ringulreith
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Approved - just one thing that should be noted, to make sure that you're aware. As they are right now, most of your abilities will require input from whoever you choose to enter combat with in order to figure out exactly how they'll affect their targets.
Apologies in advance for how late this is in coming, I know I promiced I would have it done earlier. Such is the nature of the beast of procrastination, I'm afraid.
Name: Dianna Gouse
Element: Light
First Post
Appearance:
Almost thirty years of hardship and strife have left their tole on Dianna's slender figure, leaving it lean and wiry and rough on the edges. Her extremely pale skin is blemished by a smattering of scars, thin and jagged tokens of her violent past. Pale moonlight spills from her crown in wavy tresses that brush her shoulders and frame her angular face. Gunmetal blue eyes peer out with a pervasive detachment, at once cruel and mocking in their apathy.
An air of something otherworldly and unnatural hangs about her, as if she were not entirely material – not entirely human. Many people – especially instinctive or sensitive people – feel uncomfortable around her, a faint hint of wrongness that she emanates. Her appearance is slightly insubstantial, blurring at the edges and at times seeming to waver. When she speaks, her words seem to reverberate in a fainter, deeper voice.
Personal History:
Dianna grew up in a small temple community venerating the light lord on the continent of Deren. At a very young age, her elders saw in her the potential to become a good warrior. She was entered into training with other prospective children, where she flourished and demonstrated her instinctive grasp of swordplay. This was not to last, however, for it was during her early teens that the second coming of the Devowerer began. A squad of Brilhado fell upon their village one night, leaving a trail of death and wanton destruction. One particularly vicious demon slaughtered her family in front of her eyes before proceeding to eat them while forcing her to watch. Traumatized, sobbing with grief, and vowing vengeance, she was able to escape the massacre barely alive due to a combination of luck, cunning and the sacrifice of her sword instructor.
Now alone without money on a continent embroiled in devastating war, she turned her grief to the pursuit of knowledge that would enable her to strike back at the Brilhado. As she struggled to travel between cities and gain access to libraries and other resources, the atrocities she witnessed being committed by the Network – and the Brilhado in particular – served to inflame her fear and hatred of them. Her growing emotional and mental instability led her to darker and darker tomes, where she began to find references to premordial cosmic beings and the cults and rituals they inspired. It was in Yog-Sothoth, master of all space and time, in Azathoth, the mad chaos which dwells at the centre of infinity amidst demonic drums and flutes, and other eldritch horrors that Dianna found her answer. Her study -- and eventual practice -- of the occult led her down a slippery slope of madness and hate, her already fragile mind shattering completely under the conditions.
The final instrument to her complete madness occurred during her eighteenth winter. Under the dark of a new moon, she hunted down and trapped a lone wounded Brilhado necromancer. Atop a flat hill, with the stars as her only witness and the demoniac howling of the wind her only companion, she sacrificed her victim to the cosmos and joined in a pact that would grant her the power needed to fulfil her vengeance. Her weakness – her humanity – for strength; her mind for her revenge. She fed her anger, her grief, her fear, her despair, her helplessness... Fed them into the infinite black gulfs of the night, where they were twisted and melded and honed into deadly points of hate and fury and bloodlust. These new feelings she spun and wove with starlight and cold iron and forged into a blade that could deliver them unto her enemies, with the bones of her first victim as its handle.
From that day she ventured forth to quench her endless lust for Brilhado blood, mind in shambles and full of the echos of incomprehensible cosmic beings. Her travels have brought her in contact with similarly-minded individuals who helped her hone her combat skills and taught her to master her broken mind and use it as a weapon against her enemies. The elemental championships have sparked her interest as an avenue for gaining greater power; for if she succeeds at gaining the attention of the lord of light -- her patron still -- will he not be willing to assist her in destroying their mutual foe?
Equipment:
Dianna's primary weapon is her longswordd. During a dark period in her youth, she called upon eldritch beings to forge the blade out of strands of fear and hate and killer instinct twisted with cold iron and starlight. Its handle and guard are fashioned out of the bones of a Brilhado necromancer. The iridescent silvery blade, long and narrow for thrusting, is translucent and very cold to the touch, and the wounds it inflicts are slow to heal and cause long-lasting pain.
The weapon is as much a direct manifestation of Dianna's psyche as it is material, making it very hard to damage; In fact the only way to damage it is to attack it both physically and metaphysically at once. As a result of this property, the blade has the capability of partially nullifying magical constructs, be they inanimate or otherwise. The extent of this nullification depends on the magnitude of the willpower and intent behind the target in comparison to the raw emotive potential imbued into the blade during its forging. For example, a carelessly thrown fireball would be snuffed out entirely on contact because there is little intent behind it, but a living magical construct would only receive damage equal to the physical potential of the strike because of the innate strength of its survival instinct. Beyond this, the blade acts as an emotionally sympathetic extention of Dianna. What this means is that the lethality of a blow can be slightly altered by her feelings toward the target; for example extreme hate might magnify the induced pain or the strength behind a strike. Finally, the blade is anathema to all Brilhado, causing them extreme agony and serving to damage the connection to their magic.
The rest of Dianna's belongings are much more mundane: A leather-padded chainmail hauberk -- worn and dented with use, A pair of hobnailed leather boots with brass buckles -- each fitted with a sheath for a plain steel dagger, An unornamented baldric, assorted living necessities such as water and preserved food, a canvas pack, and finally a journal in which to store her thoughts and discoveries. When it comes to clothing, she is conservative; preferring cloth or cotton garments in blues and greys that are loose enough to preserve freedom of movement.
Skills/Abilities:
Dianna is a quite adept swordmistress, having practiced fighting with a longsword from a very young age. She is also decent in close-quarters combat – both with a dagger and unarmed – when necessity calls for it, although she is not by any means an expert.
Light has long been an element of enlightenment – metaphorically if not literally -- serving to fight away the shadows of ignorance and cast the unadulterated truth into sharp relief. There are some truths, however, which were not meant to be known; ancient, terrible things of cosmic horror that are incomprehensible to most mortal minds. Dianna has however looked into the abyss, so to speak, and the abyss has left its permanant mark on her psyche. She can, with some mental effort, shine the metaphorical light of knowledge on another individual as a psychic echo of this mark, briefly exposing them to the insanity and primeval terror of the beings she has come into contact with. Depending on the mental strength of the target, this can induce anything from a spike of fear or panic to jabbering madness. To perform this ability, she must have direct skin or eye contact with the target. Alternately, she can channel it through her blade, though this takes considerably more mental strain and diminishes the effectiveness. An alternate, more passive form of this capability is to manifest a kind of psychic vibration that originates from her, causing anyone in her vicinity to feel a mild trepidation.
Twisted by contact with ancient eldritch beings, and compounded with feelings of anger and revenge nurtured since adolescence, Dianna's mind has achieved a rare singularity of negative emotions. Through years of mental training, she has become able to reflect this pool of hate and fury outwards, inducing sympathetic feelings in the target. Depending on the mental and emotional strength of the target, this can go anywhere from being an easily-suppressed emotional spike to an all-consuming rage. To perform this ability, she must have direct skin or eye contact with the target. Alternately, she can channel it through her blade, though this takes considerably more mental strain and diminishes the effectiveness.
I'll be on IRC to answer any concerns, as always. Can't wait to battle it out with yall!
< Message edited by ringulreith -- 7/2/2013 22:54:28 >
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