tendrils are not unbreakable, however, and someone of above average strength will be able to break them if they struggle enough; those with superstrength don't have to do much more than flex to break them. The tendrils will dissapate on their own after about three minutes.

•• Conference of the Crawling Chaos: Whilst being a relatively simple spell, this is also technically one of the most potentially dangerous spells Natsumi knows. For this spell summons one of the many avatars of the Outer God Nyarlathotep, allowing the summoner to ask him any three questions. The Crawling Chaos has a vast wealth of knowledge, and sometimes it can be well worth the risk to interrogate him on several subjects. However, Nyarlathotep is a capricious being, and is the only Outer God who both possesses a personality of his own and revels in acts of evil; he will often only half-answer a question, leaving out otherwise important information, or otherwise twist the truth until it becomes indechirable from lies. He takes great joy in driving humans to madness, after all. He could very well answer much more than three questions, but he considers this a formality that he refuses to change. As a god with other a thousand avatars, there is no telling just what he will end up looking like, although when dealing with humans he seems to prefer taking human form; his most favoured avatars are an opulent Egyptian pharoah, an infamous European dictator, and a silver haired Japanese schoolgirl. Before this spell is cast, proper precautions must be taken; Natsumi must draw a large Elder Sign on the ground where she intends to perform the summoning, otherwise the avatar will be free to do as it pleases until stopped. Thankfully, the avatars are an immensely distilled shadow of the true Nyarlathotep's power and thus are not godlike; they are still at least somewhat superhuman and all share the Creeping Chaos's maliciousness and utterly nihilistic worldview, leading to rather unpleasant things happening if they are set loose. As his avatars almost invariably take the form of humans, they can be killed like one, and doing so will negate the summoning.

•• Threshold of Yog-Sothoth: A rather useful utility spell, allowing Natsumi to store various items (most notably her sword and armour) in subspace until she needs them. She is only able to store ten items at a time in this way, and her sword and armour automatically take up two of these spots. When storing an item, it simply blinks out of existence, but when retrieving one an iridescent globe descends from a small crack in space/time which quickly seals up; as soon as she touches the orb it shatters into countless pieces, revealing the item inside. The only difference is when she summons her armour, in which case the globe will appear around her, before shattering to reveal her now wearing the armour.

• Skills: Natsumi is a highly skilled combatant, both unarmed and with her sword. Whilst she's by no means the best in the world, she can hold her own quite well in a fight. She is in excellent physical shape, taking care to make train her body in order to be prepared for combat at all times. She also possesses above average intelligence, especially when it comes to literature, mathematics and languages. She is fluent in Japanese, English, Arabic and Latin, as well as knowing a few phrases of certain dead languages (mostly for the purposes of spellcasting). As she has been trained to battle creatures who could easily flay the minds of all who so much as glance at them, reducing them to a quivering pile of gibbering insanity, Natsumi has mentally conditioned herself to resist such things. As such, not only can she stare down the very faces of insanity without so much as batting an eyelash, but she is also naturally resistant to mental interference, mind control or other unwanted telepathic effects.

• Equipment/Resources:
•• Dragonrend: Natsumi wields the magical sword Dragonrend (although she occasionally calls it "George", as it contains the spirit of her former teacher and surrogate father). It is seemingly unbreakable and never loses its edge, although other than that against most targets it acts just like you'd expect a regular sword to. It has no super cutting edge that can slice through anything, or any other enhanced abilities like that. However, it is rather adept at harming the supernatural; any wounds caused by it to inherently supernatural beings such as demons, the undead or cosmic horrors will heal incredibly slowly, no matter what supernatural healing abilities the target may have. Larger, more powerful versions of these creatures can easily shrug off more than a few wounds like this.

•• Eldritch Knight Armour: Natsumi's armour is usually stored in subspace, and she only even reserves its usage for the toughest of opponents. Whilst it is being worn, her pain sensors are dulled and the limits her body subconsciously imposes are slowly broken down, giving the impression that her strength and speed are steadily increasing to superhuman levels. However, prolonged usage of the armour will lead to her limits being broken done completely, and these limits are imposed for a reason. Eventually, her body will begin to break down with every hard blow she throws, and eventually after that any movement she makes will shatter her own bones and cause her muscles to burst. Through sheer force of will and the lack of both psychological limiters and pain she will continue moving until her body disintegrates within her own armour (note: in his final battle, George did not fight in his armour for this long, even if he still fought in it for long enough to exacerbate his fatal wounds; otherwise Natsumi would not have had a body to bring back). Whilst the armour is strong enough to provide her a noted increase in durability to begin with, eventually the strength will begin to backfire as it only makes the situation she faces whilst wearing it for a prolonged amount of time even worse. This is not only the reason that she reserves using the armour only for the toughest of opponents, but why she usually limits herself to only using it for three minutes at a time if possible during the rare occasions she does use it.

•• Miskatonic University: Natsumi generally operates out of the prestigious Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachussets, and lives in a room on-campus when she's not out of town. The Miskatonic University library, for whatever reason, contains one of the most extensive collections of occult works in the world; most notably, it contains one of the very few genuine copies of that most infamous tome, the Necronomicon, as well as copies of such notorious volumes as the Unaussprechlichen Kulten, the Book of Eibon, the Alice Grimoire and the King in Yellow, amongst many more. As such, it is an almost indispensable resource to the Eldritch Knight.

• Weaknesses: Aside from what has been noted already, Natsumi is physically a regular human. A well trained, atheletic human, but a human none-the-less, and is a mere mortal who can be killed by conventional means.

• Psychological Profile: A stoic, no-nonsense kind of person who treats her role as Eldritch Knight with utmost seriousness. She is a woman of few words, although this is only partially due to her stoic nature; she's actually not very good with people and thus tries to avoid prolonged conversation. If she ever actually gets going, however, those who talk with her will discover that despite her seemingly dour nature she actually possesses a rather dry sense of humour, no doubt picked up from George. She can also be rather sarcastic, although she is usually more upfront about this. As a knight, she believes that it is her duty to protect as much human life as possibly; not only does she go to sometimes extreme lengths to save others, but she outright refuses to kill another human unless all other options are exhausted, and even then she will end up even more dour than usual for quite some time afterwards. Natsumi has little love for the White Fellowship, as she (admittedly somewhat irrationally) blames them for the death of her surrogate fater, George St. Maurice.

Natsumi is an avid reader, and it seems like she goes nowhere without a book. Most of the time she doesn't care much which genre she reads as long as she's reading something, although one thing that she will insist on is that she reads novels only from a printed hard copy. She dislikes e-books, and refuses to read from them. In addition to reading, she also picked up a love for classic rock from George; her personal favourite bands are Blue Oyster Cult (in fact, Fire of Unknown Origin is her favourite album), Queen, Black Sabbath and basically any band Ronnie James Dio even sang for.

It is not rather apparent and doesn't exactly come up much due to her general nature, but Natsumi is in fact bisexual. It's nothing that really bothers her much, and she's perfectly comfortable with it, but she usually believes there are more important things to attend to most of the time.

• Biography:

Hidered because too goddamn long [+]

There is a great darkness gnawing at reality from the very edges of space and time. Vast entities of preternatural power to whom humanity is beyond notice, the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods, slumber beneath our notice, awaiting the time when the stars are right and they shall rise up to remold the universe in their own twisted vision. Such terrible beings have not gone without notice; from the tales of Zeus battling and sealing away the unspeakable horror of Typhon, to stories of Ra confronting the great chaos serpent Apep every night when the sun goes down, to the evil kami Amatsu-Mikaboshi who vows to one day return all existence to the primordeal chaos from whence it came... Entities whose very existence is a perversion of all known natural law are a common fixture of mythology and folklore. And during the first half of the 20th century, a man from Providence, Rhode Island began writing about vast, cosmic entities, ghastly beings such as Great Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep the Crawling Chaos, Daemon Sultan Azathoth the Nuclear Chaos and other monstrosities; alien deities whose existence was clearly fiction. Such things could not really exist in this world...

...Except they did. Even as Howard Phillip Lovecraft believed his claims that these were solely works of fiction, he never realised that he had subconsciously been spreading the word of the Great Old ones. Even as he died, he never realised he had simply been a pawn in the many-tentacled hand of Nyarlathotep. The works he produced, whilst coming from his own mind, were inspired by a touch of madness that the Crawling Chaos had input into him, a madness that spread as his "Cthulhu Mythos" was adopted by many others who were also unwittingly spreading the gospel of the Old Ones. But even as their influence spread, there would always be someone to fight them back. Even as they spread darkness across the globe, there would always be someone to bring back the light. For as long as any can remember, the Eldritch Knight legacy has existed to face these dread creatures. At any one time there is only a single Eldritch Knight, who alone faces against the Great Old Ones and their followers. Each one handpicks a youth who they teach the old ways to, powerful magic that can be used to keep such entities at bay, so that when they die their protege will become the new Eldritch Knight. Back in the age of magic, when the power of the gods was at its peak, they operated far more openly, but as mankind embraced science and rationality they were forced to stick to the shadows and fight a more private war. For centuries they continued fighting, and even though such an enemy can never be truly defeated the fact that the Earth still exist relatively intact is testament to their struggles.

After the event that would later be known as the Awakening, though, the then-current Eldritch Knight began operating... Not so much "publicly", but far less secretively than before. George St. Maurice, otherwise known as Eldritch Knight Dragonrend, was a kindhearted, jovial English gentleman who, whilst not an official member of the superhero community, occassionally helped them out against more occult-based supervillains and threats. Even before the Awakening, he had been an honourary member of the White Fellowship due to his position as Eldritch Knight, as well as having a seat on the faculty of the prestigious Miskatonic University of Arkham, Massachusetts. He had even taken up semi-permanent lodgings in the university, as for whatever reason the library contained one of the most extensive collections of occult literature in the world (it is very possible that the university was at least partially funded by the White Fellowship, explaining not only this but several strange occurences that have happened there since the university's founding).

It was on an expedition to Japan fifteen years ago that he first met the girl who was to become like a surrogate daughter to him. He had been following leads relating to the resurgence of a cult dedicated to one of the most infamous of all the Great Old Ones, dread Cthulhu, but found himself arriving seemingly too late. When he arrived at the remote village where the cult was rumoured to be hiding, he found a smouldering wreck. The cultists were all dead, having sacrificed themselves in an attempt to awaken their slumbering master, and whilst they had not succeeded in their attempts something else had caught their attention. Unspeakable monstrosities lumbered about the village, brought forth by the blasphemous prayers and blood sacrifice of the cultists, and proceeded to annihilate all that they came across. Knowing that he could no longer save those that once lived here, George assumed the form of Eldritch Knight Dragonrend and set about exterminating all of the ghastly creatures before they could spread out beyond this small, isolated area. As he did so, he discovered that one person had survived the carnage... A small girl, no older than six years old, her mother having hidden beneath the floorboards of their home to prevent those terrible things finding her. Spotting her as he slew the last of the beasts, he soon found himself embracing her tiny, trembling form; as he wept in joy at knowing that he could ensure the safety of at least one innocent, the girl found her tears of fear and despair drying as the armoured man's presence seemed so reassuring. Even if she'd lost everything she'd ever held dear, somehow she knew that if she was with this man she would not have to fear anything ever again.

At first, she didn't talk much. It was understandable, seeing what she had been through. Even after taking her back to Arkham, George could get very little response from her. But eventually, after a few months of perserverance, words finally left her trembling lips. It was just her name at first, so that George would stop calling her "little girl", but soon enough she began speaking to him more and more, until eventually she was able to hold full conversations with him without much trouble. She never did seem to open up to anyone else, though, reserving only the barest minimum amount of words for those who were not the man she had began to see as her new father. As the two grew closer, George came to a conclusion: he was getting old, and whilst he could not remain the Eldritch Knight forever, there was always time to train a successor. Little Natsumi was the closest thing to family he had, after all, and as long as they remained close she would always be in danger. The only real option was to train her so that she could not only protect herself, but could one day take his place.

The training was near-hellish. Whilst he did truly love her like a daughter, George was not soft on Natsumi. He knew that the Old Ones and their servants would not hold back, after all. Every day she was drilled on the fundamentals of magic and the way of the sword, as well as more regular subjects. George was a harsh teacher, but he didn't want to mold her into little more than a weapon; he made sure that she received as good an education as she could, and that she was taught proper morals and ethics. One who does not realise the difference between right and wrong is no true knight, after all. And Natsumi proved to be an apt pupil, dutifully studying, training and fulfilling the assignments she was set; she did not want to insult the man who had saved her life by failing to live up to his standards. Even then, she still made slipups, but George was always there to correct her mistakes. The only one he never corrected, however, was her assumption that she would become the new Eldritch Knight after he retired. He didn't have the heart to break the truth of the matter to the poor girl, who had already lost so much.

And so Natsumi grew up. Each day she grew stronger, physically, magically and mentally; the scared young girl had become a confident young woman, eagerly awaiting the day when she would be able to let George retire and rest as she took on the mantle of Eldritch Knight. But then, it happened. The Awakening. Soon, the things that had hitherto lurked in the shadows began crawling out into the open, the two soon finding themselves overworked. It all became too much, and whilst investigating a potential cult uprising in the sewers of New York three years ago George sent out a plea to the White Fellowship for help. Maybe they were overworked themselves, maybe they just didn't recieve the message in time... Either way, when things got out of control George and Natsumi found themselves alone against not just the full force of the cult, but a gargantuan abomination the two recognised as a Shoggoth. At the very least, the collosal beast solved the problem of how to deal with the cultists by crushing most of them to death, the few that remained fleeing in panic as they realised that the thing they had summoned wasn't under their control as they believed it would be. However, that still left the Shoggoth, and letting it out into the open... There were so many people above ground, and if it get out it was impossible to tell just how many would be killed by the monster. George couldn't let it go. As he put on his armour, he told Natsumi to take back, before charging in to face the beast. For what seemed like an age for both the Eldritch Knight and his apprentice, he battled valiantly against the Shoggoth, his spear raining blow after blow upon its amorphous form, whilst the monstrosity threatened the crush him under its immense bulk or tear him apart with lashing pseudopodia. Somehow, after expending all the strength he had left to give, he emerged from atop the protoplasmic form victorious, his spear held like a crutch to support his beaten body, stained with vile ichor and a large amount of his own blood. With the very last ounce of strength he had, he hobbled over to Natsumi and collapsed into her arms in one final embrace. With his final breath, he revealed the one thing he never had the courage to do so: that an Eldritch Knight's apprentice only takes their place when they finally fall in battle, and that it was now her responsibility to protect the world from the terrors beyond human comprehension. And as he finally slipped away from the mortal coil, Natsumi's eyes filled with tears for the first time since their initial meeting.

She had no time to grieve, though. As though signifying this, and how her true battle had only just begun, the armour encasing her fallen father-figure shimmered with radiance before reforging itself into the shape of a mighty sword. Whenever an Eldritch Knight fell, this would happen, their armour would become the weapon of their apprentice. It was as though their spirit lived on to continue guiding their protege even after death. With sword in one hand and George's body in the other, she returned to Arkham, and after ensuring he would get a proper funeral she immediately headed out into the night. There was no time to mourn; all she could do now was grimly accept her new responsibilities as the current Eldritch Knight, Eldritch Knight Shiranui. Three years have passed, and whilst she tends to not attract as much attention as other heroes, the magical underworld knows all too well that crossing the grim arcane knight is one of the worst things they could possibly do.

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