⭐ HUNTERS ⭐ Urban Fantasy / Academy / Superhero ⭐ OPEN OOC ⭐

[Forest State]

Alright, I changed some stuff--not sure if it's enough, let me know. It's no problem changing again. I edited the app, I was going to edit in this little message below but I'll just leave it here:

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Ok so I made some changes to try to fit Tristan into the categories better. He's now mainly in the mental school, and lots of the other spells are gone. There's some spells which I don't really know how to fit in, but let me know what else needs to go or be changed--I didn't mess with any Mana costs this time, but I'm still not totally sure what's appropriate for which spells.

Sorry that this is such a hassle! I promise I'm looking forward to fitting this character into the world you've developed, my bad for not getting a good feel for that right away.

There's not really such thing as spells that defy categorization. Well, there are, but it's less minor spells and moreso world breaking type stuff at the upper levels. I also think the power level is kind of too high for someone that stretches into as many categories that you do.

I guess this is a decent way to illustrate the point.

Take two people learning a language. One of them is learning French and one of them is learning French, German, and Italian with bits of Chinese and Arabic thrown in for extra measure. It might technically be possible to speak all of these languages, yes. But which person is going to have the better progress learning? The one focusing on one or two or the person stretching their ability over a bunch of languages?

Magic sort of works in a similar way, your guy would have his abilities stretched far enough to not have any noteworthy spells in any of them.

EDIT: And if you need help figuring out how to cut things down without going away from your original idea, I can list out where certain abilities fit within the fairy build.

[The GAmeTopians]

Sorry for the delay on my app, I'll endeavor to finish the bio tonight or tomorrow morning.

[Rhodevus]

I saw this was still open and I'm quite curious about this, so I'm going to tag this and look deeper into it in the morning.

[Forest State]

No problem on delayed apps, we're still sort of in the intro period.

snip

Accepted.

[Theyra]

So is anyone free for an interaction?

[Recuecn]

Disguise and Invisibility should both have a higher cost, invisibility especially since it's such a powerful ability. Not entirely sure about the Fey Bond or Curse spells since those lean too far into general fae lore rather than how they are in the lore but I'll leave the verdict on that to Forest, and the lack of hard offensive spells may hurt whenever combat stuff happens.

And trust me, this isn't a hassle, poking around with abilities is just balancing which is normal really. A hassle is reviewing the same app ten times because the character itself is flawed and the changes to fix it many people offer don't get made.

Ok I upped invisibility and disguise mana costs a bit, let me know if it's enough. Getting rid of invisibility entirely would probably be fine too.

Thanks also for the reassurance--the goal is to get a character everybody is happy with so making them fit in to the world is part of that process. Feel free to be blunt or let me know if there's some things that I'm still missing or still really don't fit--not just in the spells, but in the backstory too.

There's not really such thing as spells that defy categorization. Well, there are, but it's less minor spells and moreso world breaking type stuff at the upper levels. I also think the power level is kind of too high for someone that stretches into as many categories that you do.

I guess this is a decent way to illustrate the point.

Take two people learning a language. One of them is learning French and one of them is learning French, German, and Italian with bits of Chinese and Arabic thrown in for extra measure. It might technically be possible to speak all of these languages, yes. But which person is going to have the better progress learning? The one focusing on one or two or the person stretching their ability over a bunch of languages?

Magic sort of works in a similar way, your guy would have his abilities stretched far enough to not have any noteworthy spells in any of them.

EDIT: And if you need help figuring out how to cut things down without going away from your original idea, I can list out where certain abilities fit within the fairy build.

For this I took out some of the spells that didn't seem to fit into Mental or Wood magic. (Although if there's a way to justify that 'mend' spell I had before, I really liked that one. If this is still too many categories, let me know. I am trying to pick weaker spells that would go with trying to work two categories at once, but I'm still not sure if I have a good feel for the relative strength of the spells.

So I did change some things here, but it was really just two or three things--what you said about listing where abilities fit or things I could cut down would be very helpful--if there's anything specific that's no good or too much or doesn't fit the lore (like what Lunas said about the Fairy's curse), let me know. The more specific the criticism, the better.

Edit: Also added Hex and Curse for a little bit more combat capability. Let me know if those work.

[Forest State]

Invisibility [30/minute] - Tristan and anything he is wearing or carrying becomes invisible.
Eavesdrop [20/minute] - Allows him to listen to conversations up to 100 meters away (including through walls).
Illusion [15] - Creates a small illusory vision for an hour--temporarily changing the face of a playing card, for example.
Truth [175] - When cast, no participant (including the caster) in the caster's next conversation will be able to tell a lie for the duration of that conversation.
Silence [10/minute] - While this spell is active no noise coming from the caster can be heard.
Mental Fog [30] - Confuses the mind and vision of the target, causing them to act as if they were blinded by a cloud of fog.
Sound [30] - Those around hear a sound of Tristan's choosing.
Magic Placebo [25] - People who think they're being treated feel better. This is a totally fake healing spell. There is some real magic in it though--the recipient will be sure that they're being healed, and the magic will be able to make a little bit of that belief into a reality.
Enchanted sleep [75] - The target of the spell will fall asleep for 8 hours. This spell only works if the target is not in a fight with the caster.
Hex [25] - A combat spell that deals a small amount of psychic damage.
Curse [25] - Essentially a more powerful version of hex.
Jinx [75] - Just as a real-life "jinx" gets inside someone's head and messes them up, this spell messes with the target's mind until they are magically driven into a mistake or clumsiness which leads to a minor misfortune in a way that is unexpected--even to the caster.
Language Comprehension [10] - Allows Tristan to read a message written in a language he doesn't speak (although not in code), or understand what somebody is saying in a different language. It doesn't allow him to reply in that language.
Pain or Peace [75] - Causes such acute mental anguish that the target is hurt... or extends to the target a healing wave of mental peace.
Magic Chef [5] - Changes the flavor of a plate of food--sometimes some of Tristan's knowledge of herbs is needed here.
Nature's Friend [20] - Tristan can use natural elements around him--cause a small gust of wind, make a flower bloom, cause a nearby bee to sting someone, have a root you didn't notice trip you. This spell can also be cast for a different effect--to better understand something in nature, whether that's reading tracks, finding shelter, identifying what plants might be safe to eat,
Escape [50] - The caster is able to slip out of a bond like a vine through a fence.

I trimmed down some of these abilities based on what I think the skill level would be for a student that's going across a couple of categories and isn't a master obviously. Generally things that are "certain" in terms of applying their effect take more skill. I.E. the more of a sure thing a spell is in terms of effect on someone else, the less likely it is that a student would be able to cast it, or any non experienced mage for that matter. Also changed the costs to a more proper amount. The potion one was also removed because there's no set cost for all potions, the price would vary depending on what you're making.

[Recuecn]

Invisibility [30/minute] - Tristan and anything he is wearing or carrying becomes invisible.
Eavesdrop [20/minute] - Allows him to listen to conversations up to 100 meters away (including through walls).
Illusion [15] - Creates a small illusory vision for an hour--temporarily changing the face of a playing card, for example.
Truth [175] - When cast, no participant (including the caster) in the caster's next conversation will be able to tell a lie for the duration of that conversation.
Silence [10/minute] - While this spell is active no noise coming from the caster can be heard.
Mental Fog [30] - Confuses the mind and vision of the target, causing them to act as if they were blinded by a cloud of fog.
Sound [30] - Those around hear a sound of Tristan's choosing.
Magic Placebo [25] - People who think they're being treated feel better. This is a totally fake healing spell. There is some real magic in it though--the recipient will be sure that they're being healed, and the magic will be able to make a little bit of that belief into a reality.
Enchanted sleep [75] - The target of the spell will fall asleep for 8 hours. This spell only works if the target is not in a fight with the caster.
Hex [25] - A combat spell that deals a small amount of psychic damage.
Curse [25] - Essentially a more powerful version of hex.
Jinx [75] - Just as a real-life "jinx" gets inside someone's head and messes them up, this spell messes with the target's mind until they are magically driven into a mistake or clumsiness which leads to a minor misfortune in a way that is unexpected--even to the caster.
Language Comprehension [10] - Allows Tristan to read a message written in a language he doesn't speak (although not in code), or understand what somebody is saying in a different language. It doesn't allow him to reply in that language.
Pain or Peace [75] - Causes such acute mental anguish that the target is hurt... or extends to the target a healing wave of mental peace.
Magic Chef [5] - Changes the flavor of a plate of food--sometimes some of Tristan's knowledge of herbs is needed here.
Nature's Friend [20] - Tristan can use natural elements around him--cause a small gust of wind, make a flower bloom, cause a nearby bee to sting someone, have a root you didn't notice trip you. This spell can also be cast for a different effect--to better understand something in nature, whether that's reading tracks, finding shelter, identifying what plants might be safe to eat,
Escape [50] - The caster is able to slip out of a bond like a vine through a fence.

I trimmed down some of these abilities based on what I think the skill level would be for a student that's going across a couple of categories and isn't a master obviously. Generally things that are "certain" in terms of applying their effect take more skill. I.E. the more of a sure thing a spell is in terms of effect on someone else, the less likely it is that a student would be able to cast it, or any non experienced mage for that matter. Also changed the costs to a more proper amount. The potion one was also removed because there's no set cost for all potions, the price would vary depending on what you're making.

Thanks so much! I just copy and pasted this wholesale into the application, so hopefully it's good now. The only changes I made were removing curse (since it was now identical to hex) and adding 'mend' back in.

[Theyra]

So is anyone free for an interaction?

Your char can check out the karate club in the gymnasium preparing for magic sports tryouts.

And join a four-person interact, seems already busy.

[Castelia]

And join a four-person interact, seems already busy.

Well, technically only three since Aia went to her own room.

Still, I think there's always space for more people in Bu's karate club. At the moment we're just doing a training montage so I think your char can drop in.

[Lunas Legion]

So is anyone free for an interaction?

Olympia isn't currently doing anything.

[Theyra]

So is anyone free for an interaction?

Olympia isn't currently doing anything.

Okay, how about we do a interact then. How do you want to start it? My char is just walking around the campus.

[Lunas Legion]

Olympia isn't currently doing anything.

Okay, how about we do a interact then. How do you want to start it? My char is just walking around the campus.

Ditto for Olympia really, she's just dumping her stuff in her room then seeing where everything's at.

[Theyra]

Okay, how about we do a interact then. How do you want to start it? My char is just walking around the campus.

Ditto for Olympia really, she's just dumping her stuff in her room then seeing where everything's at.

Hmmm, how about they bumped into each other or something?

[Lunas Legion]

Ditto for Olympia really, she's just dumping her stuff in her room then seeing where everything's at.

Hmmm, how about they bumped into each other or something?

That works, I'll let you post for Tavian first.

[Theyra]

Hmmm, how about they bumped into each other or something?

That works, I'll let you post for Tavian first.

Posted.

[Lunas Legion]

That works, I'll let you post for Tavian first.

Posted.

I'll post for Olympia after I sleep since it's late here currently.

[Forest State]

snip

Accepted.

[Okayanos]

two apps coming in for two related characters.

[Okayanos]

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SANTA MARINA HUNTER ACADEMY - STUDENT FILE
The following file has been approved for viewing by APPROVED PERSONNEL.

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Paul Inimicus

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Name: Paul Inimicus
Appearance:

Gender: Man
Age: 32
Build: Built Ford^tm Tough.
Species: Pureblooded Human

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Magic Category/Categories: Holy

Mana Count: 200

Known Spells/Abilities:

• Horn of the Archangel (200): A simple spell, but quite unbreakable. Raising his weapon above his head, Paul coats it in the holy, glowing power of the lord on high, transforming it into a beacon of light and goodness. The horn of the Archangel sounds a booming note, signalling the end of whatever unfortunate heretic is on the receiving end. With a downward stroke, holy energy is released upon the target of the spell and all surroundings, bathing them in a searing golden glow that scorches the vicinity. The glow explodes outward and upward into a massive cross of light, signalling the purification of the land. Against most, Horn of the Archangel is devastating. Against demons, demonblooded, and the otherwise demonic, it is fatal and final.
  
• Praying Strike (0): Paul swings his hammer very hard. This 'spell' is actually nothing more than a hardy whack with a blunt instrument, and as such has no mana cost and can potentially be spammed infinitely.

Equipment: A Warhammer with an Extra Thick head for beating the unholy, A suit of plate armor with a cloak to go over it.

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Class: Second Year

Nationality: Ethiopian-American

Hometown: Boston, MA

Sexuality: Waiting for marriage like a good Catholic boy.

Personality: Paul is a take no shit, give much shit kind of person. Aggressively caring in the protection of his weak nerd brother and of all those harassed by demonic influence. As befitting for one who wields a hammer, Paul is blunt and honest to a fault- always saying it like it is. A religious upbringing from a religious family has infused a strong distaste for the sinful, which kind of sucks since he is in what is basically a college campus. The primary means of reigning in his hot temper is the influence of his brother John, the more scholarly of the two. He may brush off the infidels that are his fellow students, but in a battle against the armies of darkness, there is no ally stauncher than Paul, no strike stronger than Paul's, and no anger more righteous than that of Paul.

Biography: Born in Ethiopia at a time it was stricken with war spurred on by demonic forces, two children were orphaned at a young age. They seemed fated for death, designed to be drowned in the violence that had torn asunder the lives of so many around them. However, that was not what was written for their souls. They were adopted by a devout catholic priest in Boston, Father Bartholomew Inimicus. He was kind, but commanded respect with every action, betraying his proud and noble family history. When they were old enough, Father Inimicus told them the story of their adopted family line, hearkening back to the days of the holy crusades themselves.

In the times of modernity, the Inimicus family's methods are viewed as... traditionalist, or even extremist to some. But John and Paul still stand as the last remnants of an older, more brutal way of hunting down magical threats to the world. The both of them were shipped off to the academy by their adoptive father, though they were a great deal older than most of the other students. Still, in a school filled with demons, angels, fairies, and every possible combination of the three, are a pair of 32 year old men in plate armor really that strange?

#HAcademy

[The Cyberiad Council]

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SANTA MARINA HUNTER ACADEMY - STUDENT FILE
The following file has been approved for viewing by APPROVED PERSONNEL.

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John Inimicus

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Name: John Inimicus
Appearance:

Gender: Male
Age: 32
Build: Built Ford^TM Tough
Species: Pure Blooded Human

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Magic Category/Categories: Holy

Mana Count: 200

Known Spells/Abilities:

• Blessed Be The Saints (200): A worthy plea rings forth, calling the power of the souls of the departed saints for one massive blow of holy vengeance. The vaulted ceiling of the Heavens sing as the bowels of the deepest hells tremble and fear before the combined Blessing of the Saints. Those that gave their lives in faith repay their service in the blood of the unworthy. This spell resounds with the voices of the beloved and martyrs as they cry out in sorrow at those fated to be struck by this holy magic of the highest order. It is said hills will melt like wax as the inferno of power strikes down anything that stands in it's path.
• Blessing Strike (0): John swings his sword very hard. This 'spell' is actually nothing more than a precision strike with a sharp instrument, and as such has no mana cost and can potentially be spammed infinitely.

Equipment: Armor as seen above, and a greatsword

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Class: Second Year

Nationality: Ethiopian-American

Hometown: Boston, MA

Sexuality: Waiting for marriage like a good Catholic Boy

Personality: Quiet and often reserved, John has spent his time carefully tempering the ego of his brother. He appreciates his brothers initiative and his drive, but often feels its his job to bring balance and ground the duo, and pull Paul away from trouble before he starts it. He is constantly mindful of their role to play in the grander schemes, looking to the future while taking care not to ignore the present.

Biography: Born in Ethiopia at a time it was stricken with war spurred on by demonic forces, two children were orphaned at a young age. They seemed fated for death, designed to be drowned in the violence that had torn asunder the lives of so many around them. However, that was not what was written for their souls. They were adopted by a devout catholic priest in Boston, Father Bartholomew Inimicus. He was kind, but commanded respect with every action, betraying his proud and noble family history. When they were old enough, Father Inimicus told them the story of their adopted family line, hearkening back to the days of the holy crusades themselves.

In the times of modernity, the Inimicus family's methods are viewed as... traditionalist, or even extremist to some. But John and Paul still stand as the last remnants of an older, more brutal way of hunting down magical threats to the world. The both of them were shipped off to the academy by their adoptive father, though they were a great deal older than most of the other students. Still, in a school filled with demons, angels, fairies, and every possible combination of the three, are a pair of 32 year old men in plate armor really that strange?

#HAcademy

[Forest State]

snip

snip

Spells would most likely cost more than 200 in this case unfortunately.

[Okayanos]

snip

snip

Spells would most likely cost more than 200 in this case unfortunately.

Blessed Be The Saints and Horn Of The Archangel both deal 200 mana's worth of damage, we just like to use long-winded and dramatic descriptions.

[Forest State]

Spells would most likely cost more than 200 in this case unfortunately.

Blessed Be The Saints and Horn Of The Archangel both deal 200 mana's worth of damage, we just like to use long-winded and dramatic descriptions.

Mana only describes how much energy goes into using the spell, though, not anything about damage. If it seems like it's something that will just one shot most enemies (even if it is your only attack), it gets treated that way as far as balancing and mana pricing go.

[Skyggeheim]

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SANTA MARINA HUNTER ACADEMY - STUDENT FILE
The following file has been approved for viewing by APPROVED PERSONNEL.

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Aidan Northset

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Name: Aidan Northset
Appearance:

Gender: Male
Age: 21
Build: Aidan stands at about 6'1" and weighs approx. 195 pounds. He is well-toned, but takes on a more athletic build than a purely muscular one.
Species: Quarter-demon. His grandmother was a demon, but there has been no demonic influence in his bloodline since then.

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Magic Category/Categories: Enchantment, Infernal, Physical

Mana Count: 150

Known Spells/Abilities:

• Enchanted Weapon[30]: Aidan's primary form of fighting. He utilizes a revolver-sized pseudo-firearm that can switch between configurations, due to the enchantment, that can be infused with enough Mana to fire "bolts" of magical energy. The bolts pierce targets as normal bullets do, but have a type-based secondary effect. These effects are listed below.
  
  Fire: The bolts detonate in a localized explosion, enough to blow sizable holes in fleshy targets.
  Water: The bolts flash-freeze material in a 12 inch diameter around the impact area.
  Lightning: The bolts arcs further lightning strikes to nearby targets.
  Blood: The bolt causes massive internal hemorrhaging around the impact area, enough to make a normal human bleed out in about 45 seconds. However, this depends on the impact area. Obviously, a headshot will cause vastly different effects than a shot to the arm.
  Biological: The bolt causes a flesh-eating disease that slowly works outwards from the impact area, consuming up to 6 inches in either direction before slowing down significantly. However, without proper treatment, this flesh-eating disease could still persist.
• Planestep[50]: Aidan can, very briefly(under 3 seconds), transport himself from the plane we currently exist on to the Infernal Realm. Any distance he travels within this realm is translated in realspace, and any physical or mental attacks that would have hit him completely miss him.
• Demonic Bloodline[20]: Aidan, while already somewhat physically enhanced due to his demonic heritage, can use this infernal magic to enhance his physical traits. His strength, speed, and reaction time are significantly enhanced.
• Deadeye[20]: Aidan can enhance his depth perception, sharpness of image, and hand-eye coordination to make him shoot with supreme accuracy up to approx. 150 feet.
• Infernal Ensnarement[15]: Aidan calls forth a "demon" to spring from the ground from the torso up to grapple with the legs and lower body of his intended target. This spell does not actually summon a demon, but the best physical representation that Aidan can imagine of the spells effect. His target can break free if sufficiently strong enough, but the spell's strength will eventually wither and decline after 7-9 seconds.
• Condemn[50]: Aidan speaks an Infernal word of power, and damns his target. Weaker targets are outright terrified by the damnation, and will either freeze in terror or flee Aidan. Any creature or humanoid with more developed mental capacities will feed Aidan their life energy as they take damage from him, replenishing his mana if they are magical and healing his wounds from the opening of theirs.

Equipment:

• Absolver v7: Aidan's pièce de résistance. Absolver is an enchanted handgun that, as explained above, relies on converting mana into magical "bolts" rather than traditional bullets. Since it is far from a traditional firearm, it also does not rely on a traditional ammunition source. A full pool of mana will last about 18 shots before needing to be refilled, and the pool is refilled every time that Aidan switches magic types. He can also feed into the same pool of mana, without changing the magic, for half the cost.
• Bowie Knife: When things get close and personal, Aidan carries a Bowie Knife with him. It has no magical properties, but Aidan wields it with lethal efficiency and speed.

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Class: First Year

Nationality: American

Hometown: Fishtail, Montana

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Personality: Aidan is difficult to get a read on, just like the old Western heroes that he so adores. Stony-faced and gravely emotionless at times, he can be very serious and stoic when he needs to be. In fact, he finds it difficult to express emotions in most senses of the word. This doesn't necessarily bother him, as he isn't exactly the "dark-and-brooding" type. In fact, far from it, and he hates those guys. When Aidan thinks something is funny, he will laugh; when Aidan thinks something is sad, he will frown; and so on, and so forth. Problem being, Aidan doesn't find many things to be very funny or very sad. This can lead to people thinking that he is some mysterious figure with a dark past to hide under a hostile demeanor. This could not be further from the truth. The simple fact is that he sees no real need to hide behind feigned emotions and polite courtesies. If he thinks you deserve to be recognized for excellence, then he will praise you. However, if he thinks you deserve to be recognized for subpar behavior or performance, he won't hesitate to call you out. While not confrontational, he will not back down from a challenge. He is coolly confident in his abilities, both physical and mental, but tends to dislike talking about feats of strength or achievements of the mind. Ever the self-critic, he consistently asks himself what he needs to be improving on to make a better Hunter and better mage in general. The only surefire way to ensure he never talks to you again is to ask about his demonic ancestry, which will guarantee that he simply ignores your question and makes an effort never to speak to you outside of a professional setting ever again. He is merciless, and his sense of "right" pervades any allegiance that he owes to any one person, organization, or social/moral/legal obligation.

Biography: Born at the foot of the Beartooth Mountains in an incredibly small but tight-knit community of hunters and outdoorsman, it seemed as if Aidan was destined to never really leave little old Fishtail and was set up to live off the bounty of the land for his foreseeable future. His parents didn't seem altogether opposed to the idea. Aidan's father, Joseph Northset, was a renowned bush pilot that did hunting and fishing on the side to earn the Northstar family the cash they needed to live well. His mother, Aleina Northset, was the manager of the only convenience store/gas station hybrid within a 75-mile radius, which meant her face appeared in the county newsletter at least once a month. Both parents had grown up in the surrounding area, and hadn't left it in all their years on God's Green Earth.

Aidan, however, had different ideas. His only form of entertainment while growing up, besides the great expanse of land that surrounding his town, was a massive collection of Old Westerns that his father kept around for sentimental reasons. Every Saturday morning from when he was five until he was about ten he would excitedly bound down the stairs from his bedroom and into the living room, meticulously select two or three Old Westerns that he wanted to view, and pop them into the DVD player. It got to the point where Aidan could basically quote every line from every movie, and knew more about the protagonists of these movies than he did about great American historical figures.

Despite what seemed like an innocent childhood, Aidan was bound for a meteoric change in the tone of his future. When he was eleven, Aidan was mimicking a scene from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by pointing a finger gun at a pile of firewood in his backyard. When he "pulled the trigger", a spark of unstable mana shot out from his fingers and set the wood up in smoke. This was a shock to Aidan, both of his parents, and the entire population of Fishtail. As it were, word got out very quickly that Aidan was a latent mage, and he soon found himself mobbed by fans and inquisitive guests asking about what being magic felt like. Some asked them to teach him, and some asked him to simply demonstrate the parlor trick that had caused a fire in his backyard. To their disappointment, he found it difficult to truly pin down what had made him discharge the spark of mana. It was by random chance that it happened, and he had no idea how to properly replicate it. However, what unnerved Aidan the most was the seemingly carbon-copy answer that his parents gave to every admiring visitor that stopped by their domicile: "Don't fret. We'll ensure that he's ready."

Perhaps in accordance with their cryptic encouragements, Aidan was pushed hard to study and "master" a magical craft. Aidan had a decidedly deep interest in Enchantment. His rationale was that the heroes of the Old West shot so straight and true that their guns must be enchanted with some kind of magic. He wanted to learn that. He wanted to be the hero that could hit the big villain dead in the chest no matter how chaotic and stressful the situation. After learning the basics of Enchantment, he began working with his fathers old revolver to enchant the weapon. Many, many times he failed. Sometimes, these failures almost cost him a hand or an eye. But the more he failed, the more masterful he became. Eventually, when he was sixteen, he made the first of many "final models" of Absolver. Though, at the time, it was named something far simpler: The Eastwood. At the time, the enchantments were fairly basic. Instead of firing bullets, Aidan would feed his mana into the weapon and it would fire lances of fiery energy at the target.

However, it seemed as if the ways of the universe were working against Aidan having a peaceful life creating magical weaponry and making a fortune. Early into his seventeenth year, the horrifying secret of Fishtail - and of Aidan's own bloodline - was revealed to him. The town had a very good reason for being so tight-knit and small: it was a hundreds-large cult of demon-worshippers. This worship stemmed from the fact that every two generations a minor demon princess would rip open a small portal in the center of the town for an hour. The date was random, but it always happened sometime during the coldest days of winter. The young and unmarried males of the town would present gifts to her in the hopes that she would select them to be her partner. The most deserving male would win the award, and six days after the ritual had been performed a woman in the town would become pregnant. The male who had been selected by the demon princess and this woman would marry, and give birth to a half-demon. This child would inevitably go out and spread the word of the demons, looking to inculcate what little of the world they could affect towards demonic culture. As it turns out, Aidan's father was one of these children. He was no bush pilot who spent weeks away from home, but rather a preacher of the demonic gospel who would travel to other cells around the Midwest and help them establish themselves. And now, it was Aidan's turn to present his gifts to the demon princess: a burgeoning enchanter with room to improve and manufacture dangerously powerful weapons of a magical nature.

For several weeks after receiving the news, it would seem that Aidan was stunned into acceptance and complacency that he would be offered up like a piece of meat to this demon princess in the hopes that she would select him as a suitable candidate. However, in the frigid early hours of a January morning, he stole away to his truck and fled town. He drove the rinky-dink rustbucket as far as the old engine would take him, eventually catching a ride with a trucker heading east. This landed him in Cleveland, Ohio, without no money to his name and nothing but a bowie knife and a very dangerous magical handgun by his hip. This, as it would be, worked in Aidan's favor. He wormed his way into the seedy magical-criminal underbelly of Cleveland, where the mundane organized and disorganized crime that one could expect from a big city mixed with a small pocket of less-than-lawful magic users who were willing to offer less-than-morally-upstanding services to those in need. Aidan worked his way into the ranks of one such Enchanter, by the name of Alexius Varng, who took Aidan under his wing and taught him an incredible amount of backstreet knowledge about enchanting.

In the short year that Aidan found himself in the tutelage of Alexius Varng, he managed to improve The Eastwood to its fourth version. He then renamed it Absolver. And, despite the desire to avoid it, Aidan found himself being drawn to Infernal magic. His natural affinity for it made for a simpler time to internalize the various spells and enhancements that the school of magic gave him. And so, in this year, he learned enough Infernal magic to be considered a novice Infernal mage. However, his time working for Alexius Varng did not end on a positive note. Several weeks after Aidan turned 18 and was considered an adult by most American standards, he shot Alexius Varng to death and fled Cleveland.

His next stop was New York City. After pulling a few favors and utilizing some of the "alleyway enchanting" that Alexius had taught him to give the Chief of Police a few nifty trinkets worth several thousand dollars, Alexius found gainful employment working for the NYPD. This ended up being a fairly productive several years for him, earning a steady income and jumping between a few girlfriends here and there. Each year, he managed to come out with a new and improved Absolver. Very early in his 21st year, Aidan found himself investigating a routine call about nighttime invaders in an apartment complex on 104th Street. What he found inside, however, was far from routine. A small nest of vampires had taken residence in the poorly-maintained basement of the building, and were moving around the residence every night searching for suitable prey. When Aidan entered, however, they attacked almost immediately. Aidan blasted three of them apart with Absolver v7 before the other two skittered into the darkness of the city night to find a new home. He received a medal of commendation from the police department for gallantry under extreme duress, and the Santa Marina Hunter Academy took notice of the young police officer. In the last few weeks, he has found himself moved out of New York and into the sweltering humidity of Florida.

At the Academy, Aidan doesn't know what to expect. At his core, he would give anything to be another drifting hero of the Old West - alone but content on the road. However, he has a sneaking suspicion that those days were behind him, and that it may be time to reconsider his place in the world and how he should spend his next years.

#HAcademy