Archetype: Constructed Being
Name: Valentina
Titles: -
Sex: Resembles Female
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Personality: Almost alien, the way this perfect puppet acts is as if she doesn't understand what it is to be human. Which is the truth. Valentina acts how she decides to, yet it is clear there is never much enthusiasm to any act she attempts to play, always seeming quite robotic and wooden, her words are never given much inflection, except for when she is trying to deceive, only then can there be heard perfect planned inflections. However, Valentina is in truth quite the character. She loves to indulge in human activities that make her feel like less than a tool, theft is something she adores as observing humans fighting humans is something she adores doing. Valentina sees no problem with killing humans, as they are creatures with expiry dates, she is merely helping them along. Dancing along, Valentina's life was born into that of a dancer, something she still indulges in and does frequently, something she does to relax and remind her why she is still alive. She also treats her familliars like her babies, only if one is destroyed by someone purposefully, will true rage come true in her, although her perfect painted face will never show it.
History: Marco Tomassi, the scion of the Tomassi's. Born in 1465, Marco was a magus with not much to his name, living in Sicily he began to become perfect at enchanting and charming, but his family was not impressed, as they were focussing on the growing art of entertainment and his family had passed down the secret of theatre from long since the turn of the milenia. It's said the family sheltered the remains of the original Pygmalion woman, something that they worshipped to bring them strength in their performances and their miniature puppets.
As such Marco began to pursue to improve his family's magecraft from such miniscule little familiars he had a task he wished to fulfill.
Creating the perfect Familiar.
At first, Marco set out to create sentient Marionettes to be used in the sicilian puppet theatre, an ancient sacred form of entertainment that had been passed down throughout history. In doing so, he created Valentina. He infused his new creation with the secrets of the sacred art of theatre and entertainment that his family sought to preserve so well. At first, she was nothing but a bare Marionette, one that had only a few commands and knowledge, that was only how to dance. Marco wanted her to be perfect so without his family's consent, he snuck into the vault and stole away little parts of the ancient Pygmalion Woman the family worshipped and praised so much for bringing them good fortune. He used this resource to form Valentina's core, which gave her her innate power and magic. She was a hit and the family praised him and the public adored Marco, but alas there was more to it.
Marco couldn't stop with just a simple creation. He began to teach her, educate her, improve her, till she had something more akin to a mind of her own, leaving her subservient to him, any of his commands, she was programmed innately to always follow. When his family called for an heir from him, for him to marry, he produced Valentina, now developed with a skin suit so she appeared human. It was obvious that he was no longer interested in marrying, he was only interested in Her. He had become enamoured with this creation that only served him, but in his pursuit of the Perfect Woman, he had created her own mind, which had led her to become dissatisfied with her treatment. She wished to be seen by the public again. If he ever wanted her to do anything, even if she hated it, if he said Please, she would be forced to do so.
One day, Valentina forgot a lot. This was unusual for she knew her memory was near impeccable. She soon realised the skin she was wearing was not her own, this was new. Her joints felt more slick, her body felt more perfect. She knew something was wrong. She found her body by the sea, covered in barnacles and water damaged. She remembered. He had killed her.
She never told her Master that she had discovered this, she played the fool, knowing that is what he wanted. And play the fool she did, until the day when children started to disappear, then reappear in cages in Marco's workshop. She played the fool as her Master was burnt at the stake, for all his commands to her to save him did not work. Not because she was disobeying, but because he forgot to say please.
Valentina was mistaken for his daughter, her new skin suit much more youthful than her own. Yet she had seen how ugly humans were, yet her master had been seeking to turn her into the Perfect Human. These were conundrums she was unprepared for. For years, she sealed herself away in His Workshop, learning from him, bastardising his own practices and sullying his name. Eventually she became set on the goal to free all life from the ugliness of humans. Valentina went to work for many years before realising that she had been sealed away in the workshop, so she improved herself, surpassing her master's work. Eventually she strained herself too much, and went to sleep.
2000, a team of magus were sent out to find an old Successful Magus workshop filled with secrets. They never returned. Valentina arose and continued her mission with her newfound strength, now knowing where to find her strength. For years she toiled before finally she found a way to accomplish her mission.
Quality of Magic Circuits: A
Quantity of Magic Circuits: D
Abnormal Abilities:
Marionette Body: Valentina's current body is that of a wooden marionette, constructed of wood and the spells that enchant her framework allow her to form a realistic skin suit around her frame. Although old, her frame has been wisened and hardened by time and her own enchantments to her body, making her body extremely rigid and strong, aided by the sheer age of the materials used to make her and the sacred arts that flow through her, she can access sheer power with little trouble over the years of mastering reinforcement magic, her hands and feet have been permanently reinforced through her wooden limbs being imbued with the magic rather than it fading away due to extensive use. Her body is also held together by strings that have now become as strong as sheer metal wire, but still as thin as string, because of this she can use her strings as whip-like weapons if she requires any further defence outwith of her enhanced wooden structure.
Valentina can also detach her limbs at will, allowing her to have different pieces of her body in different places at the same time, allowing for superb reconnaissance as well as an easy way out in a sticky situation. Her artificial core is stored within her eye, something her master taught her to cover with an eyepatch, to avoid any notice. This Core is the most important part of her being as this was the secret of her Master, cores that can imbue artificial constructs with the powers of magic circuits, acting as a makeshift crest for her creator. Valentina's body is only rendered destroyed when the Artificial Core is destroyed, or her "Soul" evacuates the body. Such is the nature of her body, it is safe to assume at it's current state it has progressed to a state of A after a millenia of existence and carries along to the next body.
Puppeteer's Strings: Another trick of her body is the ability to use her strings in her body as weapons of her own design, utilising the strings that one bound her as lethal steel like whips and binds. These strings also allow Valentina to channel her mind and communicate with those that have been implanted with string. Lesser Humans that are weak willed can be mind controlled with a string inserted into them.
Familliars: Imbued with lost spirits and wandering souls, Valentina can create and control multiple little patchwork puppets, utilising her False Circuits to create them with vageuly free wills, allowing them to do whatever they want, but ensuring they follow her orders. These Patchwork Dolls are nowhere near as strong as the Marionette, but are soft and silent, acting perfectly as eyes and ears, as well as being able to overwhelm if Valentina controls many in bulk.
Enchantment: A skill that her Master taught her when she was young, utilising magecraft that she had stolen from his rival magus, Valentina mastered the art of enchanting objects with magical attributes, something she mainly practices on her own body, but enchanting a fire spell onto her patchwork dolls allows for explosive results when activated. Her method of enchanting allows her to give objects attributes consisting of elements, for example having enchanted her own body she can give it the attribute of steel, making her limbs temporarily as strong as steel. She can only enchant non-organic objects. This is specialised by her dancing, dancing casts the enchantment which can infuse objects with attributes from legends, bringing the legends back to life through the Sicilian art of theatre, utilising Greek and Paladin related myths to bring such mysteries into her enchantments.
Charm: A trick she learnt from her Master but later developed as her own. A small incantation is all it takes to lather her words in honey, when charming someone all she requires is their ears to hear her voice, if they are not strong willed enough they will be enchanted by her words and become easily suggestible. Originally this method of Charming was a taboo to her Creator who wished for her to only charm by way of putting Charming essence into a drink. She can also plant Sleeper Words into peoples sub-consciousness by charming them and using hypnosis so when they hear a specific word they enact a specific action.
Dancing Nature: Although not abnormal, her nature to dance and entertain has given her body the ability to seemlessly move as if fluid even though it is wood, this also allows her quick movements and in times of battle, to oppose others, her master taught her how to dance that she might avoid danger and inflict attacks from sudden blows based on rhythm and movement. This dancing also makes use of her body as almost a complete shrine, offering her act as that of theatre once more, using the sacred act to infuse her dances with that of charms and enhancements, allowing her to cast such spells without components or incantations. This also allows her to effectively back up her allies by inviting them with her dancing that infuses them with the conceptual support of the legends celebrated in the Sicilian theatre.
Equipment:
Valentina's Insurance: Her Master's Deceit, yet her salvation. Along with Valentina, close by or far away there can be found 3 normal looking Marionettes. The Valentina that was chosen for this war is actually the Second version, but still contains the soul of the first. Valentina's soul contains her will and mind, but cannot contain much magic if at all. To ensure she would always be by his side, Valentina's Master created multiple Marionettes that could carry his Familliar, the original version of her a combination of pure imagination as well as a mixed in wandering soul, this soul would corrupt her into giving her her own desires. Because of the nature of Valentina, when her husk is destroyed, the "soul" or the essence of Valentina escapes in a mist, almost invisible to the naked eye but ethereal at the same time. She will then awaken in a different body, which will then form its own skin suit and enchantments, however each time she flees to a new body, her mind weakens and her enchantments and magic circuits revert back to near useless. She must always be at least 5 miles away from a body when she dies or her soul will float aimlessly until it fades away. Only when the Eye is destroyed, then Valentina is forced to evacuate. The command seals pass on with the soul, as she is making the decision to swap bodies.
Miscellaneous: Valentina cannot feel pain. Valentina also sees Servants as those chained to Humans and as such must be freed.
