Luther Shiang

[High's .Valentine.]

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.user.information.
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Username:
Northie [High]

Gender:
Despite all things said and done, still very female.

Other Character(s):
None

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.general.character.information.
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Name:
Luther Shiang

Alias:
The Black Mantis, Master Luther

Age:
Chronologically {Very very old}
Physically {34}

Gender:
Male

Race:
Humanoid/Cannibalistic Vampire

Clan:
The Mantis Clan {Unique only to Luther’s world, the Mantis Clan is a group of vampires famous for their strange feeding style. The vampires of the clan have the ability to feed on both humans of their world and Vampires, regardless of clan status.}

Alignment:
Neutral

Origin:
Latharai {Description in the history}

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.characteristic.depth.
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Appearance:

Physical Features:
Luther, though he’s actually so old that even he had forgotten, appears to be in his early thirties. The vampire possesses the healthy body of a thirty year old; slightly muscular build, average body weight, and strong calf muscles. Luther is tall for an individual, standing at 6ft five and carried with him a rather intimidating yet elegant nature for he never slouches or bends to other’s will. The way he carried himself and his tall form demands utmost reverence from his surrounding environment and it can be ensured that he will return the respect.

Facial Features:
Perhaps the only thing that can really distinguish his age and pull him from the twenties age group is the maturity of Luther’s facial features. Though he has a rather delicate face structure—sharp chin and angular jaw—the experience of living for so long had set itself into his face. Luther always has a rather no-nonsense look on his face and tempting a smile from those pale rose lips of his is a rather arduous task to attempt. Above a straight nose are a set of deep amber eyes framed by long lashes. The amber of the eyes occasionally switches color under different lightings, from reddish amber in natural lights to a rich gold under the sunlight.

Seemingly, Luther Shiang never thought about cutting his hair. A deep color of ebony, the male’s long hair reaches all the way down to his thigh, and is often parted to the side, sometimes covering his right eye. There are wisps of gray in his hair but those shining black locks appear to be trained to cover the show of age so the gray hair is never apparent. Occasionally, if his hair is giving him trouble, Luther would attempt to tie it up with a spare band of cloth, though he tends to avoid doing that. Hidden under his long black hair are a set of strange elongated ears. Aside from this elvish look, the only other thing that might help set Luther away from the humans is his powers and traditional sharp vampire fangs.

Clothing:
Luther wears the traditional clothing of his clan, Latharai, along with several accessories of his preference. From the top, Luther has on a long beige scarf. There are not many designs on the scarf, but it completely covers his neck and still managed to trail along behind him in a long tail. Along the edges are small black embroideries to add some design to it.

Though dubbed the Black Mantis, the vampire’s taste in colors when it comes to his clothes contains very little black. Luther’s light chestnut colored shirt is much like an Asian styled top with several adjustments. The shirt can be taken off from the front if the mantis claw shaped button is taken off. More designs of mantis claws are drawn on his top in brownish ochre. Along the sleeves are black designs that are actually hardened to provide arm guards. Yet the stiff material moves along with Luther’s arm, allowing him to bend his elbows with ease. The left sleeve is split opened from the inside of the elbow and down in order to allow easy maneuvering of his weapon.

The length of Luther’s shirt slips past the vampire’s hips and all the way down to his thigh, taking on a more trench coat look as it progresses. To avoid the shirt from slipping open and exposing his abdomen, a black cloth belt hugs his hips. From the right side springs a dark maroon material that looks like fluff. On the very bottom is a pair of black pants made of comforting material. The pants are tucked into a pair of beige shoes that seemed to be made of straps that bind around his feet and calf.

Miscellaneous Items/Articles:
A member’s status and power in the Mantis Clan is determined by the amount initiation tattoos one has on their body. A full member’s markings include both the arms and the legs and one side of the face. As a senior member and a vampire of prestige and power, Luther has all of the tattoos required to be the best in the Mantis Clan. Because the clan affiliates itself with the mantis—a predator of predators—the base design of the clan are the jagged pincers of the praying mantis. Thus, along his arms from shoulder to forearm and from calf all the way around his feet are a series of markings. Under his right eye are two separate tattoos that are placed next to each other to form the claws of a praying Mantis. The tattoo takes up most of his cheek and is hard to hide from sight.

Vampires also seemed to enjoy multiple piercings. And since his ears are longer than a normal human’s, Luther has a large amount of piercings on his ears. Some he still uses and some forgotten. Most of the time though, the Black Mantis sports two or three studs or hoops per ear.

Though the beige scarf looked to merely add a refine taste to Luther’s wardrobe, the scarf was actually placed there to hide a rather obvious scar from hundreds of years before. It seemed that something had torn a large chunk off of Luther’s neck, and coincidentally, the scars are the exact size of two sharp incisors.

Personality:

[Bah…I don’t like this format. *complain complain*]

Luther Shiang the Black Mantis. It was through years of simply surviving and pulling through that he managed to earn this fearsome name. A Black Mantis blends into the night, allowing it to tackle any prey that comes its way with little effort. Luther was such, practically invincible and prestigious among his peers. Thus Mr. Shiang is a figure of dignity that demands respect from others, be they older or younger than him, and expects no less. When people give him the respect he requests, only then would he consider returning it.

Thanks to his longer than imaginable years in the realm of the living, and his superiority in his clan when it still existed, Luther can be a rather bigoted man, seeing others mainly through the prejudiced eyes of an advanced species, especially seizing up those of a lesser race to his. His conceitedness often gets on people’s edge, yet the vampire would hardly bother to lower himself to apologize to you unless you have earned it. Luther often carries himself with such a self-important air—head held high, eyes lidded with authority, and nose turned up—that it’s impossible to believe that this male had ever been the victim of a treachery and had his arrogance crushed between feral fangs. As you can see, Luther Shiang is a rather no-nonsense character, with little time and feeling for those lower than him. Often, the only facial expression he exhibits is indifference, and to wrangle a laugh from him would be like pulling along a stubborn mule.

However, Luther is not a complete idiot. Despite the high and mighty attitude, Luther practices a gentlemanly diplomacy when it comes to solving problems. Should the situation require it, and only if it’s dire, Luther prefers to talk out a conflict versus fighting it out. He never threatens unless he knew that he’s capable of following through, he never makes promises thanks to his rather cynical nature, and he never helps anyone unless they have something to return for his chance of risk. As you can see, Luther takes great care to preserve his life and his well being, eating only when necessary, talking to others only when there’s no possibility of a fight breaking out, and sleeping as little as needed to keep watch on his surroundings. Though he doesn’t exhibit it, the vampire is actually rather edgy thanks to his weakened core. In his mind, he knew that deliberately taking on powerful enemies would mean the end of him. This still doesn’t quite deter Luther from being one sided when seeing things though.

Due to traumatic events that left the Vampire so physically weak that it’s neigh impossible for him to return to his former glorious power, Luther’s edge as a fearsome hunter had been highly demolished, though he hides it quite well. Luther literally doesn’t have much left, aside from the near immortal body of his. However, there is one thing that drives this Vampire on, and that is his shattered pride. Luther’s ego demands that he fix his reputation, it taunted him when he found out that he could no longer perform the blood magicks he had worked on for centuries of his life, and it challenged him to get it back, win it from the very person who stole it from him and left him to be taken by death for the second time in his life—his daughter.

The cannibalism of Luther’s daughter, Arianne, was a turning point in his life. Though Arianne took everything from him, she also gave him the obsession of hunting her down, not for revenge for his tribal members, but for himself. Luther may have been tamed, but the blood thirsty and arrogance of his previous life could not be erased so easily. Should he ever find Arianne, the vampire knew that he probably would not be lucky enough to live a second time, even if he was an undead. Nevertheless, he continued to pursue this possibly fatal goal, undeterred by his rather realistic and logical approach to life. Logic reasoning doesn’t apply when it comes to obsessions.

Behind that stern visage, Luther actually has a rather wide range of fear, from trivial dread to pure terror. Along that spectrum, one of the small pet peeves of the vampire is to die in a rather undignified way. Blood Suckers, Dracula, Leeches, and Vampires; despite the different names and worlds, most vampires still shares similar origins. The Vampires of Latharai possesses the usual vampire attributes, but with twists and tweaks. The uses of holy water, crucifix, and other useful knickknacks that are usually useful against vampires have no effect on Latharaian Vampires, though they do have a specific dislike for onions. Luther especially tries to avoid onions. When you have a smell that’s three times more powerful than a human’s, the smell of onions is definitely going to get to you. Sunlight doesn’t usually have a significant effect on the vampires, but prolong exposure can lead to severe burns. Thus the Black Mantis avoid the sun like the plague thanks to his rather cautious ways. Past all these vampire pet peeves, Luther’s more personal terrors begin to emerge. A lost vision of his obsession, slip of his current mask of confidence, death. Almost anything that might derive him from his goal of at least trying to get his status back horrifies the Vampire. The last thing he feared, perhaps among all others is the monster that now roams from world to world, his own daughter, Arianne Shiang. Arianne was the first person to bring terror into this Vampire’s vocabulary, and until the day her death, or his, he will continue to fear this ominous presence.

There’s another small, rather silly thing that Luther has a fear for—children. He doesn’t exactly fear them, yet to have children around him makes the Vampire fidgety, no matter how delicious their blood is. The reason behind this bizarre and phobia is because of his first child, his daughter Arianne, who later turned into a complete abomination and caused his downfall. So…he doesn’t really like being around children, especially little girls. He’ll try his best not to show it though. It wouldn’t do so well for his reputation if people found out that he’s afraid of little girls, who might attack him with daises.

Finally, what does the Black Mantis enjoy to do around his spare time?

Like the usual Vampire, Luther enjoys the activity of crawling around in the dark, tackling preys, and eating. But this was before he was ‘killed’ by his daughter. He also has a strange need to constantly have control. Whether commanding people around could be count as a hobby or not, it all depends on the person.

Urm…Despite the supposedly blood thirsty status the Vampire had when his clan still strived, Luther rather enjoyed quiet time alone in a grass meadow, soaking up moonlight at night. It was rather impossible to imagine this cruel figure lying in a field with poppies, soaking up moonlight, so he keeps this quiet past time all to himself. If this is to leak out, there will be heads lopped off. And he will personally make sure that it happens.

-head falls off-

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.battle.information.
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Weapons:

Weapon Name: Grasper

Weapon Description:


Unique Notes: [Anything special about your weapon? Anything? Given to you by your grandfather? Worn on your back? Floats at your side? Whatever. This is an optional section. Note: your weapon cannot have any special abilities.]

Abilities:

Base Ability: The Praying Mantis

Sub Abilities:

{Eye of the Mantis}
Through the years, Luther’s ancestors had spent their time studying the creature of their namesake—the praying mantis. The Mantis clan had revolutionized their style of hunting according to that of the praying mantis’. Being a hunter of the Mantis Clan, Luther had naturally adopted the Eye of the Mantis. His peripheral vision had evolved beyond that of a normal human being, mimicking that of a mantis’ and permitting him to see in all directions except behind his without turning her head. He could catch any slight movement within his range of vision, making him the perfect predator. So if you must strike, always remember to strike from the back…

Luther’s vision is also sharper than that of a normal human being. He can see five times farther than humans, and spot miniscule movements of distant objects. Perhaps the most puzzling of his eyes are the fact that she can ensnare her target in a mental bind. However, Luther would have to be in a very advantageous position and staring completely into the victims eyes. Any sort of small movement will cause him to lose the attention of the victim. This attribute of the ability will only work on the weak willed and the willing. [Permission from player required]

{Without a Trace: Pure Vampire}
Even the hunter has its own predator; Luther of all people knew that. Thus, the Vampire and his people had near mastered the camouflage technique of the praying mantis. He can become hidden under any circumstances, and have the ability to hide his scent as well. Thus, it becomes much harder to detect his malevolent presence, should he be exhibiting one. Luther can hide in this stage for as long as possible without detection as long as he does not move or moves very, very slowly. Any quick movement will betray his aura and the invisibility will disappear.

{Crouching Mantis}
The Crouching Mantis is another ability rewarded to the Mantis Clan through years of watching the praying mantis. Granted with near anti-gravity, Luther and his fellow vampires have the ability to travel along any smooth surface at a normal speed. This means that the Black Mantis can run along any length of wall or ceiling without worrying about falling. However, there are limits to the speed he can take. And whether he moves on four legs or two does not matter much either, but Luther naturally has more stability when moving on all fours. This also does not mean that Luther now has the ability to walk across surface impossible for humans to even step on: water, lava, tar, etc.

Items:

Equips:

Distribution Points:

Physical Attack: 2
Physical Defense: 3
Magical Attack: 1
Magical Defense: 2
Reflexes: 3
Speed: 3
Awareness: 2

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.story.mode.
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{Latharai and His Legacy: The Mantis Clan} Latharai, to this day, remains a world of desolation and despair for its human population. A gothic world that had already been corroded by darkness before the heartless had even thought about setting feet into, this world was governed by magic and tragedy and consists of two main species. The Homo sapiens, ever persistent, ever unyielding, plays the submissive race in this game. Above them, the Demons and their four leading gods, or Dieus, maintain the control and the balance of the human population. The world of Latharai was the world of the Demons, and caught underneath them, the humans, were maintained and pruned by Demon authority. What most never noticed was the forgotten race caught in the middle of this food chain. The Vampires of Latharai, legendary in every spectrum of power and horror were just that—legends.

However, in the scuffle between the Demons and their human counterparts, this misfit race lurked, fed, grew, split, fought, and created their own legacy in the stories, even if the rest of Latharai believed them to be merely ink on paper.

These Vampires found themselves in a predicament though. Wars rise and fall in this world, and often, the Vampires find their only food source, the humans, wiped down to so few that their number cannot satisfy the constant hungers of the Vampires. Demons were harder to hunt. They possessed neither the idiocy of humans nor the weak physiques of their body. Thus, during the final days of Latharai’s Hundredth War, one clan, faced with starvation, rose up and did the unthinkable. This loose clan of Vampires brought about a revolution. In their crazed sense of hunger, the Vampires turned on their own kind, feeding on Vampire blood as if they were humans. Vampire blood were found to be better though, much more delicious than humans. The clan members found themselves in a sudden craving for Vampire blood. It filled them up much more than human blood, and the power they received from these night dwellers excited them, intoxicated them into wanting more. The clan, now allowed the energy to regroup themselves, slowly rose up in the hierarchy to become the most notorious and blood thirsty of all Vampires. Many tried to follow their example, but there can only be one hunter. The clan now called themselves the Mantis, an insect of nature that feeds on both preys and predators. Yet a larger predator comes…

{His Story}

A predator.

He grasped her neck, fumbling around for a hold so he could pull her off. Burning, it was scorching him. His neck was being torn apart. Trembling fingers shuddered along the pale long neck, lingering weakly like an intoxicated lover. Second time. This was the second time. Cool, smooth silver. Piercings. So many of them; studs, diamonds, hoops. He was in flames, but she refused to let go. He would burn her too, but she loved his warmth. He curled his long fingers around the silver. The tips where the fingernails ends were turning blue, like winter frost, yet his body was lost in an inferno. The first time he could fight her back. But this time, he knew she was going to suck him dry. She had her lover’s blood in her. And now she has his too. She ate his power, guzzled his pride, and drank his very love for her. He could not fight back. He tried to whisper her name, tell her to please leave him alone, whimper for her to not hurt him like this. But his throat had been damaged, his vocal cords ripped. Blood gurgled out, trickling from the side of his lips as if he was spewing fresh pomegranate juice that she had squeezed from the very pits of his stomach. Or perhaps he coughing up his love for her to drink.

His fingers gripped, and his oxygen deficient muscles strained their last act. He pulled, ripping the earring right from her flesh. But she didn’t move. His dimming hearing could hear the slippery gulping and heavy breathing. There was little he could do, so he lay limp, letting the hunter do her business, the silver hoops still tight on his finger.

She kissed him before she left. It singed his forehead even as his body turns cold to the screams that were to come.

Before the predator, there is the pray.

The first time he entered Latharai, he was Lawrence, the Baker’s boy. Lawrence was a quiet child, never had much to say to the people around him. The child would enter periods of muteness, causing worrying parents and suspicious neighbors. There’s something wrong with this boy, no doubt about it, they would mutter among themselves. Yet Lawrence never bothered to defend himself. Nor did his parents ever thought about justifying his calmness. Neither was the boy a curious one, like all boys should be. Lawrence and his dark brown dog eyes and equally dark brown hair would remain on the side, watching the people around him like a hunter, his deep eyes intimidating most authority figures that ever set eyes on him. No one wanted to bother that Lawrence kid. He was bad stuff. Bad stuff, they muttered, work of voodoo. Dieus’ match, they would go so far. Dieus’ match…The humans of Latharai were suspicious bunch.

But on a windy winter night, they came for him.

They were a group of vampires that called themselves the Mantis Clan



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.other.info.
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Want to check out his daughter Arianne?
The Vermillion Mantis