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Taelian's Plot Notes
Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 12:20 pm
by Taelian
MOTIF: EBON DUELIST
Introduction
Taelian's Rune of Sigilic Pyromancy -- or the Black Sigil -- follows a thematic assembly of traits, known to him as a motif. This motif has been titled 'the Ebon Duelist' by Taelian, due to the focus of his quirks on exceeding the capabilities of a singular foe. They have trained his body and Rune to go toe-to-toe with the quicker and deadlier Dranoch, forging him into a Pyromantic duelist of little comparison.
Rune Location: Taelian's Black Sigil is on the back of his neck, more visible with shorter hair, though the bottom part of it is always visible unless concealed.
The Black Sun - Apprentice
The Black Sun is a melodramatic name for a fairly unspectacular quirk. Taelian's eyes, still ivory in color, are now surrounded by a perpetually lit and vibrantly colored ring of flame, acting as an outer glow. While this normally has little effect, it allows him to see much better in the dark, as his eyes act as a self-sustaining form of illumination. As a downside, stealth and subterfuge become more difficult for the Ebon Knight, whose eyes cast a directional light on whatever he is currently looking at.
Affliction of Ash - Journeyman
Taelian's Beacon acts much like a sun. While it provides him with warmth and illumination, it is as likely to overreach and burn him as a partial-Famished. This Quirk is an almost physical interpretation of that unfortunate polarity. When Taelian sustains considerable physical damage, and particularly heavy damage dealt to internal organs, his Beacon begins to churn vividly either due to a loss in control or as an internalized attempt to reach out and protect him. What this does is emit what is essentially a soul-effecting solar flare, the Beacon extending beyond its boundaries and cindering the edges of Taelian's essence. While this can be recovered from, the immediate effects are starkly grim.
Taelian will quite literally appear to flake into what looks like ash. Large sections of his skin will become dead and will begin to peel from his flesh, which itself is weakened by this backlash. His bones will become more brittle and his Sigilic Pyromancy unstable, thrashing out in indeterminate directions as likely to thrash an ally as a foe. Healing for Taelian is an arduous process and one that requires his Beacon essentially be rekindled after surging wildly out of control. Wounds inflicted upon Taelian after this condition takes effect can only be healed through the use of fire or cauterization. While it will not cause scarring, the Beacon inside of Taelian draws in the power of the fire using it to heal Taelian's soul and body, it will not lessen the pain of quite literally being burned alive. A lesson in the cost of power, while grueling to endure, it will ensure a complete recovery for him. A 'glass cannon', some would call him, Taelian burns brightly but ultimately becomes stunningly easy to kill with a well-placed attack, the Affliction nearly guaranteeing his death if he is not extricated from the field.
Gallow Warrior - Expert
The premier thematic Quirk of Taelian's motif, Gallow Warrior allows Taelian to manipulate his Enkindled weapons almost freely, and with great precision. He embeds nearly every fiber of their metal with Enkindled properties, allowing him to manipulate them as if they were cinders of flame through Pyrokinetics; suspending them at will and precisely controlling their movements. Though they keep their shape and appearance, cindered cracks will run across their form like with all Enkindled weapons. Taelian can seemingly perform this on any weapon with carbon in it, which he welds with particles of Shrivenflame in order to manipulate the weaponry. He can only manipulate these Enkindled weapons up to twenty feet away from him, and only up to six at once. Emblem cannot be channeled through these weapons, as it requires a physical grasp. Finally, these weapons and their dexterity are predicated upon the weapon skill they're based on.
This Quirk comes with a permanent physical change. A fiery-red, searing line will run across the length of Taelian's spine, permanently glowing warmly. This ends not far above his tailbone in height.
Ebon Paladin - Master
Ebon Paladin applies a singular but notable change to Taelian's Sigilic Pyromancy: as a warrior meant to lash out against the undying, his Sigilic Pyromancy techniques will now home in on the foes he has designated, so long as they fit certain criteria. All Dranoch, Liches (including proto), Strigoi, Necromancy-constructs, other undead and mortal entities who have lived beyond their natural span of life may be designated as 'targets' by his Enkindled weapons and Shrivenflame. This will not only force his weapons and techniques to follow after them with greater alacrity, including the swings and lunges of his wielded weapons, but to follow after them for a radius of up to fifty feet, enhancing the range of Gallow Warrior if in pursuit of such targets. Even with sharp turns and pivots, his weapons and flame will continue to follow their chosen foes aggressively, forcing them to fight on the backfoot of an escalating series of coordinated assaults.
Knight of the Pyred Bedlam - Master
The final Quirk of the Ebon Duelist, Knight of the Pyred Bedlam allows for Taelian to manipulate the carbon within his Enkindled weapons by superheating it, allowing him to change its composition. This enables Taelian to dramatically increase the durability of his Enkindled weapons by increasing their carbon density, making the weapons he wields nearly impervious to damage. As a result, Taelian gains an advantage in parrying, blocking and countering with his Enkindled weapons. This change is so profound that they appear to be able to block and reflect nearly anything, including weaker or more concentrated arcane attacks. He may additionally alter their carbon to become less dense, increasing sharpness and mobility at the cost of durability. While this appears a simple alteration to his Sigilic weaponmastery, it has profound effects on his dueling capabilities.
As a downside to all of his Quirks, now -- a sweeping trend overlaying his motif -- Taelian must now pursue and kill all undying so long as he is aware of what they are. Dranoch, Liches, specters haunting the physical world and others who have unnaturally extended their lives far beyond what is normal; Taelian's Beacon commands him to kill them and he will not relent in his violent pursuit of such individuals. The mental compulsion is strong enough to override almost any factor, reason or sense of self-preservation.
As a final change, the most dramatic aesthetic difference comes now with the motif. Taelian's body appears to change somewhat like an Enkindled weapon; cracks of flame are scattered at random throughout his body, isolated scars, almost molten in appearance. Most prominently these scars appear to line directly beneath his collarbone, along his sides above his waist and adonis belt, and coiling around his upper legs like a crown of cinders around each limb.
Re: Taelian's Plot Notes
Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2019 12:23 pm
by Taelian
MOTIF: LIGHTBRINGER
Introduction
Taelian views himself as a warrior of liberation, of freedom, and the expunging of vile influences over not only Sil-Elaine, but the Elven world. His Rune of Reaving sympathizes with this justicar-like view, and conflicts with the grim obscurity of the Shadowbringer motif. The Rune of Reaving wishes to mold Taelian into an exemplar of light, and though it fails to dominate the aethereal impulses of Shadowbringer, it guides him with impulses of its own.
Rune Location: Taelian's right side, along his ribs, the Rune appearing as a vertical pattern.
The Nexus - Apprentice
With his aether, Taelian may craft white-gold, glowing crystalline nexuses within the darkness - or the light, with the solid form of a crystal shard. Levitating above-ground, they will dramatically illuminate through even otherworldly, pitch-black darkness (such as the darkness emerging from Taelian's Shadowbringer Quirk) for fifteen feet around them in radius, though this radius appears to extend almost infinitely upwards as if a divine ray of light were extending upon each Nexus formed. These nexuses are both bright and warm, but for now do not provide much other than a source of light. At this stage, they are fairly easy to destroy with magical weaponry or arcane attacks, as little aether goes into their creation. The more they are charged, the more difficult damaging and destroying each Nexus becomes.
The Nexuses act as the basis for the Lightbringer motif - dividing Taelian's style of combat between day, and night. As an immediate physical change arriving with this motif, Taelian's eyes now glow a bright radiant gold while within the light, even further illuminated when standing within the Nexus' reach.
As an obvious weakness to this Quirk - and the motif itself - Taelian must counteract his own Shadowbringer Quirks in order to tap into the abilities of Lightbringer, his Runes effectively acting against one another.
Tuatha Dé Dannan - Journeyman
While within the light, the sea slug-like wings given to Taelian by Umbral Natant rapidly shift and take on an entirely different form. Shifting to a sleek, glimmering gold, the wings appear ornate and almost armor-like in texture and emblazoning. The scapulars of his wings are connected by a somewhat thin spherical bulb on each side, roughly the diameter of Taelian's arms. The scapulars themselves are golden and lead into a robust arm, adorned with plated golden armor. Each arm slumps down lifelessly, though they may become more rigid and unmoving so as to not disturb Taelian's movements.
Spanning out from the scapulars are coverts, or the body of each wing, which are embossed with intricate sculpting. Along the coverts are white marble, statue-like images, of Elven heroes of legends, beasts and horses, and murals behind them depicting the Elven Gods. Deriving from the scapulars of each wing are the 'feathers' - radiantly glowing, bright longswords, four belonging to each wing. The alula of the wings rise upwards like a mantle, thick in size and designed to intimidate with their broadness.
While Umbral Natant allows Taelian the ability to fly in the darkness, his speed increasing the darker the space around him, Tuatha Dé Dannan allows for the opposite and gives Taelian the ability to fly in the light. Like with Umbral Natant, he will appear to almost levitate, rather than flapping his wings; when flying at a high velocity, his wings will expand and seem to drift along the wind, as if gliding. The Quirk only offers an inverse of Umbral Natant for now, in this respect, but with more changes to come.
Taelian can retract these wings, rescinding them into his body. However, if he does so, it is very painful to redraw them from his form.
Gáe Brione - Expert
Taelian may charge the blades upon his wing coverts with his aether, each an ornamented gold weapon with a radiant length, their pommels brimming with brilliant light. He is capable of controlling these blades as if they were normal Reaving weapons, and is capable of Enkindling them. Taelian can control four of these at any given time without conflicting with his cap on controlled Pact Weapons; they are innate to his form. These blades are capable of coordinating attacks, both simultaneous and incremental, wherein they will launch in a straight line and leave a powerful trail of golden, burning aether behind them, as well as three feet in front of their tip. They will be surrounded by an eight foot diameter of this burning aether, which will quickly coalesce back into the head of each blade two seconds after they've met their zenith; each weapon may perform these radiant lunges for a total of thirty meters of distance. Once they've met their limit, they will turn upright (vertically) and point upwards towards the sky.
These blades are capable of phasing through the Nexus, and will acquire more power and distance upon doing so, as well as expanding their outer diameter. The blades passing through each Nexus will charge the Nexus with light, to be utilized in Solas an Latha.
Brataichean - Master
Taelian will only touch, and certainly wield, Enkindled weapons - his Rune has begun to shape his mind to view other weaponry as impure, as if their metals carry physical maladies. This means he will only utilize weapons he has Enkindled, and will need to go through a lengthy process Enkindling each weapon created by Reaving or drawn by other means before wielding them in battle. This will take the form of a literal blessing - he will speak an Elven prayer dedicating each weapon to the Eldhan Weald, and afterwards the weapon will appear blessed by divine eminence. The process costs aether to perform. After the blessing is complete, the weapon will be lit gold, with an intense white aura as they are wielded, with the same molten scars no longer appearing upon them.
The cracked, Enkindled scars of the past - given to Taelian by Ebon Duelist - change, becoming gilded golden embroidery across his form, similar to that of a Hytori's. The embroidery appears almost armor-like, and feels similarly to that of cool metal, but with a softer and more delicate touch.
Solas an Latha - Master
Solas an Latha, in Eldhan, means "Daybreak"; it is with this Quirk where the Nexus reveals its strength. Taelian is given multiple ways in which he may charge the Nexuses he creates; one way is through using Reaving abilities, with more powerful abilities empowering the Nexuses more in turn. Another is through Gáe Brione, carefully weaving the blades upon his wings through the Nexus as they beam towards foes. Then, there is the most consistent method; very slowly, through them bathing in their own light or - better - drawing their charge from other lighting, especially daylight. Whatever the case, as a Nexus charges it will begin to grow more radiant, as well as becoming much more difficult to destroy. The greater the charge, the larger the radius of Solas an Latha, beginning at something scarcely above the fifteen foot light-cast of the Nexus and ending in the few hundreds of feet in an outward radius.
When a Nexus releases its charge, it washes everything around it in a rapid wave of light. The aether does multiple things: one, it will weaken enemies within the radius, who will feel as if they have been bathed in intense heat. They will begin to grow nauseous and fatigued, as well as feeling burdened by their own weight. Secondly, the light release will charge Pact weapons within the radius with holy light, offering all of them an effect akin to that of Gáe Brione. This is especially useful coinciding with Arsenal, creating a devastating barrage of piercing light-rays alongside their Pact weapons.
Finally, and quite ironically, a Nexus will explode after unleashing their charge - and if any Nexuses still remain, their light will recede into them completely, obscuring them for some time after. They become even more durable as they linger in wait, but have no effect on the battle until they are rekindled. What this effectively does is weakens a foe before allowing Taelian to submerge them into darkness with Shadowbringer, leading into a gruesome hunt.
Solas an Latha comes with a weakness, however: Taelian becomes completely blind in the darkness created by Shadowbringer, though he can see perfectly well in the light. This often forces him to crystallize small Nexuses along his face, though with the effect of making him more viewable in the dark. If he wishes to engage as effectively as a Shadowbringer now, he is required to know how to navigate through pure darkness, just as his prey.
Re: Taelian's Plot Notes
Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:16 pm
by Taelian
MOTIF: THE WARDEN
Introduction
Taelian is the Warden of a single door, imbued into his Rune, known as the Lychgate. While his Rune prevents him from accessing additional portals, his Lychgate - often called his Ward - offers him a level of persistence that alters not only the way in which Taelian fights, but the way he lives. The Warden is a motif of mastery over versatility, sacrificing much of the combative applications of Transposition in order to shepherd his own unique style from beginning to end.
Rune Location: The center of Taelian's left palm, bearing a silver-teal color.
The Lychgate - Apprentice
Taelian's Anchor is intrinsically tied to a single portal, known as the Lychgate. While he is capable of creating Nodes and Streams to perform other abilities, his Anchor can only tame and feed one construct or pair at a single time. The abilities limited by this are: Window, Aetheric Redirection, Disarming, Vacuity, Portal, Spatial Chakram, Interplanar Portal and The Chasm. This means that only one of these abilities may be active at any time.
However, his Rune resonates with the Lychgate which has learned to siphon from surrounding aethereal clusters. Both creating and sustaining this portal - though it is only one - is now a much more cost effective feat, allowing for the consistent presence of the Lychgate in combat and Taelian's daily life. The Lychgate also has one immediate, useful property: its boundaries are constantly shifting and cycling, appearing much like ignited sparks circling at high speeds, and this makes the boundaries of the Lychgate fairly difficult to strike (and therefore collapse).
It should be noted that the Portal ability itself is now physically distinguished from other abilities: while most of Taelian's Lychgate portals are teal, surrounded by whirling sparks, Taelian's Portals appear to borrow from the features of the environment surrounding them. For example, if he uses the Portal ability in a desert, it will appear to form its shape with the sand around it, being encircled by the grains as if they were drawn by a gust of wind. The same applies to the ocean with water, a savannah with golden grass or a forest with bark and leaves.
Reverb - Journeyman
Taelian can no longer Blink. While it was at first possible to perform, at the risk of collapsing the Lychgate, by Journeyman he loses the ability to Blink entirely. Instead, Taelian gains access to a new ability known as 'Reverb'. This ability allows him to tether himself to a node he has created - the one nearest to him - and be pulled along by it as it collides with another node, resulting in a blindingly fast spatial charge, always in a linear direction.
This appears as a teal-blue aethereal flash surrounding his body. There are benefits and disadvantages to this: firstly, this movement is not restricted by the limit given by Blinking, and can therefore be performed in rapid succession. Additionally, this ability costs less than Blinking to perform. Taelian also moves at half of the speed of Mach-1 when dashing, meaning he accelerates at an incredible speed. In exchange, Taelian is not intangible while dashing, meaning death to wide-scale attacks, object collision, crashing into terrain and several other possibilities open him up to the vulnerability of high velocity suicide. In addition, as he can only move linearly, the range of Reverb is often significantly less than that of Blink, forcing Taelian to further rely on his singular Lychgate in order to cross large distances.
Collision - Expert
As Taelian cannot Blink, he loses the ability to Mirror. In exchange, his Rune appears to have opened the door to a new ability: Collision, the ability to Reverb others, or multiple things at once. The node meant to collide into the other will appear surrounded by a teal blue aethereal radiance, emanating from it at a radius of around ten feet. This is an opportune time for escape from the radius of the ability, if one recognizes they are about to be pulled. After around two seconds since forming, Taelian is able to draw all of the objects within the radius towards the second node, propelling them at a similar pace to Reverb. Collision then has two alternative paths: he can either will the objects to move forward in a parallel direction, preventing them from impacting one another upon arrival, or he can force them to all simultaneously converge with likely lethal results.
Taelian now carries the visage of his portal upon his right shoulder, eternally spinning with its spark-like edges. In addition, the fiery edges of his irises appear to light with the same teal shape of his portals whenever he actively utilizes aether, resulting in a mesmerizing and unnatural stare.
A Warden's Folly - Master
Taelian's Rune becomes intrinsically bonded to not only the Lychgate, but to doors; archways, gates, all forms of enclosed entrances or exits with clearly defined boundaries. The Rune of Transposition draws from the Beacon and learns to interact with the Black Sigil: he learns of another method of powering portals, perhaps from the concept of his slow drain upon surrounding the surrounding flux. He learns that he can imbue specters and souls into doors, and turn them into the wardens of their own gates, powering portals. While one can maintain a portal for a small period of days, entangling many souls together in an ectoplasmic weave allows Taelian a method of crafting nearly undying portals, the drain on each individual soul whittling them slowly enough to where they appear capable of powering the door for a long span of time. When they have begun to wither, Taelian must return to the door and re-dedicate them, allowing the wilting specters to rest before drawing more to act in their place.
This allows Taelian to create a network of portals without the usage of World Magic, but with each portal starkly easy to destroy, vulnerable to collapse at the mere disturbance of the door's edges. These portals are grim when spoken to, particularly those with more souls, whispering to him as a haunting and somber chorus of captivated wraiths. When he views the Dead Realm with Searing, he is capable of communing with them and learning of what they have seen. Each soul is essentially bound to his will as the Warden of them all, prisoners tied to a cell of elegant shape. The appearance of these portals is one that is faded, with a generally opaque black background and an overlay of swirling teal energy that appears to pulse as if breathing.
Taelian is capable of informing the specters of who he wishes to allow the privilege to cross, though he may only do so via Searing. Any others who attempt to cross will simply phase through the portal and to the other side of the door it was dedicated upon, unable to even notice the difference between the portal and a regular door.
Backlash - Master
The destruction of any of Taelian's portals results in the aethereal tether between the Anchor (in the form of his Rune of Transposition) and the portal launching back at him, gathering the remaining aether of the portal and directly assaulting Taelian's Rune through what appears to be a beam-like ray of energy. His Rune will spark uncontrollably for a few seconds, the Siltori visibly regressing due to the immense pain. For around a minute after this, Taelian's Rune of Transposition becomes unstable and any portals created will either collapse prematurely - if not instantaneously - or will expand rapidly beyond Taelian's ability to regulate them, rapidly draining his aether before closing. Whatever the case, any usage of Transposition during this time becomes extremely dangerous if not lethal in certain circumstances, and so must only be used in desperation. Even if Taelian does not use Transposition during this time, the physical damage to his Rune-holding palm can prove severe to his performance in battle.
Taelian permanently acquires lit, aethereal patterns along his feet and calves, similar in appearance to sandals but with a certain Elven-like artistry to them. This appears to be due to the fact that his Rune is drawn to frequently stepping through space, reducing the limitations of his mobility like through Reverb, his ectoplasm-powered portals and the Lychgate which grates far less on him than other portals may.
Re: Taelian's Plot Notes
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 7:39 pm
by Taelian
MOTIF: SHADOWBRINGER
Introduction
Taelian's Rune is compelled towards the depths of the sea - the darkness, where Veravend once resided, and where she continues to reside in his mind. As a result of this fixation, his Rune longs to resemble the predatory nature of the lurkers of the deep seas, and learns to act as they do.
Rune Location: Drawn across Taelian's scalp, completely concealed from view by his hair.
Shadowbringer - Apprentice
As the base of the motif, Taelian - the Shadowbringer, his Rune dubs him - can summon raw darkness from the Stygian Grave, filling an area with stark blackness that even those with perfected nightvision cannot adequately see through. He appears to do so not through a portal, but through his Rune itself, fundamentally changing the area around him by rapidly consuming light. To those around him, this will appear almost as if he is turning the light off gradually, as everything fades into total pitch-black obscurity. Of course, this effect does consume aether for its initial effect to take place, and the larger the radius around him the more it costs. However, it is not immensely consumptive and it does not drain him over time. As a result, Taelian can reliably employ this quirk in combat, and will often do so as an opener.
As a base-line, there are multiple stages of obscurity around the Shadowbringer. From twenty to thirty meters out from Taelian, the Quirk only dims light, though starkly; from five to twenty meters out, it obscures the area in total darkness that only bright light sources can penetrate, but only for a distance of a meter and a half before those lights fade out. Five meters out from Taelian, and up to his physical body, all light sources become completely consumed and Taelian - as the epicenter - is even partly obscured from Semblance, challenging the magic's ability to view him and demanding more aether in order to do so.
Taelian can expand the radius of the light-consuming effect, but requires concentration in order to do so. He will also, as mentioned previously, need to add more aether along with focusing in order to expand the borders of the obscuring aura. The greater he extends this effect, the more he must focus while expanding it: once the boundaries of the darkness have reached several hundred feet outward, Taelian must engage in nigh-meditation in order to continue to broaden its borders.
Only Archetypes native to the deep sea of the Stygian Grave can reliably move through this darkness, as they have evolved to navigate through it. Taelian's Black Sun quirk already provides him with excellent vision in the darkness, but Shadowbringer expands upon that, his eyes evolving to be able to see through the darkness of the Stygian Grave. An immediate physical change appears to come alongside this: while within the darkness, Taelian's eyes are colored an almost ebony shade of dark purple, his pupils seemingly disappearing. His irises appear to carry a faint magical glow of the same color, as if aether were running through the orbs.
Abyssopelagic - Journeyman
Taelian begins to develop bioluminescent lights upon certain parts of his body, similar to the ones manifest by deep sea creatures. These lights run along tattoo-like patterns along his sides (where his ribs are located), as well as long the length of his forearm and the lower half of his biceps. They are colored a bluish-white and appear often as small dots, surrounding intricate patterns that appear to be runic symbols written in the language of Thultu, and the Lost Fathoms. Importantly, these bioluminescent lights act as a weakness to Taelian: while he is within five feet of an individual, and especially when within three feet of them, the lights will slightly pierce through the intense darkness of Shadowbringer and allow his prey a window of opportunity to view him.
Anglerfish - Expert
Taelian is able to create traps within two hundred feet of himself for a small amount of aether. These traps appear very similar to Anglerfish bulbs, bright organic-looking lights within the darkness that vaguely illuminate objects around them. If any, save for Taelian, his Archetypes or his designated allies, enter within two meters of these bulbs they will explode and immediately trigger their effect. The bulbs appear to summon the pressure of an oceanic floor onto the target, applying immense weight down onto those struck by the trap and forcing them immediately to the ground. This pressure lasts for roughly ten seconds upon triggering, though the extremely physically capable can rebound, partially cutting down the time they're pressed against the ground. Taelian is able to create these bulbs on the ground or in the air, and can create them in a period a little over a second. If the effect is triggered on a target who is in the air, they will immediately nosedive into the ground, making a hard impact with the floor. The pressure is conjured directly from Veravend's realm, the Stygian Grave, the weight of its deep gorge summoned onto the struck foe.
Bile of the Betrayer - Master
As Taelian performs more Summoning abilities, and summons more Archetypes, something he calls 'Veravend's Bile' begins to bleed into his system through the small tether carried between them, leaking in with each use of Summoning, and particularly more intense uses. This is comparable to a deep sea phenomena known as 'marine snow', with the waste from the Shrouded Realm trickling into his system. The more bile within Taelian's system, the more poisoned he becomes, weakening him progressively until he becomes nearly immobile. Considering this may often be paired with overstepping through elongated usage of Summoning, it can become both highly debilitating and deadly if managed poorly. Taelian can expend aether to forcefully purge his system of some of the bile contents, physically vomiting what appears to be black waste. Most effective is recalling his Summons, even his Eidolon so that he may recover rather than accruing more bile.
The more bile he has accumulated, the more poisonous Taelian becomes, affecting his blades from Umbral Natant. A great amount of bile, while weakening him, can allow him to inflict others with highly fast-acting and lethal poison, but due to his increasing weakness it becomes more difficult to apply such effects.
Umbral Natant - Master
To begin with, Umbral Natant begins with the emergence of two, long blades with a slight crescent-like edge along the length of each of his arms, grown from his skin at will at the expense of a small amount of aether. Along the lengths of each blade are four more blades welded, spanning outward with a half-crescent shape, each appearing like blade-shaped glaives, or even fins. The entire blade can retract or rise from each arm quickly and at-will, and can therefore be switched to or utilized fluidly. The durability of these blades is intense: they are difficult to penetrate or shatter, and given their harsh cutting power, they are expert at cleaving through other weapons even of less mundane make and materials. The blades appear to be, unsurprisingly, magical in nature if one purely regards their cutting power. This magical nature demonstrates itself further in what the blades can do when detached.
The blades can be gripped and removed from Taelian's arms, but only by his own hands. They will easily snap off, cleanly severing at the point of their emergence along his forearms. They can just as easily be snapped onto his legs, or beneath his feet, allowing for them to be used as bladed skates or as tools for high-velocity swimming. Taelian can also attach them to his back, and by channeling a somewhat significant amount of aether into the blades he can force them to expand and allow for an advanced usage. They will become long, bladed wings upon his back, not only capable of swimming but gliding and flying through darkness. This is only possible in darkness, though the night, Shadowbringer's fog and the ocean all allow for this. Further, the more poisoned Taelian is by Bile of the Betrayer, the more poisonous the length of these blades will become. Taelian can also manipulate the blades, allowing them to outstretch and pursue foes for up to ten feet as lethal, high-powered tendrils.
Re: Taelian's Plot Notes
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 9:53 pm
by Taelian
THE PATRON: GOD OF IRON
Introduction
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Re: Taelian's Plot Notes
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 9:37 am
by Taelian
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Re: Taelian's Plot Notes
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 11:13 am
by Taelian
MOTIF: RESONANCE
Introduction
Taelian, his Arche element air, has learned to master the precise vibrations of air -- and may use this to even control an aspect of air unique to him, that of sound.
Rune Location: Taelian's Rune of Elementalism, shaped like an elaborate tribal tattoo, is drawn along the edges of the shape of his left pectoral.
Skyfoot- Apprentice
Quickly into learning Elementalism, Taelian discovers that he cannot manipulate the elements normally; along with channeling aether, he can only utilize the elements through movements and gestures with his hands and feet. While this acts as a large restriction for Taelian, dramatically weakening his Elementalism in situations where he is immobile or already utilizing his limbs, Skyfoot comes with a few benefits. To begin with, Taelian is capable of binding his Arche element between his hands and feet, which empowers his control over air, making all manifestations of the element of wind more effective for their cost. Furthermore, the element of air - infused into his movements - appears to increase Taelian's agility, greatly enhancing his ability to dodge and weave in-between attacks -- but only while all four of his limbs are largely unoccupied, free enough to channel the wind.
Mak: Sound - Journeyman
Mak is the premier ability of Resonance, and it allows Taelian to finely manipulate the vibration of air to the point where he can control sound. Unfortunately, due to Taelian's uniquely singular bond with the wind Arche element, with Mak comes a devastating reality: Taelian cannot utilize any other para-elements of any other main elements. While he can still use the basic elements as well as any other Elementalist, 'sound' - an advanced form of wind - is his only sub-standard form of Elementalism. Taelian often calls Mak, or Sound, his fifth element.
Fortunately for the mage, Mak is an element with highly unique properties. For one, it can be finely tuned and manipulated by Taelian on the spot, constantly adjusted. He generally does this with his fists, with the closure of his fists resulting in low-tone blasts of sound and the opening of his palms enabling higher-pitch blasts. Further, he can adjust the shape of these air vibrations by moving his arms. Moving his elbows back produces the build-up to large, wide-area cleaving blasts of sound, while extending his arms forward releases jets or simply pushes forward the blasts culminated by his elbows. Spinning or twirling produces circular blasts, while his feet can either be used to finely manipulate sound or to create erratic waves. As Taelian gains mastery of Elementalism and explores Mak, he can learn to bring these movements together to perfectly manipulate and shape sound to his will. It is important to note that Mak does not move at the speed of sound, though it is extremely fast compared to most elements. Taelian's wind tends to be quick in general, but Mak is notably fast and difficult to evade.
Mak has a few effects. Depending on Taelian's aether expenditure, it can have paralytic effects as a result of shock and damaging frequencies to the brain. This sort of sound is often called 'sonar-wind' by Taelian, and most dangerously it can be transformed back into regular -- blunt or cutting -- air if Taelian alters its vibrations. Almost anyone hit by sonar-wind is at least temporarily stunned (with most remaining stunned for as long as the sound is hitting them), and as it is less aether intensive it can be used to create openings and stun large groups. Mak is always visible, seen as a distortion in the air, and while it is fast it can also be heard approaching as it comes. For sonar-wind this is especially the case, as it is more high-pitched and loud.
The second type of Mak is called 'scattering', with the wildest and most aggressive vibrations. This form of Mak is quite literally capable of dismantling objects with its pitch and vibrations, including people. When attempting to contend with other mages or quickly kill opponents, scattering is Taelian's most typical form of Mak. It is a more erratic and wild pitch, shifting in frequency very often. More aether-dense blasts are much, much louder and far more degenerative.
The final form of Mak is less destructive, and is simply called 'resonance'. This sort of Mak can be performed in every day life; an instrument can be infused with sound, a voice can be made to boom more loudly, and sound can even be drowned out or finely manipulated. The more Taelian masters Mak, the more precisely resonance can be used. It is entirely possible for him to effectively rend people unable to voice themselves, though all such uses expend aether, whether small or large amounts depending on the drama of the effect.
Kul: Void - Expert
Infusing great aether into the incredible power of his favored element, Taelian is capable of creating something known as an 'Aether Void', or a vacuum of aether-infused air specifically meant to snuff out aether inside of it. This ability acts much as other manifestations of aether do, in that it may use its superior strength to overpower and eradicate the aether of another magical ability. Unlike other abilities, however, the vacuum can be continually fed until it is given enough strength to void other abilities. Kul can quickly become an incredibly costly ability, but it is very effective at dealing with multiple mages at once, or defending key positions. If someone is caught inside of one of these vacuums, they will find that the air has been entirely snuffed out, and they will find that the interior of the vacuum -- impossible to hear from the outside -- is filled with an unbelievably violent pitch of sound, often stunning people within and performing neurological damage upon them over time. Mages inside of the void will find their abilities dismantle quickly, unless they are strong enough to overpower Kul.
Morne: The Ocarina - Master
Taelian's right hand becomes a sort of ocarina, an instrument with which he can perform songs and finely control his sound from further away. His fingers become smooth almost like bone, and take on an ivory shade with small little holes scattered along their lengths. Taelian can either play this ocarina himself or he can simply manipulate the frequencies it emits. As an example of what Morne can do: Taelian can expand the scope of sound blasts that have already left his fists and feet, as well as redirect them. He can shift them between all three forms of Mak: resonance, scattering and sonar-wind. Also, while Taelian can already do this, he finds it easier to transition between air and sound even with blasts that have already extended far away from him. Morne also expands his control over the two and their states, allowing for him to - for example - have wind be carried by a burst of sound behind it, improving the speed of wind blasts dramatically. He can even carry himself with sound, like with air, enabling a form of high-speed sonorous flight.
The first drawback of Morne is that using it costs aether. The second is that it tends to project its pitch outwards in all directions regardless of intent, and can therefore be debilitating or distracting to allies, while also drawing attention and focus to Taelian. Morne is rarely used in combat except to perform very dramatic abilities. Instead, it is often used to more finely manipulate sound via resonance. It can, for example, drown out other sounds and can be used to more precisely control or remove sound around it -- particularly if used as an instrument.
Shai: Movement- Master
Taelian's final Quirk is one that fundamentally changes the way he may fight. Mastering Air, Mak and its vibrations, Taelian is capable of finely sensing movements around him. Every movement creates a vibration, and these vibrations create sound. While the sound is thin and inaudible to most, Taelian's Arche element has given him the ability to perceive these sounds. These tones inform him of the movements around him, and Taelian is capable of deciphering these pitches so clearly that -- as he gains comfort with Shai -- he can connect each sound and its specific depth and tone to specific movements. The air Elementalist can determine not only the movements themselves, but also their weight, mass, trajectory, force and velocity. While this allows Taelian to react incredibly well to things around him, and move with unprecedented precision and alacrity as he learns to improve upon the precision of his own movements via the effect, Shai comes with multiple horrific drawbacks.
In order to truly utilize Shai, Taelian must remove himself of other distractions. He essentially deafens himself to all sounds, and the visual element appears to serve as a distraction in his focus with Shai, reducing his understanding of the sounds and their depth. As such he effectively becomes blind and deaf while using Shai, capable of perceiving movement alone. Even if someone screamed at him he could not hear it -- only tell that there was sound escaping their lips, that their mouth moved, et cetera. There is another very negative effect of Shai.
Shai does not consume aether; it is a natural result of his Arche element's -- and his -- fine understanding and perception of air vibrations and sound frequencies. It is a form of persistent sonar. However, Shai is not natural to Taelian or his Elven brain, and it can inflict severe migraines upon him, as well as incredible fear. In cases where Shai is forced to perceive too many sounds all at once, and particularly loud and dramatic sounds (such as if Taelian is using it in the middle of a massive battlefield), Shai can force Taelian into a state of extreme fear and confusion as his head becomes filled with conflicting screeches and dramatic tunes. Even if opening his eyes and reducing Shai's effects, Taelian will still be strongly impacted by these experiences and any migraine acquired can stay for hours or even days. Further, extreme overuse of Shai -- particularly with minimal experience using it -- can lead to panic attacks or even temporary neurological effects, even to the point of forcing the mage unconscious.
Re: Taelian's Plot Notes
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 1:12 pm
by Taelian
N P C: R E N F I E R
Details
Age: 38
Race: Human
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 188 lbs
Title: Valran of Ciseperant
Relation to Taelian: Close Friend
Skills
Reaving (Master), Kinetics (Expert), Politics (Journeyman), Rhetoric (Journeyman), Semblance (Journeyman), Blades (Journeyman), Bodybuilding (Apprentice), Running (Apprentice), Mount (Apprentice)
Description: Ser Knight-Captain Valran Renfier de Neime deaux Ciseperant, Chevalier de Neime or simply Renfier, is a member of the Halamire and a Valran to the court of Montese Lierril Lorraine. Unlike many Valran, Renfier was not born to an already prominent family and he was not initiated at a young age by his parents. Instead, at the age of sixteen he decided that it was not in his interests to keep with his modest lifestyle, nor his parent's intended profession for him. Renfier bedded a ranking member of the Valran and persuaded him to initiate him into Kinetics, culminating in de Neime's first marriage.
After nearly a decade of tutelage under his Halamire-spouse, Renfier was elected into the ranks of the Valran by Lady Lierril, and not long after their divorce was finalized. The man proceeded to marry several young humans and Elves alike, using his newfound wealth as a method of sustaining his harem and the children he thereafter sired. Predictably, none of these relationships lasted and the Halamire sold each of his spouses -- effectively serfs -- into the administrative services of other Valran. Afterwards, the Halamire-Knight was said to have gone on a journey of self-discovery to Arlain for two years, during which time he re-married thrice more.
Renfier has... an incredibly peculiar reputation in Ciseperant, to say the least. He is even known in some of the adjacent Montiens as a lecher of impossible desires, made content by little more than physical intimacy. In truth, Renfier is deeply ambitious . . . and though he does not often participate in the Candor, his entry into it can only be interpreted as a threat whenever it comes.
Re: Taelian's Plot Notes
Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2020 11:02 am
by Taelian
ARD SGIATH
Plan
Title of Business: Ard Sgiath (Our Shield), "The Lodge"
Goods Sold: Information, Dead Enemies
Location: Loregard, the Kingdom of Atinaw
Base Income: Guild Master, 1,200 df/day. (Approved by Nyx; will increase as Taelian gains more of a reputation and higher value contracts.)
Skill Bonus - Master Sigilic Pyromancy (x8), Master Blades +1.5(x9.5), Journeyman Spycraft +0
Description:
The Castle:
Total Income - 1200/9.5 = 11400 + 12% (Consistency Bonus; Frost 119, Glade 120, Searing 120) = 12,768 df/day
Assets - This is a list of all structures and items that are either sold or used in the foundation/operation of the business including their costs.
Trophy Hall (Simple): 10,000 df
Prison Cell: 30,000 df
Office (Simple), 2: 40,000 df
Storage (Simple), 2: 50,000 df
Library (Simple): 50,000 df
Patio/Deck, Stone (Elaborate): 50,000 df
Armory (Simple): 50,000 df
Workshop (Simple): 60,000 df
Bath (Simple), 3: 60,000 df
Dovecote: 80,000 df
Kitchen (Simple): 80,000 df
Infirmary (Simple): 80,000 df
Tavern (Simple): 100,000 df
Common Area (Simple), 4: 100,000 df
Training Room: 100,000 df
Stables (Elaborate): 100,000 df
Dining Hall (Simple): 150,000 df
Barracks, 2: 160,000 df
Guard Post, 6: 180,000 df
Master Bedroom (Elaborate) 250,000 df
Walls (Small Castle): 250,000 df
Bedroom (Simple), 8: 280,000 df
Courtyard (Elaborate), 2: 300,000 df
Walls (Large Castle) 500,000 df
Land (Hills), 10 Acres: 500,000 df
Debts - 3,610,000 df owed to the Imperial Bank.
8% SIR (288,800 df/season)
