Amadeo Corvus
⦋ 20 || Italian || Male ⦌
APPEARANCE & PERSONALITY
APPEARANCE Of average height for his age. Amadeo somehow comes gives the impression of being lanky and lithe all at the same time. He dresses in trim, and fashionable clothing yet his outfits always look disheveled and poorly cared for. His posture is bad, usually walking around with slumped shoulders and hooded eyes. This seems to change when a fight forces him to get serious. His eyes snap open, wide awake.
His muscles tense and Amadeo seems to stand taller, throwing his fancy jacket and tie to the side and coming to life with a fresh sense of seriousness. His verdant coloured hair only seems to get messier though.
PERSONALITY TRAITS Lazy
Apathetic
Mostly amoral
Likes Animals
Looking for love
Likes the quiet
Sick of his family
BACKSTORY & MOTIVATION Beneath the streets of Rome, hidden in darkness and lost in the winding tunnels of the catacombs is the secret lair of The Corvus enclave. An ancient sect of assassins with a history as torrid and bizarre as those they kill. For these are no ordinary murderers for hire, these are warriors who through dogmatic dedication have shaped themselves a dark reputation, even among the criminal underworld. Because to Those in the know, the mad crows are called belong to a group of people that others would call insane. They are... Nomad Hunters. It is here we meet the latest adopted son of this extended family, a black sheep among darker shadows.
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Father stood with his back to Amadeo, acting mysterious for whatever invisible audience he was always playing to. Amadeo was stuck in his own little island of light, looking out from it and letting his eyes wander to the tapestries and paintings that covered the walls. Each one showing some Corvus from the past fighting their own epic enemy or striking cool poses. The people he was supposed to be aspiring to be.
Father's voice cut through the quiet like a papercut. "Tell me, Amadeo. How many enemies do you think a warrior nomad might make?"
Amadeo found himself looking at his feet. Even though Father couldn't see him, acting like he didn't care about this stuff was all he could do to show he was his own man. "I dunno a few I guess-"
"Many!" Father barked. "Crime families, law enforcement, governments, beings from beyond! A Nomad dedicates their lives to conflict. Seeking it out and creating chaos where none existed! They shape themselves into forces of nature, natural disasters with minds of their own. Do you know why we dedicate ourselves to facing down such creatures?"
He'd never thought about it. Amadeo had never put much thought into anything the Corvus did. They'd plucked him out of the gutter and offered him a life of luxury that a street rat like him could have only dreamed of. They wanted him to train, to get strong and to fight people in return so that was what he did. It was that or lose everything he'd gained. Somehow Amadeo thought saying that would get him into the knd of trouble he hoped to avoid though.
"Cus the people they piss off pay really good money?" Amadeo said.
Father gave a gentle laugh. "That is a welcome reward for doing so, yes. But our true reason my son... is because someone must. Nomads are agents of chaos, a blight upon this world and only though purging them can we restore order and peace to the world. This is our solemn duty. A duty you have been failing in..."
That got Amadeo to perk up and pay attention. He'd been a good student to his extended Corvus family mentors, putting in as much training time as they demanded of him so he didn't get thrown out. It was just that he didn't have any great passion for the idea of hunting people down and killing them in cold blood. It wasn't like these nomads had ever done anything to him after all. He'd stepped out and supported the older Corvus but uuuh well he'd never landed a killing blow himself.
It all just seemed so pointless! At least they went out Amadeo got to get away from the city and out into the country air but then it got ruined by getting into some deadly brawl with a kung fu obsessed drifter. He was sick of getting dragged out on meaningless murder runs. He was sick of having the risk of getting thrown out of the family hanging over his head. Too bad for this chump then that there was nothing he could do about it. The Corvus respected and answered to one thing, power. Amadeo didn't have it, so he had to live with it. Little dod Amadeo know but Father was about to give him a way out of this crappy situation that was his life.
"That is why, my son, we have decided that you are in need of a pilgrimage. You must walk the path of our enemy and witness first hand the horror they create."
Wait, what? They were letting him out? Amadeo was going to get to travel the world? See the sights, meet the people, hang out with girls his own age that didn't get off on cutting jugulars?! "F-Father, I'm honoured." Amadeo stuttered, adopting a rare tone of formality. "If you really think I'm ready-"
"Oh I don't." Father cut him off. "But there comes a time when our young must be pushed from the nest. You will find your dedication to our cause, the order shall make sure of that. You will baptise your body and soul in the blood of these devils and return to us like the prodigal son. Or the order shall make sure that you do not dishonour it."
It didn't take a genius to read the implication in his words. Amadeo gulped hard. So this was his last chance huh? Well that put any qualms he had on the matter of bagging his first kill right to the side. "Understood, Sir."
This was bad but it didn't stop Amadeo from scheming away in his own head. There was an angle here, something he could spin to his advantage, there had to be! Maybe if he did a good enough job, a great enough job, then maybe he could win his way back into Father's good graces. Everyone knew that the higher ranking Corvus had more personal freedom and got to pick their jobs. If amadeo could win himself a place in the inner circle then maybe they'd finally leave him alone and he could chill on his own terms!
All it would take was straight up murdering some unlucky monk and hobo types. That part was going to be a real drag. If Amadeo didn't want to get it in the neck then he'd have to go after some big bad nomads. Hopefully none of them would be cute girls.
FIGHTING STYLE & ABILITIES
FIGHTING STYLE Amadeo is surprisingly defensive for an assassin. The ancient Corvus technique is focused on dodging and countering, since most nomads are eager to fight it always proved pretty easy to lure them into the open and fighting on the Corvus' terms. Amadeo's version of this fighting style is primarily focused on hand to hand combat and forcing his opponent into leaving themselves open to pressure and ki point attaxks. The Corvus style relies on speed, precision and dirty tricks. This works well for Amadeo as its economically minimalist movements means he doesn't have to put more effort in than he absolutely has to.
He makes some use of ranged attacks in the form of throwing knives that keeps hidden on his person like any self respecting assassin. Amadeo also isn't above throwing dirt in someone's eyes like any assassin with no self respect.
When it comes to channeling his ki Amadeo has learned his fair share of "Dark Techniques" most of which trade outright damage attacks for ways to hinder his target and neutralise the skills nomads are so fond of using. Designed for protracted and dishonourable fights, dragging on until the target nomad wears themselves out and drains their ki, leaving them as easy prey for the killing blow.
SPECIAL MOVES & TECHNIQUES ■ Smoke StepEverybody loves smoke bombs! Amadeo throws a pellet sized bomb down at his feet and uses the confusion to dash behind his opponent for an attack to their back
■ Blades for Breathing RoomWhen things are getting too intense or when dealing with multiple enemies Amadeo scoops up a bundle of his throwing knives and throws them all at once, sending the blades out in a wide arc.
■ SideswipeWhen you need to counter a charging bull. Amadeo exerts himself to match the speed of an oncoming enemy, swiping a flash kick at their legs, knocking them off balance and letting their momentum send them face first into the ground.
■ RedirectThis one takes more effort than Amadeo likes and lacks any punch of its own. He channels his ki into concentrated shields around his hands that allows him to deflect a melee ki strike (meaning a special move of a similar level). If he's lucky Amadeo might be able to direct the attack into some other unlucky chump.
■ Numbness ChopAfter successfully dodging a melee attack Amadeo exploits the opening and chops at his opponent's attacking limb's pressure point, leaving the limb temporarily numb and limp at their side.
■ Null SlashChanneling his Ki in a similar way to that of his redirect attack. This form of ki channeling is made to nullify ranged attacks by warping their trajectory and ki stability. Assuming he can intercept it with the correct hand slash motion.
■ Joint PainOnce again needing him to get in close and successfully dodge or parry in order to leave his target open to a more precise attack.
This one aims for bodily joints, good for countering those nomads that favour wearing armour.
■ Stinging StrikeA sharp, viper like jab to the eyes. Amadeo needs to get in close for this one to work but if he can then this attack can leave his opponent's vision blurred for a time and making him harder to hit.
■ ColdsnapOne of the most agressive moves in Amadeo's arsenal. A strong strike against his target's chest aiming at the heart or lungs.
The blunt force isn't enough to permanently damage the organs but the corrupting ki that backs up the hit can temporarily slow them and in turn slow down the movements of the target for a short time.
SUPER MOVES ■ Nexus TrapThe most demanding move Amadeo knows and the most difficult to pull off, requiring multiple strikes to pinpoint accurate areas on his opponent's body. Each dark ki strike builds on the last combining to corrupt the ki flow of their target and leaving pin like shards of Amadeo's own ki in their system. These dark ki "pins" are dormant until the victim tries to channel a large amount of their own ki, at which point the "pins" turn the surging ki inwards and into itself. Effectivly causing whatever "Super Move" the nomad tries to use to self destruct in themselves.
■ Belladonna BlitzThe classics never die. For a bunch of assassins that means the old standby of using a poisoned dagger. It may not sound fancy but when Amadeo needs to he can whip out some flashy knife work, letting fly a swarm of decoy knives just so the one laced with poison can hit home. It may not deal much immediate damage but as with most Corvus techniques the reward is in the long game. This dark purple poison will eat away at the victim, hurting them over time and causing pain to lance through their body.
■ ExecutionWhen you're just done with waiting. Channeling their ki into a concentrated area, usually along the edge of their hand, the Corvus assassin turns themselves into a living blade of supernatural sharpness. Using their knowledge of anatomy and their precision strikes they can deliver a terribly clean killing blow. This attack takes a lot of concentration from the user to hone properly which is why Amadeo prefers to wear down his opponent so they can't give him too much trouble when he winds up for the execution strike if other attacks haven't worked.
WEAKNESSES & LIMITS While he has a few ranged moves thanks to his throwing knives, Amadeo's fighting style is specifically designed to counter melee fighters. Ranged fighters leave him with very little to work with and he hates having to take the initiative and go on the offensive. Especially since he's a skinny guy who relies on speed and turning his opponent's strength against them. When it comes to his own attacks Amadeo is pretty weak compared to the average nomad and his own punches don't pack much of a punch. He can't take too many hits either, since his preferred form of defense is to just not get hit or parry a strike rather than tank it.
And outside of fighting he's pretty passive. Amadeo has hopes and dreams of his own but has spent his life being a follower and has buried most of his own desires deep, preferring to go with the flow and follow other people's lead until something pushes him to a rare bout of passion.
OTHER
Corvus stage battle music/Amadeo's second theme