Nicodemus merely smiled, unperturbed by her anger. "You switch gears easily I see. I can't really tell whether you know what you want or not. Anyway . . ."
Standing straight up, he dropped his crowbar are spread his arms in a wide, inviting gesture.
"Go on ahead. This gives you a chance to 'knock me flat on my ass' and give me head trauma to boot. Better make sure that head injury is actually debilitating though. It won't be much fun otherwise."
There was no hesitation in his voice, not even a hint of worry about whether she would do it or not. To be accurate, he didn't care if she did it or not. He was simply inviting her to do it, even looking bored while doing so.
"Oh you may also want to blindfold me, that way I get taken by surprise as well. Can't have you making excuses if I do actually manage to kill it without getting bit myself of course."
APPEARANCE: Karen stands 147cm (4'10'') tall, weighing 42kg. Pale and slim, Karen doesn't care much for make-up or cosmetics, for personal and practical reasons - personal in that she thinks that she has no need of it and is completely comfortable with how she looks, and practical in that she is frugal almost to the point of penny-pinching and considers cosmetics as a waste of money. Her attire usually consists of dresses, most she made herself, that are simple to look at.
PERSONALITY: Karen has an "angelic" personality and is forgiving to the point that she believes her only purpose in life is to help others, even if she is hurt in the process. She never blames the person who has hurt her and blames the act on devils who caused the person to commit whatever sin. Whenever she is at fault, she apologizes to God rather than the person, although she doesn't mean to be rude - she's just weird that way.
However, in contrast to her angelic persona, she also loves teasing people and exploiting others’ emotional vulnerability. Upon discovery of an individual’s weak spot, she enjoys bringing it out to light in front of all the other characters. While this antagonizes many people and causes much outrage and humiliation, she remains calm. Caren however will not go too far with this, so long as she isn't forced to. Most of the time she uses it for harmless teasing. Basically, Karen likes to troll people.
Karen insists on acting on her standards of grace and etiquette in every situation. She does not panic or overreact and always maintains a pristine and untouched persona. Even in the face of people who consider her enemies or show her open hostility, she will not so much as frown, in fact, she would still be very polite with them. Of course, this same grace is applied to her teasing.
She is a devout Catholic, as strange as it may seem, and often quotes from scriptures or phrases from the Bible mostly for her own convenience, but when she wants to, she is actually quite wise in going about their use.
Despite her calm and unaffected persona, she is cunning, perceptive, efficient and a surprisingly ruthless person for someone who was placed into Gryffindor. In fact, many are surprised she is in the house at all - it seems she would make a much better Slytherin.
She is somewhat of a mad-scientist, as she is prone to experimenting with different spell, potions, etc.
Her personality greatly resembles her fathers.
HISTORY:
Karen's mother was a well traveled witch, who was also a known duelist. Because of her abrasive attitude, she got into plenty of fights. In one of these fights she was cursed heavily using ancient Dark Magic and no magic could break it. While searching desperately for a cure, she bumped into Kyle Antonius, who was not a deacon at the time. The man realizing that she was distressed but not knowing the reason, offered her a prayer and a free meal. The next day the curse had disappeared.
The two met with each other constantly after that, both their interests in each other piqued. What then started as an awkward friendship with much arguments turned into love, and they were eventually married.
When Karen was born, a similar miracle occurred; at the exact day of her birth, many people found that they were cured from sickness, even terminal patients were cured. Claudia linked it to magic, Kyle's father called it a miracle, while Kyle said it was magic that came from a miracle.
As Karen grew, her fascination with the suffering and helping of others became evident, much to her fathers delight. Much to her mothers dismay, however, she also inherited her fathers wonderful personality. Karen developed an interest in healing magic, however she is extremely unconventional with the way she does things, which makes people worry.
Magic
WAND: Fig Tree, slightly elastic, 15 inches; Simurgh feather core. It's sturdy, but bendy. Varnished in pure black.
BOGGART: An image of a tall, shadowy giant looms in front of her, while burning in a fire surrounding her are the bodies of everyone she has ever met.
PATRONUS:
TALENT: Owing to her mother and father, Karen is an accidental prodigy at Defense Against the Dark Arts, though it is neither her favorite nor her least favored class. A class she is equally good at and is her favorite, is Charms. Her best spell is the Protego Charm, of which she is able to cast both non-verbally and with modifiers, though not at the same time.
WEAKNESS: Her worst class is probably Care for Magical Creatures - wild animals just tend to dislike her for whatever reason. Asides from that, she's terrible at most Hexes and is almost incapable of casting a curse.
Other
PET: A White Tailed Eagle
EXTRA: Her personal possessions consist of a Bible, Rosary, golden cross, and a red enchanted scarf; it's enchanted to bind men specifically. So long as it's wrapped around them, they will be unable to move unless they're attacked by something. The scarf was a gift from her mother that Karen uses with great effect.
Nicodemus frowned and dropped everything he was holding. A scream was bad for two things - one, it meant that there were zombies abound that somehow posed a threat, and two, if they didn't pose a threat, they would soon. Noise, noise such as a scream of terror, was all kinds of bad. The area was clear of shamblers in the immediate vicinity, but that didn't mean there weren't more around. They would come, as surely as night followed day.
Crowbar in hand, Nicodemus scanned the area for the horde of attacking zombies . . . then slowly lowered it as he caught sight of the thing that elicited a scream from Jessica.
His face practically screaming disapproval, he said, "Give me back my concern," in the most deadpan way possible. And for him, that was very deadpan. "All this trouble over a single shambler . . . its a wonder how you aren't dead yet."
Shaking his head, he crouched near the girl, removing her hands from her face, forcing her to look at him dead in the eyes.
"There is no going back to normal. Not now, and not even in a few years. The home you know is gone, the life you know is gone, replaced by a life with the threat of the guillotine constantly hanging over your head. This is the reality of the situation, whether you accept it or not.
"So now, you have three options: one, stay safe in the fantasy that things will go 'back to normal' and slowly drive yourself insane with an unfulfillable wish, two, accept reality and die here. Or three, accept the reality, stop crying and get up and walk. Your choice Jessica."
Nicomedes stands at 6ft tall with light blonde hair. Always immaculate, always calm, his green eyes never betray his intentions. Slim and statuesque, Nicomedes is nevertheless an intimidating figure.
"What worth is knowledge without the price for which it is paid?"
Name: Nicomedes Solomon Boreas
Nicknames/Titles: Watcher, Demon Professor, Wiseman
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Magic:
Falsefyre: Nicomedes flames do not burn, nor do they have any heat - instead, he has perverted the concept of flame so that it freezes instead. Everything the flame touches is coated in deep frost. When a living creature is subjected to the flame, it causes a supernatural frostbite that cannot be healed easily - even with magic. Also, those that can use magic will find they cannot channel magic through the frostbitten limb, even with a catalyst. Frostbitten objects become fragile and easily broken. Also, Falsefyre can corrupt already existing flames, creating more Falsefyre in the process. It is the bane of all fire users.
Miasmic Wind: Nicomedes taints the wind he controls, making it toxic to the touch. The more miasma the victim has been subjected to, the less control over the body they have, until eventually, they are totally paralyzed. Additionally, those that inhale the wind are driven into a frenzy, where they can no longer tell between friend and foe. The more concentrated the air, the quicker the effect take place.
Trauma Bared: Everyone has experiences some sort of trauma, from minor to major ones. Nicomedes can bring these traumas to the forefront of their mind, and they are forced to relive it at random moments once the spell is cast.
Many Faces: Prevents people from being able to see or recognize the faces of other people. They cannot find anything distinguishable about the faces of people and therefore cannot interact with them normally.
That Which Is Recalled: Nicomedes can manipulate the memory of an individual - he cannot destroy or add memories, however, he can confuse the feelings associated with those memories; memories of love can become ones of hate, traumatic incidents can become fond ones, etc. The effects of the spell lasts from a single day to a week, at which point, the new memories are forcefully reconciled with the old.
Spirits of the Failed Youth: Nicomedes is capable of summoning a peculiar brand of spirit - the spirits of the young, the disappointed, those youths that bear a grudge against the world that snuffed the candle of their life before it had even begun to burn. They can do no damage to a person physically, however, the weight of their grudge is dark and heavy, and bears down on the soul. Nicomedes can only summon these spirits; he cannot control them.
Spirits of the Future Wished: The opposite spectrum of Spirits of the Failed Youth, Spirits of the Future Wished are those that died early, yet bear no grudge. Instead, they passed on, content with the world with only one wish left behind - that those left behind carry on their wishes, and live life to the fullest. Their wish carries equal weight to the grudge of the Failed Youth, however, when in contact with living people faced with depression, helps to encourage them instead. Likewise, Nicomedes cannot control them once summoned. Exorcising these spirits feels like kicking a puppy, so do so at your own discretion.
Those That Evil Possess: Nicomedes most malicious, and one true offensive summoning. Those That Evil Possess summons evil spirits, that bring out and magnify all the evil and negative emotions of people to the forefront. Exorcising increases in difficulty depending on how deep a persons evil runs. They gain strength depending on how suppressed a persons malicious desires or evil intentions are. Unlike Failed Youth and Future Wished, Nicomedes can control these spirits, and they follow him willingly.
Alchemy - An accomplished Alchemist, although most of his skills are concentrated into making elixirs, and not so much as active transmutation. Strengths: Nicomedes magic, when used in the right situation, is extremely difficult to counter, even with conventional weaknesses. Moreover, most of his magics gain strength the more emotional turmoil his targets suffer. His magic is designed to break bonds and weaken friendships, while at the same time becoming more effective the more isolated his targets are.
Weaknesses: If proper conditions are not met, then his magic becomes ineffective. Also, a major weakness of all of his Mentis magic is that it requires physical contact to work. Above all, person with immense emotional strength can withstand his spells.
Catalyst: Leather gloves with runes drawn on them. The gloves are heavily enchanted and can be used to block or redirect magical projectiles. They also increase the strength of fire magic.
Other Skills: Despite his slim looks, he's a highly competent fighter in close combat, capable of fighting hand-to-hand, or using weapons. While he's competent with most conventional weaponry, he excels in fighting with a sword or a baton. He is also a confident speaker, able to project his voice across a crowded room, and is able to compel people to listen to him using his voice alone.
Inventory:
A notebook, filled with cryptograms and codes. The notebook contains sensitive information that he was able to gather on students and teachers alike.
A retractable steel baton, enchanted to be extra durable.
A handheld digicam.
"Knowledge, the specter of a thousands eyes crying tears of blood. The hands of infants reach out to grab its targets ears and make them listen, to the lies they spout, and the measuring scale it has for ears knows the truth in every lie told. Nothing is a secret from them.
A specter that unfailingly discerns between truths and lies. It has the ability to haunt its targets with the truth that they wish to bury, and can create illusions that reflect these truths. An immensely powerful spirit, it can not be dispelled or exorcised until its target has admitted the truth it wishes to reveal. Knowledge can only affect one person and cannot change targets until Nicomedes recall it or its target admits.
"Companion takes the shape of an androgynous child, with a void where its face should have been. Its skin is pale and cold, and rot covers its hands and arms."
A spirit of disagreement. Companion is a relatively weak spirit with no actual use asides housework. However, it gains power once in the presence of arguing companions, friends, or lovers. At the peak of every argument, Companion lashes out on one of the arguing persons, attempting to devour them body and soul. Once devoured, the victim is subject to endless horrors from within it's stomach. Companion then turns to the next arguin person, until all the persons involved have been devoured. Extremely difficult to exorcise, the easiest way to stop its ravenous feeding is for the arguing parties to settle their differences decisively.
Personality: Sadistic, manipulative, and ultimately, a teacher. These three traits define Nicomedes. He is a man obsessed with other people's pain and suffering, and is cunning and charming enough to enact the plans he needs to witness these desires in reality. However, he does not enjoy pain without purpose; he lives by a motto that all the best lessons are those hard won by trudging through trials. He believes the best students are those that learn through fire and brimstone, and he enjoys the destination equally as much as the journey.
Backstory: A man who grew up into magic, he was irritated with the the incompetence of his instructors. Still, he found there was a certain kind of thrill as he watched his fellow students struggle with their lessons under the guidance of substandard instructors. Behind the backs of his teachers, he taught his classmates magic and also encouraged them to skip classes and ignore the other teachers. Soon enough the teachers were put under mounting pressure as they lost more and more students. Their jobs were in danger and they were forced to put effort into their teachings. Nicomedes watched with delight as they struggled and panicked and ultimately, those teachers that managed to improve their lessons once again found students attending their class, while those that remained incompetent found that they had lost the patronage of the kids families, and consequently their jobs. This was the way Nicomedes conducted his life, up until he entered Montagne Academy, after the school he previously worked in closed due to the director committing suicide due to 'work-related stress'. Needless to say, he looks forward to his time here.
"Place Holder For Actual Picture"
Meruin is short, standing at 4'10'' in height, with short black hair that curls inwardly at the tips. She's very slim-looking and doesn't weigh very much. Her eyes are a grey-green color, and naturally droops at the sides, giving her a fittingly sleepy look. Her skin is very pale and white.
"The pursuit of knowledge is an endless one, but its worth is only measured by finite objectives."
Name: Meruin Hazy
Nicknames/Titles: Ghost, Seeker, Witch
Age: 14
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Sexuality: Asexual
Magic:
Hazy Moon: Meruin is primarily a follower of the Mentis school of magic, and as such is most proficient in it. Her main magic in this school is the aptly named Hazy Moon. Simply put, Meruin create's a field and within that field is a 'beacon'. The beacon, though lacking in substance, can take any form Meruin wishes it to take - in other words, it can look like a person, object, or animal - and can move anywhere inside the field. This beacon interacts with the mind to create 'phantom sensations', sensations that feel real, however only distantly, such as if it was something remembered from a long time ago or something experienced from a particularly vivid dream. The longer one interacts with the beacon, however, the more these phantom sensations become 'real', to the point that what it does and its effects on the body are irrelevant to the actual reality of the situation. If the beacon is solidified by that point, Hazy Moon continues to be active even if Meruin is no longer conscious. This spell requires a huge amount of mana to maintain, so at most, Meruin can keep it up for an hour or so.
Psychomotive: Psychomotive is a magic that creates an illusion of 'motive feelings', by controlling the feeling of fatigue, joy, anger, disappointment, triumph, etc. By manipulating these feelings, Meruin creates conditions of confidence (or overconfidence) or disappointment (or depression) and can also manipulate the feeling of 'effort' in an action. Psychomotive works like an airborne disease, in that the longer someone stays in its area of effect, the easier it is to manipulate their feelings. Meruin, however, can use it instantaneously on herself.
Omniscient Sky: Meruin connects the thoughts and associated feelings of a whole crowd together. Useful for teamwork or general chaos, depending on whose minds are connected. One large drawback is of Omniscient Sky is that there is no hiding your thoughts once connected, so avoid getting linked with someone you'd rather not let in your mind. In order to use Omniscient Sky, Meruin has to have the contracted permission of the people involved. Said contracts may not always be apparent when first given.
Death of the Heart: Under the effects of this spell, strong emotions die, and the target cannot feel anything Meruin does not permit. Unlike Meruins other spells, does not require an area of effect to be set up, however, contractual permission is needed. Meruin can use it on herself as well.
Eyes and Soul: By placing a seal down, Meruin can connect her mind with the location of where the seal is and project her mind and personality into it. Temporarily leaves her body devoid of personality and function, rendering it a literal empty shell for the time Meruin leaves. Unlike most of Meruin's spells, it does not require setting up beforehand.
Herald Pain: This magic needs direct eye contact in Meruin's area of effect for it to take hold of the mind. Once contact has been made, Meruin and her target will share the same bodily sensations of pain and pleasure. Still, this is all in the mind, so nothing is actually happening to the body of the one being affected by the spell.
Fluid Memoriam: A straightforward spell. Meruin can transfer a copy of her memories to someone or something. The memories last so long as Meruin wishes it to, or unless the person or container holding the memory is destroyed, or the spell itself is overwritten.
Immuto: Sensory Deprivation: Meruin can cut off a sense of the body. The process is akin to an operation without anesthesia, and requires about half an hour to do and constant contact to the body while underway. Reversing the effects takes the same amount of time.
Alchemy: Long Distance Transmutation: Meruin can transmute objects from a distance, so long as it is visible to her, and inside her area of effect. The speed of her transmutations changes depending on the size of the object she is modifying. For objects weighing less than 50 pounds, she can do an almost instant transmutation, on or at that weight, however, the speed drops to approximately +10 seconds per pound added. Also, while Meruin can only transmute an object if she knows what its made of. She is not able to transmute living objects unless, for whatever reason, their magic resistance is nullified.
Potion Maker: Meruin makes drugs, ranging from recreational to poison to medicinal uses. Depending on the simplicity of the potion, Meruin can transmute and create instantly, so long as the necessary ingredients are gathered. As the complexity of the concoction increases, Meruin must do the making by hand and with the necessary tools.
Sanctum: Contract Summon: Meruin can contract with demonic or nature spirits and request for their assistance.
Contractual Possession: Meruin has four spirits under her contract that she allows to possess her body. Said number can increase if she finds interest in a spirit. Even if the spirits possess her body, they cannot do anything her body is not capable of.
Heather - the spirit of a 35 year old porn star that was murdered by an obsessed fan.
Dino - an American scientist and physicist that helped design the atomic bomb that landed on Japan.
Donna - a German psychologist. She irritates Dino.
Publius Scipio Africanus - her favorite contracted spirit. A roman military commander and statesman that drove off Hannibal Barca during the Second Punic War.
Strengths: The two greatest strengths of Meruin's magic is subtlety and absoluteness. Her spells do not look obvious and give no indication that they are being cast - she does not even need to chant for them to begin taking effect, merely concentrate - and can quickly take effect without notice. Even better than its subtlety is the strength of its hold once it takes effect. Also, her wide range of spells allows her to compound the effects for greater utility.
Weaknesses: All of her magic, asides from her alchemy, has a long cast time and strict requirements for them to be effective. Also, they are easily broken by influence from those outside the area of effect of her spells. Meruin can only pick a number of people to target with her spells, and in order to include new people in her area of effect, she has to undo and redo her spell. Her spells are also individually inflexible, barring Hazy Moon. The fact that she has a wide range of spells to cast from only hides the fact that her spells have very limited usage, and in order for them to be of any use in combat, Meruin has to be both insanely meticulous in her pre-battle preparations, and efficient with the use of her spells.
All of the weaknesses of her magic can be summed up with a simple explanation: Meruin is primarily a researcher, and her magic reflects that. She just so happened to learn how to use it for battle as a necessity.
Catalyst: A silver ring with a single sapphire embedded on it, and and a large collection of ceremonial and ritual daggers made from varying metals. She has one notable daggers: A large, serrated, obsidian dagger of Mayan descent/. All her daggers have been modified to serve as catalysts for her magic.
Lastly, Meruin uses amulets and seals as a means to increase the range of effect of her magic.
The obsidian dagger, "Artful Sacrifice", stores all the blood it has ever drawn, until Meruin releases it. Also, wounds from the dagger cannot close via unnatural (magic) means. It is Meruin's primary tool for ritualistic magics. It measures at approx. 13 in. in length, and 4 in. in width.
Other Skills: An excellent cook, though she seldom has need to show it. Likewise, she is also a talented singer, even if she speaks little - unless it comes to her research. She can also paint and sketch accurately and beautifully - if directed. She herself has no actual artistic sense.
Inventory: Her catalysts asides, Meruin regularly carries a satchel around with her, containing a handful of concoctions - magical or otherwise - with varying uses. In general, she carries restoratives, hallucinogenics, or poisons, although the effects could change drastically depending on whether she mixes them or not.
Familiar: None, so far.
Personality: Meticulous, silent, and observant.
Meruin is a researcher to the core, and uses any and every method all in the interest of new discoveries. She is aware of social norms, however does not care for most of them, preferring logic and directness over propriety, however, she is aware that some things are not touched on. She understands the personalities of different people, but lacks empathy as she does not care if it does not concern her. Still, she values relationships highly, despite - or even because of - her personality.
She is obsessed with her research and can even forget to eat in her obsession. She is not a fighter, however, she will fight if it is necessary to push her research forward.
Backstory: Meruin's family, much to her surprise, came from a long family of mages. Once, they were quickly on the fast track to becoming a powerful and renowned family in the world of magic, however, the birth of a certain man in the family quickly crushed that rise. Among the family, he was black-sheep, unable to cast even the most basic of magics. Rather than give up quietly or try some other method, the man decided to start a revolution within the family - that is to say, he managed to somehow convince half of the family that magic was unnecessary to them and a simple detriment to finding a happy life, and that it should be forgotten entirely if they wanted to be truly happy. His radical notions started a civil war within Meruin's family, causing its most gifted and magically capable members to die out rapidly. By the time the conflict was over, the remaining members were either inept or disinterested with magic. Such as Meruin's father. He grew up mediocre and encouraged his kids to be the same, telling them that being great was just simply cause for conflict. And Meruin hated the man that she called father to her core. Meruin hated her father more than anyone in her entire life - he was the first and only person she could actually say she hated - and cursed him and her mother and siblings for buying into his ideology of leading a mediocre life. Meruin felt that if she really tried, she could become great - no, not just great, but singular. A special existence. And that was when she discovered she was magic. Her father was aghast of course, but Meruin was ecstatic. More than just being magic, it seemed Meruin was a throwback to when the family still had mages with prodigious magic reserves. Despite her fathers efforts to stamp out her magic, to dissuade her from practicing it, Meruin still managed to contact her uncle - the only one she knew was still an active mage, even if he wasn't very skilled. The uncle managed to secure her a place in Montagne Academy via a contact of his, and Meruin said goodbye to her family on board a boat to the Academy's island. She has not looked back since.
Member
