User talk:Kerrus

Mage: The Ixscension

Lysander Tharr

History

Born under a different name, the man that became Lysander Tharr grew up with a spotty old uncle in a victorian household on the London outskirts. As with most children from a well to do family, he was sent off to a boarding school as soon as he was old enough, and had limited contact with his uncle thereafter. However, it was the boarding school that began his most transformative journey, for it was there that he Awakened.

Schools often have secrets. The older the school, the older the secrets, and Saint Bastion's Academy for Boys was no exception. Some of the teachers engaged in secretive practices at night, and strange sightings happened periodically on the grounds. When a full moon came, people locked their doors and stayed inside. Things moved out there in the night, and even within the ancient dormatories, there were secrets still. Hidden passageways, and old books hidden inside newer books. Books that spoke of ancient knowledge, and other things outside mortal ken. For him, these books drew him onto a path he might never otherwise have followed.

It was the winter solstice, and he discovered clues in a tome to a secret passage deep within the underground beneath the academy. Gathering his supplies, he set out to find it one night. Perhaps it would contain more ancient runes, etched on the walls. Perhaps it lead to a cache of books, old tomes to further his learning of Alchemy, the Royal Art- perhaps even there were other things there. But none of these suppositions could have prepared him for what he found that day.

It was a creature. A thing. Hidden within a secret vault, trapped and bound. A Chimera. An artificial creature made from alchemical processes. Old, powerful, insane. it was these and more. It was lonely. At times, it was even lucid. Lysander talked to it. Sang to it. Cried with it. They shared stories and legends, and in the wee hours of night ancient knowledge, forgotten by mortals.

It told of an ancient order, the Order of Hermes. A collection of those who used True Magick. They had created it, bound it, and ordered it to do their bidding. And as ancient and terrible as it was, those orders still held. It had seen the boy's nascent awakening, and this was the only reason it didn't kill him as it had those others who had found it, over the centuries. In return for its knowledge, its counsel, and its care, it wanted only one thing. One thing that only the boy could give it.

To die.

In time, Lysander granted the beast its desire, and left behind the Academy and his peers.

Stats

Shadow Name: Lysander Tharr
Concept: User of the 'Royal Art', Alchemy. FMA inspired.
Paradigm: Hermetic, shades of alchemy- the whole purification and refining of things to a higher level through the self.
Foci: Magic circles drawn in chalk, on gloves, tattooed magic circles, runes, Enochian
Casting Type: Spontaneous
Essence: Pattern
Nature: Architect
Demeanor: Explorer

XP: 69

Attributes

Physical 5

Strength: 2
Dexterity: 4 (Precise)
Stamina: 2

Social 3

Charisma: 2
Appearance: 3
Manipulation: 1

Mental 7

Perception: 3
Intelligence: 4 (Patterns)
Wits: 2

Abilities

Talents 5

Awareness: 1+1=2 (2 xp)
Alertness: 1
Athletics: 2
Dodge: 1

Skills 9

Artistic Expression: 2
Disguise: 1
Firearms: 3
Demolitions: 2
Technology: 1

Knowledges 13

Alchemy: 3+1=4 (3 xp)
Cosmology: 1
Enochian: 3+1=4 (3 xp)
Enigmas: 3+1=4 (3 xp) [Alchemy]
Science - Metallurgy: 3

Willpower: 5+3 (3 Fp)
Arete: 3 (8 fp)

Spheres

Forces: 1+2=3 (18 xp)
Life: 3 (34 xp)
Matter: 3
Prime: 2

Backgrounds: 7+4 fp

Avatar: 3
Library: 3
Resources: 2
Sanctum: 3

Merits:

Burning Aura (2 points)

Flaws:

Echoes - Full Metal Alchemist (2 points)

Yasuo Kado

Wherever there are people, there is conflict. Wherever there is conflict, you'll find me. As I wander the roads, I learn, and in learning, I teach. If people are willing to hear my song, then perhaps there is a way to abjure these conflicts. Perhaps conflict does not need to be the only path. If you are willing to listen, perhaps you're willing to sit down for a few moments and talk this thing out. There now, that wasn't so hard was it? Listen kid, they'll tell you that fighting is the best way, the only way to get what you want, but that just isn't true. What they really mean is that it's the easy way. If you're strong, I mean. Take from those weaker then you, destroy them, burn them into dust. What's the problem if they're weak? Nobody can stop you, don't you have all the power in the world?

But it's what we give up to get there. I'm not willing to give up who I am so that I can destroy, and I don't think you are either. But there's another way, right? This song I'm playing, it's not just for entertainment. You can feel it, right? They call it empathy, but I call it music. True communication. Just stop and listen. And maybe when you're ready, sing! ~ Yasuo Kado

Name: Kado Yasuo
Tradition: Estatic
Paradigm: Magic is Music
Concept: ROCKSTAR (A sort of intersection between Nekki Basara, and Shindou Suichi)
Nature: Wanderer
Demeanor: Benefactor

Backstory: A young aspiring musician, Yasuo discovered that music had the power to move the universe. Joining the Cult of Ecstasy, Yasuo set out to change the world through his music. Major goals include getting the technocracy to lay off the oppression bullshit and learning something called 'the song of the universe' a sort of underlying ur-chord that contains the power and majesty of creation.

XP: 66

Physical: 3

Strength: 2
Dex: 2
Stamina: 2

Social: 7

Apperance: 3+1 (12xp) (Bishounen)
Manipulation: 1
Charisma: 5 (Intense)

Mental: 5

Perception: 2
Intelligence: 3
Wits: 3

Talents: 9

Alertness: 1+1 (2xp)
Athletics: 1+1 (2xp)
Awareness: 1+1 (2xp)
Diplomacy: 3
Dodge: 1
Style: 1
Survival:

Skills: 13
Drive: 3
Etitquette: 2
Performance: 3+1 (6xp) [Song]
Survival: 3
Technology: 2

Knowledges: 5

Academics (music): 2
Linguistics: 3 (English, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese)

Spheres:

Forces: 2+1 (16 xp)
Mind: 3
Time: 1

Arete: 1+2+1 (8 fbp) (24 xp)
Willpower: 5+2 (2 fbp)
Essence: Primordial

Merits

Jack of All Trades (5 points)
Higher Purpose (1 point) [Get the whole world to listen to his song- not just 'hear it', but actually listen to the emotional and philosophical movement of it. He wants to move mountains with his music]
Soothing Voice (3 points)

Flaws

Lifesaver (3 points)

Backgrounds: 7 +2 (fbp) points.

Avatar: 3
Influence: 2
Resources: 1

Backstory

Abandoned by his father at a young age, Kado Yasuo grew up living a nomadic life. Traveling from one region to another, with only the shirt on his back and an old worn acoustic guitar to his name. Fascinated by music, Yasuo made his way through his early years making a living as a traveling performer, bringing music and laughter to small cities across India and China. As a teenager, he made his way back to his homeland of japan, and eventually managed to get a small time job working gigs at a night club- but with everything he's seen and experienced, Yasuo just can't stick around for long. Picking up everything he owns, the young man sets out onto the streets once again. He catches a train, and then a ship. Eventually, he moves to North America, and spends three years learning the musical cultures of that place. Always wandering, Yasuo has made many friends in many places, and been an influential figure in those lives he's touched. But nothing holds him to a single place for long, and in the end, he always picks up his things and heads off down the road.

Yasuo does not seek fame or fortune, or even recognition- his only desire is to light the darkness of fear and oppression, and to spread the philosophy of his song- that disagreements can be resolved without violence, and that people of all races, ideals or creeds can live in harmony- if only they would listen to the music that bridges the soul. All things are possible in music, and through music the world turns.

As a result of this ideology, Yasuo has become an influential, if mysterious figure in the lives of individuals across the globe. Though they may never see him again, he remains close to their hearts, and they seek to spread the legacy he left them.

Philosophy

What is it, you ask? Well, it's music of course. But music's more than math or entertainment, it's true communication. Hear my heart through this song, hear the universe. Music moves me, and I want to move the world with my music. If I can get people to stop and listen, maybe we can save this old mudball before we ruin it. Maybe we can stop all this fighting, all the killing and carnage, and learn to get along. There's no need for all this conflict. True communication's where it's at. You and I understand eachother- for real I mean- and violence ain't a possibility. Would you cut off your own arm? Oh, sure, it's on fire or poisoned by some nephandi, but I mean just out of the blue? You're not crazy, why would you. So too, why would we fight? Ain't no reason to, not with true communication. When you learn to understand another, you don't need to fight. Just listen. That's all it takes.

Sam Raine

History: Sam's parents were expecting a girl. He knows this because his name is Samantha Raine, after his great aunt. They had the paperwork filed and everything, but there was one minor hiccup. Sam was born a boy.

Growing up, Sam was the on the end of continual teasing over his name, over being short, and for a lot of times over being that awkward kid with no friends. At least, with no consistent friends. Sam never had a 'best friend' as a child, he never had a clique he belonged to- instead he had a long succession of people only interested in using him. Whether the sports jocks because he was a fast runner, light and agile, or the debate club because Sam was skilled at winning arguments- whether his parents for what use he could be of them running drugs, or his great aunt for whom he was named for being groomed to inherit and take care of her moderate library of occult tomes.

Eventually being constantly used became the norm- and Sam got used to it. Accepted it. It became his world- using others and being used himself, and he ended up in a bad place. When he was fourteen his parents were arrested for distributing drugs, and Sam was dumped into the foster care system. The jokes about his name continued, and Sam made a circuit of a range of foster families, many of whom wanted to use him for various purposes, before finally ending up in the care of a particularly abusive pastor.

Inside of two years in the man's care, Sam was all but dead inside, burned up, and burned out, addicted to too many drugs to name, too many pleasures to count. He attempted suicide, failed, and attempted it again when he was well enough to be left alone. He nearly succeeded the second time- but for the first time in his life someone who wasn't interested in using him up saved him. His aunt, only faintly remembered. Her mother, his great aunt, had passed away, and her property had passed to her. But her library, her books, they had been left to Sam.

Miri Raine set out to find Sam, to learn what had become of him, and what she saw sickened her. When she found him, he'd looked at her with dead eyes, uncaring that he'd slit his wrists and was bleeding out. There was no recognition of her, no sense of familiarity to him. She was just someone else come to use him.

But she didn't accept that reality- she took him in, saving him from death there. She called in favours, brokered deals with contacts, and made sure that custody passed from the pastor to her, adopting Sam as her ward, if not her son.

Bringing the light back to Sam's eyes took long- too long, but with the help of a longtime friend Miri knew from college (actually a path sorceror), she managed to succeed, managed to pull him out of the abyss his life had become. He began to enjoy life again, began to dream, even began to laugh. He regained the self confidence to go places, do things, to set goals and achieve them.

Within a few short years, he was almost like a normal kid again.

Almost. His past left him with many scars, and he still occasionally has nightmares of it. Nightmares of the abuse, of being used and used up. But beyond that, it has left a mark on him in his behaviour. He isn't limited by common morality, by sensibility, by preconceptions of personal space, modesty, or the like. He likes to touch, to feel, to express himself physically and emotionally. Dance, sex, music- all are ways of crossing boundaries, of proving to himself that he's still alive. His past may be behind him, but it has influenced him into being the person he is today. He falls into and out of love easily, believes in simplistic ideals, he's enthusiastic about people, relationships, about actions and physical contact, but he's also vulnerable and prone to hurt, to grief and pain, even to the occasional abusive relationship.

His ordeal saw his avatar awaken, and he began to feel the pulse of life in the world, what the books he inherited from his Great Aunt call Lakashim. He began to understand how distance is a kind of lie, an illusion, and how to cross it, to shatter boundaries and limitations. With that enlightenment he grew to understand the reasons behind his past, the weaknesses each of his abusers suffered, why his parents refused to change his name, even why the pastor- the one he still has nightmares of- took such joy in hurting him.

With understanding came a kind of acceptance, of closure. Sam moved on, putting his past behind him, and a future before him. He is who he is because of his past, and there's no changing that. But his future is uncertain, and he knows that there are many roads it can take, many stories he can take part in.

Though he has since left the care of his aunt, he keeps in contact with her as he travels, living the life of a nomad, of a wanderer, seeking new stories, new experiences, new people and pleasures. His goals are simple, to have fun, and to awaken in other people the same drive he has. Sam understands that many individuals are trapped in the same cycle of abuse, of preconception and weakness that he was trapped in. He wants to free them, and show them a whole new world of possibility and wonder.

Today Sam travels the world in a beat up old RV. He lives on a small monthly benefit paid by the Church after the wrongdoings of his former foster parent were exposed, and spends his time making friends, exploring places, and shattering social boundaries.

Sam has a love for costumes and outfits, often wearing clothing to accentuate a role, acting the lover, the fighter, the vulnerable waif, the drunk girl next door- his preference for partners is broad, and he's willing to go that extra mile to help anyone he likes get over their prejudices and experience what he can show them.

But it's not all sex and games- Sam maintains a lose contact with the local Estatics, often carrying messages between cities for them, checking up on local practitioners, sharing notes and going on the occasional fact finding mission for them.

While he's not a fighter, Sam can run, jump, parkour, and uses his talents to break the boundaries that many feel constrains them to 'how the world works', a limitation Sam knows is really imposed by all those prudes in the technocracy. With the flip of a skirt, a sensual touch, with a kiss or a simple, sensual motion, Sam can arouse in people interest, plant a seed of attraction, and change how they see the world.

Gender: Male
Tradition: Cult of Ecstasy
Nature: Deviant
Demeanor: Sensualist
Essence: Primordial

Age: 23
Height: 5'4"
Personality: Young, idealistic, enthusiastic, vulnerable, falls in and out of love easily.
Paradigm: Transcending/breaking barriers to reveal the truth of reality, shattering preconceptions.
Foci: Provocative movement, physical contact, a kiss, a grind, a flip of the skirt, sensual touch, dance.

Strength: 1 (+1= 4xp): 2
Dexterity: 4 (No Wasted Motion)
Stamina: 1 (+1 = 4xp): 2

Appearance: 5 (Androgynous)
Charisma: 1 (+1 = 4xp): 2
Manipulation: 4 (Sex Appeal)

Perception: 4 (Connections)
Intelligence: 3
Wisdom: 1 (+1 = 4xp): 2

Talents - 13

Acting: 3
Alertness: 1
Awareness: 2
Atheltics: 1
Expression: 3
Seduction: 1+3 (2+4+6=12): 4
Streetwise: 2

Skills - 7

Crafts - Outfits/costumes: 2+2 (+2=12xp):4 (Costume Design)
Dancing: 2+1(4xp):3
Drive: 1
Meditation: 2

Knowledges - 5

Computer: 1 (+1=1xp): 2
Cosmology: 1 (+1=1xp): 2
Herbalism: 1 (+3=6xp): 4 (Salves)
Research: 1 (+1=1xp): 2
Vice: 1 (+2=6xp): 3

Backgrounds - 7

Avatar: 4
Grace Under Pressure: 1
Library: 3
Resources: 1
Sanctum: 2

Spheres

Life: 3
Mind: 3+1=4 (24xp)
Correspondence: 3(34 xp)

Arete: 3 (1+8fbp)+1 (24 xp): 4
Willpower: 7 (5+2fbp)

Merits:
Enchanting Gaze - 2 pts (Sam's eyes are a brilliant green/blue, with flecks of red depending on the angle someone looks into them from)
Innocent - 2 point (A victim all his life, Sam has learned to cultivate an image of total innocence and moral purity. He hides a rather deviant mind behind an angelic face)

Flaws:

Child (1) (Though technically of age, Sam is only twenty three and acts much more like a seventeen year old. A seventeen year old who can legally drink, knows more about drugs than you do, and has an insatiable appetite for new experiences)
Primal marks (2) (Something Sam did, took, or was exposed to caused half of his hair to permanently change pigment. Whether dressing up, growing his hair out, or even changing style, there's always a section of it that is noticeably of a different colour. He'd fit right in among the cast of Yugioh)
Nightmares (1) (It's not every night, but Sam still dreams of That Man, and his time at the Church, all the things that happened to him there. He'll wake up drenched in sweat, sobbing his eyes out, and trying to hide away from the world, desperately clutching to any companion like a lifeline)