Dido paused and offered an apologetic look, "I got ahead of myself. We should have gotten introductions out of the way to begin with."
She quickly crossed back across the room to her master, "Golem creation though. That seems it would be a very useful skill, especially for one who also practices rituals." She gave her master a smile and added, "I was married to a priest and know something of the arts myself, perhaps I could help you later, if there's time."
"Back to the subject at hand though," Dido said and gave a thoughtful look for only a moment before saying, "Adjusting some existing clothes would probably be easiest and fastest, so let's do that. Perhaps the garb of a man would help disguise me, at least until we have an idea of who we are fighting."
The ritual circle began to glow an intense light as it drew a servant from the throne and the power to manifest their form from the grail. As the shapeless thing summoned took form and became the servant, the light began to fade from the circle and they were left standing in the dark room again. Standing inside the circle was a woman wearing a dress of red and gold.
As the summoning subsided, Dido took in her surroundings, and her summoner, her master. The darkness and the cramped space mattered little to her, much less than her reincarnation and the battle for the grail. The grail was what was important, and she would crush and burn all who stood in her way.
"Congratulations, my master," Dido said as she stepped from the summoning circle. She raised her hand and let her black flames dance across her hands with a smirk, "You have brought forth your key to the grail, and I will burn away your foes."
"Some know me as Dido, others as Elissa. You know me as I am now, as Avenger. My fire and passion shall be your sword and the walls of great Carthage your shield. This war its grail will be ours." She paused and looked down at her clothing, "Perhaps we should find something less conspicuous for me to wear. It would be useful to remain material and not draw too much attention."
When her NP is active, she becomes a charred, corpse, wreathed in coal-black flame. As the skin burns, blackens, flakes away, more grows in to replace it. Then that too is exposed to the all-devouring fire which surrounds her. Yet she still moves.
Name: Elissa/Dido
Title(s): Queen of Carthage
Class: Avenger
Gender: Female
Birth and Death Dates: 840 BC-760 BC
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Personality: Dido joined the war, to win the grail and finalize her revenge. As a servant, her only loyalties are to herself and her master. However she is very volatile, but she won’t undermine her own goals by killing her master. Outside of combat she will show contempt for those others and pure animosity for her eternal foes. In a fight she will release all of her pent of hatred against her foe, fighting with the fury of the fire that consumes her.
Bio: When Dido married Acerbas, Pygmalion, her father, slew Acerbas in secret in a bid for Acerbas' wealth. Dido, desiring to escape Tyre, expressed a wish to move into Pygmalion's palace, but then ordered the attendants whom Pygmalion sent to aid in the move, to throw all Acerbas' bags of gold into the sea as an offering to his spirit. In fact these bags contained only sand. Dido then persuaded the attendants to join her in flight to another land rather than face Pygmalion's anger when he discovered what had supposedly become of Acerbas' wealth. Some senators also joined her in her flight.
Eventually Dido and her followers arrived on the coast of North Africa where Dido asked the Berber king Iarbas for a small bit of land for a temporary refuge until she could continue her journeying, only as much land as could be encompassed by an oxhide. They agreed. Dido cut the oxhide into fine strips so that she had enough to encircle an entire nearby hill, which was therefore afterwards named Byrsa "hide". That would become their new home. Many of the local Berbers joined the settlement and both Berbers and envoys from the nearby Phoenician city of Utica urged the building of a city. The city was named Carthage.
During her reign as queen, Dido showed surviving heroes of the Trojan War great hospitality. Dido met Aeneas and promised to supply his ships. She asks him to give her the true story of the fall of Troy, which he does in detail, describing the death of Priam, the loss of his own wife and his escape with his son Ascanius and other survivors. During their time together, Dido becomes smitten with Aeneas. Venus, however, interferes, having plans for Aeneas. Venus sends Mercury to send Aeneas to Italy to fulfill his destiny. In a bid to rid himself of a rival, Iarbas supplies Aeneas, while simultaneously pressuring Dido for her hand in marriage. Aeneas tells Dido that he must leave, and despite her imploring him to ignore Venus' command, Aeneas sails for Italy. As Aeneas' fleet leaves, Dido proclaims endless hate between Carthage and the children of Troy.
Dido then has her sister build a funeral pyre to burn all the things that remind her of Aeneas. Once the pyre was built and lit, Dido ascended to the pyre, took a sword left behind by Aeneas, plunged it into her chest, and fell into the fire. Despite the burns and her wounds, Dido survived until shortly after Iris arrived to release her soul.
Weapon: N/A
Parameters:
Strength: E
Endurance: C
Agility: C
Mana: B
Luck: E
Class Skills: Avenger: B - Dido takes all of her anger and curses and even those of her foes and internalizes it to fuel her own will to fight. It drives her to push further and reach deeper in her search for vengeance. The more her foes lash out at her the harder and longer she can fight back. The rate of mana generation becomes higher when receiving damage.
Memory Correction: A - Dido carries with her a burning hatred in her core, that shall never be extinguished. Her hatred for the Trojans and their descendants overshadows all other emotion, pushing her to strike her harshest blows against those she cursed on her death pyre. Critical hits are stronger.
Self-replenishment(Mana): B - As an avenger, Dido’s wrath sustains her. Her magical energy gradually regenerates on its own as her hatred and curses drive her toward revenge. Recovers a miniscule amount of mana each turn.
Personal Skills:
High Speed Divine Words: C - Having been trained by a Massylian priestess, Dido has a working knowledge of spells and curses, as well as the importance of words in these matters. She can cast five count magecraft as a single action.
Clairvoyance: B+ - Before fleeing to Africa, Dido was greeted by the sight of her husband in a vision, revealing his treasure to her. After her betrayal by Aeneas, she also beseeched Hannibal Barca to destroy her enemies with her dying breaths and curse. Combined with Memory Correction, this allows for a form of future sight.
Battle Continuation: B - Dido is extremely resilient, fueled by her unbridled rage, she can sustain herself through multiple lethal wounds. In her fury at the Trojans, Dido stabbed a sword through her own chest, lit herself on fire, and did not die until Iris came to take a lock of her hair to the underworld and released her soul.
Name: Ater Ignis
Title: The Pyre's Vengeful Flames
Rank: C
NP Type: Anti-Unit(self)
Range: 0-2
Maximum Number of Targets: 1
Description: Dido is ensnared in coal black flames, a creation of her curses and hatred toward herself and her enemies, the descendants of Troy. The flames themselves burn not only the flesh, but also the soul and even magical barriers. Owing in part to her self-immolating on the pyre her sister built, Dido can manipulate the poisonous flames that engulf her and the curses they draw to her. She also has an innate immunity to poison and mental effects, thanks to the flames.
When she releases the full fury of this phantasm and the curses she has attained, the flames the engulf her take on the form of a gigantic pyre, her pyre. The pyre increases the range of her flames and inflicts debilitating curses on those scorched by its flames. This comes with a high mana cost.
-------------------------------------------
Name: Byrsa
Title: The Great Walls of Carthage
Rank: B
NP Type: Barrier
Range: 1~20
Maximum Number of Targets: 1~20
Description: Originally, when Carthage was founded, the thin strips of oxhide that Dido laid out to claim the land for the city served as an imaginary border. Eventually those borders became the walls of the great city on the hill.
Those mighty walls served to protect Carthage and her people in the past, now Dido can recreate them around herself and others using oxhide. The barrier created holds up against her foes with the strength of those walls that in the past held back Carthage’s foes. It serves as both fortress for her and cage for her foes, depending on the situation.
When her NP is active, she becomes a charred, corpse, wreathed in coal-black flame. As the skin burns, blackens, flakes away, more grows in to replace it. Then that too is exposed to the all-devouring fire which surrounds her. Yet she still moves.
Name: Elissa/Dido
Title(s): Queen of Carthage
Class: Avenger
Gender: Female
Birth and Death Dates: 840 BC-760 BC
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Personality: Dido joined the war, to win the grail and finalize her revenge. As a servant, her only loyalties are to herself and her master. However she is very volatile, but she won’t undermine her own goals by killing her master. Outside of combat she will show contempt for those others and pure animosity for her eternal foes. In a fight she will release all of her pent of hatred against her foe, fighting with the fury of the fire that consumes her.
Bio: When Dido married Acerbas, Pygmalion, her father, slew Acerbas in secret in a bid for Acerbas' wealth. Dido, desiring to escape Tyre, expressed a wish to move into Pygmalion's palace, but then ordered the attendants whom Pygmalion sent to aid in the move, to throw all Acerbas' bags of gold into the sea as an offering to his spirit. In fact these bags contained only sand. Dido then persuaded the attendants to join her in flight to another land rather than face Pygmalion's anger when he discovered what had supposedly become of Acerbas' wealth. Some senators also joined her in her flight.
Eventually Dido and her followers arrived on the coast of North Africa where Dido asked the Berber king Iarbas for a small bit of land for a temporary refuge until she could continue her journeying, only as much land as could be encompassed by an oxhide. They agreed. Dido cut the oxhide into fine strips so that she had enough to encircle an entire nearby hill, which was therefore afterwards named Byrsa "hide". That would become their new home. Many of the local Berbers joined the settlement and both Berbers and envoys from the nearby Phoenician city of Utica urged the building of a city. The city was named Carthage.
During her reign as queen, Dido showed surviving heroes of the Trojan War great hospitality. Dido met Aeneas and promised to supply his ships. She asks him to give her the true story of the fall of Troy, which he does in detail, describing the death of Priam, the loss of his own wife and his escape with his son Ascanius and other survivors. During their time together, Dido becomes smitten with Aeneas. Venus, however, interferes, having plans for Aeneas. Venus sends Mercury to send Aeneas to Italy to fulfill his destiny. In a bid to rid himself of a rival, Iarbas supplies Aeneas, while simultaneously pressuring Dido for her hand in marriage. Aeneas tells Dido that he must leave, and despite her imploring him to ignore Venus' command, Aeneas sails for Italy. As Aeneas' fleet leaves, Dido proclaims endless hate between Carthage and the children of Troy.
Dido then has her sister build a funeral pyre to burn all the things that remind her of Aeneas. Once the pyre was built and lit, Dido ascended to the pyre, took a sword left behind by Aeneas, plunged it into her chest, and fell into the fire. Despite the burns and her wounds, Dido survived until shortly after Iris arrived to release her soul.
Weapon: N/A
Parameters:
Strength: E
Endurance: C
Agility: C
Mana: B
Luck: E
Class Skills: Avenger: B - Dido takes all of her anger and curses and even those of her foes and internalizes it to fuel her own will to fight. It drives her to push further and reach deeper in her search for vengeance. The more her foes lash out at her the harder and longer she can fight back. The rate of mana generation becomes higher when receiving damage.
Memory Correction: A - Dido carries with her a burning hatred in her core, that shall never be extinguished. Her hatred for the Trojans and their descendants overshadows all other emotion, pushing her to strike her harshest blows against those she cursed on her death pyre. Critical hits are stronger.
Self-replenishment(Mana): B - As an avenger, Dido’s wrath sustains her. Her magical energy gradually regenerates on its own as her hatred and curses drive her toward revenge. Recovers a miniscule amount of mana each turn.
Personal Skills:
High Speed Divine Words: C - Having been trained by a Massylian priestess, Dido has a working knowledge of spells and curses, as well as the importance of words in these matters. She can cast five count magecraft as a single action.
Clairvoyance: B+ - Before fleeing to Africa, Dido was greeted by the sight of her husband in a vision, revealing his treasure to her. After her betrayal by Aeneas, she also beseeched Hannibal Barca to destroy her enemies with her dying breaths and curse. Combined with Memory Correction, this allows for a form of future sight.
Battle Continuation: B - Dido is extremely resilient, fueled by her unbridled rage, she can sustain herself through multiple lethal wounds. In her fury at the Trojans, Dido stabbed a sword through her own chest, lit herself on fire, and did not die until Iris came to take a lock of her hair to the underworld and released her soul.
Name: Ater Ignis
Title: The Pyre's Vengeful Flames
Rank: C
NP Type: Anti-Unit(self)
Range: 0-2
Maximum Number of Targets: 1
Description: Dido is ensnared in coal black flames, a creation of her curses and hatred toward herself and her enemies, the descendants of Troy. The flames themselves burn not only the flesh, but also the soul and even magical barriers. Owing in part to her self-immolating on the pyre her sister built, Dido can manipulate the poisonous flames that engulf her and the curses they draw to her. She also has an innate immunity to poison and mental effects, thanks to the flames.
When she releases the full fury of this phantasm and the curses she has attained, the flames the engulf her take on the form of a gigantic pyre, her pyre. The pyre increases the range of her flames and inflicts debilitating curses on those scorched by its flames. This comes with a high mana cost.
-------------------------------------------
Name: Byrsa
Title: The Great Walls of Carthage
Rank: B
NP Type: Barrier
Range: 1~20
Maximum Number of Targets: 1~20
Description: Originally, when Carthage was founded, the thin strips of oxhide that Dido laid out to claim the land for the city served as an imaginary border. Eventually those borders became the walls of the great city on the hill.
Those mighty walls served to protect Carthage and her people in the past, now Dido can recreate them around herself and others using oxhide. The barrier created holds up against her foes with the strength of those walls that in the past held back Carthage’s foes. It serves as both fortress for her and cage for her foes, depending on the situation.
Can't say this is the prettiest character sheet I've ever made but here's one for a servant.
XC-13 surveyed the battlefield as the republic retreated and the cult pursued. The bodies of cultists and republic troopers littered the field, as well as the husks of crashed transports, many still smoking. That was of little consequence though, as the droid was more focused on surveying the surviving enemies. There seemed to be something going on by one of the transports, a single figure looking to recover someone or something. XC classified that as potentially important, but ultimately pointless if the rest of the task force was crushed. Past the field of corpses and smoking husks, XC could see the retreating Republic forces and the pursuing cultists. That would make the retreating task force and its' commanders the droid's priority.
With a target set, XC set out at a run to catch up to, and keep pace with, the retreating forces. XC could try and shoot the republic forces as it pursued, but that would mean it may also shoot friendlies, and while the cultists were expendable, they were also useful as fighters and fodder. Ultimately the droid was resigned to follow until the republic turned to fight back.
As the ground shook and the mercs died, it mattered little to XC-13 just as it mattered little to the cult. Their only loyalty was money, as such they were even more expendable than the members of the cult, themselves. Rather than concern himself with the loss of life or defenses, the droid adjusted the setting on his sonic blaster to its maximum setting, checked that his flamethrower was functioning with a small burst, and readied his heavy blaster.
Once the bombing runs had ended, the rest of the cultists moved out into the ruins to repel the republic troops, and XC joined them. As he moved forward, toward the defensive fighting positions, he fired his blaster from his hip, more to suppress than to wound, as even a droid would have trouble being accurate with such a weapon without aiming and at such range. As he walked to the trenches blaster bolts whipped past his head, but XC was programmed not to know fear, of course he was also programmed to self-preserve, so he set up at the nearest trench, propping his blaster on the lip of trench and using that to help brace his aim.
XC could have chosen a target or a direction to fire, instead he chose to attack multiple republic groups. From a compartment in his abdomen, he produced a thermal detonator and 2 gas grenades. He lobbed the detonator into a cluster of confused looking commandos who appeared to be trying to rally. He then lobbed the two gas grenades at two larger groups, knowing they probably wouldn't kill but would probably disorient the troops with the cloud they created. Through the bodies he could catch glimpses of a red saber, but members of the cult could take care of themselves or they are dead weight. With that taken care of, he returned to his blaster, occasionally traversing across a group standing in the opening, but focusing his shots at the cover and over the heads of troops who'd found protection, to keep them getting brave.
-A heavy repeating blaster, basically a high rate of fire blaster LMG
-An old ballistic scattergun
-An automatic slug rifle He also carries a wrist mounted flamethrower on his right arm, fed by a fuel tank in the right side of his torso, and a sonic blaster mounted in his left arm. On top of this he carries an arsenal of grenades of various types, including sonic disruptors, poisonous gasses, fragmentation grenades, and thermal detonators. Equipment - Though he has no need for the useless items the meatbags use, XC-13 carries a repair kit to perform minor self repairs like damaged or stuck components or simple replacements. He also carries signal flares and a grappling hook. Built into his head are a comm system and multiple vision systems that let him see heat signatures and a low light amplification mode.
Skills
In Plain Sight - As a sort of commando, meant to operate behind enemy lines, XC-13 is meant to use the din of combat to avoid detection find priority targets.
Weapons Master - XC-13 is capable of wielding most any kind of weapon, from long rifles and snipers to anti-armor weapons and launchers, to even sabers, though he won't fight with the skill of a jedi he also won't cut his own head off.
Flaws
Its an Older Model - While his body is shiny and new, some of his components are salvaged from an older droid, even his core and some of his code, leading to some bugs in his system. such is to be expected from an experiment.
Meatbags - XC-13 is blunt. Brutally blunt. He is not a protocol droid and has no time for flowery language or dancing around the point. Expect him to not soften the blow.
Personality - XC-13 is loyal to a fault to Okussus. As a combat droid, his personality is lacking in friendliness and compassion. He will shoot allies if he deems them a threat to the cult, and he takes a particular joy in killing his opponents. He is a droid with very little on his mind aside from defending the cult and killing its enemies. Backstory - Invented by a scientist of the Cult of Okussus, XC-13 has very little in the way of a story. He is the thirteenth experimental unit invented by the cult, and his last 9 months have been spent alternating between the labs and running tests and exercises in "the field" to test his components and programming. Though he is built partially with components of an older droid, his memory core was wiped so he has no recollection of his past incarnation, other than it was an outdated war droid. Backstory - Invented by a scientist of the Cult of Okussus, XC-13 has very little in the way of a story. He is the thirteenth experimental unit invented by the cult, and his last 9 months have been spent alternating between the labs and running tests and exercises in "the field" to test his components and programming. Considering there had been 12 previous versions of XC, many of the major problems in the system had already been worked out, and the various tests were to find and fix minor flaws and kinks. Many of these were designed to test marksmanship or to work on the mobility of the droid's frame. They even shot him a couple times to test the durability and craftsmanship of the frame.
Once they were sure that XC-13 could shoot straight enough and move fast enough, it was time to run an actual combat test. XC-13 was attached to a raiding party and joined them on the edge of republic space, where he took part in raids on three planets. On one raid, the raiders were having a particularly hard to breaking the defenders. To break the defenders, XC used the chaos of the raid to infiltrate past the defenders and kill the garrison commander. He then slagged the communications center with a thermal detonator to break external communications and give the raiders time to grab the contents of a nearby warehouse before the enemy could rally. Later, during the final raid before returning the cult space, XC was defeated by a Jedi master in close combat when his gun was cut in half and his legs cut out from under him. He was only saved by the timely intervention of a dark Jedi. This prompted the addition of the hidden wrist weapons, the flamethrower and the sonic blaster.
Though he is built partially with components of an older droid, his memory core was wiped so he has no recollection of his past incarnation, other than it was an outdated war droid.
-A heavy repeating blaster, basically a high rate of fire blaster LMG
-An old ballistic scattergun
-An automatic slug rifle He also carries a wrist mounted flamethrower on his right arm, fed by a fuel tank in the right side of his torso, and a sonic blaster mounted in his left arm. On top of this he carries an arsenal of grenades of various types, including sonic disruptors, poisonous gasses, fragmentation grenades, and thermal detonators. Equipment - Though he has no need for the useless items the meatbags use, XC-13 carries a repair kit to perform minor self repairs like damaged or stuck components or simple replacements. He also carries signal flares and a grappling hook. Built into his head are a comm system and multiple vision systems that let him see heat signatures and a low light amplification mode.
Skills
In Plain Sight - As a sort of commando, meant to operate behind enemy lines, XC-13 is meant to use the din of combat to avoid detection find priority targets.
Weapons Master - XC-13 is capable of wielding most any kind of weapon, from long rifles and snipers to anti-armor weapons and launchers, to even sabers, though he won't fight with the skill of a jedi he also won't cut his own head off.
Flaws
Its an Older Model - While his body is shiny and new, some of his components are salvaged from an older droid, even his core and some of his code, leading to some bugs in his system. such is to be expected from an experiment.
Meatbags - XC-13 is blunt. Brutally blunt. He is not a protocol droid and has no time for flowery language or dancing around the point. Expect him to not soften the blow.
Personality - XC-13 is loyal to a fault to Okussus. As a combat droid, his personality is lacking in friendliness and compassion. He will shoot allies if he deems them a threat to the cult, and he takes a particular joy in killing his opponents. He is a droid with very little on his mind aside from defending the cult and killing its enemies. Backstory - Invented by a scientist of the Cult of Okussus, XC-13 has very little in the way of a story. He is the thirteenth experimental unit invented by the cult, and his last 9 months have been spent alternating between the labs and running tests and exercises in "the field" to test his components and programming. Though he is built partially with components of an older droid, his memory core was wiped so he has no recollection of his past incarnation, other than it was an outdated war droid. Backstory - Invented by a scientist of the Cult of Okussus, XC-13 has very little in the way of a story. He is the thirteenth experimental unit invented by the cult, and his last 9 months have been spent alternating between the labs and running tests and exercises in "the field" to test his components and programming. Considering there had been 12 previous versions of XC, many of the major problems in the system had already been worked out, and the various tests were to find and fix minor flaws and kinks. Many of these were designed to test marksmanship or to work on the mobility of the droid's frame. They even shot him a couple times to test the durability and craftsmanship of the frame.
Once they were sure that XC-13 could shoot straight enough and move fast enough, it was time to run an actual combat test. XC-13 was attached to a raiding party and joined them on the edge of republic space, where he took part in raids on three planets. On one raid, the raiders were having a particularly hard to breaking the defenders. To break the defenders, XC used the chaos of the raid to infiltrate past the defenders and kill the garrison commander. He then slagged the communications center with a thermal detonator to break external communications and give the raiders time to grab the contents of a nearby warehouse before the enemy could rally. Later, during the final raid before returning the cult space, XC was defeated by a Jedi master in close combat when his gun was cut in half and his legs cut out from under him. He was only saved by the timely intervention of a dark Jedi. This prompted the addition of the hidden wrist weapons, the flamethrower and the sonic blaster.
Though he is built partially with components of an older droid, his memory core was wiped so he has no recollection of his past incarnation, other than it was an outdated war droid.
No posts in OOC in 5 days and none in RP for 4. This RP isn't dying already is it? Is CorruptedShadow still around? Are we waiting on someone? I'm just curious because LaXnyd and I have been waiting for a response for about a week, and there haven't been any posts for the better half of a week.
