Post by nascent on Jan 20, 2009 23:57:53 GMT -5
[Edited and moved to Final Drafts. Feel free to lock this thread.]
[WARNING: Prepare for a long read!]
Username: Nascent
Other Characters: (none yet)
Is this character canon?: No
Host Name: Kassom Sercha
Professional Alias: "Amarok"
Demon's Name: Ilaelis
Age: Early twenties
Birthplace: A world called Kurai; specifically the village of Arcene (destroyed)
Birthday: May 18th
Gender: Male
Race: Lynx (anthro) / Kinzoku ("demons of metal")
Kinzoku Racial Traits:
The Kinzoku are a race of demons native to Kurai that specialize in the control of metal. They exist within host bodies and are immutably bonded to the blood of their host due to an ancient pact. This 'blood bond' allows them to take a new host from each successive generation and makes it virtually impossible to exorcise the demon without first killing the host. An odd side effect of this pact is that virtually all the children born of a Kinzoku bloodline are twins, one boy and one girl.
When Ilaelis takes control, Kassom's body gains a visual acuity even beyond that of an eagle. He can tell you how many leaves are on an herb growing atop a distant hill, for instance. He can perceive light and color with rich detail that would leave a purely human mind baffled trying to make distinctions. His hearing is also quite impressive, even more-so than Kassom's natural hearing; he is able to focus in "telescopically" on a sound source, making him aptly suited for surveillance, eavesdropping, and allowing him to track prey he cannot even see. Like any predator he is drawn to the scent of blood and can follow an open wound for miles, but can also identify people or objects based on scent alone not unlike a bloodhound. These attributes all combine to give him a remarkable sensitivity to his surroundings, equivalent almost to precognition. A gentle shift in the wind, a faint musk in the air, or a distant sound... that's all it takes.
Physical appearance:
Kassom has been a thief and a brigand by trade almost his entire life, and dresses the part. When he's "on the prowl" he typically dons a set of rather nondescript oversized old rags to cover over his smoke gray body armor... and his two knife-belts, one worn at his waist and the other strapped diagonally across his torso. The idea, of course, is to give people the impression that he's nothing but a disenfranchised out-of-luck beggar or vagabond - both parts he plays very well - and give him time enough to lodge a five-inch throwing knife in an unsuspecting target. His face is rugged and unkempt like a man who wandered in out of the wasteland, but his eyes can display a keen look of intelligence that is belied by the odd and diverse personalities he adopts to suit his needs. His chest is riddled with scars that were given to him long ago, but they cannot disguise the small but sculpted muscles he has developed since then. His diminutive stature allows him to move about in tight spaces with relative ease and aids him in remaining undetected, and frequently underestimated.
When Ilaelis takes over, Kassom's body's appearance changes very swiftly. Whole sections of his hair lose all hint of coloration and become the shade of gritty steel, while his eyes undergo a painful metamorphosis to intensely feral irises that enhance his sight ten-fold. The living metal "over-skin" he forms from Kassom's knives seems deceptively simple and almost paper-thin... both aspects which tend to make his opponents view him as a fairly easy target, a mistake most don't live to regret. However, his armor-skin's forearms are significantly thicker than the rest, which comes in handy for melee defense (amongst other things.)
Clothing/Accessories:
Rags:
Kassom usually travels wearing an aged robe or some other type of concealing garment, usually in very poor condition. Sometimes these are simply discarded clothes found in alleys or other places, but occasionally he has a "rag-suit" specially tailored for him with inside pockets to accommodate an expanded arsenal of throwing knives, adding anywhere between ten to twenty blades.
Living Metal Armor:
Ilaelis' metal second-skin is uncharacteristically thin and lightweight for a Kinzoku, but this is purposeful to preserve speed and flexibility. While it may not provide great overall protection, the armor is tactically arranged to maximize his advantages. The dense metal on the forearms can be deployed to become shields, wrist blades, chains, and other useful forms (see Metal Manipulation ability listed below). When in melee combat the armor can produce long metal spikes anywhere on its surface with little more than a thought, giving a nasty surprise to opponents who challenge the Kinzoku up close.
[KASSOM]
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Behavior:
Kassom Sercha is a poker-faced con-artist who specializes at all the trades of an archetypal rogue: lying, stealing, sneaking, persuading, cheating, assassinating, and backstabbing (both literally and figuratively). He has the gift of gab and uses it like a slow-working poison to effect the ends he desires, and what's more is that he's mentally equipped to play himself off as just about any sort of personality. Give him a trim and a nice suit of clothes and he'll have you convinced he's been a nobleman's son his entire life; a robe and a few books, he'll become a sagely philosopher overnight in whatever area of expertise you might deign. Those who've seen the young lad at work would swear he could bluff his way out of a locked room... and pin a man's neck with a throwing knife - which he keeps in good supply - at several hundred feet away. Exaggerations of course, but effective for keeping bounty hunters at a distance. Forever on the move and in search of opportunities for both fortune and blood, Kassom "Amarok" Sercha has little pity and less mercy for people he deems "unworthy". While he won't go out of his way to kill random people he has no personal issues with "collateral damage" if it is truly necessary. He respects and fears Ilaelis, whom he most commonly just refers to as "boss", and holds a distant admiration for the Kinzoku ("demons of metal") in general, whom he views as being "beyond the petty nature of mortals" (a trait he wishes to develop in himself, but isn't sure how to achieve).
[ILAELIS]
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Behavior:
During the ancient wars against the gods of Kurai, Ilaelis was fielded as a scout for the advancing demon armies and sent ahead into some of the most dangerous theaters of combat. While most of his demonic kin learned ruthless assault tactics and earned a sense of strong racial pride, Ilaelis' missions taught him adaptability and the value of working with limited resources. Where others became known for their strength and valor he distinguished himself for his speed and resourcefulness. These traits of an invaluable scout remain with Ilaelis to this very day, and for eternity as well.
Unlike most Kinzoku, Ilaelis tolerates the continuation of his host because of Kassom's inherent utility to him. The young man's unorthodox skills complement Ilaelis' own skill set and therefore they are consistently trading off control of Kassom's body. When speed or close range fighting are called for Ilaelis takes the helm; when stealth, guile, and improvisation are required Kassom takes the lead. Ilaelis begrudgingly accepts his symbiotic cooperation with his host because he and Kassom disagree on very little, due in large part to the boy's overall cynicism and distrust of people as well as Kassom's curious admiration of the Kinzoku race. The fact that they have a common enemy in the organization known as the Inquisition of the Virtuous Blood further cements their partnership.
Throwing Knives:
Kassom wears two belts that each sheath thirteen five-inch throwing knives; add in the two that he keeps tucked in each of his boots and one in each sleeve, and he carries around an impressive arsenal of thirty-two blades. While these small blades can be used to block and parry in a sword fight the defense they provide is minimal at best, as they're not really intended for that sort of thing. Even so, they are sharp and quite deadly, making no sound when thrown and fully capable of piercing light armor. Ilaelis uses the metal of these blades to create his metallic skin, and can also mold new knives for Kassom's use on the fly from any metal he's accumulated. As the knives are bound to Ilaelis' thoughts and will he is able to manipulate them even at great distances, granting Kassom's already deadly aim an unnatural accuracy and, furthermore, allowing the blades to be easily recovered.
Metal Manipulation:
A standard ability of any Kinzoku is the ability to manipulate metal, whether in its refined or raw state, to their will. This is accomplished simply by the Kinzoku, or its host, touching the metal once. From then on, the Kinzoku is able to control the metal as though it were merely an extension of their mind; with barely a thought the metal melts, morphs, takes shape, all to match the desires of its "owner". However, every Kinzoku has a limit to how much they can control - how much is "theirs", part of their personal cache. Ilaelis' limit is rather low compared to other Kinzoku: roughly one eighth of a displacement ton, four and a half cubic feet of metal. Of course, toting that much metal around can be rather unwieldy (and often is), but the Kinzoku race have some resourceful solutions for this dilemma. When their cache is small portions of it can be stored inside their host's bodies and, when needed, emerge as a liquid metal "sweat". With larger loads most Kinzoku choose to have the metal "shadow" them underground, a curious technique wherein the metal rests in a liquid pool below ground level and follows the Kinzoku (or their host, as needs must) wherever they go. Ilaelis, valuing speed and freedom of movement, prefers to avoid having a cache any larger than what he can make into daggers for Kassom's use or store safely beneath his host's skin. Usually this equates to no more than twelve or fourteen pounds of metal on his person at any one time, and when he does need to acquire extra he usually discards it once its usefulness has ended.
Strength: Weak
Uses: (I'm not honestly sure what the norm/expectation would be here... honestly, since the ability is so "free-form" I can't imagine needing to use it more than once or twice per post. Feel free to advise on this.)
Deep Dive:
Terrain can be a scout's dearest ally, a lesson Ilaelis has long since taken to heart. Just as others of his kind have learned to "ghost" through metal surfaces he has developed the ability to enter the ground and be silently carried along within its embrace. The only force applied to make this happen is his own demonic will working on the minor amounts of metallic minerals inherent in dirt, present in sand, and abundant in stone, opening up a path ahead of him as the terra firma closes seamlessly behind him to push him along his chosen course. This ability is immensely useful for traveling unseen and for launching sneak attacks. While underground, should Ilaelis find pockets of raw metal he can use it to replenish his personal cache.
Strength: Weak
Uses: (Same issue as before. It's mostly for out-of-battle usage, honestly. That said, I can't see myself needing to use it more than once or twice in a fight.)
General Backstory:
After being dormant for generations, the demonic Kinzoku of Kurai begin the gradual process of awakening. One of the first to awaken is Ilaelis, a veteran scout from the world's ancient wars. His host, Kassom Sercha, is on the run from a clandestine group of violent religious fanatics known as the Inquisition of Virtuous Blood that seeks to purge all "tainted beings" from Kurai. All that is interrupted, however, when a rend in the fabric of reality unleashes a continual swarm of Heartless onto Kurai, sending the people of the world into a state of panic. The Inquisition turns from its demon-hunting to face the waves of shadow beings threatening its rise to power; Kassom and Ilaelis, seizing the opportunity, determine to sneak past the Heartless and enter the rift. Their mission is one of necessity: the remaining Kinzoku cannot safely awaken and take the world's reins so long as the endless flow of Heartless threaten Kurai. In an act of desperation they fling themselves into the dark vortex...
... and begin a journey to save, and subdue, their world.
[HISTORY: Kassom]
"I don't really like talking about my past, so I tend to dance around the subject. Was I a nobleman's son? A tradesman's? A hunter's? People tend to obsess over those things as if their bloodline determined their future... they have no idea how unimportant their blood is, no clue what it's like to have something really defining under their skin. No real understanding. But that's the way people are: they'd rather invent an understanding for themselves than go and find out what's real. Pitiful, really."
"So you really wanna know, huh...? Hmm... well, fine. As long as you're buying the next round of drinks, pal. My father was a metal worker in a village named Arcene. Never heard of it? That's because its on the far outskirts, past the Desert of Flames... and because it doesn't exist anymore. For years I could only assume that the group responsible was a bandit clan or some war-band of a rogue despot... hm, if only that had been true."
"I don't suppose you've heard of a group of self-styled knights known as the Inquisition of Virtuous Blood? No? Good... that means they haven't started operating in this area yet. The Inquisition is a secretive shadowy organization built around the eradication of anything 'unnatural'; to that end they train warriors in the use of the Old Ways. Yeah, that's right... the fabled gifts of power and might given by the gods to mankind during the Celestial Civil War. When the Inquisition isn't busy on some witch-hunt they can usually be found digging up temples and shrines to the dead gods in a search for relics and secrets left over from that war... but it wasn't talismans and gods' blood that brought them to Arcene when I was twelve. They were looking for their enemy."
"They were looking... for my family."
"Our ancestors had moved to the outer wastes ages ago, sometime after the Kinzoku first went silent, seeking a better life and blah blah blah. Personally, I don't buy it. If you're from a place known for having given hell itself flesh to live in and you decide to go live someplace else far away, you're doing so because you don't want people to associate you with the daemon-kin. You're running and hiding and changing your name. That is my family's true trade: stealth and deception. I'm just one of a few brazen enough to admit it. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to keep the Inquisition's crusader-knights in the dark for long. When my parents gave birth to boy-girl twins, me and my sister Iris, it was only a matter of time before they started making inquiries about us... and only a few years more until those inquiries were done at the point of a sword."
"Crusader-knights, for all their touted 'virtue', have no sense of when enough is enough. It wasn't enough for them that they killed my father and burned our house to the ground, dug up my dead mother and cremated her corpse, then kicked down the doors of our relatives' houses and killed everyone in sight. No... in the name of "a thorough purge of all tainted blood" they killed everyone in town and burned every building to the ground. My sister and I were lucky, able to escape by the skin of our teeth. I still have the scars from my run-in with their leader on the way out though... at night, sometimes I can still feel the sting of his blade biting into my chest, and see his barbaric face. One glass eye, with a cross-shaped scar around it... the mark of blind faith."
"If it's the last thing I ever do, I'll kill that man. I swear it."
"Am I one of the tainted, you ask? One of those with a demon living inside them? Heh... maybe. What if I am? I haven't killed you yet, have I? And nor will I, if you'd be so kind as to stop asking such damnable questions. Just let me enjoy my drink, and I'll let you enjoy another sunrise. Surely we can agree on that, right friend?"
[HISTORY: Ilaelis]
"In times ancient and forgotten, in a realm distant and lost, history was busy repeating itself. Archons of light and creation, the so-called 'gods' of the realm, were at war with darkness-manifest. For too long we had sat under their boot-heels, relegated to the lower regions where only desolation and lack greeted us, and there we waited for our day to come. Over time our 'divine' enemies began to be discontent, divided, and eventually - as long periods of uninterrupted peace so often trigger - openly at war with one another. From the midst of the chaos we rose, striking the weakened deiforms and rending their flesh and essence asunder. Their mistake had been forgetting us... for we had not forgotten them. Before it was over their divine realm lay in shattered fragments and their blood had soaked into the mortal lands."
"Of course, it was only a matter of time until we followed our enemies' example and turned on each other; some of the Greater Houses realized this, and took measures to establish independent kingdoms for themselves in remote places. I, and the rest of the metal-born Kinzoku, sought a fresh battlefield for ourselves in one of the mortal realms. Our leader found a small outcast village in the midst of a world whose kingdoms had each enjoyed tremendous blessings from the gods during their rivalries. Virtually all of the world had powers and benefits - what you mortals might call 'magic' - with but one exception: this little village of gods-forsaken outcasts... an opportunity if ever there was one."
"The pact we made with them was deceptively simple: we would possess their bodies and those of their descendants by binding ourselves to their blood, and in exchange for letting us 'dwell amongst them' we would grant our hosts power and take revenge for the entire village. In reality the way it worked out was that we spent several generations on a bloody rampage across the planet's central continent and indentured all those not possessed in the village to serve our needs and whims. It was a golden era for the Kinzoku..."
"... one that wouldn't last. It happened when the vast majority of us were taking on new hosts from the younger generation. We were vulnerable at that point; it took time for the 'roots' of our control to take firm hold on new hosts, a fact we thought we'd kept them oblivious to. We were wrong. This bold new generation defied us, suppressed our control, and eventually drove us into the dark recesses of their beings - I think you mortals call it the 'unconscious mind' - and therein locked away our influence. For generations afterward my kind slept in this dark, passed on quietly from parent to child in complete ignorance that we yet lived."
"But our sleep is not forever, mortals. Generations later I awakened within Kassom, who freely embraced me. Others, too, will eventually stir from their slumber. We are the Kinzoku, the metal terrors of heaven and hell..."
~Extra~
Before you embark on your journey, you see three weapons in front of you.
~ A sword
~ A shield
~ A staff
Choose wisely.
The sword is chosen. Its steel blade shines and seems almost to sing in the hand of its new master...
[WARNING: Prepare for a long read!]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Basic Info~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Basic Info~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Username: Nascent
Other Characters: (none yet)
Is this character canon?: No
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Character Info~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Character Info~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Host Name: Kassom Sercha
Professional Alias: "Amarok"
Demon's Name: Ilaelis
Age: Early twenties
Birthplace: A world called Kurai; specifically the village of Arcene (destroyed)
Birthday: May 18th
Gender: Male
Race: Lynx (anthro) / Kinzoku ("demons of metal")
Kinzoku Racial Traits:
The Kinzoku are a race of demons native to Kurai that specialize in the control of metal. They exist within host bodies and are immutably bonded to the blood of their host due to an ancient pact. This 'blood bond' allows them to take a new host from each successive generation and makes it virtually impossible to exorcise the demon without first killing the host. An odd side effect of this pact is that virtually all the children born of a Kinzoku bloodline are twins, one boy and one girl.
When Ilaelis takes control, Kassom's body gains a visual acuity even beyond that of an eagle. He can tell you how many leaves are on an herb growing atop a distant hill, for instance. He can perceive light and color with rich detail that would leave a purely human mind baffled trying to make distinctions. His hearing is also quite impressive, even more-so than Kassom's natural hearing; he is able to focus in "telescopically" on a sound source, making him aptly suited for surveillance, eavesdropping, and allowing him to track prey he cannot even see. Like any predator he is drawn to the scent of blood and can follow an open wound for miles, but can also identify people or objects based on scent alone not unlike a bloodhound. These attributes all combine to give him a remarkable sensitivity to his surroundings, equivalent almost to precognition. A gentle shift in the wind, a faint musk in the air, or a distant sound... that's all it takes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Appearance~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Appearance~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Physical appearance:
Kassom has been a thief and a brigand by trade almost his entire life, and dresses the part. When he's "on the prowl" he typically dons a set of rather nondescript oversized old rags to cover over his smoke gray body armor... and his two knife-belts, one worn at his waist and the other strapped diagonally across his torso. The idea, of course, is to give people the impression that he's nothing but a disenfranchised out-of-luck beggar or vagabond - both parts he plays very well - and give him time enough to lodge a five-inch throwing knife in an unsuspecting target. His face is rugged and unkempt like a man who wandered in out of the wasteland, but his eyes can display a keen look of intelligence that is belied by the odd and diverse personalities he adopts to suit his needs. His chest is riddled with scars that were given to him long ago, but they cannot disguise the small but sculpted muscles he has developed since then. His diminutive stature allows him to move about in tight spaces with relative ease and aids him in remaining undetected, and frequently underestimated.
When Ilaelis takes over, Kassom's body's appearance changes very swiftly. Whole sections of his hair lose all hint of coloration and become the shade of gritty steel, while his eyes undergo a painful metamorphosis to intensely feral irises that enhance his sight ten-fold. The living metal "over-skin" he forms from Kassom's knives seems deceptively simple and almost paper-thin... both aspects which tend to make his opponents view him as a fairly easy target, a mistake most don't live to regret. However, his armor-skin's forearms are significantly thicker than the rest, which comes in handy for melee defense (amongst other things.)
Clothing/Accessories:
Rags:
Kassom usually travels wearing an aged robe or some other type of concealing garment, usually in very poor condition. Sometimes these are simply discarded clothes found in alleys or other places, but occasionally he has a "rag-suit" specially tailored for him with inside pockets to accommodate an expanded arsenal of throwing knives, adding anywhere between ten to twenty blades.
Living Metal Armor:
Ilaelis' metal second-skin is uncharacteristically thin and lightweight for a Kinzoku, but this is purposeful to preserve speed and flexibility. While it may not provide great overall protection, the armor is tactically arranged to maximize his advantages. The dense metal on the forearms can be deployed to become shields, wrist blades, chains, and other useful forms (see Metal Manipulation ability listed below). When in melee combat the armor can produce long metal spikes anywhere on its surface with little more than a thought, giving a nasty surprise to opponents who challenge the Kinzoku up close.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Personality~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Personality~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[KASSOM]
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Behavior:
Kassom Sercha is a poker-faced con-artist who specializes at all the trades of an archetypal rogue: lying, stealing, sneaking, persuading, cheating, assassinating, and backstabbing (both literally and figuratively). He has the gift of gab and uses it like a slow-working poison to effect the ends he desires, and what's more is that he's mentally equipped to play himself off as just about any sort of personality. Give him a trim and a nice suit of clothes and he'll have you convinced he's been a nobleman's son his entire life; a robe and a few books, he'll become a sagely philosopher overnight in whatever area of expertise you might deign. Those who've seen the young lad at work would swear he could bluff his way out of a locked room... and pin a man's neck with a throwing knife - which he keeps in good supply - at several hundred feet away. Exaggerations of course, but effective for keeping bounty hunters at a distance. Forever on the move and in search of opportunities for both fortune and blood, Kassom "Amarok" Sercha has little pity and less mercy for people he deems "unworthy". While he won't go out of his way to kill random people he has no personal issues with "collateral damage" if it is truly necessary. He respects and fears Ilaelis, whom he most commonly just refers to as "boss", and holds a distant admiration for the Kinzoku ("demons of metal") in general, whom he views as being "beyond the petty nature of mortals" (a trait he wishes to develop in himself, but isn't sure how to achieve).
[ILAELIS]
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Behavior:
During the ancient wars against the gods of Kurai, Ilaelis was fielded as a scout for the advancing demon armies and sent ahead into some of the most dangerous theaters of combat. While most of his demonic kin learned ruthless assault tactics and earned a sense of strong racial pride, Ilaelis' missions taught him adaptability and the value of working with limited resources. Where others became known for their strength and valor he distinguished himself for his speed and resourcefulness. These traits of an invaluable scout remain with Ilaelis to this very day, and for eternity as well.
Unlike most Kinzoku, Ilaelis tolerates the continuation of his host because of Kassom's inherent utility to him. The young man's unorthodox skills complement Ilaelis' own skill set and therefore they are consistently trading off control of Kassom's body. When speed or close range fighting are called for Ilaelis takes the helm; when stealth, guile, and improvisation are required Kassom takes the lead. Ilaelis begrudgingly accepts his symbiotic cooperation with his host because he and Kassom disagree on very little, due in large part to the boy's overall cynicism and distrust of people as well as Kassom's curious admiration of the Kinzoku race. The fact that they have a common enemy in the organization known as the Inquisition of the Virtuous Blood further cements their partnership.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Weapons~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Weapons~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Throwing Knives:
Kassom wears two belts that each sheath thirteen five-inch throwing knives; add in the two that he keeps tucked in each of his boots and one in each sleeve, and he carries around an impressive arsenal of thirty-two blades. While these small blades can be used to block and parry in a sword fight the defense they provide is minimal at best, as they're not really intended for that sort of thing. Even so, they are sharp and quite deadly, making no sound when thrown and fully capable of piercing light armor. Ilaelis uses the metal of these blades to create his metallic skin, and can also mold new knives for Kassom's use on the fly from any metal he's accumulated. As the knives are bound to Ilaelis' thoughts and will he is able to manipulate them even at great distances, granting Kassom's already deadly aim an unnatural accuracy and, furthermore, allowing the blades to be easily recovered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Abilities~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Abilities~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Metal Manipulation:
A standard ability of any Kinzoku is the ability to manipulate metal, whether in its refined or raw state, to their will. This is accomplished simply by the Kinzoku, or its host, touching the metal once. From then on, the Kinzoku is able to control the metal as though it were merely an extension of their mind; with barely a thought the metal melts, morphs, takes shape, all to match the desires of its "owner". However, every Kinzoku has a limit to how much they can control - how much is "theirs", part of their personal cache. Ilaelis' limit is rather low compared to other Kinzoku: roughly one eighth of a displacement ton, four and a half cubic feet of metal. Of course, toting that much metal around can be rather unwieldy (and often is), but the Kinzoku race have some resourceful solutions for this dilemma. When their cache is small portions of it can be stored inside their host's bodies and, when needed, emerge as a liquid metal "sweat". With larger loads most Kinzoku choose to have the metal "shadow" them underground, a curious technique wherein the metal rests in a liquid pool below ground level and follows the Kinzoku (or their host, as needs must) wherever they go. Ilaelis, valuing speed and freedom of movement, prefers to avoid having a cache any larger than what he can make into daggers for Kassom's use or store safely beneath his host's skin. Usually this equates to no more than twelve or fourteen pounds of metal on his person at any one time, and when he does need to acquire extra he usually discards it once its usefulness has ended.
Strength: Weak
Uses: (I'm not honestly sure what the norm/expectation would be here... honestly, since the ability is so "free-form" I can't imagine needing to use it more than once or twice per post. Feel free to advise on this.)
Deep Dive:
Terrain can be a scout's dearest ally, a lesson Ilaelis has long since taken to heart. Just as others of his kind have learned to "ghost" through metal surfaces he has developed the ability to enter the ground and be silently carried along within its embrace. The only force applied to make this happen is his own demonic will working on the minor amounts of metallic minerals inherent in dirt, present in sand, and abundant in stone, opening up a path ahead of him as the terra firma closes seamlessly behind him to push him along his chosen course. This ability is immensely useful for traveling unseen and for launching sneak attacks. While underground, should Ilaelis find pockets of raw metal he can use it to replenish his personal cache.
Strength: Weak
Uses: (Same issue as before. It's mostly for out-of-battle usage, honestly. That said, I can't see myself needing to use it more than once or twice in a fight.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~History~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~History~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General Backstory:
After being dormant for generations, the demonic Kinzoku of Kurai begin the gradual process of awakening. One of the first to awaken is Ilaelis, a veteran scout from the world's ancient wars. His host, Kassom Sercha, is on the run from a clandestine group of violent religious fanatics known as the Inquisition of Virtuous Blood that seeks to purge all "tainted beings" from Kurai. All that is interrupted, however, when a rend in the fabric of reality unleashes a continual swarm of Heartless onto Kurai, sending the people of the world into a state of panic. The Inquisition turns from its demon-hunting to face the waves of shadow beings threatening its rise to power; Kassom and Ilaelis, seizing the opportunity, determine to sneak past the Heartless and enter the rift. Their mission is one of necessity: the remaining Kinzoku cannot safely awaken and take the world's reins so long as the endless flow of Heartless threaten Kurai. In an act of desperation they fling themselves into the dark vortex...
... and begin a journey to save, and subdue, their world.
[HISTORY: Kassom]
"I don't really like talking about my past, so I tend to dance around the subject. Was I a nobleman's son? A tradesman's? A hunter's? People tend to obsess over those things as if their bloodline determined their future... they have no idea how unimportant their blood is, no clue what it's like to have something really defining under their skin. No real understanding. But that's the way people are: they'd rather invent an understanding for themselves than go and find out what's real. Pitiful, really."
"So you really wanna know, huh...? Hmm... well, fine. As long as you're buying the next round of drinks, pal. My father was a metal worker in a village named Arcene. Never heard of it? That's because its on the far outskirts, past the Desert of Flames... and because it doesn't exist anymore. For years I could only assume that the group responsible was a bandit clan or some war-band of a rogue despot... hm, if only that had been true."
"I don't suppose you've heard of a group of self-styled knights known as the Inquisition of Virtuous Blood? No? Good... that means they haven't started operating in this area yet. The Inquisition is a secretive shadowy organization built around the eradication of anything 'unnatural'; to that end they train warriors in the use of the Old Ways. Yeah, that's right... the fabled gifts of power and might given by the gods to mankind during the Celestial Civil War. When the Inquisition isn't busy on some witch-hunt they can usually be found digging up temples and shrines to the dead gods in a search for relics and secrets left over from that war... but it wasn't talismans and gods' blood that brought them to Arcene when I was twelve. They were looking for their enemy."
"They were looking... for my family."
"Our ancestors had moved to the outer wastes ages ago, sometime after the Kinzoku first went silent, seeking a better life and blah blah blah. Personally, I don't buy it. If you're from a place known for having given hell itself flesh to live in and you decide to go live someplace else far away, you're doing so because you don't want people to associate you with the daemon-kin. You're running and hiding and changing your name. That is my family's true trade: stealth and deception. I'm just one of a few brazen enough to admit it. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to keep the Inquisition's crusader-knights in the dark for long. When my parents gave birth to boy-girl twins, me and my sister Iris, it was only a matter of time before they started making inquiries about us... and only a few years more until those inquiries were done at the point of a sword."
"Crusader-knights, for all their touted 'virtue', have no sense of when enough is enough. It wasn't enough for them that they killed my father and burned our house to the ground, dug up my dead mother and cremated her corpse, then kicked down the doors of our relatives' houses and killed everyone in sight. No... in the name of "a thorough purge of all tainted blood" they killed everyone in town and burned every building to the ground. My sister and I were lucky, able to escape by the skin of our teeth. I still have the scars from my run-in with their leader on the way out though... at night, sometimes I can still feel the sting of his blade biting into my chest, and see his barbaric face. One glass eye, with a cross-shaped scar around it... the mark of blind faith."
"If it's the last thing I ever do, I'll kill that man. I swear it."
"Am I one of the tainted, you ask? One of those with a demon living inside them? Heh... maybe. What if I am? I haven't killed you yet, have I? And nor will I, if you'd be so kind as to stop asking such damnable questions. Just let me enjoy my drink, and I'll let you enjoy another sunrise. Surely we can agree on that, right friend?"
[HISTORY: Ilaelis]
"In times ancient and forgotten, in a realm distant and lost, history was busy repeating itself. Archons of light and creation, the so-called 'gods' of the realm, were at war with darkness-manifest. For too long we had sat under their boot-heels, relegated to the lower regions where only desolation and lack greeted us, and there we waited for our day to come. Over time our 'divine' enemies began to be discontent, divided, and eventually - as long periods of uninterrupted peace so often trigger - openly at war with one another. From the midst of the chaos we rose, striking the weakened deiforms and rending their flesh and essence asunder. Their mistake had been forgetting us... for we had not forgotten them. Before it was over their divine realm lay in shattered fragments and their blood had soaked into the mortal lands."
"Of course, it was only a matter of time until we followed our enemies' example and turned on each other; some of the Greater Houses realized this, and took measures to establish independent kingdoms for themselves in remote places. I, and the rest of the metal-born Kinzoku, sought a fresh battlefield for ourselves in one of the mortal realms. Our leader found a small outcast village in the midst of a world whose kingdoms had each enjoyed tremendous blessings from the gods during their rivalries. Virtually all of the world had powers and benefits - what you mortals might call 'magic' - with but one exception: this little village of gods-forsaken outcasts... an opportunity if ever there was one."
"The pact we made with them was deceptively simple: we would possess their bodies and those of their descendants by binding ourselves to their blood, and in exchange for letting us 'dwell amongst them' we would grant our hosts power and take revenge for the entire village. In reality the way it worked out was that we spent several generations on a bloody rampage across the planet's central continent and indentured all those not possessed in the village to serve our needs and whims. It was a golden era for the Kinzoku..."
"... one that wouldn't last. It happened when the vast majority of us were taking on new hosts from the younger generation. We were vulnerable at that point; it took time for the 'roots' of our control to take firm hold on new hosts, a fact we thought we'd kept them oblivious to. We were wrong. This bold new generation defied us, suppressed our control, and eventually drove us into the dark recesses of their beings - I think you mortals call it the 'unconscious mind' - and therein locked away our influence. For generations afterward my kind slept in this dark, passed on quietly from parent to child in complete ignorance that we yet lived."
"But our sleep is not forever, mortals. Generations later I awakened within Kassom, who freely embraced me. Others, too, will eventually stir from their slumber. We are the Kinzoku, the metal terrors of heaven and hell..."
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~Extra~
Before you embark on your journey, you see three weapons in front of you.
~ A sword
~ A shield
~ A staff
Choose wisely.
The sword is chosen. Its steel blade shines and seems almost to sing in the hand of its new master...
I did post in shades of grey if anyone even remembers that lmao