Hecate [OoC]

Aix · September 20, 2014

[spoiler=Premise]Welcome to a world of terror and strife, where a terrible Church holds supreme power and executes all who speak out against them. Where civil wars breaks out at every turn and brother turns against brother in the fight for survival. With the darkness in men's hearts, great evil rises again. But this time it has lurked in the shadows, planning for years. There will be no mercy, there will be no justice. There will only be blood and death and the last ones standing are the victors.

Where do you stand? You are an ordinary human, accused of witchcraft. You have been captured by the Church of Titania and now sit in the dungeons to be executed. When all hope seems lost and a brutal death at the stake is imminent, you hear a voice in your head. In the dungeon with you is a bonafide Witch, who offers you a chance at life in exchange for your soul. Accepting this dark offer, she transforms you body and soul into a Faust, a shapeshifting monster whose constantly on the edge of going berserk.

Escaping the clutches of the Church, you are forced to follow the Witch, Hecate, the only one who can control your monstrous urges, in her insane battle against the conspiracy that threatens to swallow the world.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Rules]I have final say regarding all matters in this RP. I may add or adjust rules as I see fit.

Don't be a dick.

No godmodding, powerplaying or metagaming.

Respect the Fourth Wall. No chibis or other such exaggerations.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Database]Thanks, Keto for a lot of the lore and worldbuilding.
[spoiler=Myths and Superstition]Silver Amulets
Silver amulets are said to be able to ward off evil spirits. While silver has anti-magical properties, a small trinket made of silver is of little use.

Hecate
Hecate was the Queen of Witches who lead the battle against Typhon during the Age of Spirits. This knowledge has been for the most part stamped out by the Church who deny any good ever done by the Witches, and now she is simply known to be the Queen of Witches and associated with all the evils of the world, however she was slain by Saint Walpurgis. There was a time where children were sometimes named Hecate, but this practice has died out with the advent of the Church.[/spoiler][spoiler=The Supernatural]Silver and Salt
Silver has magic repelling properties. It is not absolute, but wearing a full suit of silver armour protects from direct magic (such as mental invasions) and weakens indirect magical attacks (fire magic etc.) It is capable of cutting and breaking magic. Again, it is not absolute, and the strongest spells can withstand it. Silver is poisonous to magical creatures, who feel pain and nausea when coming in contact with it and tremendous pain when cut with a silver sword. Sufficient contact with silver and the bloodstream can lead to death.

Salt also has supernatural affecting properties, the applications are widely varied.

Talismans
While it is not possible for ordinary humans to directly contact with spirits, talismans are any sort of thing that can affect the spiritual world regardless. Examples include charms and amulets as well as magic circles and symbols.

Witches
Witches are those who are connected to the world of spirits. They are humans who can make interact with the spiritual world. Some are born with the ability, others only gain it upon coming close to or understanding the nature of death.

Spirits can either be called upon for favours or form contracts or otherwise Witches know how to enslave them, but enslaved Spirits, while obedient, lack a great deal of their power.

As most Spirits do not reside near civilized areas, Witches either live deep in the wilds where they can be attuned to the Spirits and Nature, or otherwise form contracts with Demons and dark spirits which dwell so long as there is darkness in men’s hearts. In addition to Spirits, Witches have discovered the ability to use the power of human souls, but souls can only be given willingly and once handed up, the Witch can understand the true nature of that being.

All Witches are female, but in this day and age both men and women can be accused of witchcraft.

The greatest Witches are nearly immortal and invincible, their mortal forms fueled by the power of hundreds of souls they have trapped inside them or Spirits they have enslaved. They do not age and they can regenerate limbs and even fatal wounds. They can change shape and some have even acquired the terrible forms of ancient gods. The only physical way to kill them is to behead them or to burn them away completely, although powerful magics can be utilized to directly extract a witch’s soul.

Fausts
Those who have formed a contract with servants of darkness and been transformed body and soul are called Fausts, and are able to take on the forms of monsters (each Faust has a set monster form and can transform back and forth, as well as half-transform). Unlike Witches, Fausts lack the capability to truly control themselves and often end up going berserk, slaughtering everything they see. They are under a constant urge to destroy. Most Fausts in this era are created with a Witch’s power, and are bound by contract to a Witch. No written contract is needed, simply verbal consent and the Witch whisks away the contractor’s soul to infuse it with darkness, while transforming the body to a monstrous state. Those who have been imbedded with a sentient being’s power are able to transform at will.

Fausts grow more powerful by devourer the raw flesh of creatures while their soul has yet to leave their body. They absorb the soul into their own and the devoured soul is left in torment until the Faust is slain.

In ancient times, Fausts have also been created in contract with magical singularities such as Archdevils and Dark Gods through a powerful ritual. These Fausts were so powerful they were mistaken for natural disasters that wrecked the geography of the land. Behemoth, Goliath, Leviathan, all well-known monsters in mythology that were in truth Fausts.

Spirits
Spirits are the forces that govern this world, from rain spirits to fierce volcano spirits, some control nature, while others, such as the Norns, control causality. Some are great and powerful and govern entire land masses, while others such as sprites group together in order to cause any physical effect on the world.

Demons
Otherwise called devils, they are the spirits of darkness and vary from mindless flesh-eating imps and ghouls to powerful princes of hell. They once walked the land during the Age of Spirits, but now sealed away and only are able to manifest into the physical world when dark feelings fester and ferment to serve as energy for their physical form.

Church Magic
The Church does not utilize the magic of spirits, and one does not have to be born with the capability to use it, although some are born with the talent for it. The capability to use the Church’s magic is unlocked when one reaches a height of religious fervor where everything else goes blank. The Church often employs the use of drugs and hypnosis in order to help its disciples attain this state of enlightenment. The Church’s magic comes from using one’s own life force, one’s own soul or spirit to make changes to the physical world, however the force of this is very small compared to the power which spirits wield. There are a select few who are born with the capability to wield Church Magic to a powerful extent, and these men and women are called Wisemen or Sages.[/spoiler][spoiler=Nations]Alteria
Occupying the western side of the great range of mountains which splits the world in two, Alteria has long been known as one of the most powerful nations of all. Founded in the ancient Age of Spirits by the warrior king Araghast Alter, the nation has endured more or less as it currently is since that time, although suffering a brief period of occupation by the Eldant Empire. The kingdom’s power comes from the great stores of natural resources in the form of stone and ore from within the mountains and wood from their forested slopes. The people of this mountainous nation are strong, hardy folk who live and die on either the many industries centered around harvesting their resources or else on the herds of equally hardy goats which they raise on the rocky slopes.

The capital city of Caranall may well be the most heavily fortified place in the world. Built out into the slopes of the greatest mountain in the range, it is here where the Cathedral of Walpurgis stands testament to the power of the Church. The city itself is built in its entirety out of stone, which has allowed it to stand strong against innumerable sieges in the past, and is surrounded by a structure called The Great Wall. Not a wall in the traditional sense, but rather a great section of the mountain where the slope has been cut away to leave a perfectly smooth wall up which no army could climb. The only way into the city is up what is called The Pilgrim’s Ladder, an immense winding trail cut out of the face of the wall and leading to the only gate into the city. Similar defensive measures can be seen on any of Alteria’s great cities, especially those which sit at the passes along the edges of the mountain range and guard entrance to the kingdom.

The Vale
Covering much of the lands to the east of the Alterian Mountains is one of the largest nations in the world when accounting for only sheer land mass, so large that straying from the main roads throughout its span can leave travellers indefinitely lost. Thoroughly dominated by pine trees, the Vale lays claim to all of the lands north of the Merikak Desert from the mountains to the eastern coast. Fertile soil from formidable rainfall allows the trees in this region to grow to normally unimaginable heights, while spring-fed lakes and rivers both give them the water they need and contribute moisture to form the great banks of fog seen throughout the gently rolling hills and deep gorges of the land. Naturally, this nation’s prime export is wood taken from theses forests, while a great many hunters call this land home and thus provide a steady stream of game to both local and foreign markets. In places where the forests have been sufficiently cleared, farming communities spring up and take advantage of the high quality ground. With humid air leading to sweltering summers and harsh, unforgiving winters, the people of this land often build sturdy homes of the very lumber so many of them harvest for their livelihoods with special attention given to maintaining a comfortable temperature within.

Due to the dense vegetation found in this land, most people live within small hamlets built along the banks of rivers and streams or in those rare naturally occurring clearings where enough space can be fund to build houses and grow enough food to support the people living in them. Because of this, those living in this land became a close-nit, humble sort who rely on the land to survive. This reliance upon the land has spawned a set of folk beliefs and practices, rumours and legends which have survived the advent of the Church of Titania. Most popular among these include the fable of the culling of the lycanthropes, as well as the ancient druids who stole the rain for the Merikak Desert and hoarded it within the Vale.

The predisposition towards smaller communities does not mean that larger cities are unheard of, but they are as few and far between as the large hills and clearings in which they are built, and each is invariable surrounded by a great earthen well. The greatest of these cities is Brynmor, the capital of this nation where their sovereign resides. Built atop the largest hill in the region, this city holds a commanding view of the forest, and is surrounded by a full five leagues of cleared forest so that no approaching enemy might catch them off their guard.

Because of its sheer size, it is a rather politically unstable area. The land is divided up into a number of small regions where various self-dubbed monarchs hold power and are constantly disputing with each other over land either through tongue or steel, answering solely to the High Sovereign, named Queen or King depending upon their sex, of the Vale who is, in truth, the only true ruler of the Vale, yet it has became tradition to dub the lords of the large lands of the Vale as monarchs in their own right, particularly due to the absolute governance they’re given from the High Sovereign, save the High Sovereign’s own laws themselves. Communications between the chief monarchy and the certain regions can take months and the messengers may even fall prey to the many thieves and bandits that stalk the roads.

The Merikak Desert
Covering the southern portion of the eastern lands of the world, this region is both oppressively hot and unbearably cold at the same perplexing time. Here, it was said, was where the Demon King Beelzebub was born, transforming a once-fertile land into a sandy waste. This great expanse of sand interspersed with the occasional spot of scrubland or an exceptionally rare oasis stretches from the foothills of the Alterian Mountains to the sea, where the only cities in this region can be found. Well, perhaps it is inaccurate to say that no cities can be found in the desert itself, but those cities there are well-hidden. The reason for this is that, in recent years, the eternally shifting sands have become a haven for those fleeing persecution at the hands of the Church. There is no uniting culture here, as each and every community set up by these refugees is inevitably different from the rest. Even the coastal cities, who make their living off the bounty of the sea and trade with other nations via means of oceanic travel, are without any unified government. Instead each of these cities organizes itself and the surrounding area under a local governing body, the nature of which varies greatly from city-state to city-state.

There is a population of natives roaming the wastes themselves, a group of nomads reliant upon their herds of sheep for food and clothing. It is perplexing to many how these people, called the Merikaa by outsiders, can survive in such an unforgiving environment, let alone thrive to the extent that they do! Each time an outsider has come into contact with these people, they have found them welcoming and with food and drink to spare for those they come across in the wastes. Many who traverse the few land-routes through this place form working relationships with the Merikaa, allowing them to pass through the desert with relative ease and even trade for a surprisingly vast array of spices. Still, there are rumors that these apparently well-to-do people harbour dark arts and darker people, rumors which the church is indeed interested in investigating.

Saresia
Occupying most of the interior lands to the west of the Alterian Mountains is a land of vast open fields and rolling green hills. This is Saresia, a land renowned in the outside world both for having more cattle than it does human inhabitants and the most skillful horsemen ever seen. The aforementioned horsemen being the reason that a nation which has few if any natural defenses in its landscape has managed to remain as a power for as long as it has. As flat as the landscape may appear if one merely glances at it, there are a multitude of rivers about which supply water both to the fields of well-irrigated grain that provide food for the human inhabitants and the cattle to which so many of them tend.

Because of the lack natural features on the land which can be used for defense, a great many of the cities and towns in this land are heavily fortified. They often feature deep moats surrounding a large wall either of packed earth or stone from one of the few quarries. Each town also invariably features at least one well providing water in the case of a siege cutting off their supply from outside the walls. This does not mean that the Saresians are experts in siege warfare, far from it in fact as they instead rely on organized forces of horsemen to defeat any force which would seek to destroy them. Another weapon they have traditionally used against their enemies is fire, and anyone who has seen one go out of control in field on a dry windy day can understand the reason why it has been so effective. These tactics have led to the rest of the world widely believing the Saresians to be Barbarians: an entirely unfair assessment. The people of the plains, though violent and barbaric to those who seek to destroy them, are a rather friendly and welcoming sort to those who don’t want to turn them into corpses. Of course an unfortunate addendum must be made to this, as they are a conservative people if nothing else, and tend to ostracize those that violate existing social norms to the point that they can no longer properly function in society. Their capital city, Verax, is likely the worst example of this as those deemed unfit to remain in the society within are thrown outside the walls after being branded upon the forehead with an easily recognizable mark. Those such marked would find it impossible to enter any of the country’s other towns or cities, as royal decree makes it punishable by death for a marked one to be allowed into any town. In stark contrast to this treatment of the undesirable are the many houses of knights operating in this nation, each and every one of them with their own unique moral code: usually including the virtues of Honor and Truthfulness.[/spoiler][spoiler=The Church]The Church of Titania was born during the era of war, when men sought peace in their hearts. Originally founded by a group of soldiers who had grown tired of the near-endless cycle of conflict in the world, they came together and set about the worship of a hitherto unknown Goddess. It is unclear where the group obtained knowledge of Titania, but what is clear is that those devoted to her wielded great power to heal wounds and cure diseases with a simple touch. Because of this, they spread rather quickly through the world as a clerical order and were even welcomed in places where their peaceful ways were considered unfitting. Still, they wielded no great power or influence.

This changed during the Holy War against Beelzebub and his demons, as Walpurgis gathered the people of the world together and led them in battle against their otherworldly foes. Declared a living saint by the High Priest of Titania shortly before his death, though Walpurgis seemed to have good intentions they paved the road for something great and terrible. In the aftermath of the war, the nations of the world gave praise to Titania, who it seemed had sent a champion to lead them. The church capitalized on this, beginning an era of conversion in which the great majority of the people were brought into the light of the Goddess.

This proved to be an unprecedented increase in the power of this organization and its highest officials, and it is no fool who said that power corrupts. Over the centuries following this age of conversion the church gradually became more and more dogmatic, steadily looking towards other beliefs and practices with suspicion and hatred until finally the High Priest issued an edict declaring all those who did not follow Titania to be offensive in the Goddess’ eyes. This led to a great purge of both people and knowledge as other faiths were systematically eliminated and their holy texts burned.

In the present day, the Church of Titania is the organization that holds the greatest power in the land with the kings and queens of the various nations being little more than puppets of the High Priest. Things are the worst in Alteria, where the ruling family was recently disposed of and the nation taken fully under control of the Church. Saresia also owes allegiance to the church, and the High Priest and his Bishops see little reason to enforce their will there due to the mindset of the people. The Vale may well be the place where their force is felt the strongest, as on any given day the few large cities of that land may be host to a dozen Witch Hunters and hundreds of Blessed Guard, the militant arm of the church. Those that refuse entry to agents of the church have often found themselves accused of Witchcraft, and their citizens and servants alike have turned against them rather than face the punishment for serving a Witch. Still, as grand as that nation is, there are places the church cannot reach. The current High Queen of this region has long been suspected of Witchcraft by the church, and so she has been under scrutiny of the Witch Hunters with no evidence to support the claim found so far. Strangely, the Church has little presence in either the Merikak desert or the cities along its coast and those they send to remedy this seldom return. Some in the church believe this place to be accursed, thoroughly beyond the touch of their Goddess, and thus that it should be purged. As for any lands beyond, there are few places beyond the reach of the High Priest.[/spoiler][spoiler=History]Ancient History
There have been three great eras in the history of the world. First came the Age of Gods or the Age of Creation. Little known is about this era, even the elder spirits were not yet all born yet in this age. In this era, the world sprang from the Chaos and the oldest of spirits, called Gods, were born. Much exact information on the nature of these “Gods” were lost with the Church’s destruction of this heretic knowledge. This era was an era of turmoil as the lands were shaped, the oceans were filled with fish and water, and the skies were painted.

Then came the commonly accepted time known as the Age of Spirits. Those known as “Gods” slumbered and left the governance of the world to their servants, the Spirits. Humanity was born somewhere in the early middle parts of this era. The birth of humanity was also the birth of conflict and war, something that was never seen in this young world. The exact details of the occurrence were unclear, but it was when Man tampered again with the primordial Chaos of the world that the Spirits known as Demons were born out of negative emotions.

And from the accretion of hate and death and Chaos sprang Typhon the greatest of Demons, reborn of the soul of first human King. He was the incarnation of the fetid darkness and sought to bring all of the world to its knees.

In order to fight the Demons, the first Witches came forth - those with the power to mediate between humans and Spirits. And after a thousand year war between the humanity and their Spirit allies and the Demons, Typhon was slain and the remainder of the Demons scattered into hiding or hibernation.

Wishing no more of war and destruction, and also disgusted with the nature of humans, the spirits retreated deep into farthest corners of the world, leaving humans to their own devices and hence began the Age of Humans.

The Holy War
Without a common enemy to fight, the humans once more turned on themselves. The history from henceforth is long and repetitive, consisting of countless uprisings and power struggles. Empires rose and fell. At this point, in the midst of an especially deadly conflict between the Eldant Empire and the Shen Empire, came a second Demon invasion, aided by the Witches who had allied with the forces of darkness.

During this era of darkness, the Saint Walpurgis was born. A Wiseman, a singularity in the history of the human race. Some scholars of the arcane even argue that he wasn’t even human, but a Demon himself. He was an adherent of the Church of Titania, which was still in its early years and lacked the influence it has today.

Walpurgis lead the humans in the fight against Darkness, and alone fought the Demon King Beelzebub and his endless demon hordes. It was said the battle lasted a month in which Walpurgis managed to decapitate Beelzebub, but died of his wounds soon after.

Due to his heroic deeds, the Church grew extremely well-known across the land. The power vacuum that ensued from the destruction of the Eldant Empire with the Demon Invasion and the retreat of the Shen Empire lead into another age of civil war, which eventually more or less stabilized to the nations of today.

The Dark Age
The present day, compared against the past, could well be considered one of the worst times the world has yet seen. The Church, once an institution of peace and love for one’s neighbor, has become a dogmatic authoritarian thing which views the people around and beneath it with contempt. Worse still is that the Witches, long thought banished from our world forever, have returned in force. While their exact motives are unclear, these Witches have begun the process of enacting disasters upon the world with their dark powers. Plagues, famines, droughts, and wildfires are just a few of the many things that have been plaguing the land of late. The Church has responded by organizing a group of people known as Inquisitors or Witch Hunters, those specially trained to recognize the signs of witches and destroy both them and their servants, to rectify the issue. While in some cases these Witch Hunters do indeed catch those responsible for the crimes, in most cases they simply drag off innocents unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some are even handed over to the Witch Hunters by their peers, and they meet the same uncaring fate as those actual witches who are caught. Some are beheaded, others burned at the stake, and all of them meet their ends in front of vast crowds of people. Often times, so many are captured that prisons remain full for weeks at a time as some are taken out to meet their fates and more are stuffed in to fill the empty cells.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler=Application]Use spoilers where appropriate. Feel free to modify this application to suit your needs.

Name: (something that would make sense in a Western fantasy)
Age: (human and able to still do shit, so not too old and not too young)
Gender: (biologically male or female. No hermaphrodites, we're not going there)
Human Appearance: (You know the drill)
Faust Appearance: (Something scary looking and able to slaughter people)
Personality: (5 lines minimum)
Biography: (5 lines minimum)
Abilities: (we'll discuss this, so do whatever)
Miscellaneous:[/spoiler]

Andx · September 20, 2014

To me this appears to be asking those in it to live through their own twisted version of Madoka Magica. The thought of the pain your soul would be required to pass through to complete such an act is almost unbearable.

And yet as with that show, there's some strange appeal to seeing it all happen.

As it stands I'm not entirely sure if I would want to join it or not. I like the idea and yet I feel like I would want some more background and explanation on things. But I can't seem to figure out exactly what it is I'd like more information on. Not particularly helpful to helping form this RP more completely.

Aix · September 20, 2014

Oh right, I left a lot of info unclear on the combat and mechanics of being a monster.

Andx · September 20, 2014

Ah that was actually quite helpful. So though a fantasy combat seems like it would be more realistic (as in not flashy magic super powers but rather how animals might fight). Magic being more a dark/evil thing than a "HECK YEAH MAGIC POWERS" sort of feeling.

And the situation of not being human and how all that works leads in to all the psychological trauma on the characters probably more than the actual fighting they'll do.

Yeah I could get into this.

Kyng · September 20, 2014

Interest pinned, and application is completed.

[spoiler=Sir Herne Marrok]

"Chivalry is dead; but the Hunt...yes, the Hunt lives on."

Name: Sir Herne Marrok
Age: 34
Gender: Male
[spoiler=Human Appearance:]

Height: 6'2"
Weight: 186 lbs
Eye Colour: Dark Orange
Hair Colour: Black

Herne is a large and physically imposing man. His pale white skin clashes strongly against the jet black man that shrouds his head, thick and robust with life. His brows are strong though have shown to have creased his face. He bears crows feet upon his strange and peculiarly coloured eyes. His strong jaw and proud face is framed by a well groomed and maintained beard.

Beneath his armour is the body of an ox. A knight before a hunter, Herne's life was dedicated to carrying heavy weaponry and wearing even heavier armour. To suit this need Herne has grown into a very powerful man, with broad shoulders and powerful arms capable of handling the stress they're expected to endure. His legs are much stronger, having to support such a weight after all, yet they have became conditioned to suit his pursuits of hunting, granting him much needed stamina.
[/spoiler][spoiler=Faustian Appearance:]

Height: 6'8"
Weight: 210 lbs

Herne's Fasutian form is a mere aspect of the once prominent and terrifying Lycanthropes of the Vale. His body grows and morphs, muscle-span increasing dramatically. His flesh sprouting and donning thick black fur, hands developing powerful and vicious claws made to tear through flesh and bone alike. His face shifts and remoulds dramatically, a painful process as his once hominid skull reforms to that of a canine, mouth becoming a vicious snout homing a horrifying jaw with teeth lusting for flesh and blood.
[/spoiler][spoiler=Personality:]Herne was a Knight of the Vale. Chivalrous traits were essentially a job requirement. Even though Herne's teaching of chivalry was in its disdain he still maintains a face of a knight, showing a willingness to defend and protect the weak, along with a respect for authority and a love for his country. Herne also would valiantly fight against evil and injustice that crossed his way, and would show modest generosity to those whom he could. He is a civil warrior, one who would draw his sword solely in need. Herne values the ability to resolve conflict through diplomatic means.

However he is far from the perfect chevalier. He is honest man, lest such honesty show weakness. He has sired a number of bastard children, disregarding the use of courtly love and disrespecting holy matrimony. He understands the weight of coin against the weight of honour. Herne is not a paragon of virtue - on the contrary he hods such figures in disdain.

A dear hobby of his was hunting. Granted the fief of a pine mill, Herne relished in the thrill of the great game, and enjoys hunting for sport. Some often credited this to a perverse delight when pursuing game with his hunting hounds. Though notably he never enjoyed a hunt without his prey given a chance however small, often hunting without the safety of his armour. Adopting a wicked guile and a sharp cunning, Herne's hunting has reflected in his style of battle.

His hypocracy could be argued to spike at his current crossroad. Once he was a valiant defender of the Blessed Church of Titania, and a notable advocate of the execution of those deemed heretics. It was his duty as a knight after all. He pursued to further gain political power in becoming a Crusader or Paladin to the faith. Now, however, he has disowned and cast aside such beliefs when they came for his head, due to a stagnant fear of death.

When entering his Faustian form, well, there's nothing complicated about it. Herne the Hunter prowls for prey.[/spoiler][spoiler=Biography:]Herne was a youth of the Vale who squired a knight, a wonderful chance given to accelerate himself up the social ladder, so needless to say much of his time was spent shadowing his knight, whom he often blames for his loose morals and code of conduct, in that he learned from his mentor that chivalry was to be upheld in the public eye, but all is fair in love and war, and that a blind eye is a silent mouth. Thus Herne pursued this path under the knight, and put his words to practise, bedding a woman as young as 16. He could have sired a number of children in his wake, but he could care less of them.

His ascension to knighthood was easy enough, upholding chivalry in the public eye and enjoying hedonistic pleasures when not; to the extent that he was granted a fief from the King of Linafon, managing mills of a the Golden Rivers from the mighty keep, Castle Lyall, in turn for his services as a knight. Given the estate of Lyall, he continued to enjoy his lifestyle, though began to explore the thrill of the chase that was the hunt. Indeed, initially uninterested, the Knight found himself greatly enjoyed the satisfaction in claiming one's prize, a very primitive euphoria. Everything seemed relatively sound and stable for the knight, 'til a vile rumour began to spread.

It was said Sir Marrok hunted human as a joy.

His hunting companions noted his wicked lust to hunt and stalk prey, and called it unnatural, and before long there was an inquisitor to investigate the knight. The inquisitor gathered from many women he had bedded, along with other rumours as well as truthful violations in his devotion to the path of chivalry, and used them along with his position of power to strip Herne of the rights to his land, bringing him from his homelands to the stake for execution - or so he thought. Engaging in a pact with a witch by the name of Hecate, Sir Marrok is to escape his prison and, thus, his execution. [/spoiler][spoiler=Abilities:]“Knighthood lies above eternity:" Herne was, prior to his contract with Hecate, a knight of the Vale. To be expected, he is pro-efficient in the ways of combat. Fine Alterian Steel forged his ornate yet powerful plate armour render slashing useless against the Knight, as well as provides decent resistance against blunt trauma weapons, and crushing blows. While able to ride a steed as expected of a knight, no longer having access to his loyal horse meant bringing his lance was no longer an option, especially without a squire. Thus he is bound to his longsword, though is by no means less efficient at wielding it, capable of cleaving an unarmoured foe in two.
1 - Longsword: Herne's sword is more than happy to chop off men's limbs from limbs. The powerful and heavy weapon demands the use of both hands, though rewards such feats with a vicious ability to thrust into an enemy's body with ease, alongside a cleaving power able to thoroughly decimate foes foolish enough to engage a Knight in one on one combat.
2 - Armour: Herne's armour is full steel plate armour. Content to use it to its full efficiency, this armour's wolfen theme in figure intimidates uneasy foes. Slashing against his armour is useless. Herne is also well guarded against spear or pike thrusts and provides decent defence against blunt trauma. Thrusting techniques solely proof effective in the joints and crevices of his armour. Longbows and crossbows are effective against his armour.

"Rage under the Moon:" Hecate blessed Herne with an aspect of the ancient curse of Lycanthropy. Herne is not a true werewolf, merely a Faust, and thus lacks a few features from the original beasts. For example, a true lycanthrope is unable to control their transformation, subject to the mercy of the moonlight whereas Herne, as a faust, is fully capable of managing his transformation. Herne cannot transform into a full wolf, and is limited to an anthropomorphic canine figure. Herne is not empowered in moonlight, unlike true lycanthropes. Herne is also unable to infect others with lycanthropy, as he is a Faust. While Herne can trigger his transformation much like any other Faust, once passed a sufficient pain threshold he will be forced to done the wolfen guise.

However, in turn, Herne gains the remaining traits a lycanthrope would acquire. A growth in muscle-span causes a great increase in strength and durability, and his canine traits enable him to acquire an enhanced bite, speed, stamina, jumpreflexes, senses, and the ability to use claws in combat. In being anthropomorphic, Herne is also able to retain the use of his armour and sword, though until proper mastery of his Faust form is acquired Herne is far more likely to discard the pieces and hunt.
1 - Claws: The claws of Herne's lycanthrope form are recklessly powerful. Set on his powerful arms, Herne's claws can easily rend flesh and smash bone asunder. He can, too, ball his fists and dish out blows capable of breaking and bending armour.
2 - Maw: Herne's wolfen maw bears fangs capable of tearing metal apart, with a powerful jaw enabling the crushing of bone. Pinned down beneath Herne in his Faustian form implies death. In addition to this, his nose has adopted canine sensitivity - able to detect prey from miles away, no-one remains safe nearby this big bad wolf.
3 - Ferocity: Herne's mindset has changed upon donning the guise of the wolf. Developing a pack mentality and a domineering nature, Herne's aggression levels becomes extraordinarily high. He becomes the ultimate hunter, able to know when to differ between a vicious and violent rampage to stalking particular prey.
4 - Hide: Herne's hide is though. Truly tough, in the extent that it is able to ward off arrows and projectiles, softening trauma blows, and guarding against a thorough cutting technique. It is also fairly flame retardant, though not his fur.
5 - Spectral Wolf: Herne is able to call upon the souls of the Wolves of the Vales. Herne's howl is capable of summoning up to two spectral lycanthropes, many of whom share his traits, though hold a massively reduced endurance due to their spiritual form. These wolves serve as a handy way for Herne's Faust to reap souls, as these wolves strike at a victim's soul, before bringing it to their Alpha.
6 - Undoing: Herne's Faust transformation can possibly lead him to become unarmored and weaponless upon returning to his human guise. The pact with Hecate forces Herne to return to the state he was prior to becoming a wolf, thus returning him his worldly possessions lost through transformation. It also acts as a very nice manner to heal grievous wounds.[/spoiler][spoiler=Misc:]Herne's Name: Herne's first name is taken from the English Ghost, Herne the Hunter, who was regarded as a keeper of Windsor forest in legend. This is why he resides in the Vale, an enormous region of forests.

Herne's surname, Marrok, is the name of an Arthurian Knight whom became a werewolf for seven years. His knightly nature, and his Faust form are inspired by such a figure.

Herne's Appearance: Herne's forms, both his human and his werewolf artwork, are featured as cards in the "trading card, massively multiplayer online role-playing fantasy game" called Legend of the Cryptids. They are both the regular and advanced forms of the card "Journeying Werewolf."

These artworks are the artwork of Pavel Romanov, who's deviantart account can be found here: http://cynic-pavel.deviantart.com/

[spoiler=Herne's Theme:]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh6ACdwNlyk

[/spoiler][/spoiler][/spoiler]

The Warden · September 21, 2014

This sounds rather intriguing and fun. Sign me up.

Aix · September 21, 2014

Alright, so so far we've got:

-Andx

-Kyng

-Broke N

-Raine (gdi the point of a sign-up was that you signed up in here)

-Ketodama

-possibly Chaos Sonic?

Anyway, here's the planning doc for all interested:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KUCixM4K86ddar377yR5QyysvrZk-OP2aTDQyj5zNFA/edit

Super Chaos Sonic · September 21, 2014

Alright, so so far we've got:

-Andx

-Kyng

-Broke N

-Raine (gdi the point of a sign-up was that you signed up in here)

-Ketodama

-possibly Chaos Sonic?

Anyway, here's the planning doc for all interested:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KUCixM4K86ddar377yR5QyysvrZk-OP2aTDQyj5zNFA/edit

Its a yes, amigo ^^

Jolta · September 21, 2014

Make it seven. I like the sound of this concept.

a bad post · September 21, 2014

Place my tentative interest. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make the commitment, but if I can I'll let you know.

Aix · September 22, 2014

You guys can start making characters and posting apps.

Asriel Dreemurr · September 22, 2014

Just gonna play along with the new rule and post my interest in here since I haven't done anything other than write up stuff in the Gdoc and talk in the skype chat.

Lunar Origins · September 22, 2014

Name: Mary

Gender: Female

Age: 26

Human Appearance:

Faust Appearance: Link

Personality:

Biography:

Abilities

Night Terror: Mary's faust manifestation is a Night Terror. Night Terrors are sightless humanoid creatures of varying color whose primary attributes are their incredible height and gaping mouth. Night Terrors are very fast and agile hunters of the night that rely on their innate sense of taste and smell to find and devour their prey. Their appetite for living things is immeasurable. One notable feature of a Night Terror is that they possess the ability to bite through nearly any non-magic material.

Stalk: One of the primary aspects of a Night Terror is that they are invisible to the naked eye. However, Night Terrors become visible when they open their mouth, either to feed or to eat. The transition from visibility to invisibility is instantaneous, and is a useful tool in startling prey.
Weak Respiratory Systems: The fatal flaw of Night Terrors is their respiratory systems. Night Terrors are not tailored to breathe in the same atmosphere as humans. Because of this, Night Terrors will find themselves gasping for air after any sort of high physical exertion. This breaks their Stalk and allows others to see them. A Night Terror's breathing sound is a very high, trill whine, and can easily alert his or her enemies.
Desire: A Night Terror cannot differentiate between a predator and prey, leading it to almost always be on the hunt. However, a Night Terror defeated in combat can and usually will be obedient towards that which bested it. Night Terrors are pack creatures, and usually have an Alpha to follow.

Tesability Black · September 22, 2014

Oof, I have an idea for a character, but I'm not sure if it will fly...

Primarily it'd be someone that suffered from a massive 'fall from grace' in the form of being branded a Witch despite having managed to get up high in the hierarchy of the Church beforehand after a strange dream made him start to question their methods...

Also...are all Fausts' alternate forms humanoid in appearance or can they be quadrupedal instead?

Aix · September 23, 2014

Oof, I have an idea for a character, but I'm not sure if it will fly...

Primarily it'd be someone that suffered from a massive 'fall from grace' in the form of being branded a Witch despite having managed to get up high in the hierarchy of the Church beforehand after a strange dream made him start to question their methods...

Also...are all Fausts' alternate forms humanoid in appearance or can they be quadrupedal instead?

Fausts' alternate forms can be anything.

The Warden · September 23, 2014

This was probably expected of me, but hey, if killing's fine why not go with it?

[spoiler=Jake "Black Death" Gaecy]

Name: “Jake "Black Death" Gaecy

Age: 27

Gender: Male

[spoiler=Human Appearance]

"Black Death" Gaecy is about 5”7 tall, and he weighs only about 67 kg. His face is very sunken, with crow’s feet and bags hanging around his brown eyes. He has a small rat-like nose, and his lips are so tight that they form a thin white line. He has greasy brown hair that’s pulled tight by a frayed band in a short ponytail, though he has several slick bangs hanging at the sides of his head.

"Black Death" Gaecy wears a disgusting black leather coat. He has a long black shawl wrapped around his face as a hood where his two bangs hang out of, and his neck as a ruffle/mini-cape. He doesn’t wear anything underneath it, though he should as he his pretty thin. He wears normal cloth pants with rather auspicious red blotches streaking them. He wears black boots that seem a little too big for his legs (because they’re stolen). His favourite knife is stored in its sheath which was sewn onto the inside of his left sleeve of his coat. There’s a second one stored in his right sleeve.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Faust Appearance]

As a Faust, “Black Death” Gaecy becomes truly terrifying. As a 7”7, 106 kg behemoth, his body has expanded dramatically. His muscle definition is extremely well defined, and his jet black skin is coated in a pelt of fine brown fur which hides much of this definition. His face is stretched out into a long rat-like muzzle, though the flesh has been stripped away, leaving nothing but a pure white skull. His nostrils are mere slits emanating an orange-brown heat, and his front two teeth have become long and yellowed; with long fangs running down the jaw until half-way. His lower jaw is also stretched into the muzzle shape, though it is in the process of decaying, having no hair or flesh, but instead exposed muscle tissue. Long fangs extend from the lower jaw and curl around the top to fit snugly along the skull, with the sharpest ones hidden by his front two teeth. Inside his seemingly empty eye sockets are two pinpoints of crimson light. His neck has fused with his shoulders, but this doesn’t impede the movement of his head much.

Along his back is a large mane of thick dark brown fur that begins in a wild mass atop his head; and curiously, this longer hair seems to move all on its own. Closer inspection (if you dared) reveals that the movement is caused by countless black fleas. These cursed little creatures are an extension of his body. His limber arms end in five long fingers, each possessing a curved nail some 2 ½ inches long. These nails are sickly yellow-brown in colour, and reek of death. They cannot cut through thick materials, but anything that is only half an inch thick can be cut apart by these claws. His powerful legs are inversed, causing him to hunch a good deal of the time as he usually stands on the front of his long feet, which also possess long 3 inch nails. A long bald tail curls from his behind, extending out for seven feet, the flesh decayed along the end of the tail, which ends in a sickle made of bone. This tail is relatively prehensile. This blade constantly oozes a foul yellow liquid that smells like a rotting body. All over Gaecy’s body are decaying holes, revealing worn away muscles and bone. This doesn’t seem to impede him at all.[/spoiler]

Personality: "Black Death" Gaecy is bitter, anti-social, foul mouthed, misogynistic and a bit of an alcoholic. He possesses a dim view of just about everything and everyone under the sun. You’d think that was because of how he was raised, but it wasn’t. Ever since he accidentally killed his friend when he was 8, "Black Death" Gaecy discovered his love of killing. He kills just for the pleasure of knowing he snuffed out yet another soul; as the hunt nor making them suffer ever appealed to him. His mass-murdering tendencies is probably where he gained his rather nihilistic view of everything, as he knows full well how easy it is to die; as he has aided countless people in learning. He shows a particular interest in Hecate however, as he learned about Witches; and to put it bluntly, he was just curious. And hey, if she allows him to murder even more easily, who is he to complain?

Biography: "Black Death" Gaecy was born and raised on one of the very many farms you see dotting the country-side. He was raised to be a hard-working and diligent child, and he didn’t display any of the tendencies he shows today. He was a very hopeful child, believing highly in the church because he was told to.

However, things took a glib turn as one day he was adventuring with a good friend of his. They got into a silly argument, and in an uncharacteristic fit of rage he shoved his friend. Unfortunately, his friend was standing close to a small fall. He toppled off the edge and cracked his skull on a rock far below. Staring at his dead friend, "Black Death" Gaecy didn’t feel the usually guilt and fear a child would have. Rather, he felt a sense of satisfaction and pride. Following on in a trail of hedonism, he would sneak out to other farms, and he would break the necks of their chickens. No one ever caught him in the act. With every new kill he was satisfied, but he knew it wasn’t enough. Eventually, in his late teens he took a new step up. He snuck into the house of a girl he was rather fond of, and he murdered her in the cold blood. He stood there for ten minutes as he stared into her cold body, and he couldn’t have been happier. The last shred of decency in him was gone, and in its place a mass-murderer was born.

For years he hunted around the country, finding the right target to stalk. And in the dead of night, he would sneak into their house and murder them in their sleep. He would bid a quick escape after, not even bothering to take anything with him; save for a pair of boots he was unnaturally fond of. "Black Death" Gaecy was eventually captured due to an unfortunate slip-up and a numerous sequences of horrible misfortune. Though captured by the royal guards, he was handed over to the church as the girl he was planning to murder ranted and raved about his incredible feats of witchcraft. The church demanded he confess, but he remained tight lipped. He was then sentenced to death; but until then he was to waste away in a dungeon.

[spoiler=Abilities]

Rat-Like Deftness: "Black Death" Gaecy is very swift, and supernaturally silent. He barely makes a sound as he creeps around, allowing him to stalk and sneak-up on people effortlessly. This is attributed to his low body mass, as well as his make-shift hood silencing his breath. He's also very good at climbing, his fingers able to find and cling to even the smallest holes and rough surfaces.

Hail the Rat King: Rodents do not fear “Black Death” in any form he may be in. Rather, they wait by him with eagerness. Gaecy is perfectly able to understand any Rodent, and they in turn can understand him to the limits of their intelligence. At times many rodents will swarm around Gaecy, eager for orders, or a nice scratch behind the ears. Though their king is not want to show his praises lightly. But they will still come. Yay, they will still come.

Pestilence’s Herald: The claws, teeth and sickle blade of Gaecy’s Faust form are eternally coated with countless diseases. When introduced into the blood stream by a cut, a bite or a gash, a strain of incredibly virulent Staphylococcus aureus will enter. This supernaturally powerful strain will begin to destroy the skin and muscle layers of the victim. Within an hour a visible hole is apparent; and after six hours have passed, there will be nothing left of the victim except for their skeleton. The disease can be spread if a diseased portion of the body comes into contact with an open wound. If another Faust tries to eat the diseased flesh, they will start to puke violently, but they won't become infected, nor can they be infected. The only way to cure the infection is with dark magic, or the healing touch of a Wiseman or Sage.

In addition, due to having so many infections surrounding him, Gaecy has been rendered immune to all natural forms of disease and can eat rotten food without issue.

Black Cloud: With a sudden vibration of his back hairs, Gaecy can unleash the black fleas coating his back into the air as a cloud. The cloud will move about and begin to attack any living thing around them. They will bite and chew on their victim until there is nothing left but the bones. And as they are simply an extension of the Faust form, all flesh, and by connection, souls consumed by fleas immediately go to Gaecy. The fleas do not attack Witches, other Fausts, or the sanctified.

If a Black Flea were to bite a rodent, the creature will mutate into a miniature version of Gaecy that will be twice its original size. They will incredibly hostile to everything excluding Gaecy and other Mutants. Due to their small bodies being incapable of handling the dark energy however, they will die after thirty minutes or so have passed.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

Maeriberii Haan · September 23, 2014

Interested.

But still unsure if I can allocate my time here, but even if I can't, I'll be a reader.

Raine · September 23, 2014

I'll finish this tonight.

[spoiler= Jun Al-Theera]

Name: Jun Al-Theera
Age: 20
Gender: Female
[spoiler=Human Appearance:]

[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Faust Appearance:]

[/spoiler]
Personality: Jun is an extremely jealous and reactionary person with little self-control especially when concerning personal matters. She is generally motivated by her distrust of authority and hatred for those who do not understand her. Her envy and psychologically isolated state is the primary cause of her in ability to control her Faust ability and causes her state to release in times of great stress. As emotionally hostile as she is, she guards her fragile heart with this harsh exterior to prevent past mistakes and is vulnerable to manipulation that teases her sense of love and loyalty should she get attached. When placed in social situations, Jun will isolate herself with aggressive behavior and only associate with those she can have dominion over such as the weakest links or emotionally vulnerable people.
Biography: (5 lines minimum)
Abilities: (we'll discuss this, so do whatever)
Miscellaneous:

[/spoiler]

Maeriberii Haan · September 23, 2014

Finished

[spoiler=Alisa]

"Burning with longing and love, I want to strike my feelings
With all my strength, lethally even, against you."

Name: Alisa Trine R.

Age: 36
Gender: Female

[Spoiler=Human Appearance] Tall, slender, and elegant, that was what she would say about her appearance when she was younger. While the tall part definitely didn’t change for the 187 centimeters tall Lisa, her body built was a mockery of slenderness, and she was definitely not elegant. Malnutrition was pretty much apparent from her sickly thin build, and her tanned skin was pretty pale. Not that it bothered her much, as it was enough for her to do her job.

She had a long, messy reddish hair, and a pair of dull, brown eyes. Her clothing were usually pretty simple, just like how most peasant women usually wore back then.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Faust Appearance]

There is not many ways to describe the entirety of her Faust form, but it’s basically a writhing mass of slender tentacles with a human-shaped waist-up black figure at the center of it, covered in white masks. Completely blind, but can detect "heat" sources from humans (and humans specifically) for it to launch its tentacles at a remarkably high speed to the target, wrapping the target with it, and then it continues to consume the target in a similar manner to an octopus, from the lower part of the human-shaped figure. The humanoid center body is human-sized, but her tentacles often changes in size, due to an unknown reason.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Personality]

She is a lonely person that has some sort of obsession towards the concept of love. She admits that she used to be more sociable, but her experience of being alone, trapped in the middle of nowhere has made quite the distance between her and other humans. Lacks any traces of empathy, but she usually hides that behind a weary smile, just so people won’t be too concerned about her. Also related to this, she is probably a consummate liar, if her confession is correct. Despite being somewhat on a nihilistic streak lately, she’s still showing the inner determination to keep on surviving, and for this sake, she will do anything, from selling her body, thievery, even murder. She holds little regards to her physical looks, condition, and sometimes even health, only bothering about them if it means that she can survive for the next few days. [/spoiler]

[spoiler=Biography]

Not much about her was known to the public, though according to her, this was because she was a traveller born on a foreign land. What was known though was that eight years ago, several hunters found her alone in deep in the forest near a makeshift lodge made of a broken trade wagon, with ragged looks and several tools made from bones. Almost mistaken as a savage, the hunters were surprised when she started to greet them in their language. She then proceeded to tell her story, that several weeks ago, her trade caravan was attacked by bandits, and she was the only survivor from the attack as she was away for a reason she didn’t want to say. While she was technically able to go to a nearby settlement, her guilt and the fact that her horse suddenly died of hypothermia made her stuck on the place. She spent her weeks after that using anything she could to survive, even eating the body of her already dead horse (she vehemently denied the accusation that she ate the bodies of the other people on the group). The hunters decided that this story was acceptable, and brought her into a small town nearby.

Eight years later, she now worked on the town’s local bathhouse, due to her own preference, though at times, she showed up at the local brothel for some extra work. But even as she started to live (somewhat) normally again, it was clear that the event had done quite a number on her mental health, and one day, her boss found out that she tried to molest a young boy, and promptly kicked her out. While this would be enough to crack her, she then noticed the boy was walking along with a girl near his age. Blinded with rage and jealousy, she kidnapped that boy during the night and brought him to an abandoned hunting lodge, and promptly tortured and murdered him, before she mutilated and cooked his limbs. A local search team found her inside the lodge just as she was having her way with the boy’s lifeless and freshly decapitated body on the next day. While at first they considered to just summarily execute her, the depravity of her action and her overall mysteriousness made the town couldn’t help but brand her as a dangerous witch (as the town had no idea how else a human could indulge herself in such depravity), and sent her away to the church’s grip. She denied any accusations of witchcraft, and insisted that her act was solely based on her pure love towards the boy. This defense only made the case against her stronger, and she promptly sentenced to death. As her final grip on the concept of love and reality loosened, she met the witch called Hecate, and agreed to be a Faust just so she could continue her search for a one, true love.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Abilities]

Overreaching Love: Her tentacles are very versatile. Slender, so they are quite fast, they also doubles as extra sensor for her as she used them to "see" her physical surrounding. They can also used to protect her main body.

I Love You!: Even though her Faust form is completely blind, her complete thirst for love from other humans manifests as an ability for her to detect the heat signatures of other humans so she could latch to them. Effective range of 50 meters. Because of this though, she is completely mindless when she's in Faust form, as her entire goal is shifted into "Find a True Love".

Don't Leave Me Alone!: Her movement speed is directly affected by the movement of her loved ones. If they actively tries to ran away from her, she'll move faster and faster, and vice versa, This only applies when she had focused her effort on exactly 1 person, or a group of person.

Let's Be Together, Forever!: One of the ways for Alisa's Faust form to show her affection to others. Her tentacles and the lower part of her body are drenched with a strange fluid, that often drips as she moves. It's actually some sort of digestive acid, and each of her tentacles could slowly digest a human being. The fastest way is still to push the victim into the hole on the lower part of her body, still. By eating her victims, she believes that she and them could stay as lovers for eternity, but due to their silence after being digested, she lusts for more victims to be loved by her.

I Will Become Your Prince Charming!: She could grow any faces that she had seen before on anywhere on her Faust Body. The faces would only have their mouth functional. If she's agitated enough, the faces could spit the above highly corrosive acid.

I HATE YOU!: [REDACTED]

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Miscellaneous]

-She actually did eat the bodies of her travel companion.

-Some people suspected that Alisa Trine R is not her real name. But even if that’s not the case, no one knew what the R actually stood for.

Reasoning behind the Faust Form

-The tentacles served as both a symbol of lust and the distance between her and others.

-The masks represent the lies and fabrications that constituted her entire known existence, and the lack of face represents her lack of actual self.

-The humanitarian focus of the Faust form is actually because of her inner preference towards human flesh, despite how much she hated to accept that.

-You can just guess about what the dripping fluid from her humanoid body’s bottom part and how she ate her victims symbolizes.

-The reason why she moved slowly was purely just for balancing purpose.

-Theme Song: The Lonely Monster in Desolation

[/spoiler]

Merci · September 23, 2014

Oooh, this seems interesting~

How about a nun of the Church of Titania then? That should prove to be entertaining.

[spoiler=Rohesia Vel Ursuline]

Name: Rohesia Vel Ursuline

Age: 23

Gender: Female

[spoiler=Human Appearance:]

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Faust Appearance:]
Height: 7' 5"
Weight: 575 LBS

[center]

During the transformation, stone grows over the nun's skin and ultimately turns into a shell that encases her body entirely, the experience of which is both terrifying as well as extremely painful - partially due to how the stone expands off her skin, but mostly, it occurs due to the negative reaction her Church mindset has against the overly demonic force taking her over.

Rohesia's Faustian Form appears to take the form of an elegant stone angel with massive wings, not unlike the kind one might see in graveyards. It is smooth and detailed in many ways. Pure, even though this gargoyle-like form lacks clothing.

However, it seems that the features such as eyes and all do not serve any real function, as not only is she incapable of sight or touch, but the wings themselves are merely there to function as a buffer to prevent her from flying too high or going too fast. Movement of the limbs is difficult, but possible, and she is also capable of moving them in unnatural angles if needed. While there are no immediate holes, when it is time to feed on her victim, the 'mouth' is capable of opening up wide to reveal a dark void filled with powerful fangs scattered all about, ensuring that anything which goes in will be torn to pieces.

In truth, this is merely a shell that hides away the true creature that Rohesia becomes, and the dark void mentioned above is but a glimpse at the monstrosity that lies within... If Rohesia sustains enough damage as a Faust and cracks give way, then it's possible that more glimpses of the creature will be provided. However, the outer stone shell will never give way until Rohesia herself gives in, even if the creature within ends up killed beforehand.

[/spoiler]

Personality: If it had to be summarized into one word, then that would would be 'devout'. She is steadfast, serious and utterly convinced in her faith, unrelenting, unwavering no matter the circumstances. Possessing an unstoppable determination, she cannot even begin to imagine committing even the slightest act of sin. If she does end up committing something that is inherently wrong, then she'll follow up by 'cleansing herself' through a torturous self-mutilation, its intensity depending on the severity in question. In the past, she's done this just when accidentally coming into contact with men working near her, so one can only imagine how she would react under these current circumstances.

However, even when apparently betrayed by the very Church that she dedicated her own life to, she confides in the one hope that she will still be saved in the end and continues to believe in the Church of Titania's teachings. Therefore, it is only natural that she would absolutely despise anything to do with witchcraft and demons, which includes everyone else who ended up accused and thrown into prison alongside her.

When the situation ultimately forces her to do the unthinkable and sell her soul, who knows what will come of it? However, one way or another, there is no doubt that her view on life and her faith are only going to become more and more warped and stretched to the limit as time goes on.

No matter what, even when she loses her own soul to demonic powers and starts to commit acts she was once literally incapable of imagining, she will still strive to believe in the holy name of Titania. But, there is only so much that even a nun with absolute faith can take.

[spoiler=Biography]
There is only one story to be told here. The story of a girl who raised by faith, and yet ultimately betrayed by that same faith. Rohesia was brought up by extremely strict and religious parents who drilled holy words into her each and every day, never ceasing to punish her if she made so much as the slightest mistake. They taught her everything that was good and told her many things, and by the age of five, she was already a very devout and faithful pure girl who knew all there was to know about the ever-merciful Titania.

Her life was set to become a nun, and that was exactly what she became, her belief never wavering for an instant no matter what happened, even after her parents succumbed to an illness and after a few events in which men had attempted to assault her, with her barely escaping their grasp. At times, the various priests around her would commit sinful acts, all of which she systematically reported, but not all of whom were punished for their misgivings. Still, she did not question this, nor did she question anything else, for her faith was absolute, and therefore, so must be the Church. That is the graceful way she lived for a great many years, and in all that time, she had never for an instant ever dared to do anything sinful, anything that was against the law of Titania.

However, that all changed one day when a priest suddenly stepped forth and accused her of witchcraft. It could've been one of the ones she'd outed as doing things inappropriate and not in accordance with the Church's laws, and so he might've done that as a form of revenge...but that wasn't important. Frankly, it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard, but none of her protests were heard. Then, all of a sudden, the Church that she had praised and worked alongside with all her life was forcefully interrogating her, trying to get her to confess about something she did not know anything about.

She said that there had to be a mistake, but they would hear none of it. Despite everything, no one wished to hear her out and she was eventually sentenced to death.

However, even now when she's in the midst of a dark dungeon, with the holy Church of Titania itself soon to execute her for crimes she did not commit, she remains steadfast, for her faith in Titania will make it through. Her faith is being tested, so if she does not break down, then she will be rewarded for it. Therefore, there should no doubt that no matter what happens to her, she will remain loyal to her faith, right to the very end...

...or at least, that's what she likes to believe.

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Abilities:]

Church Magic dante Deo: As an extremely devout nun, she possesses an unusually high aptitude at the art of church magic and hence, even after having been forced to make the contract, she remains capable of performing fairly simple holy arts such as healing and light orbs, while more offensive arts can be achieved by putting herself under a state of self-hypnosis. However, even then, it is at the cost of hurting herself, and its power continues to diminish with time - also, needless to say, she lacks the capacity to do this while in her Faust form.

Nun Training: Extensive knowledge about the Church of Titania, its holy religion as well as the overall structure and hierarchy of the Church. Although, as her shock at being accused of being a witch proves, she still remains childishly ignorant in some areas.

[center]~ ~ ~[/center]

Libera me a malo: Rohesia's Faust self is encased in an angelic stone shell. While it cuts her off from the outside world and weighs her down, it also functions as a sort of armour defends her from harm. The stone, while flexible enough to allow her movement, is exceedingly tough and hard to crack, and even regenerates itself when damaged. However, when the time comes for consumption, this shell shows its only opening as the 'mouth' splits open to reveal a dark void powerful enough to take in and mercilessly crush its own food into organic matter that is used to further reinforce the stone shell. Its strength reflects the strength of her faith, and so it weakens the less she believes in Titania's blessing.

Deus Tecum: In her Faust form, blinded by the stone she herself wears, Rohesia is capable of an advanced form of psychic presence detection that enables her to sense and determine the positions of nearby lifeforms within a certain radius. As a twist in the thinking of the Church - the more distressed a person is feeling, the easier it will be to sense and ultimately assault them. Thus, the best way to avoid her detection would be to stay perfectly calm. She is incapable of sensing inanimate objects, so more often than not she will end up crashing through buildings, and this also renders her incapable of defending against projectiles.

Laborare est orare: The power to levitate high above the ground while transformed, and her massive stone wings actually function as heavy buffers to slow her down and keep her close to the ground. While levitating, she makes no sound, making it easier to approach unsuspecting innocents...when she's not crashing into anything, at least.

Dei Fortioribus Adsunt: A demonic imitation of Church Magic, Rohesia is capable of light generation while in her Faust form. This can be used either to blind others or to offensively launch at them in the form of laser-like attacks. Due to the fact that she is attempting to use holy attacks while as a Faust, performing these things hurts her immensely and sends her into a greater rage than before. More cruelly, it can also be used to drain away the life force of those she's in direct contact with, as a twisted, reversed variation of healing.

Peccavi: When a soul is consumed in her Faust form, a carving of that individual's face grows somewhere her stone wings. Symbolizes the fact that Titania is aware of every unforgivable sin that she commits, and to ensure that the former nun will never forget about her crimes.

Cantillatio: Allows the transformed Rohesia to summon the carvings on her body stored by Peccavi in the form of gargoyle-like creatures that resemble the people she has formerly consumed, their power drawing upon the tormented souls within her body. While they possess the same psychic sense she does, their bodies are composed of stone and are weaker, and killing one weakens the Faust, since it frees a small portion of the soul trapped within. If necessary, Rohesia can risk portions of her own energy to summon forth the whole soul and hence create a more powerful vin-gargoyle - however, by doing this, she risks losing that soul if the vin-gargoyle is killed by anything.

[center]~ ~ ~[/center]

Dies Irae: This is the moment in which the former nun, Rohesia Vel Ursuline, ultimately resolves her conflicting ideals about the Church of Titania, in which she has judged what is correct and what is false in this world. Doing so will cause the stone shell of her Faust self to crack apart to reveal what lies within, and then...?

[/spoiler]

Miscellaneous:
Normal Theme: Church on the Hill
Faust Theme: Scarred and Battled
Activation of 'Dies Irae' Theme: The Final Decision We All Must Take

[/spoiler]

Edit: Welp, that should be all~ Praise the suffering to come~

Kyng · September 23, 2014

Merciful, food for thought: upload appearance images you use to Imgur.

'Cause, thing is, you don't, and more often than not the links are broken, or simply don't like hot-linking.

Tesability Black · September 23, 2014

"If it is Your will, Titania, then I will fall to darkness and become a Faust. I only ask that you forgive my future transgressions." - Jace Cort

Name: Jace Cort
Age: 23
Gender: Male
[spoiler=Human Appearance:]

Jace is a pale-skinned lad of 5'6" and roughly 142 lbs. His eyes have become a brownish-grey coloration with the faint, almost-invisible presence of red interweaving with the grey. His originally dark-brown hair has become overlaid with a dark shade of red and stops just above his shoulders. Four of his incisors have elongated just enough to make them look almost like vampire fangs, though they are still just short enough to hide under his lips when his mouth are closed. When he was thrown into prison for the falsely-accused crime of being a Faust that specifically targets the Church, he been made to wear simple peasant clothing, which consists of a simple white shirt, brown pants and brown boots. The only clue of his former life that he managed to keep was the pendant he wears that symbolizes Titania herself, which appears as an ivory dove flying in front of a symbolic topaz sun embedded into a shimmering grey metal that oddly was not silver hanging upon a simple braided leather necklace.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Faust Appearance:]

His appearance as a Faust is strange. He appears like a vivid-red fox with the size and muscular build of a horse. A mane of yellow fur appears on the back of his head, a pair of pure-white upper fangs appear from his muzzle and around the ankles near his paws are neon-green bands of fur, signs of his forced imprisonment. If you dare to look him in the eyes, they are a neon-green color with dark-green pupils, but still look more human than bestial. His special pendant appears around his neck still, as if he refuses to part with it. In an enraged state, however, the pupils narrow much like a snake's pupils. Upon his back is a long orange appendage, much like a leathery tentacle without any of the normal suckers on one side, capable of using various objects, even certain ones that require two hands. Such can even be used to wield some of the more heavier weaponry, such as any two-handed heavy weapon, since he can brace himself with 'four-paw traction'. He is not meant to look menacing at first, no. Instead, such an appearance is actually meant to give those who see it a false impression and trick them into charging in before setting them ablaze with the fire he literally becomes.

(I added the background after I had already shaded, which is why the lighting is way off. The whip-arm is also meant to be a bit longer than depicted in the picture. Also couldn't figure out how to do the pendant and do it justice with its appearance.)[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Personality:]Jace used to be blind to the foul ways of the Church, had such a religious fervor in himself that there was next to nothing left of what would have been his personality. However, after becoming accused of being a Faust by several Wisemen and Sages just before becoming one himself, he was condemned to death with no chance to defend himself. His rage, though he did not know the word for what he felt, continued to boil as he waited for death to come, rage that spiked further when guards would try to make him confess to being a Faust in exchange for a private execution instead of the public one they had planned for him. He still held on to the fact that he was not such a monster, though of course they never believed him. Even with the some of the more-brutal tortures the Church had ordered to be done to him, including a few that are above the allowed rating of this forum, this still did not stop him from seeking some form of aid from his Goddess, whom he had considered his only real mother growing up, which came to him in the most-unusual of ways. Fortunately for him, the former would-be Wiseman had an idea to modify his contract with the witch in the cell, hoping to make it so that he can keep those undeserving of his rage away from it. If not, he always had Titania he could always call upon to help contain the beast within when needed...or so he hoped.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Biography:] Jace had been taken away as an almost-newborn-baby from his parents when a Wiseman came though his birthtown and sensed the massive amount of potential the young lad had. For almost all of his life, he had been raised by the Church, blindly following their laws and beliefs, for he knew no other way to think.

However, two weeks ago, the Wisemen and Sages began to have visions of him being a Faust that seemed to only purposely slay those of the Church hierarchy and those who willingly defended them, with any others being accidental deaths. This deeply scared the higher-ups, for having someone contracted to a Witch among their ranks was truly a heinous thing to even consider. Because of this, they grabbed him and threw him into the dungeon, only telling him why this was happening after he demanded to know why. They only waited for a day when the weather was perfect and a large crowd of people were present nearby to do the public execution, torturing the poor man in the mean time, but they waited too long.

As he waited for his execution, stewing in his ever-growing rage as he did, he wound up receiving a vision, one he believes may be from Titania herself, stating that the Church's methods were hurting Her instead of helping Her. This same vision stated that her power was almost completely-gone because the Church have made the people afraid of them instead of truly love Her. The only way she could foresee fixing this was to destroy the Church and have it rebuilt it from the ground up. When he managed to ask her just how he could do such a thing by himself, She commanded him to become a Faust and that She would help keep his rage focused on the Church itself.

Only a day later did Hecate show up within his cell, offering him his freedom in exchange for his soul. Knowing full well that Fausts have a difficult time controlling their rage on their own due to what he had learned about them growing up from a few hunters he asked questions off, he came up with an idea that might help him keep sane around the average person, a condition to the contract that makes him only loose himself around those of the Church hierarchy and those that willingly defend them.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Abilities:]~'Church' Magic: While he no longer has the full power he once had after the contract, Jace is still capable of basic magic normally taught by the Church, though he now realizes that it is Titania that places the seed of magic into one's own soul and, to a lesser extent, one's mind. It is the part of this 'seed of magic' still in his mind that let's him use even part of this holy power, though consuming the souls of others born with said seed increases what he can do. He can only use this in human form, however. It is this trait that makes Wisemen and Sages, especially the ones that had that accursed vision about him that started this whole chain of events, a more-favored target for him than most Fausts.

~Titania's Blessed Pendant: Jace actually can keep in control of himself in human form while wearing his necklace, which appears in both of his forms. However, if the modification to his contract with Hecate doesn't work out as he hoped, he will still have difficulty maintaining control of himself, but not as much as a normal Faust would. While in Faust Form, it instead allows him to keep his mind just enough to intelligently deal with his foes and not get himself killed by 'bestial stupidity' as well as allow him to recognize an ally and not accidentally strike at them without provocation. If he's near someone that he knows is of the Church, then there's no stopping that instant flip-out into Faust form, even by the Goddess herself. It is strangely-unharmed by any of his abilities in either form. If, for any reason, the pendant ever gets removed from his being...even Hecate might have a problem keeping him calm without some serious magic as all of his bottled rage comes out at once and makes him prone to striking at friend and foe alike with full force.

~Living Flame: At will, Jace can become a pure embodiment of fire in his Faust form, allowing others to literally run through him and set themselves ablaze while he remains unharmed. However, he can only use such as a last-second tactic at the moment. Dousing him with water in this form kills him and leaves nothing behind if there's not a single part of the flame left. Otherwise, he will reform and appear severely-drained, if not with severe wounds depending on how much of the flames are left. He can also summon flames around himself as needed for combat, such as when slashing at foes or biting them. If he happens to wield a bladed weapon in his whip-arm, he can superheat it and use it to cut off limbs and cauterize the wound at the same time, leaving them no chance to reattach the limb in any way. Oddly enough, fire helps him heal of various wounds and injuries in both forms. As he gets stronger and consume more souls as well as get better used to the form, other methods of fire manipulation will eventually come into existence, including a form of 'fiery duplication'.

~Sharpened Senses: Since his Faust form appears like a fox, he has heightened senses of smell, sight and hearing. He also has better sight, smell and hearing in this human form, but to a much-lesser extent.

~Whip-arm: In his Faust form, Jace has a long, rubbery, whip-like limb emerging from his back that is dexterous enough to manipulate various delicate objects as well as use many combat-based objects. He is built to have increased muscle strength in his legs and a stronger skeletal system overall to support this extra weight as well as any suddenly gained...like if he tosses someone clear across the battlefield. This is what allows him to bring the fight right to those who wish to harm him.

~Horse-like: Because of the increased muscle strength in his limbs in his Faust form, he can run slightly faster than a modern-day race horse. He can also jump really-high as well. I also wouldn't stand behind him, if I were you...that back-kick hurts...[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Miscellaneous:]~Jace appears broken under most situations while in human form because that's really the only way for him to keep under control most of the time. It's caused by both the condition of his contract he got away with adding (if it flies) and Titania trying to help him keep from accidentally slaying the wrong people with his pendant as a focus (or so he believes), which suppresses almost all forms of personality as a consequence. That doesn't stop random slivers of such from peeping through, though.

~He has a higher-than-normal body temperature in human form, though he's still not so physically hot that he can't be touched.

~While he can use a variety of weaponry with his whip-arm in his Faust, he will soon develop a strange preference toward metallic quarterstaves...especially since he can make good use of them even in human form.

~While water harms him as a Faust and potentially kill him if taking the form of fire itself, it thankfully doesn't harm him in human form. Unfortunately, his primary way of getting sustainable fluid in his body, in either form, is through consuming still-bloody meat, either raw or rare. Water, unless it's really-flipping-cold ice water or already really-hot water, sometimes evaporates as he tries to drink it. If he gets really thirsty, he can bite into someone and literally drink blood like a vampire immune to the sun.
~The Faust form is based of a species I originally created in the PS2 game Graffiti Kingdom and managed to recreate in the PC game Spore called the Armagnis. The lore behind them is that they are actually from a volcanic desert planet named Tenere and that the world they live in has adapted to life without water, it does not even exist on the planet as such. They are capable of bathing by literally taking a dive straight into lava and swimming around in it. Everything on that planet is an omnivore, even the plant life of the planet.

~Theme Songs:

~~Almost Human - Voltaire (In regards to the first transformation that occurs after the deal is made)

~~My Demons - Starset (In reference to the Faust that now hides within)

~~Life is Beautiful - Sixx:A.M. (In response to how Jace begins to see the Chirch in a new light soon after becoming imprisoned)[/spoiler]

Mugendramon · September 23, 2014

[spoiler="Gregory Greywood"]

"They called me a witch to put me in here; might as well call myself a monster to get out, right?"

Name: Gregory Greywood
Age: 20
Gender: Male
[spoiler="Human Appearance:"]

Height: 179 cm

Weight: 69 kg

Eye Colour: Golden

Hair Colour: Gold blond

[/spoiler]

[spoiler="Faustian Appearance:"]

Height: 179 cm

Weight: 69 kg

Eye Colour: Magenta

[/spoiler][spoiler="Personality:"]Even as a young adult, Gregory is not one to see the world as it is; even as he was accused of witchcraft and dragged into an underground cell, death was not in his mind. After all, he was fairly certain of the reason for his apprehension, mistakenly believed to be some form of deal with Spirits or Demons.

Greg is one to try and see solutions in anything, fixing his mind on a problem and working his way through any possible routes, always at his own pace. The means to an end are not important to him however, and he is obliviously capable of borderline (or clearly) psychopathic behaviour provided that it is the answer.

The man is very hard to upset or otherwise bother; mostly out of sheer apathy. There is one way to rustle his jimmies majorly, though.

Because certain incidents in his childhood, which he had deep buried away, resurfaced recently, Gregory suffers from a crippling fear of the dark. He must be close to a light source at all times, experiencing severe mental distress the darker his surroundings.[/spoiler][spoiler="Biography:"] Gregory began his life the son of a farmer and a tailor living a simple life at the edge of the deep forests of The Vale. Although he never did go hungry, his life was not exactly filled with luxury or even proper lighting at night. Both his parents illiterate, the boy would have been bound to ignorance had he not encountered a man lost within the forest. A foreigner, he would later tell; and a hungry one too.

The humble household took him in without a second thought, with a young and eager Gregory insisting that he take his bed. In payment for their hospitality, the foreigner worked his shift with the animals during the day; at night, and burning firewood he would himself chop, he would teach a growing Greg to write and read. There was always a book or two the man would not let Greg lay eyes on, but he had peeked in them anyway and could not make heads or tails out of the symbols scribbled therein.

The foreigner left shortly after Gregory turned 11, on a starless night, taking the farmer's wife with him and leaving no trace of his presence beyond a single, unreadable book. Devastated, the farmer sold his land and together both he and his son chose to start life anew in a mining town near the Alterian border.

Gregory never did fully forget how lonely he had felt that night; how threatening the emptiness felt, how his grasp on sanity was crudely cut off. As a grown adult would describe it, Gregory became afraid of the dark. The way he saw it, the dark had swallowed everything he had and was still there, perfectly able to snatch him away just the same. It just chose not to. It just chose to wait, to let its plaything writhe in fear.

Eventually his father took up the miner's trade; meanwhile, Gregory read up and sought knowledge. He could not explain his fascination with learning, though at some point he surely thought he was simply mimicking the stranger who had taken his mother and broken his father. Every night, he would attempt to read the writings in that bizarre book, the only memento of the monster who had educated him. Slowly, he began understanding bits and pieces, and for the first time he found his way to a word he had never noticed scribbled among the formulas. He asked about it the following day, only to be told by a resident church flagbearer that this 'Chemistry' was nothing short of witchcraft. That he would be imprisoned at once were he to attempt it.

Gregory disregarded the warning altogether and focused all of his reading time on the undecipherable book. Slowly but steadily, he started memorizing the meaning of each and every one of the loose letters and numbers in the book. As time went by, Greg found himself hating the foreigner less and less for his vile actions, rather admiring him for his work in such complicated and perfect craft. His thought process warped by his obsession with chemistry, his emotions gradually died away like a flickering shadow once a candle is blown out. His daily life struggles became nothing more than equations, problems for his mind to solve without effort. The human element faded into unconsciousness, and soon emotion became as foreign to him as the man who had once chopped his life to pieces. Even his crippling fear of the dark slipped from his mind into nothing.

His studies came into fruition at the age of 18, when in attempting to combine a couple of formulas of his own, a black powder capable of violent burning shook his father and his miner coworkers. Gregory attempted to explain the reaction yet the miners were clearly ready to call him out on witchcraft. They would have, had Gregory not also pointed out its productive uses. Mining became a simple task and money flowed into town.

This attracted the attention of the church. An inspection crew walked into a 20-year-old Gregory detonating a small charge near an iron cluster. It was deemed witchcraft immediately. And the rest, as they say, is history.[/spoiler]

Abilities: Original body faints, and remains unconscious for the remainder of the transformation. No significant increase in resistence of main body, and killing it will destroy all shadows. Can make use of any shadow in the environment as long as it is connected to the original body's shadow. Shadows can be moved around and come off the ground as solid, though not impenetrable objects which do not in turn cast a shadow. Eyes and mouths are functional. Cannot survive in environments where shadows cannot be cast.

Miscellaneous: Main Theme | Monster Theme

->He became a miner only once his fear of the dark disappeared. It worked out fine until he was thrown in prison; his fear then returned.

->Gregory's father literally came up with his own last name after settling down in his farm within the woods, and it simply reflects the nature of the trees around. He was named Gregory because it would be easy to remember.

->...His father is not the smartest cookie. He is never the less now part of an anti-church faction because of the unjust capture of his son.

[/spoiler]

Merci · September 23, 2014

Merciful, food for thought: upload appearance images you use to Imgur.

'Cause, thing is, you don't, and more often than not the links are broken, or simply don't like hot-linking.

Well, you're right. That does seem to happen a lot nowadays, though you may want to know that imgur is blocked over here due to inappropriate content you can find on it. Of course, I can still use tinypic, so I'll go with that.

Asriel Dreemurr · September 24, 2014

"The way I see it, the goddess has turned her back on us. Seems only fair we do the same."

Name: Ignace Blackhand

Age: 21

Gender: Male

[spoiler=Human Appearance]

Height: 180cm (5'11")

Weight: 65kg (143lbs)

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Faust Appearance]

Height: 350cm (11'6") At the shoulders

Length: 720cm (23'7") Head to tail

Weight: 510kg (1124lbs)

[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Personality]

A simple young man, Ignace is hardly what anyone would call the "hero type." Certainly he cares for others than himself, often acting on his desire to help those less fortunate than himself, but he wouldn't stick his neck out to help someone else if there was a chance of it getting cut. Some may call him a coward for this, but in response he has always said that he doesn't like to take unnecessary risks. In fact there have been some cases where he's put himself in danger, because he had no other option. In short, he has a well-formed set of self preservation behaviors. While this would normally imply some sort of intelligence, the young blacksmith was never accused of being such. He knows very little about the outside world, and the lack of a desire to learn more than he needs to know has led to more than a few instances of him being called thick-headed. However, as his late father would attest, he is quick to learn when the information being imparted to him is important to the situation he finds himself in. Many people have found him pleasant and easy to talk to, as he prefers to listen to what one would say to him than speak and use only a few words when he does speak. Furthermore, he wears a smile more often than a frown and is quick to laugh and be merry in all but the worst of times. Finally, he does have a bit of a fondness for drink of any sort with a definite preference for Mead.

In his Faust form, things are a different story. A maddened, mostly-mindless creature; he has little care for anything other than the destruction and consumption of any human in his way. Violent to the extreme, he is more of a butcher than a hunter and takes some kind of pleasure in ripping his victims apart before eating them slowly enough to savor the taste. This, however, changes when he is in close proximity to Hecate. Around her, he becomes docile and almost puppy-like in his behavior, and she is the only one who can enact any sort of control on him.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Biography]

Blackhand Ironworks; perhaps not the most accurate name considering the family which runs it deals with more metals than just Iron and Steel, but all the same it was for a very long time one of the most renowned smithies in Alteria. It was into this business that Ignace was born with his father, Gerard Blackhand, being the head of the family and therefore the head of the operation. As soon as he could swing a hammer, Ignace was his father's apprentice and thus taught all the necessary skills for the smelting of raw ore and the forging of refined metal into arms, armor, and tools. Being the only child his mother, Angela Blackhand, ever gave birth to, his place as the eventual head of the business was not lost on himself or his father's competitors. Suffice it to say that he did not have an easy life, with the sons of other smiths in the Alterian border city he called home often striking out at him when they could, thinking that his small size made him vulnerable. They were wrong, as the many broken bones he gave them were testament to his surprising strength. Still, his father thought that it would be a good idea to move the family some place where their son would be subjected to less violence, and Angela did have a brother in the Vale who was willing to let them stay with him for a few days while everything was set up.

And so, at the age of 10, Ignace and the rest of his family moved to one of the few cities in the Vale where the population was large enough for a blacksmith to make a living as good as they had in Alteria. Living in a wooden house took some getting used to, but as soon as the new location of Blackhand Ironworks was finished, he was able to get into living quite nicely once he could get back to hammering away. Between the superior skill of an Alterian smith, and the steady supply of high-quality iron from the family's contacts back home the Blackhands managed to out-compete most of the other smiths in the region and built a very good life for themselves. Unfortunately, their competitors were less than happy about this. The end result was Ignace's father and mother being poisoned at a banquet the lord of that city had invited them to, while he remained at home because he had gotten sick. A proper funeral was had for them, and the appropriate amount of time was spent mourning, but when Ignace returned to the forge the ire of his competition was rekindled. The now head of the Blackhand family proved to be an even greater smith than his father, producing blades and armor of such quality that he was receiving commissions from a great many of the nobles in the region.

Of course his competitors tried to do away with him more than once, but each time Ignace was either able to strike down those sent to take his life or happened to be lucky enough to avoid attempts on his life by the narrowest of margins. His refusal to die infuriated them, and so they searched for some way to bring about his end...and then it hit them. Not more than a week after Ignace celebrated his twenty-first birthday, he was taken from his home by soldiers of the church on accusations of witchcraft. He sought over and over again to defend himself against the accusations thrown at him, insistence that his blades were too sharp and his armor too durable to be natural in its construction, but over and over again his words fell on deaf ears for it seemed even the truth was no defense for him. He soon found himself chained in a cell, abandoned by a goddess he had once had faith in...until he found another.[/spoiler]

[spoiler= Abilities]

Smithing is my life: Having been a blacksmith for all his life, Ignace has gotten rather good at the craft. Good enough to have once been renowned across the Vale for his skill with a hammer and metal, and that skill is not something he's forgotten. Given a furnace to heat metal in, a hammer to shape it, and an anvil to pound it on he can turn any mere piece of unshaped metal into something truly beautiful. Weapon or Armor, he is incredibly skilled at its creation. Even in his Faust form he retains this skill, and would be able to forge items of surprising strength with an unimaginable level of dexterity.

The form of the Beast: Ignace's form as a Faust is that of a creature straight from the fires of Hell itself. Known most commonly as Smelter Demons, these beasts are often employed by other denizens of Hell as sources of heat for furnaces and metal from which to forge weapons. Some of them become craftsmen themselves, the city of Dis owes its existence to something of a guild of such creatures, but many more of them simply wander aimlessly about that hellish plane. On occasions when they have been encountered by mortal warriors, tales of their incredibly strength and durability have been passed on by the survivors. Though he may not truly be such a creature, the young Blacksmith has a great many of their abilities.

To the sky, on malformed wings: Incapable of true flight, due to the twisted nature of his wings, Ignace is still capable of gliding a short ways. While the actual distance is really only dependent upon the height he can reach prior to beginning his glide, and the conditions of the wind into which he is jumping, the heavy nature of his body means that in most cases he can only glide for a short ways in most cases. Still, those wings of his are powerful enough that he can use them to assist in jumping quite a significant ways.

Such strength, can anything stand against it?!: Much like the demons he takes the form of, Ignace possesses strength immensely greater than that of any mortal man. Stone shatters, metal bends, and bodies are crushed when they are set against the power of such a beast. This strength also translates into a superhuman level of endurance, allowing the blacksmith to fight on almost indefinitely in Faust form while completely ignoring blows that would fell the greatest of men. Of course this resilience only extends so far, as since his chest hangs open it is a vulnerable spot. That is, if one can get past the bones which are tougher than iron. Still, his hide is not invulnerable and thus can be cut open in places. Enough such injuries could well cause the beast to bleed to death.

The inferno made manifest: Smelter Demons are almost constantly giving off heat as great as the heart of a forge, and in turn so is Ignace's Faust form. This heat makes it all but unbearable to be close to him for any great length of time, and if one stays too close for too long they will find their clothing catching fire or their armor softening. Of course this heat does cause a great many spots upon his form to glow as brightly as a furnace, and so stealth is all but an impossibility for him. Additionally, much like the fiends he resembles, Ignace is capable of spewing forth torrents of liquid iron from either the mouth upon his head or the pseudo-mouth on the end of his tail.

Fangs to match the finest blades: Truly the weapons of a predator, the fangs in both of Ignace's mouths when in the form of a Faust are unbelievably sharp. Coupled with the intense heat surrounding both of them, they are weapons capable of ripping through the hardest of armor to get at the gooey things inside of them. Also worth mentioning are the claws upon his arms, as though they are not exactly sharp the hooks and barbs on them in places make them ideal for grasping and holding. It would be a terrible fate indeed for something to be stuck in those claws, as that would make it his prey. Finally worth mentioning are the horns upon his head, every bit as durable as his bones and coming to wicked points, they make facing a charge from him an even more terrifying prospect.

Hold still! It can't find you if you hold still: Lacking both eyes and a nose in his Faust form, Ignace cannot rely on either the sense of sight or smell to find anything. As such, most enemies can usually find some amount of safety in holding perfectly still and not making a sound. Of course, to compensate for this lack of senses, he wields quite the developed sense of hearing such that he can navigate by sound alone. Similar to a bat's echolocation, he can utilize sound to give him a precise picture of his environment and thus find where he needs to go. Generally, the louder and clearer the sound is the greater an area he can see at any given time.[/spoiler]

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