The Esoterics: Devil's Whisper OOC (Fantasy, Open, Intrigue)

[DeltaSource]

My entire state has shut down all schools til April 6th

This coronavirus epidemic is frankly crazy. It's so bizarre thinking that what was once a foreign mysterious illness has now spread to within miles of one's residence.

My state has also done the same, except it's only to March 30th. And I just saw the governor closed down ALL restaurants and bars, which will start tomorrow.

Return of the king

My absence has allowed me to have a bit of an increase in semi-creativity. I have decided to have another event occur with Kan and his partner, except it'll be far more sinister. I don't know why the other RPers disappeared, but I'll push this RP further. More details soon, along with a new discord server

Natürlich mein Führer

[Asardia]

This coronavirus epidemic is frankly crazy. It's so bizarre thinking that what was once a foreign mysterious illness has now spread to within miles of one's residence.

My state has also done the same, except it's only to March 30th. And I just saw the governor closed down ALL restaurants and bars, which will start tomorrow.



My absence has allowed me to have a bit of an increase in semi-creativity. I have decided to have another event occur with Kan and his partner, except it'll be far more sinister. I don't know why the other RPers disappeared, but I'll push this RP further. More details soon, along with a new discord server

Natürlich mein Führer

I don't know what that means but I'll take it. Here's the discord: https://discord.gg/S5vNVpp

Now, for the juicy details. Kan's partner is an Esoteric of the Abstraction Magic variety. His name is Alaji, and his power is molecular disintegration: The ability to break apart the chemical bonds of living and non-living things. Now, such an Abstract ability requires extraordinary drawbacks:

1: Alaji's ability works solely on his left hand
2: It requires all 5 fingers to come into contact with his victim
3: There are multiple stages to the disintegration. The first is the initial breaking down of the surface (which takes 10 seconds), which isn't deadly by itself. It's similar to corrosion. But next is the actual dissociation. Alaji, by keeping his hand on the target, initiates the 2nd stage, which works to tear apart the rest. This process takes another 10 seconds.
4: If Alaji's hand is released from the target area before the complete destruction of his enemy, then he cannot use it again on that person.
5: The ability needs to recharge for 1 hour before he can use it again.

[DeltaSource]

Natürlich mein Führer

I don't know what that means but I'll take it. Here's the discord: https://discord.gg/S5vNVpp

Now, for the juicy details. Kan's partner is an Esoteric of the Abstraction Magic variety. His name is Alaji, and his power is molecular disintegration: The ability to break apart the chemical bonds of living and non-living things. Now, such an Abstract ability requires extraordinary drawbacks:

1: Alaji's ability works solely on his left hand
2: It requires all 5 fingers to come into contact with his victim
3: There are multiple stages to the disintegration. The first is the initial breaking down of the surface (which takes 10 seconds), which isn't deadly by itself. It's similar to corrosion. But next is the actual dissociation. Alaji, by keeping his hand on the target, initiates the 2nd stage, which works to tear apart the rest. This process takes another 10 seconds.
4: If Alaji's hand is released from the target area before the complete destruction of his enemy, then he cannot use it again on that person.
5: The ability needs to recharge for 1 hour before he can use it again.

Interesting, but what would be his motives and goals?

[Asardia]

I don't know what that means but I'll take it. Here's the discord: https://discord.gg/S5vNVpp

Now, for the juicy details. Kan's partner is an Esoteric of the Abstraction Magic variety. His name is Alaji, and his power is molecular disintegration: The ability to break apart the chemical bonds of living and non-living things. Now, such an Abstract ability requires extraordinary drawbacks:

1: Alaji's ability works solely on his left hand
2: It requires all 5 fingers to come into contact with his victim
3: There are multiple stages to the disintegration. The first is the initial breaking down of the surface (which takes 10 seconds), which isn't deadly by itself. It's similar to corrosion. But next is the actual dissociation. Alaji, by keeping his hand on the target, initiates the 2nd stage, which works to tear apart the rest. This process takes another 10 seconds.
4: If Alaji's hand is released from the target area before the complete destruction of his enemy, then he cannot use it again on that person.
5: The ability needs to recharge for 1 hour before he can use it again.

Interesting, but what would be his motives and goals?

Oh I forgot to mention that. Alaji is a serial killer, one who targets many types of nobles and corrupt officials, and any person assisting them. He seeks to cleanse the system of what he believes are evil mages who manipulate the poorer masses

[DeltaSource]

Interesting, but what would be his motives and goals?

Oh I forgot to mention that. Alaji is a serial killer, one who targets many types of nobles and corrupt officials, and any person assisting them. He seeks to cleanse the system of what he believes are evil mages who manipulate the poorer masses

ah, quite interesting, if Nightmare were to assume control how would Alaji view him?

[Asardia]

Oh I forgot to mention that. Alaji is a serial killer, one who targets many types of nobles and corrupt officials, and any person assisting them. He seeks to cleanse the system of what he believes are evil mages who manipulate the poorer masses

ah, quite interesting, if Nightmare were to assume control how would Alaji view him?

Alaji doesn't know enough about Nightmare to gauge him yet, but I do imagine him viewing Nightmare as another corrupt mage

[DeltaSource]

ah, quite interesting, if Nightmare were to assume control how would Alaji view him?

Alaji doesn't know enough about Nightmare to gauge him yet, but I do imagine him viewing Nightmare as another corrupt mage

He wouldn't be wrong in thinking that either, Nightmare after all is corrupted by negativity, stated in his bio

[Asardia]

Character Name: Kairaba Askiya
Appearance:

House: House Askiya
Gender: Male
Age: 37
Personality: Deranged
Mage Type (Mage, Sensor, Esoteric, Medic, Archmage, Dark Mage?): Abstract Esoteric
Magic/Abilities (if any):
Ice, Fire, and Earth Magic: Kairaba is a competent user of elemental magic. He can shoot flames, freeze objects, and use nearby rock to fortify himself. Kairaba is more of a jack of all trades type of mage. Individually, these spells are not particularly powerful, but when combined, Kairaba becomes a formidable foe.
Sensory Magic: Nearly thirty years of training has resulted in Kairaba being finely attuned to the Essence of other mages. He can detect the presence of others, gauge Essence levels, and even hide his own Aura.
Precognition: Kairaba's favorite technique is an Abstract spell he created during his teenage years. After reaching a high understanding of Esoteric and Abstraction Magic, Kairaba created a variant of the mythological ability the goddess Yon-Eien had. Once his Aura comes into contact with another mage, Kairaba can see their future actions for 10 minutes.
Limitations: His precognition requires meeting his target, giving Aura to them, which can be done through direct contact or depositing his Aura on an object.
Faction (does your character belong to a faction? Where does your character’s loyalties lie?): Himself and Alaji
Biography: The Askiya family houses numerous arms dealers across the empire. Kairaba was born to the southern faction of the Askiya, who had close ties with the neighboring Kamuri family. The Askiya supplies weapons and tools to other nobles houses and merchants, which is their main source of wealth. Kairaba spent his childhood traveling with his father to numerous towns, selling and buying weapons. It was around this time that the border war with the Erimous was ending, which had been a major source of income for the Askiya. After a failed apprenticeship with an Askiya blacksmith, Kairaba was sent out west to join the Machi Yin. During these years, the young Kairaba began exhibiting...troubling behavior. He disregarded the wellbeing of others besides himself, and would frequently destroy Machi Yin equipment and sabotage supplies. Mere months after joining the Machi Yin, Kairaba was discharged. SImilar to Alaji, he was picked up by an unknown religious sect, who converted him from a delirious hedonist to an extreme advocate for their beliefs. One such belief was allowing the poor to eventually prosper. Kairaba became obsessed with this idea, and after being radicalized, went off on many missions to scout for the sect. He met Alaji several years later, and joined him on his quest to accomplish the sect's goals.
Additional Information:

Character Name: Alaji Senhai
Appearance:

House: House
Gender: Male
Age: 42
Personality: Cunning, psychotic, manipulative
Mage Type (Mage, Sensor, Esoteric, Medic, Archmage, Dark Mage?): Abstract Esoteric
Magic/Abilities (if any):

Wind Magic: Alaji's Wind Magic focuses on swift attacks and evasion. He's fast, but not particularly strong. He has the generic push/pull subpowers that all Wind Elementals have, but no special technique besides flight.

Bonhokai: Being an Abstract Esoteric, Alaji has given himself an ability that fits his motives perfectly. Bonhokai allows him to turn anything he touches to dust, except for magical items. By holding touching an object for 10 seconds, Alaji initiates the 1st stage of the disintegration, which destroys the surface of his target. By keeping his hand on the target for another 10 seconds, the full destruction begins.

Limitations: Alaji's Bonhokai only works on his left hand, and it requires all five fingers for activation. Once Alaji starts the process, he must maintain physical contact with the target. If he's interrupted, they'll become immune to any further damage by Bonhokai. Finally, Alaji must wait 1 hour for Bonhokai to recharge.
Faction (does your character belong to a faction? Where does your character’s loyalties lie?): Himself
Biography: Alaji was born in the southern Salyan Empire to the insignificant Senhai House. Despite the prestige he should have been born into, Alaji was one of the many Senhai who didn't have any real wealth. Due to this, they effectively lived as glorified commoners, "nobles" only in attitude, and peasants in every other category. Alaji spent much of his youth with the neighborhood children, where he gained a sympathy for commoners that eventually led to his current goals. Unlike other mages, Alaji didn't necessarily have a traumatic childhood, but he was drafted into the border war with the nearby countries. In it, the armies and generals exploited the peasants of the land and laid waste to his home. Alaji, known as a radical within his squadron, voiced his opinions to his commander, who quickly had him discharged from the army. Now without a home, money, or job, Alaji went searching for enlightenment. A religious sect adopted him, where he became even more extreme in his views of the nobility. Years in that sect permanently changed Alaji, who recruited Kan to help him remove what he sees as "the cancer of the world"
Additional Information:

[Nea Videssos]

Seems like I ended up never actually applying like I said I would back in January.

Well, this is the character app I drafted a few months ago, anyway (keep in mind I made this a while ago so I'm not exactly up to date with IC events, so might need tweaking):

Character Name: Kanan Mizuno
Appearance: 5'1", 88lbs. With silky black and red hair, a slender, feminine form, crimson eyes and pale skin, he can easily be mistaken for the daughter of an aristocratic clan.

House: Formerly the Mizuno family. Said family no longer exists, outside of himself.

Gender: Male, despite appearances.

Age: 484, though he doesn't look that old.

Personality: Quite arrogant and bloodthirsty, though more subdued when direct members of the Imperial family are around. He's not sadistic as such, he just enjoys shedding blood, causing chaos and stirring up trouble. He used to be more selective, but past events have made him more ruthless. It can also be said that his past has led to some repressed anger, and the fact that anyone he was close to is long dead doesn't exactly help, either. He may bear some grudge against the old emperor for having forced him into the pact, but said emperor has been dead for some time. Sometimes his pride is hidden behind false humility. He tends to come across as well-composed, with the confidence, pose and demeanour of a high-ranking noble, and an elegance equal to any noblewoman. He's not quite as egotistical, prideful and ambitious as he used to be, but that hasn't exactly vanished either. He can be quite vain and fond of compliments. Over the years, he has learned the art of patience, and knows when to bide his time until he gets a good opportunity, though he can still be hot-headed and brash at times. When he sees new magic and abilities he hasn't seen before, he can get quite excited and eager to learn more, happily throwing away any pretensions of arrogance if it means he can learn more. He has quite a sense of curiosity. He can seem oddly childish, innocent and mischievous at times, and tends to complain when his high standards aren't met. He tends to look down on what he considers to be common, coarse, rude, cheap or ugly. He has a fondness for portraying himself as a young noble. He likes things he considers cute or beautiful, be it people, fashion, art, architecture, etc. Sometimes he can seem to bear the countenance of a centuries-old mage, and then the next moment seem little more than an impetuous child. While he likes to don an air of sophistication, if irritated enough, that veneer can fall, and he can come across as somewhat rude and disrespectful.

If one gets a firmly worded, honest promise from him, he has enough integrity not to break it. Of course, he's not one to make such promises easily. In spite of his faults, he does have his own morals. He tends to put on a mask of cheerfulness, behind it he can be somewhat jaded and pessimistic. When reminiscing about the past, he can be a bit melancholic and ill-tempered. Accordingly, he usually tries to distract himself in the present. He has a low tolerance for alcohol, though that hasn't stopped him from helping himself to it at times. For fear of losing things he cares about, he tends maintain a certain psychological distance between himself and others, so he can be a bit lonely at times. As is often the case, behind blustering and arrogance lies insecurity. He can be a bit embarrassed when receiving affection from others. He can be envious, fearful and even obsessive when it comes to those stronger and more powerful than him, wishing to grow stronger than them. A certain degree of resentment and and envy has resided within him for centuries. Whoever manages to get past the complex web of lies and arrogance and manages to form a proper, positive relationship with him, would also find a certain dependability and dedication when it came down to it. Sometimes acts like he's talking with his sisters, though it isn't apparent whether he's simply "reliving past memories," talking to voices in his head, or hallucinating that they or their ghosts are nearby. Occasionally he seems genuinely kind, possessing an odd serenity, and a calm acceptance of all that happens to him. Behind all the facades, there is an honest, kind side to him, mixed with the ruthlessness, fear, desire and delusion. Some of this might be seen as contradictory, but given a certain degree of mental instability, such contradictions are inevitable.

Mage Type: Dark Archmage

Magic/Abilities:

Blood Revenant/Demon Physiology: After acquiring his Blood Magic, he delved into the secrets of this forbidden art. After shedding the blood of countless individuals and experimenting with Blood Magic, upon his death, he transformed into what can be described as a Blood Revenant, a type of dark spirit (sometimes also referred to as a Blood Demon/Oni, although the categorisation is a bit open to scholarly debate). It is probable that the emotions of lingering resentment, obssesion, hatred and jealousy contributed to this transformation. His mastery of Blood Magic and the intrinsic nature of his soul, body and blood changed. Kanan's blood was transformed and became a remarkably highly efficient container and conductor of Essence. It can be considered a potent magical substance with the appearance of blood, allowing for it to be used to empower spells and magical artifacts, among other uses. He became dependent on blood, yet also stronger for it. Provided he has enough fresh blood, he is stronger, faster, tougher and more perceptive than normal humans, and his magic is in turn boosted. His own blood radiates a rich magical energy, and seems to constantly shift between physical and spiritual. Due to the amount of blood he has shed, he can release an aura of death and bloodlust that can drive enemies insane with fear. The souls of those slain via Kanan's Blood Magic are trapped in his blood, and those with the senses to detect such things can see those souls, and the blood energy emanating from his body. As a spiritual entity, his senses are superior to that of a normal human. He can see the flow of magical energy and lifeforce around him, as well as spirits and other entities that would usually be invisible to the mortal eye. He can transform into a red-black fog/mist, as well as a liquid form (essentially an amorphous form of blood), allowing him to mitigate damage from physical attacks and slip through small gaps to enter buildings and conceal himself. Being liquid, it offers minimal offensive capabilties, other than perhaps being used to drown/invade the bodies of enemies (to do more damage, the blood would probably have to be transformed into a hardened/solid form). Because it'd probably be a bit awkward otherwise, one can say that he can replicate his clothes with his blood when he reforms. As well as this, he can also take on a demonic form referred to in tales as "the Imperial Pallbearer" said to guard the funeral processions and tombs of past Salyan emperors. Certain tales say that an Imperial Pallbearer is a form of spirit that could only be used by the royal family of the nation, martyred souls that served that bloodline during their life, becoming guardians that continued to serve that bloodline after death. Of course, with time, tales become distorted.

Blood Magic: He can manipulate his own blood and the blood of enemies in various ways, including overt attacks (tendrils, projectiles, explosions, etc), forming appendages/weapons/armour and summoning blood demons/entities from corpses. The more enemies he slays, the stronger he gets, and absorbing their blood boosts his own reservoirs of essence (essentially, the blood of others can boost his magical power, strength, speed, stamina, senses and longevity/lifeforce). He can regenerate injuries using the blood of others. One of his spells is an area of effect one that can corrupt the blood of enemies within a certain radius (30 metres), gradually paralysing them causing damage to them if not dispelled (with the added side effect of possible madness or forcing them to attack their allies). He can also teleport from one pool of blood to another within a given area (though it has a cooldown). If it is his own blood, he can teleport across much larger distances, so he sometimes seals his blood in containers and paper talismans. Magical talismans can also be used to "hold spells", contain bound spirits/souls (in the same way that onmyōji can summon shikigami), or set magical traps. Once he has magically marked someone's blood, he can pretty much track them anywhere. If someone else ingests a drop of his blood, he can also see/sense things from their perspective. He can alter the properties of his own blood, giving it healing, corrosive, cursed, poisonous, freezing or burning properties.

In a support manner, his Blood Magic can be used to enhance other magic (including the magic of allies). There are also magical rituals that Blood Magic can be used for, though these take time and resources (as well as a lot of blood). One specific ritual as an example would involve using a sample of someone's blood in a "sympathetic/voodoo-esque magic" ritual whereby the person's blood is cursed, and they are affected (perhaps killed or bound to the will of the ritual's undertaker). He can transform nearby blood into the form of a mist that drives people into a berserk rage. If poisoned or infected with some illness/disease, he can usually purge it from his blood (unless it's some special magical poison or disease, in which case it would probably be more of a challenge, though it would depend on specifics).

This magic includes a form of body-swapping/possession/resurrection for emergencies, where if his blood is in contact with another person, it will seemingly take a life of its own, enter their body and gradually, painfully take them over from within, after which his consciousness will effectively seize their body (can be temporarily blocked if the person has particularly strong willpower, but only something that purges their body would expel his blood and decisively defeat any attempted possession). After he takes over, the body will transform and take his usual appearance. This means as long as he has some of his blood around, he can come back sooner or later, though on some occasions he may have to wait until some victim happens to come into contact with an object containing his blood until he can resurrect himself.

Water and Ice Magic: Whilst he focuses on Blood Magic, as a member of House Mizuno, he has a natural affinity for Water Magic, and quite a bit of experience using it. It also happens to synergise quite well with his Blood Magic, since they are both liquid based, and there is water in blood. He can control the flow of water, send torrents of water in the form of raging floods, projectiles, high-speed jets of water that can cut through steel, constructs formed of water, and healing via control of the water in someone's body. To a certain extent this also covers Ice Magic, but he is more knowledgeable regarding Water. Still he can use Ice offensively and defensively, with spikes/blades, barriers, armour/weapons, constructs, freezing enemies/areas and so on if he desires. He was taught the Kamuri style of Ice Magic by his mother. Just as much as the Ice bloodline of the Kamuri makes them the best Ice Mages, so too did the Water bloodline of the Mizuno make them the best with Water.

Wind Magic: Not really worth mentioning, but he knows a Wind Magic spell that allows him to levitate and fly.

Shadow Magic: He has some skill in Shadow Magic, using it to conceal himself, assassinate enemies, animate his own shadow to form appendages, weapons, create a shadowy fog to disorient enemies/hide himself, etc, and summon shadow beings to fight for him.

Curse Magic: He has considerable knowledge of curses and Cursed Seals, due to a combination of his research to get rid of the Imperial Obeisance Seal and his own interest in Forbidden Magic.

Cursed Seals:

Seal of Imperial Obeisance: This seal forces him to obey the emperor, whomever that may be, and their immediate heir. If he refuses or otherwise tries to resist, it will paralyse him and wrack him with incredible physical and mental pain. If disobeyed enough, it may reopen the wound on his neck (if he could still speak when this injury reopens, then it would only be because of his control over his blood, otherwise he would be too busy choking on it), and destroy him from the inside. No matter how many times he swaps bodies and tries to regenerate this injury so that not even a scar exists, it will still remain.

Seal of Petrification: A seal in his eyes that when activated, allows him turns enemies into stone. Gradually, the opponent(s) body will change to a greyish stone texture and colour. After 40 seconds the process will be complete and the victim will be turned entirely to stone and rendered completely immobile. In most cases the petrified subject will remain statue-like permanently after this, with continued subsequent usage of the Seal on the petrified individual resulting in them shattering into dust and stone fragments. If they are still petrified for more than 6 minutes (and not shattered) then they will die anyway (incidentally, this is about as long as a person can survive when the supply of oxygen to the brain is halted after their heart stops). It operates via enemies meeting his gaze, and takes time to effect them, unless Kanan is willing to forcefully empower the Seal, and pay the price for doing so. When the Seal is activated, only direct eye contact allows him to pretrify enemies.

Limitations: Fire burns blood and evaporates it. Similarly, the bane of Ice/Water based magic is Fire Magic (being the antithesis of one another). Ice can freeze blood as well, though given his control over said form of magic, it may be less of a threat. The longer he goes without absorbing the blood of others, the weaker he gets. Using his own blood has obvious limitations (if he runs out, that would be bad for him). He might be able to cling on without any blood, but he's basically powerless and barely able to move at that stage. Blood Magic also has effects on his own mental state, the state where at points during battles, he can behave like little more than a feral beast, with limited intellect and planning capabilities, when the hunger for blood takes over him. If he uses his blood to teleport a long distance, because he only has a vague sense of the other location where his blood is, he may not be able to specify exactly which place he is teleported to (so there is an element of chance, which may or may not result in him finding himself in a troublesome situation). Teleportation can be blocked by magical barriers. Regeneration still involves pain, isn't instant (speed depends on severity), repeated injuries, acid, drugs, objects blocking the healing process, magical venom/poison, misaligned body parts, etc can interfere with healing process. Blood-fog form can be blown away by wind.

The Seal of Petrification requires direct eye contact, and usage takes its own toll on Kanan, limiting the number of times it can be used on a regular basis (though this can be mitigated by sacrificing his own blood, or obtaining the blood of his enemies to reinvigorate him). Reflections (e.g. via a mirror or pool of water) can be used to turn the Seal against him, though it has a limited effect, taking longer and at most petrifying his skin, so it would only immobilise, rather than kill him (and circulation of his magical blood would allow him to unpetrify his skin after a certain time period). If it is reflected back when he has forcefully empowered the Seal, it would turn his entire body to stone, save for his blood (so again, he would still live, sort of, but he wouldn't be in a position to do much, other than maybe serve as an art gallery exhibition unless someone is kind enough to unpetrify him). Provided the victim isn't shattered, high-level Earth Magic could be used to unpetrify victims. Petrification does not include clothing/items worn by the victim. Some magical spells and curse removal methods may reverse the petrification. Overuse can cause bleeding, headaches, disorientation, temporary blindness and other issues.

In regards to the Blood/Water combo liquid form, extreme temperatures can cause issues with this state, especially fire. If he is forced to his normal state in a tight space, then he would be restricted in terms of area movement, and may end up being stuck. The amount of damage he can do in this form is limited. Magical bindings may be used to prevent him from using this form to escape imprisonment. Shadow Magic is weak to light. His supernatural senses are stronger than normal, and so are the potential chances of a sensory overload occurring if overwhelming sensory stimuli are utilised against him. Vulnerable to things/abilties/items/magic that bind, weaken or otherwise harm spirits/ghosts.

Faction: Loyal to the Emperor (whoever that happens to be), on account of the pact. Other than that, he is essentially loyal to himself, though he's more than happy to follow someone if they have knowledge of forbidden magic he lacks. One way or another, he seeks knowledge and power.

Biography:

Kanan was originally born several centuries ago, as the heir to a now non-existent noble family. He was the first son of what was at the time one of the most powerful noble houses in the Salyan Empire, and showed considerable talent from an early age. His father, Suiren, was a prominent archmage, and a general in the Salyan army, whilst his mother, Sunako, was a daughter of the Kamuri family. Due to their similar elemental affiliations, they often had close ties with the Kamuri, though they were markedly less strict and austere in comparison to them. Nonetheless, the Mizuno family's Water Magic could be considered among the best of the realm. Due to their close ties with the Kamuri, they were also often skilled with Ice Magic. Due to his androgynous appearance, he was often mistaken for a girl, and it was not an uncommon occurrence for suitors to approach him at court, believing him to be a daughter of the family. The Mizuno were also known for their beauty. By Salyan standards (cognate to certain IRL East Asian standards of beauty) pale skin, slender forms and delicate features made them rather popular.

Kanan was usually fairly shy and bookish, preferring to hide away by himself to read or view nature. Due to his upbringing, he tended to be a bit sheltered and spoilt, so he came to develop a certain pride and a high level of standards. He tended to be quite close to his oldest sister, Rena, and ended up dressing like her in an effort to emulate her while he was younger, believing that her beauty and grace was something to be admired and imitated. His crossdressing habits were more or less ignored by the others, though some found it funny or cute. He had several other sisters who doted on him, and they may have also influenced how he spoke, dressed and presented himself. Whilst initially naive and overly optimistic about affairs, he gradually grew more pessimistic as he saw the schemes and manoeuvres of court politics as a child. He was praised as a capable child, with a particular talent for magic, writing, calligraphy, painting, poetry, music, and swordsmanship. He knew about politics, but he had a dislike for all the dishonesty and the machinations of aristocratic intrigue. His fondness for reading gave him a good breadth of knowledge, and he enjoyed reading about history, magic and folklore. Though he was overly pampered by his parents, he sometimes snuck out to visit the nearby lake and forest, spending time enjoying the view and coaxing animals to play with him.

The death of his uncle, who he was quite close to, in suspicious circumstances during a battle with a neighbouring country, had a notable impact on him. Kanan grew increasingly worried about death. Though few know the details, it is known that it was around this time that he initially delved into forbidden magic. Being of a scholarly disposition, he had read about some forms of forbidden magic while looking through the family's old library, and he saw in this area of research something that might offer further assurances for the survival of himself and his family in a desperate situation. Still, he was also cautious enough not to fully delve into such a dangerous matter recklessly. It was in the hidden recesses of the library that he first came upon information about an ancient Forbidden Art, known as Blood Magic. According to certain records, an ancestor of the family was a Blood Mage, granted power by a dark spirit believed to be an unknown deity. Piecing the clues together from what he found in the oldest sections of their library, he ventured into the old burial grounds of the family, and the maze-like catacombs beneath the graveyard. There, he found remnants of the Blood Mage progenitor's legacy. Sealed by an old bronze door covered in magical glyphs, was the tomb of the Blood Mage in question. It was purported that the Blood Mage had obtained the blood of a powerful demon or a even a deity, though the exact details of the tale have long been lost to time. Utilising his blood and an ancient incantation written in the records, he obtained access to the inheritance within the tomb. There, he obtained the progenitor's magical texts, an enchanted ring, and a chalice filled with blood. Overcome by an otherworldly compulsion praying upon his curiosity, fears and desires, he partook of the blood. When he drank from that challice, he accepted the power and will of dark spirit and his ancestor, though the consequences were not immediately apparent.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the real dangers yet to come. A storm was in the air, one that would engulf the empire in death. His family would be among the sacrifices for the schemes of an ambitious man. It began when his father was summoned back to the capital after a successful military campaign against a neighbouring nation. Whilst spending time at court, he began noticing unusual events occurring. While the details are murky, the situation was that of him spotting various changes behind the scenes that a certain faction backing the Second Prince, Peredan Mayato had gradually introduced while he had been away. Most in the court at the time had either missed various subtle power grabs and actions that had been taken to place members of Peredan's clique in influential roles. Peredan's wife, an influental noblewoman by the name of Mirei Sakai, also played an important role in his schemes. Some had certainly spotted it, but Peredan's talent, knack for intrigue and ruthlessness easily intimidated some who spotted things. Some others resisted, but they were in the minority. The Crown Prince, Cullaran, was somewhat of a hedonist, and while not completely disregarding of his duties, found politicking to be a bore. His main form of acquiring backing was by hosting parties and engaging with the nobility in various social occasions. Despite these opportunities, he tended not to use these events to scheme and acquire allies. If he strengthened his ties with one family or another, or some official or general, then it would be by chance, rather than design. As such, Cullaran had gradually fallen behind the Second Prince in terms of influence.

Behind the curtain of courtly intrigue, Peredan had his sights set on the Mizuno family as an obstacle to him on the path to power. He gathered behind him various nobles who were envious of the Mizuno family's prestige. Peredan himself was also concerned by the military successes of Peredan, and thought, as many rulers and prospective rulers had in history, that a talented general would also be a threat to his power. The age old dilemma of prioritising what one desired in subordinates; loyalty versus talent. As far as Peredan saw it, getting rid of the Mizuno family (and seizing their wealth and land) would both remove a potential threat, and serve as something to reward his own backers once the dust was cleared, and he was enthroned. The Crown Prince was assassinated during a public ceremony, and the Emperor was injured. Suiren was accused of scheming with a neighbouring country to bump off the Crown Prince and attempting to murder the Emperor. A convenient half-concealed bread-crumb trail of evidence going back to his campaigning days was left to provide both the apparent means and motive. There are conflicting versions of the events at this time, though the prevailing historiography tends to go with events as written by the victor; in other words, Peredan's narrative. Most believe that the Mizuno family fell prey to its own greed and was destroyed for that reason. The details are murky, but it is known that Suiren did what he could to protect his family, but Peredan's plot had been too well-prepared. As the Emperor was injured, Peredan took charge of Imperial forces.

Sunako, and Kanan's sisters, including Rena were all captured. Sunako, being a member of the Kamuri family, was pardoned and put on house arrest. Kanan himself at been at the family estate at the time. Sunako sent a message when she had the chance, and warned Kanan to escape before the estate was taken over by Peredan's forces. Suiren, meanwhile, began gathering some of the family's forces, though he was also prepared to sacrifice himself to ensure his children's safety. With one of the family's servants and a couple of guards, Kanan fled as he was told to. After a number of battles with Imperial forces, Suiren's hastily-scrambled host was at an impasse; they could keep fighting, but they lacked the manpower to win in the long run. While they were able to score noteworthy victories, each time they fought took its toll on his men. He was cut off from the best troops he could have called upon, including some of his family's levies, and the troops who served under him in the campaign. As they kept fighting, and Peredan grew increasingly annoyed that they were putting up so much resistance, he made a proclamation. If Suiren did not submit himself in, his family would be executed, and any family members in hiding would have a bounty on their heads. Needless to say, Suiren was willing to sacrifice himself for his family, and while knowing that Peredan was not a trustworthy person, and the wording of the proclamation was a threat rather than a guarantee that his family would live, it was the best chance for his family's survival. He knew continuing to fight would only prolong the inevitable. After some discussions between representatives of both sides, Suiren before the emperor in chains. His army, meanwhile, was disbanded. Some decided to carry on helping the Mizuno family however they could, but they knew there wasn't much they could do.

All but Emperor in name, Peredan made a public display of any captured members of the Mizuno family, proclaiming that those who schemed against the empire and shed the blood of its monarchs, must pay with blood. Suiren's military accomplishments were soon forgotten in the face of his new infamy. Suiren and his daughters was tortured and publicly beheaded several days later. Following this, the Mizuno family's land and wealth was seized and redistributed among Peredan's backers. Any surviving members of the Mizuno family met the same fate as Suiren and his daughters. After this, several other noble families supposedly involved in Cullaran's death were also wiped out. Of course, most of said families happened to be among the most vocal opponents of Peredan at the court. Whilst Peredan's actions were quite obvious to anyone with half a brain, no one was brave or powerful enough to oppose him at this point. As for the emperor, he was old and wounded. This, combined with the effects of Cullaran's death on his mental state, resulted in him effectively secluding himself from politics and public events, leaving everything to Peredan.

Kanan, meanwhile, remained in hiding. The death of his family, as one might imagine, deeply traumatised him. He became increasingly obsessed with power and knowledge. He grew increasingly egotistical, unstable and ambitious. He alternated between blaming others and himself for what had transpired. Using what little of the family's wealth he had escaped with, Kanan often travelled around the empire in search of forbidden magical texts and knowledge. He also believed that his own forays into forbidden magic were hindered by foolish taboos and restrictions that got in his way. Still, at least initially, he did not fully cast aside any morality. According to the tales, they said that he became someone who did not care the slightest about how many died in his pursuit of forbidden knowledge, as long as it was people he didn't know or care about. In truth, however, he only targeted bandits and convicted criminals with his Blood Magic, but this inconvenient detail was ignored. The fact that he had saved people at times was also ignored. He gradually grew more jaded and ruthless, however. After remembering what happened to his family, and how all those he cared about were gone, he also grew more callous regarding the lives of others.

At some point, his focus on Blood Magic led to a gradual transformation in his temperament, making him increasingly brutal and vicious, and overuse of the magic led to his body giving him an obsessive desire for the sight of blood, though he tried to rein in his newfound impulses, believing in the importance of having a bottom line when it came to these things. Just as his mind had begun to transform, so had his body been affected by his ancestor's legacy, resulting in him being physically stuck at the age he fully embraced the Blood Magic. By that point, the Emperor had died and Peredan succeeded to the throne. After several years, Peredan began to hear about a supposed demon attacking travellers in the west. Gradually, the death toll rose, and various rumors began to spread around the empire. An Imperial taskforce was sent to investigate. Reports came back that the "demon" was the missing heir to the Mizuno family, who had become corrupted by some Forbidden Arts. What would follow was twenty years of death, fear and madness. Kanan ambushed, assassinated and disappeared as Peredan spent considerable efforts to track down the Dark Mage. Both Peredan and Kanan were psychologically affected by this war. Peredan grew increasingly haggard and volatile as his efforts to capture this unpleasant reminder of the past repeatedly resulted in failure. He became obsessed with ending this affront to his glory, and grew unable to relax properly while his empire was "haunted" by Kanan.

Eventually, however, Kanan's killing spree would come to a halt. With a trap personally set up by the Machi Yin, at Peredan's behest, Kanan was cornered. Both sides were well aware of each-others' old tricks. Alas, it would be a new trick that would catch Kanan by surprise. Peredan's forces included a foreign Archmage hired at great expense, a man who was an expert with curses and poison. Kanan himself was struck by a potent magical poison, weakening him so he could not put up a proper fight or easily escape like he had before. He was forced to use his own blood to fuel his magic, and that contributed to his rapid weakening and succumbing to the poison. Following his defeat, he was captured, enchained and sealed within a cage warded with imprisoning magic. Following this, he languished for months in the dungeons of the capital, being tortured in whatever manner Peredan envisioned, and kept weak via the Archmage's poison. The night before he was executed, Peredan's wife, the now-Empress Mirei admitted to him that she had been behind the plan to get rid of the Mizuno family back then, taunting him for his powerlessness. After this, Kanan would be dealt with in the same fashion as his family all those years ago; a public beheading. His body was left on display for a time, before being taken and buried in a place reserved for traitors. Sealed away inside a sarcophagus bound with warding magic and curses, those who buried him clearly had no intention of letting his soul rest in peace. Most variants of the story agree that this is where his tale ends, be it the version of events where his family's ambition was their ultimate doom, or the version where they were falsely maligned and unjustly murdered.

In truth, however, his death would lead to his transformation into a Blood Revenant, a cursed spiritual existence closer to death than life. It did not matter that his corpse was beheaded, and his veins laced with poison; such things could not destroy a Blood Revenant, even if they did affect Kanan's awareness of his rebirth, and his lack of blood impeded a proper recovery. He lay in his tomb for one hundred and fifteen years, sometimes conscious, sometimes dreaming. Eventually, his tomb was entered, and he was awakened. The emperor at that time was quite a scholar, and had researched the old records and legends. He believed if he could learn more from the body of one of the participants in those events, he would know the truth. To the emperor's surprise, Kanan was far from gone, though his power as a malevolent spirit was shackled by the magic wrought upon his body and the sarcophagus. Sensing an opportunity, the emperor made a pact with the enfeebled Blood Mage. He was forced into a situation where a "deal" was made. In return for a having binding Cursed Seal placed upon him, forcing him to follow the will of the emperor, Kanan would be freed from his tomb and given enough blood for him to recover from his weakened state. He would come to serve the Imperial family as an advisor on Forbidden Magic, as well as a force for gathering intelligence, spying, surveillance and assassination.

With no direct ties to any living individuals or organisations, and the Cursed Seal ensuring his loyalty, he would be a tool of the Imperial family without the complex affiliations, influences and goals of the established figures and factions in the Kosen Machi. In reward for serving them well, Kanan would be granted some land and wealth of his own. Kanan portrayed himself as someone lacking the ambitions of his past, and more focused on researching magic and enjoying himself, and while there may be some truth to that, it would be wrong to say his old pride and ambition has completely disappeared. Whilst he was once more discriminating in whom he killed back when he was hiding from Peredan, many of his older ethical considerations are no longer taken into account. Though it is not to say he is necessarily completely amoral, the fact that he tends to avoid forming bonds with others probably hints that he is deliberately cultivating his current lack of morals, at least to a certain extent. At times, however, some unlucky individuals have borne witness to the hatred, resentment, envy and despair harboured by Kanan for centuries, meeting grisly fates in one manner or another.

Many years have passed and few alive are aware of his origins, though rumours have persisted over time. When he appears at court, he is seen as a fairly enigmatic figure, and most people presume him to be some wealthy young master from a reclusive noble family. He prefers people to refer to him as "Young Master Kanan". At court, he enjoys the presence of beautiful women, and disdains people he considers badly dressed or ugly. Those who have been in the court longer, or are more knowledgeable about matters, know he's not as young or as innocent as he appears. From time to time, he surreptitiously researches ways to remove Cursed Seals, particularly the one that binds him to the emperor's will. Thus far, he has been unsuccessful. During missions he tends to wear an enchanted white hannya/demon mask.

Additional Information:

[DeltaSource]

Seems like I ended up never actually applying like I said I would back in January.

Well, this is the character app I drafted a few months ago, anyway (keep in mind I made this a while ago so I'm not exactly up to date with IC events, so might need tweaking):

Character Name: Kanan Mizuno
Appearance: 5'2". With silky black and red hair, a slender, feminine form, crimson eyes and pale skin, he can easily be mistaken for the daughter of an aristocratic clan.

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House: Formerly the Mizuno family. Said family no longer exists, outside of himself.

Gender: Male, despite appearances.

Age: 434, though he doesn't look that old.

Personality: Quite arrogant and bloodthirsty, though more subdued when direct members of the Imperial family are around. He's not sadistic as such, he just enjoys shedding blood, causing chaos and stirring up trouble. He used to be more selective, but past events have made him more ruthless. It can also be said that his past has led to some repressed anger, and the fact that anyone he was close to is long dead doesn't exactly help, either. He may bear some grudge against the old emperor for having forced him into the pact, but said emperor has been dead for some time. Sometimes his pride is hidden behind false humility. He tends to come across as well-composed, with the confidence, pose and demeanour of a high-ranking noble, and an elegance equal to any noblewoman. He's not quite as egotistical, prideful and ambitious as he used to be, but that hasn't exactly vanished either. He can be quite vain and fond of compliments. Over the years, he has learned the art of patience, and knows when to bide his time until he gets a good opportunity, though he can still be hot-headed and brash at times. When he sees new magic and abilities he hasn't seen before, he can get quite excited and eager to learn more, happily throwing away any pretensions of arrogance if it means he can learn more. He has quite a sense of curiosity. He can seem oddly childish, innocent and mischievous at times, and tends to complain when his high standards aren't met. He tends to look down on what he considers to be common, coarse, rude, cheap or ugly. He has a fondness for portraying himself as a young noble. He likes things he considers cute or beautiful, be it people, fashion, art, architecture, etc. Sometimes he can seem to bear the countenance of a centuries-old mage, and then the next moment seem little more than an impetuous child. While he likes to don an air of sophistication, if irritated enough, that veneer can fall, and he can come across as somewhat rude and disrespectful.

If one gets a firmly worded, honest promise from him, he has enough integrity not to break it. Of course, he's not one to make such promises easily. In spite of his faults, he does have his own morals. He tends to put on a mask of cheerfulness, behind it he can be somewhat jaded and pessimistic. When reminiscing about the past, he can be a bit melancholic and ill-tempered. Accordingly, he usually tries to distract himself in the present. He has a low tolerance for alcohol, though that hasn't stopped him from helping himself to it at times. For fear of losing things he cares about, he tends maintain a certain psychological distance between himself and others, so he can be a bit lonely at times. As is often the case, behind blustering and arrogance lies insecurity. He can be a bit embarrassed when receiving affection from others. He can be envious, fearful and even obsessive when it comes to those stronger and more powerful than him, wishing to grow stronger than them. A certain degree of resentment and and envy has resided within him for centuries. Whoever manages to get past the complex web of lies and arrogance and manages to form a proper, positive relationship with him, would also find a certain dependability and dedication when it came down to it. Sometimes acts like he's talking with his sister, though it isn't apparent whether he's simply "reliving past memories," talking to a voice in his head, or hallucinating that she or her ghost is nearby. Occasionally he seems genuinely kind, possessing an odd serenity, and a calm acceptance of all that happens to him. Behind all the facades, there is an honest, kind side to him, mixed with the ruthlessness, fear, desire and delusion. Some of this might be seen as contradictory, but given a certain degree of mental instability, such contradictions are inevitable.

Mage Type: Dark Archmage

Magic/Abilities:

Blood Revenant/Demon Physiology: After acquiring his Blood Magic, he delved into the secrets of this forbidden art. After shedding the blood of countless individuals and experimenting with Blood Magic, upon his death, he transformed into what can be described as a Blood Revenant, a type of dark spirit (sometimes also referred to as a Blood Demon, although the categorisation is a bit open to scholarly debate). His mastery of Blood Magic and the intrinsic nature of his soul, body and blood changed. Kanan's blood was transformed and became a remarkably highly efficient container and conductor of Essence. It can be considered a potent magical substance with the appearance of blood, allowing for it to be used to empower spells and magical artifacts, among other uses. He became dependent on blood, yet also stronger for it. Provided he has enough fresh blood, he is stronger, faster, tougher and more perceptive than normal humans, and his magic is in turn boosted. His own blood radiates a rich magical energy, and seems to constantly shift between physical and spiritual. Due to the amount of blood he has shed, he can release an aura of death and bloodlust that can drive enemies insane with fear. As a spiritual entity, his senses are superior to that of a normal human. He can see the flow of magical energy and lifeforce around him, as well as spirits and other entities that would usually be invisible to the mortal eye. He can take on a form referred to in tales as "the Imperial Pallbearer" said to guard the funeral processions and tombs of past Salyan emperors. Certain tales say that an imperial pallbearer is a form of spirit that could only be used by the royal family of the nation, martyred souls that served that bloodline during their life, becoming guardians that continued to serve that bloodline after death. Of course, with time, tales become distorted.

Blood Magic: He can manipulate his own blood and the blood of enemies in various ways, including overt attacks (tendrils, projectiles, explosions, etc), forming appendages/weapons/armour and summoning blood demons/entities from corpses. The more enemies he slays, the stronger he gets, and absorbing their blood boosts his own reservoirs of essence (essentially, the blood of others can boost his magical power, strength, speed, stamina, senses and longevity/lifeforce). He can regenerate injuries using the blood of others. One of his spells is an area of effect one that can corrupt the blood of enemies within a certain radius (30 metres), gradually paralysing them causing damage to them if not dispelled (with the added side effect of possible madness or forcing them to attack their allies). He can also teleport from one pool of blood to another within a given area (though it has a cooldown). If it is his own blood, he can teleport across much larger distances, so he sometimes seals his blood in containers and paper talismans. Magical talismans can also be used to "hold spells" or set magical traps. Once he has magically marked someone's blood, he can pretty much track them anywhere. If someone else ingests a drop of his blood, he can also see/sense things from their perspective. He can alter the properties of his own blood, giving it healing, corrosive, cursed, poisonous, freezing or burning properties.

In a support manner, his Blood Magic can be used to enhance other magic (including the magic of allies). There are also magical rituals that Blood Magic can be used for, though these take time and resources (as well as a lot of blood). One specific ritual as an example would involve using a sample of someone's blood in a "sympathetic/voodoo-esque magic" ritual whereby the person's blood is cursed, and they are affected (perhaps killed or bound to the will of the ritual's undertaker). He can transform nearby blood into the form of a mist that drives people into a berserk rage. If poisoned or infected with some illness/disease, he can usually purge it from his blood (unless it's some special magical poison or disease, in which case it would probably be more of a challenge, though it would depend on specifics). Combining Water and Blood Magic, he can temporarily induce a state where he is in liquid form (essentially an amorphous form of blood), allowing him to mitigate damage from physical attacks and slip through small gaps to enter buildings and conceal himself. Because it'd probably be a bit awkward otherwise, one can say that he can replicate his clothes with his blood when he reforms.

This magic includes a form of body-swapping/possession/resurrection for emergencies, where if his blood is in contact with another person, it will seemingly take a life of its own, enter their body and gradually, painfully take them over from within, after which his consciousness will effectively seize their body (can be temporarily blocked if the person has particularly strong willpower, but only something that purges their body would expel his blood and decisively defeat any attempted possession). After he takes over, the body will transform and take his usual appearance. This means as long as he has some of his blood around, he can come back sooner or later, though on some occasions he may have to wait until some victim happens to come into contact with an object containing his blood until he can resurrect himself.

Water and Ice Magic: Whilst he focuses on Blood Magic, as a member of House Mizuno, he has a natural affinity for Water Magic, and quite a bit of experience using it. It also happens to synergise quite well with his Blood Magic, since they are both liquid based, and there is water in blood. He can control the flow of water, send torrents of water in the form of raging floods, projectiles, high-speed jets of water that can cut through steel, constructs formed of water, and healing via control of the water in someone's body. To a certain extent this also covers Ice Magic, but he is more knowledgeable regarding Water. Still he can use Ice offensively and defensively, with spikes/blades, barriers, armour/weapons, constructs, freezing enemies/areas and so on if he desires. He was taught the Kamuri style of Ice Magic by his mother. Just as much as the Ice bloodline of the Kamuri makes them the best Ice Mages, so too did the Water bloodline of the Mizuno make them the best with Water.

Wind Magic: Not really worth mentioning, but he knows a Wind Magic spell that allows him to levitate and fly.

Shadow Magic: He has some skill in Shadow Magic, using it to conceal himself, assassinate enemies, animate his own shadow to form appendages, weapons, create a shadowy fog to disorient enemies/hide himself, etc, and summon shadow beings to fight for him.

Curse Magic: He has considerable knowledge of curses and Cursed Seals, due to a combination of his research to get rid of the Imperial Obeisance Seal and his own interest in Forbidden Magic.

Cursed Seals:

Seal of Imperial Obeisance: This seal forces him to obey the emperor, whomever that may be, and their immediate heir. If he refuses or otherwise tries to resist, it will paralyse him and wrack him with incredible physical and mental pain. If disobeyed enough, it may reopen the wound on his neck (if he could still speak when this injury reopens, then it would only be because of his control over his blood, otherwise he would be too busy choking on it), and destroy him from the inside. No matter how many times he swaps bodies and tries to regenerate this injury so that not even a scar exists, it will still remain.

Seal of Petrification: A seal in his eyes that when activated, allows him turns enemies into stone. Gradually, the opponent(s) body will change to a greyish stone texture and colour. After 40 seconds the process will be complete and the victim will be turned entirely to stone and rendered completely immobile. In most cases the petrified subject will remain statue-like permanently after this, with continued subsequent usage of the Seal on the petrified individual resulting in them shattering into dust and stone fragments. If they are still petrified for more than 6 minutes (and not shattered) then they will die anyway (incidentally, this is about as long as a person can survive when the supply of oxygen to the brain is halted after their heart stops). It operates via enemies meeting his gaze, and takes time to effect them, unless Kanan is willing to forcefully empower the Seal, and pay the price for doing so. When the Seal is activated, both direct eye contact and indirect eye contact via reflections (e.g. looking at his eyes via a mirror/pool of water) allow him to petrify an enemy, though reflections are somewhat slower.

Limitations: Fire burns blood and evaporates it. Similarly, the bane of Ice/Water based magic is Fire Magic (being the antithesis of one another). Ice can freeze blood as well, though given his control over said form of magic, it may be less of a threat. The longer he goes without absorbing the blood of others, the weaker he gets. Using his own blood has obvious limitations (if he runs out, that would be bad for him). He might be able to cling on without any blood, but he's basically powerless and barely able to move at that stage. Blood Magic also has effects on his own mental state, the state where at points during battles, he can behave like little more than a feral beast, with limited intellect and planning capabilities, when the hunger for blood takes over him. If he uses his blood to teleport a long distance, because he only has a vague sense of the other location where his blood is, he may not be able to specify exactly which place he is teleported to (so there is an element of chance, which may or may not result in him finding himself in a troublesome situation). Teleportation can be blocked by magical barriers. Regeneration still involves pain, isn't instant (speed depends on severity), repeated injuries, acid, drugs, objects blocking the healing process, magical venom/poison, misaligned body parts, etc can interfere with healing process.

The Seal of Petrification requires direct eye contact, and usage takes its own toll on Kanan, limiting the number of times it can be used on a regular basis (though this can be mitigated by sacrificing his own blood, or obtaining the blood of his enemies to reinvigorate him). Reflections can be used to turn the Seal against him, though it has a limited effect, taking longer and at most petrifying his skin, so it would only immobilise, rather than kill him (and circulation of his magical blood would allow him to unpetrify his skin after a certain time period). If it is reflected back when he has forcefully empowered the Seal, it would turn his entire body to stone, save for his blood (so again, he would still live, sort of, but he wouldn't be in a position to do much, other than maybe serve as an art gallery exhibition unless someone is kind enough to unpetrify him). Provided the victim isn't shattered, high-level Earth Magic could be used to unpetrify victims. Petrification does not include clothing/items worn by the victim. Some magical spells and curse removal methods may reverse the petrification. Overuse can cause bleeding, headaches, disorientation, temporary blindness and other issues.

In regards to the Blood/Water combo liquid form, extreme temperatures can cause issues with this state, especially fire. If he is forced to his normal state in a tight space, then he would be restricted in terms of area movement, and may end up being stuck. The amount of damage he can do in this form is limited. Magical bindings may be used to prevent him from using this form to escape imprisonment. Shadow Magic is weak to light. His supernatural senses are stronger than normal, and so are the potential chances of a sensory overload occurring if overwhelming sensory stimuli are utilised against him.

Faction: Loyal to the Emperor (whoever that happens to be), on account of the pact. Other than that, he is essentially loyal to himself, though he's more than happy to follow someone if they have knowledge of forbidden magic he lacks. One way or another, he seeks knowledge and power.

Biography:

Kanan was originally born several centuries ago, as the heir to a now non-existent noble family. He was the first son of what was at the time one of the most powerful noble houses in the Salyan Empire, and showed considerable talent from an early age. His father, Suiren, was a prominent archmage, and a general in the Salyan army, whilst his mother, Sunako, was a daughter of the Kamuri family. Due to their similar elemental affiliations, they often had close ties with the Kamuri, though they were markedly less strict and austere in comparison to them. Nonetheless, the Mizuno family's Water Magic could be considered among the best of the realm. Due to their close ties with the Kamuri, they were also often skilled with Ice Magic. Due to his androgynous appearance, he was often mistaken for a girl, and it was not an uncommon occurrence for suitors to approach him at court, believing him to be a daughter of the family. The Mizuno were also known for their beauty. By Salyan standards (cognate to certain IRL East Asian standards of beauty) pale skin, slender forms and delicate features made them rather popular. He was usually fairly shy and bookish, preferring to hide away by himself to read or view nature. Due to his upbringing, he tended to be a bit sheltered and spoilt, so he came to develop a certain pride and a high level of standards. He tended to be quite close to his sister, Rena, and ended up dressing like her in an effort to emulate her while he was younger, believing that her beauty and grace was something to be admired and imitated. His crossdressing habits were more or less ignored by the others, though some found it funny or cute. Whilst initially naive and overly optimistic about affairs, he gradually grew more pessimistic as he saw the schemes and manoeuvres of court politics as a child. He was praised as a capable child, with a particular talent for magic, writing, calligraphy, painting, poetry, music, and swordsmanship. He knew about politics, but he had a dislike for all the dishonesty and the machinations of aristocratic intrigue. His fondness for reading gave him a good breadth of knowledge, and he enjoyed reading about history, magic and folklore. Though he was overly pampered by his parents, he sometimes snuck out to visit the nearby lake and forest, spending time enjoying the view and coaxing animals to play with him.

The death of his uncle, who he was quite close to, in suspicious circumstances during a battle with a neighbouring country, had a notable impact on him. Kanan grew increasingly worried about death. Though few know the details, it is known that it was around this time that he initially delved into forbidden magic. Being of a scholarly disposition, he had read about some forms of forbidden magic while looking through the family's old library, and he saw in this area of research something that might offer further assurances for the survival of himself and his family in a desperate situation. Still, he was also cautious enough not to fully delve into such a dangerous recklessly. It was in the hidden recesses of the library that he first came upon information about an ancient Forbidden Art, known as Blood Magic. According to certain records, an ancestor of the family was a Blood Mage, granted power by a dark spirit believed to be an unknown deity. piecing the clues together from what he found in the oldest sections of their library, he ventured into the old burial grounds of the family, and the maze-like catacombs beneath the graveyard. There, he found remnants of the Blood Mage progenitor's legacy. Sealed by an old bronze door covered in magical glyphs, was the tomb of the Blood Mage in question. It was purported that the Blood Mage had obtained the blood of a powerful demon or a even a deity, though the exact details of the tale have long been lost to time.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the real dangers yet to come. A storm was in the air, one that would engulf the empire in death. His family would be among the sacrifices for the schemes of an ambitious man. It began when his father was summoned back to the capital after a successful military campaign against a neighbouring nation. Whilst spending time at court, he began noticing unusual events occurring. While the details are murky, the situation was that of him spotting various changes behind the scenes that a certain faction backing the Second Prince, Peredan Mayato had gradually introduced while he had been away. Most in the court at the time had either missed various subtle power grabs and actions that had been taken to place members of Peredan's clique in influential roles. Peredan's wife, an influental noblewoman by the name of Hakuren Sakai, also played an important role in his schemes. Some had certainly spotted it, but Peredan's talent, knack for intrigue and ruthlessness easily intimidated some who spotted things. Some others resisted, but they were in the minority. The Crown Prince, Cullaran, was somewhat of a hedonist, and while not completely disregarding of his duties, found politicking to be a bore. His main form of acquiring backing was by hosting parties and engaging with the nobility in various social occasions. Despite these opportunities, he tended not to use these events to scheme and acquire allies. If he strengthened his ties with one family or another, or some official or general, then it would be by chance, rather than design. As such, Cullaran had gradually fallen behind the Second Prince in terms of influence.

Behind the curtain of courtly intrigue, Peredan had his sights set on the Mizuno family as an obstacle to him on the path to power. He gathered behind him various nobles who were envious of the Mizuno family's prestige. Peredan himself was also concerned by the military successes of Peredan, and thought, as many rulers and prospective rulers had in history, that a talented general would also be a threat to his power. The age old dilemma of prioritising what one desired in subordinates; loyalty versus talent. As far as Peredan saw it, getting rid of the Mizuno family (and seizing their wealth and land) would both remove a potential threat, and serve as something to reward his own backers once the dust was cleared, and he was enthroned. The Crown Prince was assassinated during a public ceremony, and the Emperor was injured. Suiren was accused of scheming with a neighbouring country to bump off the Crown Prince and attempting to murder the Emperor. A convenient half-concealed bread-crumb trail of evidence going back to his campaigning days was left to provide both the apparent means and motive. There are conflicting versions of the events at this time, though the prevailing historiography tends to go with events as written by the victor; in other words, Peredan's narrative. Most believe that the Mizuno family fell prey to its own greed and was destroyed for that reason. The details are murky, but it is known that Suiren did what he could to protect his family, but Peredan's plot had been too well-prepared. As the Emperor was injured, Peredan took charge of Imperial forces.

Sunako, and Kanan's sister, Rena, were all captured. Sunako, being a member of the Kamuri family, was pardoned and put on house arrest. Kanan himself at been at the family estate at the time. Sunako sent a message when she had the chance, and warned Kanan to escape before the estate was taken over by Peredan's forces. Suiren, meanwhile, began gathering some of the family's forces, though he was also prepared to sacrifice himself to ensure his daughter's safety. With one of the family's servants and a couple of guards, Kanan fled as he was told to. After a number of battles with Imperial forces, Suiren's hastily-scrambled host was at an impasse; they could keep fighting, but they lacked the manpower to win in the long run. While they were able to score noteworthy victories, each time they fought took its toll on his men. He was cut off from the best troops he could have called upon, including some of his family's levies, and the troops who served under him in the campaign. As they kept fighting, and Peredan grew increasingly annoyed that they were putting up so much resistance, he made a proclamation. If Suiren did not submit himself in, his family would be executed, and any family members in hiding would have a bounty on their heads. Needless to say, Suiren was willing to sacrifice himself for his family, and while knowing that Peredan was not a trustworthy person, and the wording of the proclamation was a threat rather than a guarantee that his family would live, it was the best chance for his family's survival. He knew continuing to fight would only prolong the inevitable. After some discussions between representatives of both sides, Suiren before the emperor in chains. His army, meanwhile, was disbanded. Some decided to carry on helping the Mizuno family however they could, but they knew there wasn't much they could do.

All but Emperor in name, Peredan made a public display of any captured members of the Mizuno family, proclaiming that those who schemed against the empire and shed the blood of its monarchs, must pay with blood. Suiren's military accomplishments were soon forgotten in the face of his new infamy. Suiren and Rena was tortured and publicly beheaded several days later. Following this, the Mizuno family's land and wealth was seized and redistributed among Peredan's backers. Any surviving members of the Mizuno family met the same fate as Suiren and Rena. After this, several other noble families supposedly involved in Cullaran's death were also wiped out. Of course, most of said families happened to be among the most vocal opponents of Peredan at the court. Whilst Peredan's actions were quite obvious to anyone with half a brain, no one was brave or powerful enough to oppose him at this point. As for the emperor, he was old and wounded. This, combined with the effects of Cullaran's death on his mental state, resulted in him effectively secluding himself from politics and public events, leaving everything to Peredan.

Kanan, meanwhile, remained in hiding. The death of his family, as one might imagine, deeply traumatised him. He became increasingly obsessed with power and knowledge. He grew increasingly egotistical, unstable and ambitious. He alternated between blaming others and himself for what had transpired. Using what little of the family's wealth he had escaped with, Kanan often travelled around the empire in search of forbidden magical texts and knowledge. He also believed that his own forays into forbidden magic were hindered by foolish taboos and restrictions that got in his way. Still, at least initially, he did not fully cast aside any morality. According to the tales, they said that he became someone who did not care the slightest about how many died in his pursuit of forbidden knowledge, as long as it was people he didn't know or care about. In truth, however, he only targeted bandits and convicted criminals with his Blood Magic, but this inconvenient detail was ignored. The fact that he had saved people at times was also ignored. He gradually grew more jaded and ruthless, however. After remembering what happened to his family, and how all those he cared about were gone, he also grew more callous regarding the lives of others.

At some point, his focus on Blood Magic led to a gradual transformation in his temperament, making him increasingly brutal and vicious, and overuse of the magic led to his body giving him an obsessive desire for the sight of blood, though he tried to rein in his newfound impulses, believing in the importance of having a bottom line when it came to these things. By that point, the Emperor had died and Peredan succeeded to the throne. After several years, Peredan began to hear about a supposed demon attacking travellers in the west. Gradually, the death toll rose, and various rumors began to spread around the empire. An Imperial taskforce was sent to investigate. Reports came back that the "demon" was the missing heir to the Mizuno family, who had become corrupted by some Forbidden Arts. What would follow was twenty years of death, fear and madness. Kanan ambushed, assassinated and disappeared as Peredan spent considerable efforts to track down the Dark Mage. Both Peredan and Kanan were psychologically affected by this war. Peredan grew increasingly haggard and volatile as his efforts to capture this unpleasant reminder of the past repeatedly resulted in failure. He became obsessed with ending this affront to his glory, and grew unable to relax properly while his empire was "haunted" by Kanan.

Eventually, however, Kanan's killing spree would come to a halt. With a trap personally set up by the Machi Yin, at Peredan's behest, Kanan was cornered. Both sides were well aware of each-others' old tricks. Alas, it would be a new trick that would catch Kanan by surprise. Peredan's forces included a foreign Archmage hired at great expense, a man who was an expert with curses and poison. Kanan himself was struck by a potent magical poison, weakening him so he could not put up a proper fight or easily escape like he had before. He was forced to use his own blood to fuel his magic, and that contributed to his rapid weakening and succumbing to the poison. Following his defeat, he was captured, enchained and sealed within a cage warded with imprisoning magic. Following this, he languished for months in the dungeons of the capital, being tortured in whatever manner Peredan envisioned, and kept weak via the Archmage's poison. The night before he was executed, Peredan's wife, the now-Empress Hakuren admitted to him that she had been behind the plan to get rid of the Mizuno family back then, taunting him for his powerlessness. After this, Kanan would be dealt with in the same fashion as his family all those years ago; a public beheading. His body was left on display for a time, before being taken and buried in a place reserved for traitors. Most variants of the story agree that this is where his tale ends, be it the version of events where his family's ambition was their ultimate doom, or the version where they were falsely maligned and unjustly murdered.

In truth, however, his death would lead to his transformation into a Blood Revenant, a cursed spiritual existence closer to death than life. It did not matter that his corpse was beheaded, and his veins laced with poison; such things could not destroy a Blood Revenant, even if they did affect Kanan's awareness of his rebirth, and his lack of blood impeded a proper recovery. He lay in his tomb for one hundred years, sometimes conscious, sometimes dreaming. Eventually, his tomb was entered, and he was awakened. The emperor at that time was quite a scholar, and had researched the old records and legends. He believed if he could learn more from the body of one of the participants in those events, he would know the truth. To the emperor's surprise, Kanan was still alive, albeit barely. Sensing an opportunity, the emperor made a pact with the enfeebled Blood Mage. He was forced into a situation where a "deal" was made. In return for a having binding Cursed Seal placed upon him, forcing him to follow the will of the emperor, Kanan would be freed from his tomb and given enough blood for him to recover from his weakened state. He would come to serve the Imperial family as an advisor on Forbidden Magic, as well as a force for gathering intelligence, spying, surveillance and assassination. With no direct ties to any living individuals or organisations, and the Cursed Seal ensuring his loyalty, he would be a tool of the Imperial family without the complex affiliations, influences and goals of the established figures and factions in the Kosen Machi. In reward for serving them well, Kanan would be granted some land and wealth of his own. Kanan portrayed himself as someone lacking the ambitions of his past, and more focused on researching magic and enjoying himself, and while there may be some truth to that, it would be wrong to say his old pride and ambition has completely disappeared. Whilst he was once more discriminating in whom he killed back when he was hiding from Peredan, many of his older ethical considerations are no longer taken into account. Though it is not to say he is necessarily completely amoral, the fact that he tends to avoid forming bonds with others probably hints that he is deliberately cultivating his current lack of morals, at least to a certain extent.

Many years have passed and few alive are aware of his origins, though rumours have persisted over time. When he appears at court, he is seen as a fairly enigmatic figure, and most people presume him to be some wealthy young master from a reclusive noble family. Those who have been in the court longer, or are more knowledgeable about matters, know he's not as young or as innocent as he appears. From time to time, he surreptitiously researches ways to remove Cursed Seals, particularly the one that binds him to the emperor's will. Thus far, he has been unsuccessful. During missions he tends to wear a demon mask.

Additional Information:

Interesting

[DeltaSource]

Seems like I ended up never actually applying like I said I would back in January.

Well, this is the character app I drafted a few months ago, anyway (keep in mind I made this a while ago so I'm not exactly up to date with IC events, so might need tweaking):

Character Name: Kanan Mizuno
Appearance: 5'1", 88lbs. With silky black and red hair, a slender, feminine form, crimson eyes and pale skin, he can easily be mistaken for the daughter of an aristocratic clan.

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House: Formerly the Mizuno family. Said family no longer exists, outside of himself.

Gender: Male, despite appearances.

Age: 434, though he doesn't look that old.

Personality: Quite arrogant and bloodthirsty, though more subdued when direct members of the Imperial family are around. He's not sadistic as such, he just enjoys shedding blood, causing chaos and stirring up trouble. He used to be more selective, but past events have made him more ruthless. It can also be said that his past has led to some repressed anger, and the fact that anyone he was close to is long dead doesn't exactly help, either. He may bear some grudge against the old emperor for having forced him into the pact, but said emperor has been dead for some time. Sometimes his pride is hidden behind false humility. He tends to come across as well-composed, with the confidence, pose and demeanour of a high-ranking noble, and an elegance equal to any noblewoman. He's not quite as egotistical, prideful and ambitious as he used to be, but that hasn't exactly vanished either. He can be quite vain and fond of compliments. Over the years, he has learned the art of patience, and knows when to bide his time until he gets a good opportunity, though he can still be hot-headed and brash at times. When he sees new magic and abilities he hasn't seen before, he can get quite excited and eager to learn more, happily throwing away any pretensions of arrogance if it means he can learn more. He has quite a sense of curiosity. He can seem oddly childish, innocent and mischievous at times, and tends to complain when his high standards aren't met. He tends to look down on what he considers to be common, coarse, rude, cheap or ugly. He has a fondness for portraying himself as a young noble. He likes things he considers cute or beautiful, be it people, fashion, art, architecture, etc. Sometimes he can seem to bear the countenance of a centuries-old mage, and then the next moment seem little more than an impetuous child. While he likes to don an air of sophistication, if irritated enough, that veneer can fall, and he can come across as somewhat rude and disrespectful.

If one gets a firmly worded, honest promise from him, he has enough integrity not to break it. Of course, he's not one to make such promises easily. In spite of his faults, he does have his own morals. He tends to put on a mask of cheerfulness, behind it he can be somewhat jaded and pessimistic. When reminiscing about the past, he can be a bit melancholic and ill-tempered. Accordingly, he usually tries to distract himself in the present. He has a low tolerance for alcohol, though that hasn't stopped him from helping himself to it at times. For fear of losing things he cares about, he tends maintain a certain psychological distance between himself and others, so he can be a bit lonely at times. As is often the case, behind blustering and arrogance lies insecurity. He can be a bit embarrassed when receiving affection from others. He can be envious, fearful and even obsessive when it comes to those stronger and more powerful than him, wishing to grow stronger than them. A certain degree of resentment and and envy has resided within him for centuries. Whoever manages to get past the complex web of lies and arrogance and manages to form a proper, positive relationship with him, would also find a certain dependability and dedication when it came down to it. Sometimes acts like he's talking with his sisters, though it isn't apparent whether he's simply "reliving past memories," talking to voices in his head, or hallucinating that they or their ghosts are nearby. Occasionally he seems genuinely kind, possessing an odd serenity, and a calm acceptance of all that happens to him. Behind all the facades, there is an honest, kind side to him, mixed with the ruthlessness, fear, desire and delusion. Some of this might be seen as contradictory, but given a certain degree of mental instability, such contradictions are inevitable.

Mage Type: Dark Archmage

Magic/Abilities:

Blood Revenant/Demon Physiology: After acquiring his Blood Magic, he delved into the secrets of this forbidden art. After shedding the blood of countless individuals and experimenting with Blood Magic, upon his death, he transformed into what can be described as a Blood Revenant, a type of dark spirit (sometimes also referred to as a Blood Demon/Oni, although the categorisation is a bit open to scholarly debate). It is probable that the emotions of lingering resentment, obssesion, hatred and jealousy contributed to this transformation. His mastery of Blood Magic and the intrinsic nature of his soul, body and blood changed. Kanan's blood was transformed and became a remarkably highly efficient container and conductor of Essence. It can be considered a potent magical substance with the appearance of blood, allowing for it to be used to empower spells and magical artifacts, among other uses. He became dependent on blood, yet also stronger for it. Provided he has enough fresh blood, he is stronger, faster, tougher and more perceptive than normal humans, and his magic is in turn boosted. His own blood radiates a rich magical energy, and seems to constantly shift between physical and spiritual. Due to the amount of blood he has shed, he can release an aura of death and bloodlust that can drive enemies insane with fear. The souls of those slain via Kanan's Blood Magic are trapped in his blood, and those with the senses to detect such things can see those souls, and the blood energy emanating from his body. As a spiritual entity, his senses are superior to that of a normal human. He can see the flow of magical energy and lifeforce around him, as well as spirits and other entities that would usually be invisible to the mortal eye. He can transform into a red-black fog/mist, as well as take on a demonic form referred to in tales as "the Imperial Pallbearer" said to guard the funeral processions and tombs of past Salyan emperors. Certain tales say that an Imperial Pallbearer is a form of spirit that could only be used by the royal family of the nation, martyred souls that served that bloodline during their life, becoming guardians that continued to serve that bloodline after death. Of course, with time, tales become distorted.

Blood Magic: He can manipulate his own blood and the blood of enemies in various ways, including overt attacks (tendrils, projectiles, explosions, etc), forming appendages/weapons/armour and summoning blood demons/entities from corpses. The more enemies he slays, the stronger he gets, and absorbing their blood boosts his own reservoirs of essence (essentially, the blood of others can boost his magical power, strength, speed, stamina, senses and longevity/lifeforce). He can regenerate injuries using the blood of others. One of his spells is an area of effect one that can corrupt the blood of enemies within a certain radius (30 metres), gradually paralysing them causing damage to them if not dispelled (with the added side effect of possible madness or forcing them to attack their allies). He can also teleport from one pool of blood to another within a given area (though it has a cooldown). If it is his own blood, he can teleport across much larger distances, so he sometimes seals his blood in containers and paper talismans. Magical talismans can also be used to "hold spells", contain bound spirits/souls (in the same way that onmyōji can summon shikigami), or set magical traps. Once he has magically marked someone's blood, he can pretty much track them anywhere. If someone else ingests a drop of his blood, he can also see/sense things from their perspective. He can alter the properties of his own blood, giving it healing, corrosive, cursed, poisonous, freezing or burning properties.

In a support manner, his Blood Magic can be used to enhance other magic (including the magic of allies). There are also magical rituals that Blood Magic can be used for, though these take time and resources (as well as a lot of blood). One specific ritual as an example would involve using a sample of someone's blood in a "sympathetic/voodoo-esque magic" ritual whereby the person's blood is cursed, and they are affected (perhaps killed or bound to the will of the ritual's undertaker). He can transform nearby blood into the form of a mist that drives people into a berserk rage. If poisoned or infected with some illness/disease, he can usually purge it from his blood (unless it's some special magical poison or disease, in which case it would probably be more of a challenge, though it would depend on specifics). Combining Water and Blood Magic, he can temporarily induce a state where he is in liquid form (essentially an amorphous form of blood), allowing him to mitigate damage from physical attacks and slip through small gaps to enter buildings and conceal himself. Being liquid, it offers minimal offensive capabilties, other than perhaps being used to drown/invade the bodies of enemies. Because it'd probably be a bit awkward otherwise, one can say that he can replicate his clothes with his blood when he reforms.

This magic includes a form of body-swapping/possession/resurrection for emergencies, where if his blood is in contact with another person, it will seemingly take a life of its own, enter their body and gradually, painfully take them over from within, after which his consciousness will effectively seize their body (can be temporarily blocked if the person has particularly strong willpower, but only something that purges their body would expel his blood and decisively defeat any attempted possession). After he takes over, the body will transform and take his usual appearance. This means as long as he has some of his blood around, he can come back sooner or later, though on some occasions he may have to wait until some victim happens to come into contact with an object containing his blood until he can resurrect himself.

Water and Ice Magic: Whilst he focuses on Blood Magic, as a member of House Mizuno, he has a natural affinity for Water Magic, and quite a bit of experience using it. It also happens to synergise quite well with his Blood Magic, since they are both liquid based, and there is water in blood. He can control the flow of water, send torrents of water in the form of raging floods, projectiles, high-speed jets of water that can cut through steel, constructs formed of water, and healing via control of the water in someone's body. To a certain extent this also covers Ice Magic, but he is more knowledgeable regarding Water. Still he can use Ice offensively and defensively, with spikes/blades, barriers, armour/weapons, constructs, freezing enemies/areas and so on if he desires. He was taught the Kamuri style of Ice Magic by his mother. Just as much as the Ice bloodline of the Kamuri makes them the best Ice Mages, so too did the Water bloodline of the Mizuno make them the best with Water.

Wind Magic: Not really worth mentioning, but he knows a Wind Magic spell that allows him to levitate and fly.

Shadow Magic: He has some skill in Shadow Magic, using it to conceal himself, assassinate enemies, animate his own shadow to form appendages, weapons, create a shadowy fog to disorient enemies/hide himself, etc, and summon shadow beings to fight for him.

Curse Magic: He has considerable knowledge of curses and Cursed Seals, due to a combination of his research to get rid of the Imperial Obeisance Seal and his own interest in Forbidden Magic.

Cursed Seals:

Seal of Imperial Obeisance: This seal forces him to obey the emperor, whomever that may be, and their immediate heir. If he refuses or otherwise tries to resist, it will paralyse him and wrack him with incredible physical and mental pain. If disobeyed enough, it may reopen the wound on his neck (if he could still speak when this injury reopens, then it would only be because of his control over his blood, otherwise he would be too busy choking on it), and destroy him from the inside. No matter how many times he swaps bodies and tries to regenerate this injury so that not even a scar exists, it will still remain.

Seal of Petrification: A seal in his eyes that when activated, allows him turns enemies into stone. Gradually, the opponent(s) body will change to a greyish stone texture and colour. After 40 seconds the process will be complete and the victim will be turned entirely to stone and rendered completely immobile. In most cases the petrified subject will remain statue-like permanently after this, with continued subsequent usage of the Seal on the petrified individual resulting in them shattering into dust and stone fragments. If they are still petrified for more than 6 minutes (and not shattered) then they will die anyway (incidentally, this is about as long as a person can survive when the supply of oxygen to the brain is halted after their heart stops). It operates via enemies meeting his gaze, and takes time to effect them, unless Kanan is willing to forcefully empower the Seal, and pay the price for doing so. When the Seal is activated, only direct eye contact allows him to pretrify enemies.

Limitations: Fire burns blood and evaporates it. Similarly, the bane of Ice/Water based magic is Fire Magic (being the antithesis of one another). Ice can freeze blood as well, though given his control over said form of magic, it may be less of a threat. The longer he goes without absorbing the blood of others, the weaker he gets. Using his own blood has obvious limitations (if he runs out, that would be bad for him). He might be able to cling on without any blood, but he's basically powerless and barely able to move at that stage. Blood Magic also has effects on his own mental state, the state where at points during battles, he can behave like little more than a feral beast, with limited intellect and planning capabilities, when the hunger for blood takes over him. If he uses his blood to teleport a long distance, because he only has a vague sense of the other location where his blood is, he may not be able to specify exactly which place he is teleported to (so there is an element of chance, which may or may not result in him finding himself in a troublesome situation). Teleportation can be blocked by magical barriers. Regeneration still involves pain, isn't instant (speed depends on severity), repeated injuries, acid, drugs, objects blocking the healing process, magical venom/poison, misaligned body parts, etc can interfere with healing process. Blood-fog form can be blown away by wind.

The Seal of Petrification requires direct eye contact, and usage takes its own toll on Kanan, limiting the number of times it can be used on a regular basis (though this can be mitigated by sacrificing his own blood, or obtaining the blood of his enemies to reinvigorate him). Reflections (e.g. via a mirror or pool of water) can be used to turn the Seal against him, though it has a limited effect, taking longer and at most petrifying his skin, so it would only immobilise, rather than kill him (and circulation of his magical blood would allow him to unpetrify his skin after a certain time period). If it is reflected back when he has forcefully empowered the Seal, it would turn his entire body to stone, save for his blood (so again, he would still live, sort of, but he wouldn't be in a position to do much, other than maybe serve as an art gallery exhibition unless someone is kind enough to unpetrify him). Provided the victim isn't shattered, high-level Earth Magic could be used to unpetrify victims. Petrification does not include clothing/items worn by the victim. Some magical spells and curse removal methods may reverse the petrification. Overuse can cause bleeding, headaches, disorientation, temporary blindness and other issues.

In regards to the Blood/Water combo liquid form, extreme temperatures can cause issues with this state, especially fire. If he is forced to his normal state in a tight space, then he would be restricted in terms of area movement, and may end up being stuck. The amount of damage he can do in this form is limited. Magical bindings may be used to prevent him from using this form to escape imprisonment. Shadow Magic is weak to light. His supernatural senses are stronger than normal, and so are the potential chances of a sensory overload occurring if overwhelming sensory stimuli are utilised against him.

Faction: Loyal to the Emperor (whoever that happens to be), on account of the pact. Other than that, he is essentially loyal to himself, though he's more than happy to follow someone if they have knowledge of forbidden magic he lacks. One way or another, he seeks knowledge and power.

Biography:

Kanan was originally born several centuries ago, as the heir to a now non-existent noble family. He was the first son of what was at the time one of the most powerful noble houses in the Salyan Empire, and showed considerable talent from an early age. His father, Suiren, was a prominent archmage, and a general in the Salyan army, whilst his mother, Sunako, was a daughter of the Kamuri family. Due to their similar elemental affiliations, they often had close ties with the Kamuri, though they were markedly less strict and austere in comparison to them. Nonetheless, the Mizuno family's Water Magic could be considered among the best of the realm. Due to their close ties with the Kamuri, they were also often skilled with Ice Magic. Due to his androgynous appearance, he was often mistaken for a girl, and it was not an uncommon occurrence for suitors to approach him at court, believing him to be a daughter of the family. The Mizuno were also known for their beauty. By Salyan standards (cognate to certain IRL East Asian standards of beauty) pale skin, slender forms and delicate features made them rather popular. He was usually fairly shy and bookish, preferring to hide away by himself to read or view nature. Due to his upbringing, he tended to be a bit sheltered and spoilt, so he came to develop a certain pride and a high level of standards. He tended to be quite close to his oldest sister, Rena, and ended up dressing like her in an effort to emulate her while he was younger, believing that her beauty and grace was something to be admired and imitated. His crossdressing habits were more or less ignored by the others, though some found it funny or cute. He had several other sisters who doted on him, and they may have also influenced how he spoke, dressed and presented himself. Whilst initially naive and overly optimistic about affairs, he gradually grew more pessimistic as he saw the schemes and manoeuvres of court politics as a child. He was praised as a capable child, with a particular talent for magic, writing, calligraphy, painting, poetry, music, and swordsmanship. He knew about politics, but he had a dislike for all the dishonesty and the machinations of aristocratic intrigue. His fondness for reading gave him a good breadth of knowledge, and he enjoyed reading about history, magic and folklore. Though he was overly pampered by his parents, he sometimes snuck out to visit the nearby lake and forest, spending time enjoying the view and coaxing animals to play with him.

The death of his uncle, who he was quite close to, in suspicious circumstances during a battle with a neighbouring country, had a notable impact on him. Kanan grew increasingly worried about death. Though few know the details, it is known that it was around this time that he initially delved into forbidden magic. Being of a scholarly disposition, he had read about some forms of forbidden magic while looking through the family's old library, and he saw in this area of research something that might offer further assurances for the survival of himself and his family in a desperate situation. Still, he was also cautious enough not to fully delve into such a dangerous recklessly. It was in the hidden recesses of the library that he first came upon information about an ancient Forbidden Art, known as Blood Magic. According to certain records, an ancestor of the family was a Blood Mage, granted power by a dark spirit believed to be an unknown deity. piecing the clues together from what he found in the oldest sections of their library, he ventured into the old burial grounds of the family, and the maze-like catacombs beneath the graveyard. There, he found remnants of the Blood Mage progenitor's legacy. Sealed by an old bronze door covered in magical glyphs, was the tomb of the Blood Mage in question. It was purported that the Blood Mage had obtained the blood of a powerful demon or a even a deity, though the exact details of the tale have long been lost to time.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the real dangers yet to come. A storm was in the air, one that would engulf the empire in death. His family would be among the sacrifices for the schemes of an ambitious man. It began when his father was summoned back to the capital after a successful military campaign against a neighbouring nation. Whilst spending time at court, he began noticing unusual events occurring. While the details are murky, the situation was that of him spotting various changes behind the scenes that a certain faction backing the Second Prince, Peredan Mayato had gradually introduced while he had been away. Most in the court at the time had either missed various subtle power grabs and actions that had been taken to place members of Peredan's clique in influential roles. Peredan's wife, an influental noblewoman by the name of Mirei Sakai, also played an important role in his schemes. Some had certainly spotted it, but Peredan's talent, knack for intrigue and ruthlessness easily intimidated some who spotted things. Some others resisted, but they were in the minority. The Crown Prince, Cullaran, was somewhat of a hedonist, and while not completely disregarding of his duties, found politicking to be a bore. His main form of acquiring backing was by hosting parties and engaging with the nobility in various social occasions. Despite these opportunities, he tended not to use these events to scheme and acquire allies. If he strengthened his ties with one family or another, or some official or general, then it would be by chance, rather than design. As such, Cullaran had gradually fallen behind the Second Prince in terms of influence.

Behind the curtain of courtly intrigue, Peredan had his sights set on the Mizuno family as an obstacle to him on the path to power. He gathered behind him various nobles who were envious of the Mizuno family's prestige. Peredan himself was also concerned by the military successes of Peredan, and thought, as many rulers and prospective rulers had in history, that a talented general would also be a threat to his power. The age old dilemma of prioritising what one desired in subordinates; loyalty versus talent. As far as Peredan saw it, getting rid of the Mizuno family (and seizing their wealth and land) would both remove a potential threat, and serve as something to reward his own backers once the dust was cleared, and he was enthroned. The Crown Prince was assassinated during a public ceremony, and the Emperor was injured. Suiren was accused of scheming with a neighbouring country to bump off the Crown Prince and attempting to murder the Emperor. A convenient half-concealed bread-crumb trail of evidence going back to his campaigning days was left to provide both the apparent means and motive. There are conflicting versions of the events at this time, though the prevailing historiography tends to go with events as written by the victor; in other words, Peredan's narrative. Most believe that the Mizuno family fell prey to its own greed and was destroyed for that reason. The details are murky, but it is known that Suiren did what he could to protect his family, but Peredan's plot had been too well-prepared. As the Emperor was injured, Peredan took charge of Imperial forces.

Sunako, and Kanan's sisters, including Rena were all captured. Sunako, being a member of the Kamuri family, was pardoned and put on house arrest. Kanan himself at been at the family estate at the time. Sunako sent a message when she had the chance, and warned Kanan to escape before the estate was taken over by Peredan's forces. Suiren, meanwhile, began gathering some of the family's forces, though he was also prepared to sacrifice himself to ensure his children's safety. With one of the family's servants and a couple of guards, Kanan fled as he was told to. After a number of battles with Imperial forces, Suiren's hastily-scrambled host was at an impasse; they could keep fighting, but they lacked the manpower to win in the long run. While they were able to score noteworthy victories, each time they fought took its toll on his men. He was cut off from the best troops he could have called upon, including some of his family's levies, and the troops who served under him in the campaign. As they kept fighting, and Peredan grew increasingly annoyed that they were putting up so much resistance, he made a proclamation. If Suiren did not submit himself in, his family would be executed, and any family members in hiding would have a bounty on their heads. Needless to say, Suiren was willing to sacrifice himself for his family, and while knowing that Peredan was not a trustworthy person, and the wording of the proclamation was a threat rather than a guarantee that his family would live, it was the best chance for his family's survival. He knew continuing to fight would only prolong the inevitable. After some discussions between representatives of both sides, Suiren before the emperor in chains. His army, meanwhile, was disbanded. Some decided to carry on helping the Mizuno family however they could, but they knew there wasn't much they could do.

All but Emperor in name, Peredan made a public display of any captured members of the Mizuno family, proclaiming that those who schemed against the empire and shed the blood of its monarchs, must pay with blood. Suiren's military accomplishments were soon forgotten in the face of his new infamy. Suiren and his daughters was tortured and publicly beheaded several days later. Following this, the Mizuno family's land and wealth was seized and redistributed among Peredan's backers. Any surviving members of the Mizuno family met the same fate as Suiren and his daughters. After this, several other noble families supposedly involved in Cullaran's death were also wiped out. Of course, most of said families happened to be among the most vocal opponents of Peredan at the court. Whilst Peredan's actions were quite obvious to anyone with half a brain, no one was brave or powerful enough to oppose him at this point. As for the emperor, he was old and wounded. This, combined with the effects of Cullaran's death on his mental state, resulted in him effectively secluding himself from politics and public events, leaving everything to Peredan.

Kanan, meanwhile, remained in hiding. The death of his family, as one might imagine, deeply traumatised him. He became increasingly obsessed with power and knowledge. He grew increasingly egotistical, unstable and ambitious. He alternated between blaming others and himself for what had transpired. Using what little of the family's wealth he had escaped with, Kanan often travelled around the empire in search of forbidden magical texts and knowledge. He also believed that his own forays into forbidden magic were hindered by foolish taboos and restrictions that got in his way. Still, at least initially, he did not fully cast aside any morality. According to the tales, they said that he became someone who did not care the slightest about how many died in his pursuit of forbidden knowledge, as long as it was people he didn't know or care about. In truth, however, he only targeted bandits and convicted criminals with his Blood Magic, but this inconvenient detail was ignored. The fact that he had saved people at times was also ignored. He gradually grew more jaded and ruthless, however. After remembering what happened to his family, and how all those he cared about were gone, he also grew more callous regarding the lives of others.

At some point, his focus on Blood Magic led to a gradual transformation in his temperament, making him increasingly brutal and vicious, and overuse of the magic led to his body giving him an obsessive desire for the sight of blood, though he tried to rein in his newfound impulses, believing in the importance of having a bottom line when it came to these things. By that point, the Emperor had died and Peredan succeeded to the throne. After several years, Peredan began to hear about a supposed demon attacking travellers in the west. Gradually, the death toll rose, and various rumors began to spread around the empire. An Imperial taskforce was sent to investigate. Reports came back that the "demon" was the missing heir to the Mizuno family, who had become corrupted by some Forbidden Arts. What would follow was twenty years of death, fear and madness. Kanan ambushed, assassinated and disappeared as Peredan spent considerable efforts to track down the Dark Mage. Both Peredan and Kanan were psychologically affected by this war. Peredan grew increasingly haggard and volatile as his efforts to capture this unpleasant reminder of the past repeatedly resulted in failure. He became obsessed with ending this affront to his glory, and grew unable to relax properly while his empire was "haunted" by Kanan.

Eventually, however, Kanan's killing spree would come to a halt. With a trap personally set up by the Machi Yin, at Peredan's behest, Kanan was cornered. Both sides were well aware of each-others' old tricks. Alas, it would be a new trick that would catch Kanan by surprise. Peredan's forces included a foreign Archmage hired at great expense, a man who was an expert with curses and poison. Kanan himself was struck by a potent magical poison, weakening him so he could not put up a proper fight or easily escape like he had before. He was forced to use his own blood to fuel his magic, and that contributed to his rapid weakening and succumbing to the poison. Following his defeat, he was captured, enchained and sealed within a cage warded with imprisoning magic. Following this, he languished for months in the dungeons of the capital, being tortured in whatever manner Peredan envisioned, and kept weak via the Archmage's poison. The night before he was executed, Peredan's wife, the now-Empress Mirei admitted to him that she had been behind the plan to get rid of the Mizuno family back then, taunting him for his powerlessness. After this, Kanan would be dealt with in the same fashion as his family all those years ago; a public beheading. His body was left on display for a time, before being taken and buried in a place reserved for traitors. Most variants of the story agree that this is where his tale ends, be it the version of events where his family's ambition was their ultimate doom, or the version where they were falsely maligned and unjustly murdered.

In truth, however, his death would lead to his transformation into a Blood Revenant, a cursed spiritual existence closer to death than life. It did not matter that his corpse was beheaded, and his veins laced with poison; such things could not destroy a Blood Revenant, even if they did affect Kanan's awareness of his rebirth, and his lack of blood impeded a proper recovery. He lay in his tomb for one hundred years, sometimes conscious, sometimes dreaming. Eventually, his tomb was entered, and he was awakened. The emperor at that time was quite a scholar, and had researched the old records and legends. He believed if he could learn more from the body of one of the participants in those events, he would know the truth. To the emperor's surprise, Kanan was still alive, albeit barely. Sensing an opportunity, the emperor made a pact with the enfeebled Blood Mage. He was forced into a situation where a "deal" was made. In return for a having binding Cursed Seal placed upon him, forcing him to follow the will of the emperor, Kanan would be freed from his tomb and given enough blood for him to recover from his weakened state. He would come to serve the Imperial family as an advisor on Forbidden Magic, as well as a force for gathering intelligence, spying, surveillance and assassination. With no direct ties to any living individuals or organisations, and the Cursed Seal ensuring his loyalty, he would be a tool of the Imperial family without the complex affiliations, influences and goals of the established figures and factions in the Kosen Machi. In reward for serving them well, Kanan would be granted some land and wealth of his own. Kanan portrayed himself as someone lacking the ambitions of his past, and more focused on researching magic and enjoying himself, and while there may be some truth to that, it would be wrong to say his old pride and ambition has completely disappeared. Whilst he was once more discriminating in whom he killed back when he was hiding from Peredan, many of his older ethical considerations are no longer taken into account. Though it is not to say he is necessarily completely amoral, the fact that he tends to avoid forming bonds with others probably hints that he is deliberately cultivating his current lack of morals, at least to a certain extent.

Many years have passed and few alive are aware of his origins, though rumours have persisted over time. When he appears at court, he is seen as a fairly enigmatic figure, and most people presume him to be some wealthy young master from a reclusive noble family. He prefers people to refer to him as "Young Master Kanan". At court, he enjoys the presence of beautiful women, and disdains people he considers badly dressed or ugly. Those who have been in the court longer, or are more knowledgeable about matters, know he's not as young or as innocent as he appears. From time to time, he surreptitiously researches ways to remove Cursed Seals, particularly the one that binds him to the emperor's will. Thus far, he has been unsuccessful. During missions he tends to wear an enchanted white hannya/demon mask.

Additional Information:

Seems good to me, OP has final say but I don't see any major problems.

[DeltaSource]

Character Name: Alfonse Orion
Appearance:

House:None
Gender:Male
Age:18
Personality:He always seems to be smiling and one could say he is cheerful in a morbid way. He enjoys the sight of blood and goes out of his way to think of new uses for it. He has an abnormally high pain tolerance, and rarely notices if he's been hurt. He loves animals however, particularly wolves and ravens. He is also amoral
Mage Type (Mage, Sensor, Esoteric, Medic, Archmage, Dark Mage?):Dark Mage, Summoner, Sensor
Magic/Abilities (if any):
Various Curses:Many of the curses in his arsenal are not deadly at all, or even remotely able to kill. Most of them just cause inconveniences, such as a runny nose, or maybe a stuffy nose, crying, abnormal sweating, or maybe feeling like you're freezing. He prefers using these above all else, mostly because they don't require a lot of essence, and are easy to cast and dispel in case someone reflects it back at him. Anything simple that isn't written down can be attributed to this.

Called from the Grave:He is able to conjure up the souls of those who have died brutal deaths. They become mindless slaves to him and are bound by contract to him.

Death's Embrace:The victim dies within nine days of its casting, usually due to suffocation.

Selective Forgetfulness:Can Erase any short term memory, such as where something was placed, or maybe make someone forget they met before.

Martyrdom:In his dying moments should he be able to cast it, the any living being within 1 foot of his dead body will burst into flames.

Boiling Blood:Able to increase the temperature of his victim's blood to any desired amount.

Dispell:Being a master at curses, he is also able to diispell the minor ones.

Reflect:Besides just dispelling the curses from himself, he can also choose to reflect them back at their owner, this is drastically more effective than dispelling, especially on more dangerous curses

Cursed Blades:Can turn portions of his essence into daggers to kill people.

Fire Affinity:Low level fire magic

Shadow Cloak:He can mask himself from other sensors

sensory magic:Self Explanatory, nothing beyond sensing other mages.
Limitations:While his various minor curses don't have any real drawbacks, they are incredibly weak and easy to dispell or reflect if you know how to do it they also only last 7 days max. Those he conjures up are mindless brutes who have a hard time thinking outside the box. While they may be strong, the magic holding together their bodies is weak, especially the mask area. A good blow to a weak spot will disintegrate them. It also takes a lot more essence than his curses and he can only call 3 at a time. Death's embrace cannot be used on more than 1 person at a time and has a 10 day cool down. Martyrdom requires Alfonse to be dying. Boiling Blood takes a lot of focus and essense. Dispell only works on weak curses, and reflect works on most spells and curses but takes more essence the more powerful what he is reflecting is. He can only have 10 cursed blades at a time and it takes 30 seconds before another is available. His fire magic is not a major threat. He is also physically rather weak.
Faction (does your character belong to a faction? Where does your character’s loyalties lie?):Himself.
Biography:He preferred to play with animals over other children from a young age and has a hard time understanding right from wrong. He was sent to an elite magic school by his parents in an attempt to help him. Being younger and thinner he was picked on and bullied. He used his fire magic to pass tests, and secretly, as well as illegally, learned the dark arts. When he had mastered his desired spells and curses, he used them on those who decided to hurt him. He was soon kicked out of the school. He continued his studies in the dark arts and made his way to the capital. He continues to perfect his magic from a scroll he managed to steal from the royal archives. He prefers to use his simple curses above all else because they are more fun to him, require less essence, and are mostly harmless so he would face very few consequences.
Additional Information:If Alfonse casts something not mentioned it was one of his various curses, this can include making people mute, deaf, or simply cause them to see spots every where, just little things like that. Also gonna be my first character open to recruitment, my first post with him will have him idle, first come first serve so long as you have something of interest to him, or are an interesting person, or have something in common with him.

[Asardia]

Seems like I ended up never actually applying like I said I would back in January.

Well, this is the character app I drafted a few months ago, anyway (keep in mind I made this a while ago so I'm not exactly up to date with IC events, so might need tweaking):

Character Name: Kanan Mizuno
Appearance: 5'1", 88lbs. With silky black and red hair, a slender, feminine form, crimson eyes and pale skin, he can easily be mistaken for the daughter of an aristocratic clan.

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House: Formerly the Mizuno family. Said family no longer exists, outside of himself.

Gender: Male, despite appearances.

Age: 434, though he doesn't look that old.

Personality: Quite arrogant and bloodthirsty, though more subdued when direct members of the Imperial family are around. He's not sadistic as such, he just enjoys shedding blood, causing chaos and stirring up trouble. He used to be more selective, but past events have made him more ruthless. It can also be said that his past has led to some repressed anger, and the fact that anyone he was close to is long dead doesn't exactly help, either. He may bear some grudge against the old emperor for having forced him into the pact, but said emperor has been dead for some time. Sometimes his pride is hidden behind false humility. He tends to come across as well-composed, with the confidence, pose and demeanour of a high-ranking noble, and an elegance equal to any noblewoman. He's not quite as egotistical, prideful and ambitious as he used to be, but that hasn't exactly vanished either. He can be quite vain and fond of compliments. Over the years, he has learned the art of patience, and knows when to bide his time until he gets a good opportunity, though he can still be hot-headed and brash at times. When he sees new magic and abilities he hasn't seen before, he can get quite excited and eager to learn more, happily throwing away any pretensions of arrogance if it means he can learn more. He has quite a sense of curiosity. He can seem oddly childish, innocent and mischievous at times, and tends to complain when his high standards aren't met. He tends to look down on what he considers to be common, coarse, rude, cheap or ugly. He has a fondness for portraying himself as a young noble. He likes things he considers cute or beautiful, be it people, fashion, art, architecture, etc. Sometimes he can seem to bear the countenance of a centuries-old mage, and then the next moment seem little more than an impetuous child. While he likes to don an air of sophistication, if irritated enough, that veneer can fall, and he can come across as somewhat rude and disrespectful.

If one gets a firmly worded, honest promise from him, he has enough integrity not to break it. Of course, he's not one to make such promises easily. In spite of his faults, he does have his own morals. He tends to put on a mask of cheerfulness, behind it he can be somewhat jaded and pessimistic. When reminiscing about the past, he can be a bit melancholic and ill-tempered. Accordingly, he usually tries to distract himself in the present. He has a low tolerance for alcohol, though that hasn't stopped him from helping himself to it at times. For fear of losing things he cares about, he tends maintain a certain psychological distance between himself and others, so he can be a bit lonely at times. As is often the case, behind blustering and arrogance lies insecurity. He can be a bit embarrassed when receiving affection from others. He can be envious, fearful and even obsessive when it comes to those stronger and more powerful than him, wishing to grow stronger than them. A certain degree of resentment and and envy has resided within him for centuries. Whoever manages to get past the complex web of lies and arrogance and manages to form a proper, positive relationship with him, would also find a certain dependability and dedication when it came down to it. Sometimes acts like he's talking with his sisters, though it isn't apparent whether he's simply "reliving past memories," talking to voices in his head, or hallucinating that they or their ghosts are nearby. Occasionally he seems genuinely kind, possessing an odd serenity, and a calm acceptance of all that happens to him. Behind all the facades, there is an honest, kind side to him, mixed with the ruthlessness, fear, desire and delusion. Some of this might be seen as contradictory, but given a certain degree of mental instability, such contradictions are inevitable.

Mage Type: Dark Archmage

Magic/Abilities:

Blood Revenant/Demon Physiology: After acquiring his Blood Magic, he delved into the secrets of this forbidden art. After shedding the blood of countless individuals and experimenting with Blood Magic, upon his death, he transformed into what can be described as a Blood Revenant, a type of dark spirit (sometimes also referred to as a Blood Demon/Oni, although the categorisation is a bit open to scholarly debate). It is probable that the emotions of lingering resentment, obssesion, hatred and jealousy contributed to this transformation. His mastery of Blood Magic and the intrinsic nature of his soul, body and blood changed. Kanan's blood was transformed and became a remarkably highly efficient container and conductor of Essence. It can be considered a potent magical substance with the appearance of blood, allowing for it to be used to empower spells and magical artifacts, among other uses. He became dependent on blood, yet also stronger for it. Provided he has enough fresh blood, he is stronger, faster, tougher and more perceptive than normal humans, and his magic is in turn boosted. His own blood radiates a rich magical energy, and seems to constantly shift between physical and spiritual. Due to the amount of blood he has shed, he can release an aura of death and bloodlust that can drive enemies insane with fear. The souls of those slain via Kanan's Blood Magic are trapped in his blood, and those with the senses to detect such things can see those souls, and the blood energy emanating from his body. As a spiritual entity, his senses are superior to that of a normal human. He can see the flow of magical energy and lifeforce around him, as well as spirits and other entities that would usually be invisible to the mortal eye. He can transform into a red-black fog/mist, as well as take on a demonic form referred to in tales as "the Imperial Pallbearer" said to guard the funeral processions and tombs of past Salyan emperors. Certain tales say that an Imperial Pallbearer is a form of spirit that could only be used by the royal family of the nation, martyred souls that served that bloodline during their life, becoming guardians that continued to serve that bloodline after death. Of course, with time, tales become distorted.

Blood Magic: He can manipulate his own blood and the blood of enemies in various ways, including overt attacks (tendrils, projectiles, explosions, etc), forming appendages/weapons/armour and summoning blood demons/entities from corpses. The more enemies he slays, the stronger he gets, and absorbing their blood boosts his own reservoirs of essence (essentially, the blood of others can boost his magical power, strength, speed, stamina, senses and longevity/lifeforce). He can regenerate injuries using the blood of others. One of his spells is an area of effect one that can corrupt the blood of enemies within a certain radius (30 metres), gradually paralysing them causing damage to them if not dispelled (with the added side effect of possible madness or forcing them to attack their allies). He can also teleport from one pool of blood to another within a given area (though it has a cooldown). If it is his own blood, he can teleport across much larger distances, so he sometimes seals his blood in containers and paper talismans. Magical talismans can also be used to "hold spells", contain bound spirits/souls (in the same way that onmyōji can summon shikigami), or set magical traps. Once he has magically marked someone's blood, he can pretty much track them anywhere. If someone else ingests a drop of his blood, he can also see/sense things from their perspective. He can alter the properties of his own blood, giving it healing, corrosive, cursed, poisonous, freezing or burning properties.

In a support manner, his Blood Magic can be used to enhance other magic (including the magic of allies). There are also magical rituals that Blood Magic can be used for, though these take time and resources (as well as a lot of blood). One specific ritual as an example would involve using a sample of someone's blood in a "sympathetic/voodoo-esque magic" ritual whereby the person's blood is cursed, and they are affected (perhaps killed or bound to the will of the ritual's undertaker). He can transform nearby blood into the form of a mist that drives people into a berserk rage. If poisoned or infected with some illness/disease, he can usually purge it from his blood (unless it's some special magical poison or disease, in which case it would probably be more of a challenge, though it would depend on specifics). Combining Water and Blood Magic, he can temporarily induce a state where he is in liquid form (essentially an amorphous form of blood), allowing him to mitigate damage from physical attacks and slip through small gaps to enter buildings and conceal himself. Being liquid, it offers minimal offensive capabilties, other than perhaps being used to drown/invade the bodies of enemies. Because it'd probably be a bit awkward otherwise, one can say that he can replicate his clothes with his blood when he reforms.

This magic includes a form of body-swapping/possession/resurrection for emergencies, where if his blood is in contact with another person, it will seemingly take a life of its own, enter their body and gradually, painfully take them over from within, after which his consciousness will effectively seize their body (can be temporarily blocked if the person has particularly strong willpower, but only something that purges their body would expel his blood and decisively defeat any attempted possession). After he takes over, the body will transform and take his usual appearance. This means as long as he has some of his blood around, he can come back sooner or later, though on some occasions he may have to wait until some victim happens to come into contact with an object containing his blood until he can resurrect himself.

Water and Ice Magic: Whilst he focuses on Blood Magic, as a member of House Mizuno, he has a natural affinity for Water Magic, and quite a bit of experience using it. It also happens to synergise quite well with his Blood Magic, since they are both liquid based, and there is water in blood. He can control the flow of water, send torrents of water in the form of raging floods, projectiles, high-speed jets of water that can cut through steel, constructs formed of water, and healing via control of the water in someone's body. To a certain extent this also covers Ice Magic, but he is more knowledgeable regarding Water. Still he can use Ice offensively and defensively, with spikes/blades, barriers, armour/weapons, constructs, freezing enemies/areas and so on if he desires. He was taught the Kamuri style of Ice Magic by his mother. Just as much as the Ice bloodline of the Kamuri makes them the best Ice Mages, so too did the Water bloodline of the Mizuno make them the best with Water.

Wind Magic: Not really worth mentioning, but he knows a Wind Magic spell that allows him to levitate and fly.

Shadow Magic: He has some skill in Shadow Magic, using it to conceal himself, assassinate enemies, animate his own shadow to form appendages, weapons, create a shadowy fog to disorient enemies/hide himself, etc, and summon shadow beings to fight for him.

Curse Magic: He has considerable knowledge of curses and Cursed Seals, due to a combination of his research to get rid of the Imperial Obeisance Seal and his own interest in Forbidden Magic.

Cursed Seals:

Seal of Imperial Obeisance: This seal forces him to obey the emperor, whomever that may be, and their immediate heir. If he refuses or otherwise tries to resist, it will paralyse him and wrack him with incredible physical and mental pain. If disobeyed enough, it may reopen the wound on his neck (if he could still speak when this injury reopens, then it would only be because of his control over his blood, otherwise he would be too busy choking on it), and destroy him from the inside. No matter how many times he swaps bodies and tries to regenerate this injury so that not even a scar exists, it will still remain.

Seal of Petrification: A seal in his eyes that when activated, allows him turns enemies into stone. Gradually, the opponent(s) body will change to a greyish stone texture and colour. After 40 seconds the process will be complete and the victim will be turned entirely to stone and rendered completely immobile. In most cases the petrified subject will remain statue-like permanently after this, with continued subsequent usage of the Seal on the petrified individual resulting in them shattering into dust and stone fragments. If they are still petrified for more than 6 minutes (and not shattered) then they will die anyway (incidentally, this is about as long as a person can survive when the supply of oxygen to the brain is halted after their heart stops). It operates via enemies meeting his gaze, and takes time to effect them, unless Kanan is willing to forcefully empower the Seal, and pay the price for doing so. When the Seal is activated, only direct eye contact allows him to pretrify enemies.

Limitations: Fire burns blood and evaporates it. Similarly, the bane of Ice/Water based magic is Fire Magic (being the antithesis of one another). Ice can freeze blood as well, though given his control over said form of magic, it may be less of a threat. The longer he goes without absorbing the blood of others, the weaker he gets. Using his own blood has obvious limitations (if he runs out, that would be bad for him). He might be able to cling on without any blood, but he's basically powerless and barely able to move at that stage. Blood Magic also has effects on his own mental state, the state where at points during battles, he can behave like little more than a feral beast, with limited intellect and planning capabilities, when the hunger for blood takes over him. If he uses his blood to teleport a long distance, because he only has a vague sense of the other location where his blood is, he may not be able to specify exactly which place he is teleported to (so there is an element of chance, which may or may not result in him finding himself in a troublesome situation). Teleportation can be blocked by magical barriers. Regeneration still involves pain, isn't instant (speed depends on severity), repeated injuries, acid, drugs, objects blocking the healing process, magical venom/poison, misaligned body parts, etc can interfere with healing process. Blood-fog form can be blown away by wind.

The Seal of Petrification requires direct eye contact, and usage takes its own toll on Kanan, limiting the number of times it can be used on a regular basis (though this can be mitigated by sacrificing his own blood, or obtaining the blood of his enemies to reinvigorate him). Reflections (e.g. via a mirror or pool of water) can be used to turn the Seal against him, though it has a limited effect, taking longer and at most petrifying his skin, so it would only immobilise, rather than kill him (and circulation of his magical blood would allow him to unpetrify his skin after a certain time period). If it is reflected back when he has forcefully empowered the Seal, it would turn his entire body to stone, save for his blood (so again, he would still live, sort of, but he wouldn't be in a position to do much, other than maybe serve as an art gallery exhibition unless someone is kind enough to unpetrify him). Provided the victim isn't shattered, high-level Earth Magic could be used to unpetrify victims. Petrification does not include clothing/items worn by the victim. Some magical spells and curse removal methods may reverse the petrification. Overuse can cause bleeding, headaches, disorientation, temporary blindness and other issues.

In regards to the Blood/Water combo liquid form, extreme temperatures can cause issues with this state, especially fire. If he is forced to his normal state in a tight space, then he would be restricted in terms of area movement, and may end up being stuck. The amount of damage he can do in this form is limited. Magical bindings may be used to prevent him from using this form to escape imprisonment. Shadow Magic is weak to light. His supernatural senses are stronger than normal, and so are the potential chances of a sensory overload occurring if overwhelming sensory stimuli are utilised against him.

Faction: Loyal to the Emperor (whoever that happens to be), on account of the pact. Other than that, he is essentially loyal to himself, though he's more than happy to follow someone if they have knowledge of forbidden magic he lacks. One way or another, he seeks knowledge and power.

Biography:

Kanan was originally born several centuries ago, as the heir to a now non-existent noble family. He was the first son of what was at the time one of the most powerful noble houses in the Salyan Empire, and showed considerable talent from an early age. His father, Suiren, was a prominent archmage, and a general in the Salyan army, whilst his mother, Sunako, was a daughter of the Kamuri family. Due to their similar elemental affiliations, they often had close ties with the Kamuri, though they were markedly less strict and austere in comparison to them. Nonetheless, the Mizuno family's Water Magic could be considered among the best of the realm. Due to their close ties with the Kamuri, they were also often skilled with Ice Magic. Due to his androgynous appearance, he was often mistaken for a girl, and it was not an uncommon occurrence for suitors to approach him at court, believing him to be a daughter of the family. The Mizuno were also known for their beauty. By Salyan standards (cognate to certain IRL East Asian standards of beauty) pale skin, slender forms and delicate features made them rather popular. He was usually fairly shy and bookish, preferring to hide away by himself to read or view nature. Due to his upbringing, he tended to be a bit sheltered and spoilt, so he came to develop a certain pride and a high level of standards. He tended to be quite close to his oldest sister, Rena, and ended up dressing like her in an effort to emulate her while he was younger, believing that her beauty and grace was something to be admired and imitated. His crossdressing habits were more or less ignored by the others, though some found it funny or cute. He had several other sisters who doted on him, and they may have also influenced how he spoke, dressed and presented himself. Whilst initially naive and overly optimistic about affairs, he gradually grew more pessimistic as he saw the schemes and manoeuvres of court politics as a child. He was praised as a capable child, with a particular talent for magic, writing, calligraphy, painting, poetry, music, and swordsmanship. He knew about politics, but he had a dislike for all the dishonesty and the machinations of aristocratic intrigue. His fondness for reading gave him a good breadth of knowledge, and he enjoyed reading about history, magic and folklore. Though he was overly pampered by his parents, he sometimes snuck out to visit the nearby lake and forest, spending time enjoying the view and coaxing animals to play with him.

The death of his uncle, who he was quite close to, in suspicious circumstances during a battle with a neighbouring country, had a notable impact on him. Kanan grew increasingly worried about death. Though few know the details, it is known that it was around this time that he initially delved into forbidden magic. Being of a scholarly disposition, he had read about some forms of forbidden magic while looking through the family's old library, and he saw in this area of research something that might offer further assurances for the survival of himself and his family in a desperate situation. Still, he was also cautious enough not to fully delve into such a dangerous recklessly. It was in the hidden recesses of the library that he first came upon information about an ancient Forbidden Art, known as Blood Magic. According to certain records, an ancestor of the family was a Blood Mage, granted power by a dark spirit believed to be an unknown deity. piecing the clues together from what he found in the oldest sections of their library, he ventured into the old burial grounds of the family, and the maze-like catacombs beneath the graveyard. There, he found remnants of the Blood Mage progenitor's legacy. Sealed by an old bronze door covered in magical glyphs, was the tomb of the Blood Mage in question. It was purported that the Blood Mage had obtained the blood of a powerful demon or a even a deity, though the exact details of the tale have long been lost to time.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the real dangers yet to come. A storm was in the air, one that would engulf the empire in death. His family would be among the sacrifices for the schemes of an ambitious man. It began when his father was summoned back to the capital after a successful military campaign against a neighbouring nation. Whilst spending time at court, he began noticing unusual events occurring. While the details are murky, the situation was that of him spotting various changes behind the scenes that a certain faction backing the Second Prince, Peredan Mayato had gradually introduced while he had been away. Most in the court at the time had either missed various subtle power grabs and actions that had been taken to place members of Peredan's clique in influential roles. Peredan's wife, an influental noblewoman by the name of Mirei Sakai, also played an important role in his schemes. Some had certainly spotted it, but Peredan's talent, knack for intrigue and ruthlessness easily intimidated some who spotted things. Some others resisted, but they were in the minority. The Crown Prince, Cullaran, was somewhat of a hedonist, and while not completely disregarding of his duties, found politicking to be a bore. His main form of acquiring backing was by hosting parties and engaging with the nobility in various social occasions. Despite these opportunities, he tended not to use these events to scheme and acquire allies. If he strengthened his ties with one family or another, or some official or general, then it would be by chance, rather than design. As such, Cullaran had gradually fallen behind the Second Prince in terms of influence.

Behind the curtain of courtly intrigue, Peredan had his sights set on the Mizuno family as an obstacle to him on the path to power. He gathered behind him various nobles who were envious of the Mizuno family's prestige. Peredan himself was also concerned by the military successes of Peredan, and thought, as many rulers and prospective rulers had in history, that a talented general would also be a threat to his power. The age old dilemma of prioritising what one desired in subordinates; loyalty versus talent. As far as Peredan saw it, getting rid of the Mizuno family (and seizing their wealth and land) would both remove a potential threat, and serve as something to reward his own backers once the dust was cleared, and he was enthroned. The Crown Prince was assassinated during a public ceremony, and the Emperor was injured. Suiren was accused of scheming with a neighbouring country to bump off the Crown Prince and attempting to murder the Emperor. A convenient half-concealed bread-crumb trail of evidence going back to his campaigning days was left to provide both the apparent means and motive. There are conflicting versions of the events at this time, though the prevailing historiography tends to go with events as written by the victor; in other words, Peredan's narrative. Most believe that the Mizuno family fell prey to its own greed and was destroyed for that reason. The details are murky, but it is known that Suiren did what he could to protect his family, but Peredan's plot had been too well-prepared. As the Emperor was injured, Peredan took charge of Imperial forces.

Sunako, and Kanan's sisters, including Rena were all captured. Sunako, being a member of the Kamuri family, was pardoned and put on house arrest. Kanan himself at been at the family estate at the time. Sunako sent a message when she had the chance, and warned Kanan to escape before the estate was taken over by Peredan's forces. Suiren, meanwhile, began gathering some of the family's forces, though he was also prepared to sacrifice himself to ensure his children's safety. With one of the family's servants and a couple of guards, Kanan fled as he was told to. After a number of battles with Imperial forces, Suiren's hastily-scrambled host was at an impasse; they could keep fighting, but they lacked the manpower to win in the long run. While they were able to score noteworthy victories, each time they fought took its toll on his men. He was cut off from the best troops he could have called upon, including some of his family's levies, and the troops who served under him in the campaign. As they kept fighting, and Peredan grew increasingly annoyed that they were putting up so much resistance, he made a proclamation. If Suiren did not submit himself in, his family would be executed, and any family members in hiding would have a bounty on their heads. Needless to say, Suiren was willing to sacrifice himself for his family, and while knowing that Peredan was not a trustworthy person, and the wording of the proclamation was a threat rather than a guarantee that his family would live, it was the best chance for his family's survival. He knew continuing to fight would only prolong the inevitable. After some discussions between representatives of both sides, Suiren before the emperor in chains. His army, meanwhile, was disbanded. Some decided to carry on helping the Mizuno family however they could, but they knew there wasn't much they could do.

All but Emperor in name, Peredan made a public display of any captured members of the Mizuno family, proclaiming that those who schemed against the empire and shed the blood of its monarchs, must pay with blood. Suiren's military accomplishments were soon forgotten in the face of his new infamy. Suiren and his daughters was tortured and publicly beheaded several days later. Following this, the Mizuno family's land and wealth was seized and redistributed among Peredan's backers. Any surviving members of the Mizuno family met the same fate as Suiren and his daughters. After this, several other noble families supposedly involved in Cullaran's death were also wiped out. Of course, most of said families happened to be among the most vocal opponents of Peredan at the court. Whilst Peredan's actions were quite obvious to anyone with half a brain, no one was brave or powerful enough to oppose him at this point. As for the emperor, he was old and wounded. This, combined with the effects of Cullaran's death on his mental state, resulted in him effectively secluding himself from politics and public events, leaving everything to Peredan.

Kanan, meanwhile, remained in hiding. The death of his family, as one might imagine, deeply traumatised him. He became increasingly obsessed with power and knowledge. He grew increasingly egotistical, unstable and ambitious. He alternated between blaming others and himself for what had transpired. Using what little of the family's wealth he had escaped with, Kanan often travelled around the empire in search of forbidden magical texts and knowledge. He also believed that his own forays into forbidden magic were hindered by foolish taboos and restrictions that got in his way. Still, at least initially, he did not fully cast aside any morality. According to the tales, they said that he became someone who did not care the slightest about how many died in his pursuit of forbidden knowledge, as long as it was people he didn't know or care about. In truth, however, he only targeted bandits and convicted criminals with his Blood Magic, but this inconvenient detail was ignored. The fact that he had saved people at times was also ignored. He gradually grew more jaded and ruthless, however. After remembering what happened to his family, and how all those he cared about were gone, he also grew more callous regarding the lives of others.

At some point, his focus on Blood Magic led to a gradual transformation in his temperament, making him increasingly brutal and vicious, and overuse of the magic led to his body giving him an obsessive desire for the sight of blood, though he tried to rein in his newfound impulses, believing in the importance of having a bottom line when it came to these things. By that point, the Emperor had died and Peredan succeeded to the throne. After several years, Peredan began to hear about a supposed demon attacking travellers in the west. Gradually, the death toll rose, and various rumors began to spread around the empire. An Imperial taskforce was sent to investigate. Reports came back that the "demon" was the missing heir to the Mizuno family, who had become corrupted by some Forbidden Arts. What would follow was twenty years of death, fear and madness. Kanan ambushed, assassinated and disappeared as Peredan spent considerable efforts to track down the Dark Mage. Both Peredan and Kanan were psychologically affected by this war. Peredan grew increasingly haggard and volatile as his efforts to capture this unpleasant reminder of the past repeatedly resulted in failure. He became obsessed with ending this affront to his glory, and grew unable to relax properly while his empire was "haunted" by Kanan.

Eventually, however, Kanan's killing spree would come to a halt. With a trap personally set up by the Machi Yin, at Peredan's behest, Kanan was cornered. Both sides were well aware of each-others' old tricks. Alas, it would be a new trick that would catch Kanan by surprise. Peredan's forces included a foreign Archmage hired at great expense, a man who was an expert with curses and poison. Kanan himself was struck by a potent magical poison, weakening him so he could not put up a proper fight or easily escape like he had before. He was forced to use his own blood to fuel his magic, and that contributed to his rapid weakening and succumbing to the poison. Following his defeat, he was captured, enchained and sealed within a cage warded with imprisoning magic. Following this, he languished for months in the dungeons of the capital, being tortured in whatever manner Peredan envisioned, and kept weak via the Archmage's poison. The night before he was executed, Peredan's wife, the now-Empress Mirei admitted to him that she had been behind the plan to get rid of the Mizuno family back then, taunting him for his powerlessness. After this, Kanan would be dealt with in the same fashion as his family all those years ago; a public beheading. His body was left on display for a time, before being taken and buried in a place reserved for traitors. Most variants of the story agree that this is where his tale ends, be it the version of events where his family's ambition was their ultimate doom, or the version where they were falsely maligned and unjustly murdered.

In truth, however, his death would lead to his transformation into a Blood Revenant, a cursed spiritual existence closer to death than life. It did not matter that his corpse was beheaded, and his veins laced with poison; such things could not destroy a Blood Revenant, even if they did affect Kanan's awareness of his rebirth, and his lack of blood impeded a proper recovery. He lay in his tomb for one hundred years, sometimes conscious, sometimes dreaming. Eventually, his tomb was entered, and he was awakened. The emperor at that time was quite a scholar, and had researched the old records and legends. He believed if he could learn more from the body of one of the participants in those events, he would know the truth. To the emperor's surprise, Kanan was still alive, albeit barely. Sensing an opportunity, the emperor made a pact with the enfeebled Blood Mage. He was forced into a situation where a "deal" was made. In return for a having binding Cursed Seal placed upon him, forcing him to follow the will of the emperor, Kanan would be freed from his tomb and given enough blood for him to recover from his weakened state. He would come to serve the Imperial family as an advisor on Forbidden Magic, as well as a force for gathering intelligence, spying, surveillance and assassination. With no direct ties to any living individuals or organisations, and the Cursed Seal ensuring his loyalty, he would be a tool of the Imperial family without the complex affiliations, influences and goals of the established figures and factions in the Kosen Machi. In reward for serving them well, Kanan would be granted some land and wealth of his own. Kanan portrayed himself as someone lacking the ambitions of his past, and more focused on researching magic and enjoying himself, and while there may be some truth to that, it would be wrong to say his old pride and ambition has completely disappeared. Whilst he was once more discriminating in whom he killed back when he was hiding from Peredan, many of his older ethical considerations are no longer taken into account. Though it is not to say he is necessarily completely amoral, the fact that he tends to avoid forming bonds with others probably hints that he is deliberately cultivating his current lack of morals, at least to a certain extent.

Many years have passed and few alive are aware of his origins, though rumours have persisted over time. When he appears at court, he is seen as a fairly enigmatic figure, and most people presume him to be some wealthy young master from a reclusive noble family. He prefers people to refer to him as "Young Master Kanan". At court, he enjoys the presence of beautiful women, and disdains people he considers badly dressed or ugly. Those who have been in the court longer, or are more knowledgeable about matters, know he's not as young or as innocent as he appears. From time to time, he surreptitiously researches ways to remove Cursed Seals, particularly the one that binds him to the emperor's will. Thus far, he has been unsuccessful. During missions he tends to wear an enchanted white hannya/demon mask.

Additional Information:

Accepted

Character Name: Alfonse Orion
Appearance:

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House:None
Gender:Male
Age:18
Personality:He always seems to be smiling and one could say he is cheerful in a morbid way. He enjoys the sight of blood and goes out of his way to think of new uses for it. He has an abnormally high pain tolerance, and rarely notices if he's been hurt. He loves animals however, particularly wolves and ravens. He is also amoral
Mage Type (Mage, Sensor, Esoteric, Medic, Archmage, Dark Mage?):Dark Mage, Summoner, Sensor
Magic/Abilities (if any):
Various Curses:Many of the curses in his arsenal are not deadly at all, or even remotely able to kill. Most of them just cause inconveniences, such as a runny nose, or maybe a stuffy nose, crying, abnormal sweating, or maybe feeling like you're freezing. He prefers using these above all else, mostly because they don't require a lot of essence, and are easy to cast and dispel in case someone reflects it back at him. Anything simple that isn't written down can be attributed to this.

Called from the Grave:He is able to conjure up the souls of those who have died brutal deaths. They become mindless slaves to him and are bound by contract to him.

Death's Embrace:The victim dies within nine days of its casting, usually due to suffocation.

Selective Forgetfulness:Can Erase any short term memory, such as where something was placed, or maybe make someone forget they met before.

Martyrdom:In his dying moments should he be able to cast it, the any living being within 2 feet his dead body will burst into flames.

Boiling Blood:Able to increase the temperature of his victim's blood to any desired amount.

Dispell:Being a master at curses, he is also able to diispell the minor ones.

Reflect:Besides just dispelling the curses from himself, he can also choose to reflect them back at their owner, this is drastically more effective than dispelling, especially on more dangerous curses

Cursed Blades:Can turn portions of his essence into daggers to kill people.

Fire Affinity:Low level fire magic

Shadow Cloak:He can mask himself from other sensors

sensory magic:Self Explanatory, nothing beyond sensing other mages.
Limitations:While his various minor curses don't have any real drawbacks, they are incredibly weak and easy to dispell or reflect if you know how to do it they also only last 7 days max. Those he conjures up are mindless brutes who have a hard time thinking outside the box. While they may be strong, the magic holding together their bodies is weak, especially the mask area. A good blow to a weak spot will disintegrate them. It also takes a lot more essence than his curses and he can only call 3 at a time. Death's embrace cannot be used on more than 1 person at a time and has a 10 day cool down. Martyrdom requires Alfonse to be dying. Boiling Blood takes a lot of focus and essense. Dispell only works on weak curses, and reflect works on most spells and curses but takes more essence the more powerful what he is reflecting is. He can only have 10 cursed blades at a time and it takes 30 seconds before another is available. His fire magic is not a major threat. He is also physically rather weak.
Faction (does your character belong to a faction? Where does your character’s loyalties lie?):Himself.
Biography:He preferred to play with animals over other children from a young age and has a hard time understanding right from wrong. He was sent to an elite magic school by his parents in an attempt to help him. Being younger and thinner he was picked on and bullied. He used his fire magic to pass tests, and secretly, as well as illegally, learned the dark arts. When he had mastered his desired spells and curses, he used them on those who decided to hurt him. He was soon kicked out of the school. He continued his studies in the dark arts and made his way to the capital. He continues to perfect his magic from a scroll he managed to steal from the royal archives. He prefers to use his simple curses above all else because they are more fun to him, require less essence, and are mostly harmless so he would face very few consequences.
Additional Information:If Alfonse casts something not mentioned it was one of his various curses, this can include making people mute, deaf, or simply cause them to see spots every where, just little things like that. Also gonna be my first character open to recruitment, my first post with him will have him idle, first come first serve so long as you have something of interest to him, or are an interesting person, or have something in common with him.

I feel Martydom is a little too powerful, but everything else is good. ACCEPTED

[DeltaSource]

Seems like I ended up never actually applying like I said I would back in January.

Well, this is the character app I drafted a few months ago, anyway (keep in mind I made this a while ago so I'm not exactly up to date with IC events, so might need tweaking):

Character Name: Kanan Mizuno
Appearance: 5'1", 88lbs. With silky black and red hair, a slender, feminine form, crimson eyes and pale skin, he can easily be mistaken for the daughter of an aristocratic clan.

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House: Formerly the Mizuno family. Said family no longer exists, outside of himself.

Gender: Male, despite appearances.

Age: 434, though he doesn't look that old.

Personality: Quite arrogant and bloodthirsty, though more subdued when direct members of the Imperial family are around. He's not sadistic as such, he just enjoys shedding blood, causing chaos and stirring up trouble. He used to be more selective, but past events have made him more ruthless. It can also be said that his past has led to some repressed anger, and the fact that anyone he was close to is long dead doesn't exactly help, either. He may bear some grudge against the old emperor for having forced him into the pact, but said emperor has been dead for some time. Sometimes his pride is hidden behind false humility. He tends to come across as well-composed, with the confidence, pose and demeanour of a high-ranking noble, and an elegance equal to any noblewoman. He's not quite as egotistical, prideful and ambitious as he used to be, but that hasn't exactly vanished either. He can be quite vain and fond of compliments. Over the years, he has learned the art of patience, and knows when to bide his time until he gets a good opportunity, though he can still be hot-headed and brash at times. When he sees new magic and abilities he hasn't seen before, he can get quite excited and eager to learn more, happily throwing away any pretensions of arrogance if it means he can learn more. He has quite a sense of curiosity. He can seem oddly childish, innocent and mischievous at times, and tends to complain when his high standards aren't met. He tends to look down on what he considers to be common, coarse, rude, cheap or ugly. He has a fondness for portraying himself as a young noble. He likes things he considers cute or beautiful, be it people, fashion, art, architecture, etc. Sometimes he can seem to bear the countenance of a centuries-old mage, and then the next moment seem little more than an impetuous child. While he likes to don an air of sophistication, if irritated enough, that veneer can fall, and he can come across as somewhat rude and disrespectful.

If one gets a firmly worded, honest promise from him, he has enough integrity not to break it. Of course, he's not one to make such promises easily. In spite of his faults, he does have his own morals. He tends to put on a mask of cheerfulness, behind it he can be somewhat jaded and pessimistic. When reminiscing about the past, he can be a bit melancholic and ill-tempered. Accordingly, he usually tries to distract himself in the present. He has a low tolerance for alcohol, though that hasn't stopped him from helping himself to it at times. For fear of losing things he cares about, he tends maintain a certain psychological distance between himself and others, so he can be a bit lonely at times. As is often the case, behind blustering and arrogance lies insecurity. He can be a bit embarrassed when receiving affection from others. He can be envious, fearful and even obsessive when it comes to those stronger and more powerful than him, wishing to grow stronger than them. A certain degree of resentment and and envy has resided within him for centuries. Whoever manages to get past the complex web of lies and arrogance and manages to form a proper, positive relationship with him, would also find a certain dependability and dedication when it came down to it. Sometimes acts like he's talking with his sisters, though it isn't apparent whether he's simply "reliving past memories," talking to voices in his head, or hallucinating that they or their ghosts are nearby. Occasionally he seems genuinely kind, possessing an odd serenity, and a calm acceptance of all that happens to him. Behind all the facades, there is an honest, kind side to him, mixed with the ruthlessness, fear, desire and delusion. Some of this might be seen as contradictory, but given a certain degree of mental instability, such contradictions are inevitable.

Mage Type: Dark Archmage

Magic/Abilities:

Blood Revenant/Demon Physiology: After acquiring his Blood Magic, he delved into the secrets of this forbidden art. After shedding the blood of countless individuals and experimenting with Blood Magic, upon his death, he transformed into what can be described as a Blood Revenant, a type of dark spirit (sometimes also referred to as a Blood Demon/Oni, although the categorisation is a bit open to scholarly debate). It is probable that the emotions of lingering resentment, obssesion, hatred and jealousy contributed to this transformation. His mastery of Blood Magic and the intrinsic nature of his soul, body and blood changed. Kanan's blood was transformed and became a remarkably highly efficient container and conductor of Essence. It can be considered a potent magical substance with the appearance of blood, allowing for it to be used to empower spells and magical artifacts, among other uses. He became dependent on blood, yet also stronger for it. Provided he has enough fresh blood, he is stronger, faster, tougher and more perceptive than normal humans, and his magic is in turn boosted. His own blood radiates a rich magical energy, and seems to constantly shift between physical and spiritual. Due to the amount of blood he has shed, he can release an aura of death and bloodlust that can drive enemies insane with fear. The souls of those slain via Kanan's Blood Magic are trapped in his blood, and those with the senses to detect such things can see those souls, and the blood energy emanating from his body. As a spiritual entity, his senses are superior to that of a normal human. He can see the flow of magical energy and lifeforce around him, as well as spirits and other entities that would usually be invisible to the mortal eye. He can transform into a red-black fog/mist, as well as take on a demonic form referred to in tales as "the Imperial Pallbearer" said to guard the funeral processions and tombs of past Salyan emperors. Certain tales say that an Imperial Pallbearer is a form of spirit that could only be used by the royal family of the nation, martyred souls that served that bloodline during their life, becoming guardians that continued to serve that bloodline after death. Of course, with time, tales become distorted.

Blood Magic: He can manipulate his own blood and the blood of enemies in various ways, including overt attacks (tendrils, projectiles, explosions, etc), forming appendages/weapons/armour and summoning blood demons/entities from corpses. The more enemies he slays, the stronger he gets, and absorbing their blood boosts his own reservoirs of essence (essentially, the blood of others can boost his magical power, strength, speed, stamina, senses and longevity/lifeforce). He can regenerate injuries using the blood of others. One of his spells is an area of effect one that can corrupt the blood of enemies within a certain radius (30 metres), gradually paralysing them causing damage to them if not dispelled (with the added side effect of possible madness or forcing them to attack their allies). He can also teleport from one pool of blood to another within a given area (though it has a cooldown). If it is his own blood, he can teleport across much larger distances, so he sometimes seals his blood in containers and paper talismans. Magical talismans can also be used to "hold spells", contain bound spirits/souls (in the same way that onmyōji can summon shikigami), or set magical traps. Once he has magically marked someone's blood, he can pretty much track them anywhere. If someone else ingests a drop of his blood, he can also see/sense things from their perspective. He can alter the properties of his own blood, giving it healing, corrosive, cursed, poisonous, freezing or burning properties.

In a support manner, his Blood Magic can be used to enhance other magic (including the magic of allies). There are also magical rituals that Blood Magic can be used for, though these take time and resources (as well as a lot of blood). One specific ritual as an example would involve using a sample of someone's blood in a "sympathetic/voodoo-esque magic" ritual whereby the person's blood is cursed, and they are affected (perhaps killed or bound to the will of the ritual's undertaker). He can transform nearby blood into the form of a mist that drives people into a berserk rage. If poisoned or infected with some illness/disease, he can usually purge it from his blood (unless it's some special magical poison or disease, in which case it would probably be more of a challenge, though it would depend on specifics). Combining Water and Blood Magic, he can temporarily induce a state where he is in liquid form (essentially an amorphous form of blood), allowing him to mitigate damage from physical attacks and slip through small gaps to enter buildings and conceal himself. Being liquid, it offers minimal offensive capabilties, other than perhaps being used to drown/invade the bodies of enemies. Because it'd probably be a bit awkward otherwise, one can say that he can replicate his clothes with his blood when he reforms.

This magic includes a form of body-swapping/possession/resurrection for emergencies, where if his blood is in contact with another person, it will seemingly take a life of its own, enter their body and gradually, painfully take them over from within, after which his consciousness will effectively seize their body (can be temporarily blocked if the person has particularly strong willpower, but only something that purges their body would expel his blood and decisively defeat any attempted possession). After he takes over, the body will transform and take his usual appearance. This means as long as he has some of his blood around, he can come back sooner or later, though on some occasions he may have to wait until some victim happens to come into contact with an object containing his blood until he can resurrect himself.

Water and Ice Magic: Whilst he focuses on Blood Magic, as a member of House Mizuno, he has a natural affinity for Water Magic, and quite a bit of experience using it. It also happens to synergise quite well with his Blood Magic, since they are both liquid based, and there is water in blood. He can control the flow of water, send torrents of water in the form of raging floods, projectiles, high-speed jets of water that can cut through steel, constructs formed of water, and healing via control of the water in someone's body. To a certain extent this also covers Ice Magic, but he is more knowledgeable regarding Water. Still he can use Ice offensively and defensively, with spikes/blades, barriers, armour/weapons, constructs, freezing enemies/areas and so on if he desires. He was taught the Kamuri style of Ice Magic by his mother. Just as much as the Ice bloodline of the Kamuri makes them the best Ice Mages, so too did the Water bloodline of the Mizuno make them the best with Water.

Wind Magic: Not really worth mentioning, but he knows a Wind Magic spell that allows him to levitate and fly.

Shadow Magic: He has some skill in Shadow Magic, using it to conceal himself, assassinate enemies, animate his own shadow to form appendages, weapons, create a shadowy fog to disorient enemies/hide himself, etc, and summon shadow beings to fight for him.

Curse Magic: He has considerable knowledge of curses and Cursed Seals, due to a combination of his research to get rid of the Imperial Obeisance Seal and his own interest in Forbidden Magic.

Cursed Seals:

Seal of Imperial Obeisance: This seal forces him to obey the emperor, whomever that may be, and their immediate heir. If he refuses or otherwise tries to resist, it will paralyse him and wrack him with incredible physical and mental pain. If disobeyed enough, it may reopen the wound on his neck (if he could still speak when this injury reopens, then it would only be because of his control over his blood, otherwise he would be too busy choking on it), and destroy him from the inside. No matter how many times he swaps bodies and tries to regenerate this injury so that not even a scar exists, it will still remain.

Seal of Petrification: A seal in his eyes that when activated, allows him turns enemies into stone. Gradually, the opponent(s) body will change to a greyish stone texture and colour. After 40 seconds the process will be complete and the victim will be turned entirely to stone and rendered completely immobile. In most cases the petrified subject will remain statue-like permanently after this, with continued subsequent usage of the Seal on the petrified individual resulting in them shattering into dust and stone fragments. If they are still petrified for more than 6 minutes (and not shattered) then they will die anyway (incidentally, this is about as long as a person can survive when the supply of oxygen to the brain is halted after their heart stops). It operates via enemies meeting his gaze, and takes time to effect them, unless Kanan is willing to forcefully empower the Seal, and pay the price for doing so. When the Seal is activated, only direct eye contact allows him to pretrify enemies.

Limitations: Fire burns blood and evaporates it. Similarly, the bane of Ice/Water based magic is Fire Magic (being the antithesis of one another). Ice can freeze blood as well, though given his control over said form of magic, it may be less of a threat. The longer he goes without absorbing the blood of others, the weaker he gets. Using his own blood has obvious limitations (if he runs out, that would be bad for him). He might be able to cling on without any blood, but he's basically powerless and barely able to move at that stage. Blood Magic also has effects on his own mental state, the state where at points during battles, he can behave like little more than a feral beast, with limited intellect and planning capabilities, when the hunger for blood takes over him. If he uses his blood to teleport a long distance, because he only has a vague sense of the other location where his blood is, he may not be able to specify exactly which place he is teleported to (so there is an element of chance, which may or may not result in him finding himself in a troublesome situation). Teleportation can be blocked by magical barriers. Regeneration still involves pain, isn't instant (speed depends on severity), repeated injuries, acid, drugs, objects blocking the healing process, magical venom/poison, misaligned body parts, etc can interfere with healing process. Blood-fog form can be blown away by wind.

The Seal of Petrification requires direct eye contact, and usage takes its own toll on Kanan, limiting the number of times it can be used on a regular basis (though this can be mitigated by sacrificing his own blood, or obtaining the blood of his enemies to reinvigorate him). Reflections (e.g. via a mirror or pool of water) can be used to turn the Seal against him, though it has a limited effect, taking longer and at most petrifying his skin, so it would only immobilise, rather than kill him (and circulation of his magical blood would allow him to unpetrify his skin after a certain time period). If it is reflected back when he has forcefully empowered the Seal, it would turn his entire body to stone, save for his blood (so again, he would still live, sort of, but he wouldn't be in a position to do much, other than maybe serve as an art gallery exhibition unless someone is kind enough to unpetrify him). Provided the victim isn't shattered, high-level Earth Magic could be used to unpetrify victims. Petrification does not include clothing/items worn by the victim. Some magical spells and curse removal methods may reverse the petrification. Overuse can cause bleeding, headaches, disorientation, temporary blindness and other issues.

In regards to the Blood/Water combo liquid form, extreme temperatures can cause issues with this state, especially fire. If he is forced to his normal state in a tight space, then he would be restricted in terms of area movement, and may end up being stuck. The amount of damage he can do in this form is limited. Magical bindings may be used to prevent him from using this form to escape imprisonment. Shadow Magic is weak to light. His supernatural senses are stronger than normal, and so are the potential chances of a sensory overload occurring if overwhelming sensory stimuli are utilised against him.

Faction: Loyal to the Emperor (whoever that happens to be), on account of the pact. Other than that, he is essentially loyal to himself, though he's more than happy to follow someone if they have knowledge of forbidden magic he lacks. One way or another, he seeks knowledge and power.

Biography:

Kanan was originally born several centuries ago, as the heir to a now non-existent noble family. He was the first son of what was at the time one of the most powerful noble houses in the Salyan Empire, and showed considerable talent from an early age. His father, Suiren, was a prominent archmage, and a general in the Salyan army, whilst his mother, Sunako, was a daughter of the Kamuri family. Due to their similar elemental affiliations, they often had close ties with the Kamuri, though they were markedly less strict and austere in comparison to them. Nonetheless, the Mizuno family's Water Magic could be considered among the best of the realm. Due to their close ties with the Kamuri, they were also often skilled with Ice Magic. Due to his androgynous appearance, he was often mistaken for a girl, and it was not an uncommon occurrence for suitors to approach him at court, believing him to be a daughter of the family. The Mizuno were also known for their beauty. By Salyan standards (cognate to certain IRL East Asian standards of beauty) pale skin, slender forms and delicate features made them rather popular. He was usually fairly shy and bookish, preferring to hide away by himself to read or view nature. Due to his upbringing, he tended to be a bit sheltered and spoilt, so he came to develop a certain pride and a high level of standards. He tended to be quite close to his oldest sister, Rena, and ended up dressing like her in an effort to emulate her while he was younger, believing that her beauty and grace was something to be admired and imitated. His crossdressing habits were more or less ignored by the others, though some found it funny or cute. He had several other sisters who doted on him, and they may have also influenced how he spoke, dressed and presented himself. Whilst initially naive and overly optimistic about affairs, he gradually grew more pessimistic as he saw the schemes and manoeuvres of court politics as a child. He was praised as a capable child, with a particular talent for magic, writing, calligraphy, painting, poetry, music, and swordsmanship. He knew about politics, but he had a dislike for all the dishonesty and the machinations of aristocratic intrigue. His fondness for reading gave him a good breadth of knowledge, and he enjoyed reading about history, magic and folklore. Though he was overly pampered by his parents, he sometimes snuck out to visit the nearby lake and forest, spending time enjoying the view and coaxing animals to play with him.

The death of his uncle, who he was quite close to, in suspicious circumstances during a battle with a neighbouring country, had a notable impact on him. Kanan grew increasingly worried about death. Though few know the details, it is known that it was around this time that he initially delved into forbidden magic. Being of a scholarly disposition, he had read about some forms of forbidden magic while looking through the family's old library, and he saw in this area of research something that might offer further assurances for the survival of himself and his family in a desperate situation. Still, he was also cautious enough not to fully delve into such a dangerous recklessly. It was in the hidden recesses of the library that he first came upon information about an ancient Forbidden Art, known as Blood Magic. According to certain records, an ancestor of the family was a Blood Mage, granted power by a dark spirit believed to be an unknown deity. piecing the clues together from what he found in the oldest sections of their library, he ventured into the old burial grounds of the family, and the maze-like catacombs beneath the graveyard. There, he found remnants of the Blood Mage progenitor's legacy. Sealed by an old bronze door covered in magical glyphs, was the tomb of the Blood Mage in question. It was purported that the Blood Mage had obtained the blood of a powerful demon or a even a deity, though the exact details of the tale have long been lost to time.

Unbeknownst to him, however, the real dangers yet to come. A storm was in the air, one that would engulf the empire in death. His family would be among the sacrifices for the schemes of an ambitious man. It began when his father was summoned back to the capital after a successful military campaign against a neighbouring nation. Whilst spending time at court, he began noticing unusual events occurring. While the details are murky, the situation was that of him spotting various changes behind the scenes that a certain faction backing the Second Prince, Peredan Mayato had gradually introduced while he had been away. Most in the court at the time had either missed various subtle power grabs and actions that had been taken to place members of Peredan's clique in influential roles. Peredan's wife, an influental noblewoman by the name of Mirei Sakai, also played an important role in his schemes. Some had certainly spotted it, but Peredan's talent, knack for intrigue and ruthlessness easily intimidated some who spotted things. Some others resisted, but they were in the minority. The Crown Prince, Cullaran, was somewhat of a hedonist, and while not completely disregarding of his duties, found politicking to be a bore. His main form of acquiring backing was by hosting parties and engaging with the nobility in various social occasions. Despite these opportunities, he tended not to use these events to scheme and acquire allies. If he strengthened his ties with one family or another, or some official or general, then it would be by chance, rather than design. As such, Cullaran had gradually fallen behind the Second Prince in terms of influence.

Behind the curtain of courtly intrigue, Peredan had his sights set on the Mizuno family as an obstacle to him on the path to power. He gathered behind him various nobles who were envious of the Mizuno family's prestige. Peredan himself was also concerned by the military successes of Peredan, and thought, as many rulers and prospective rulers had in history, that a talented general would also be a threat to his power. The age old dilemma of prioritising what one desired in subordinates; loyalty versus talent. As far as Peredan saw it, getting rid of the Mizuno family (and seizing their wealth and land) would both remove a potential threat, and serve as something to reward his own backers once the dust was cleared, and he was enthroned. The Crown Prince was assassinated during a public ceremony, and the Emperor was injured. Suiren was accused of scheming with a neighbouring country to bump off the Crown Prince and attempting to murder the Emperor. A convenient half-concealed bread-crumb trail of evidence going back to his campaigning days was left to provide both the apparent means and motive. There are conflicting versions of the events at this time, though the prevailing historiography tends to go with events as written by the victor; in other words, Peredan's narrative. Most believe that the Mizuno family fell prey to its own greed and was destroyed for that reason. The details are murky, but it is known that Suiren did what he could to protect his family, but Peredan's plot had been too well-prepared. As the Emperor was injured, Peredan took charge of Imperial forces.

Sunako, and Kanan's sisters, including Rena were all captured. Sunako, being a member of the Kamuri family, was pardoned and put on house arrest. Kanan himself at been at the family estate at the time. Sunako sent a message when she had the chance, and warned Kanan to escape before the estate was taken over by Peredan's forces. Suiren, meanwhile, began gathering some of the family's forces, though he was also prepared to sacrifice himself to ensure his children's safety. With one of the family's servants and a couple of guards, Kanan fled as he was told to. After a number of battles with Imperial forces, Suiren's hastily-scrambled host was at an impasse; they could keep fighting, but they lacked the manpower to win in the long run. While they were able to score noteworthy victories, each time they fought took its toll on his men. He was cut off from the best troops he could have called upon, including some of his family's levies, and the troops who served under him in the campaign. As they kept fighting, and Peredan grew increasingly annoyed that they were putting up so much resistance, he made a proclamation. If Suiren did not submit himself in, his family would be executed, and any family members in hiding would have a bounty on their heads. Needless to say, Suiren was willing to sacrifice himself for his family, and while knowing that Peredan was not a trustworthy person, and the wording of the proclamation was a threat rather than a guarantee that his family would live, it was the best chance for his family's survival. He knew continuing to fight would only prolong the inevitable. After some discussions between representatives of both sides, Suiren before the emperor in chains. His army, meanwhile, was disbanded. Some decided to carry on helping the Mizuno family however they could, but they knew there wasn't much they could do.

All but Emperor in name, Peredan made a public display of any captured members of the Mizuno family, proclaiming that those who schemed against the empire and shed the blood of its monarchs, must pay with blood. Suiren's military accomplishments were soon forgotten in the face of his new infamy. Suiren and his daughters was tortured and publicly beheaded several days later. Following this, the Mizuno family's land and wealth was seized and redistributed among Peredan's backers. Any surviving members of the Mizuno family met the same fate as Suiren and his daughters. After this, several other noble families supposedly involved in Cullaran's death were also wiped out. Of course, most of said families happened to be among the most vocal opponents of Peredan at the court. Whilst Peredan's actions were quite obvious to anyone with half a brain, no one was brave or powerful enough to oppose him at this point. As for the emperor, he was old and wounded. This, combined with the effects of Cullaran's death on his mental state, resulted in him effectively secluding himself from politics and public events, leaving everything to Peredan.

Kanan, meanwhile, remained in hiding. The death of his family, as one might imagine, deeply traumatised him. He became increasingly obsessed with power and knowledge. He grew increasingly egotistical, unstable and ambitious. He alternated between blaming others and himself for what had transpired. Using what little of the family's wealth he had escaped with, Kanan often travelled around the empire in search of forbidden magical texts and knowledge. He also believed that his own forays into forbidden magic were hindered by foolish taboos and restrictions that got in his way. Still, at least initially, he did not fully cast aside any morality. According to the tales, they said that he became someone who did not care the slightest about how many died in his pursuit of forbidden knowledge, as long as it was people he didn't know or care about. In truth, however, he only targeted bandits and convicted criminals with his Blood Magic, but this inconvenient detail was ignored. The fact that he had saved people at times was also ignored. He gradually grew more jaded and ruthless, however. After remembering what happened to his family, and how all those he cared about were gone, he also grew more callous regarding the lives of others.

At some point, his focus on Blood Magic led to a gradual transformation in his temperament, making him increasingly brutal and vicious, and overuse of the magic led to his body giving him an obsessive desire for the sight of blood, though he tried to rein in his newfound impulses, believing in the importance of having a bottom line when it came to these things. By that point, the Emperor had died and Peredan succeeded to the throne. After several years, Peredan began to hear about a supposed demon attacking travellers in the west. Gradually, the death toll rose, and various rumors began to spread around the empire. An Imperial taskforce was sent to investigate. Reports came back that the "demon" was the missing heir to the Mizuno family, who had become corrupted by some Forbidden Arts. What would follow was twenty years of death, fear and madness. Kanan ambushed, assassinated and disappeared as Peredan spent considerable efforts to track down the Dark Mage. Both Peredan and Kanan were psychologically affected by this war. Peredan grew increasingly haggard and volatile as his efforts to capture this unpleasant reminder of the past repeatedly resulted in failure. He became obsessed with ending this affront to his glory, and grew unable to relax properly while his empire was "haunted" by Kanan.

Eventually, however, Kanan's killing spree would come to a halt. With a trap personally set up by the Machi Yin, at Peredan's behest, Kanan was cornered. Both sides were well aware of each-others' old tricks. Alas, it would be a new trick that would catch Kanan by surprise. Peredan's forces included a foreign Archmage hired at great expense, a man who was an expert with curses and poison. Kanan himself was struck by a potent magical poison, weakening him so he could not put up a proper fight or easily escape like he had before. He was forced to use his own blood to fuel his magic, and that contributed to his rapid weakening and succumbing to the poison. Following his defeat, he was captured, enchained and sealed within a cage warded with imprisoning magic. Following this, he languished for months in the dungeons of the capital, being tortured in whatever manner Peredan envisioned, and kept weak via the Archmage's poison. The night before he was executed, Peredan's wife, the now-Empress Mirei admitted to him that she had been behind the plan to get rid of the Mizuno family back then, taunting him for his powerlessness. After this, Kanan would be dealt with in the same fashion as his family all those years ago; a public beheading. His body was left on display for a time, before being taken and buried in a place reserved for traitors. Most variants of the story agree that this is where his tale ends, be it the version of events where his family's ambition was their ultimate doom, or the version where they were falsely maligned and unjustly murdered.

In truth, however, his death would lead to his transformation into a Blood Revenant, a cursed spiritual existence closer to death than life. It did not matter that his corpse was beheaded, and his veins laced with poison; such things could not destroy a Blood Revenant, even if they did affect Kanan's awareness of his rebirth, and his lack of blood impeded a proper recovery. He lay in his tomb for one hundred years, sometimes conscious, sometimes dreaming. Eventually, his tomb was entered, and he was awakened. The emperor at that time was quite a scholar, and had researched the old records and legends. He believed if he could learn more from the body of one of the participants in those events, he would know the truth. To the emperor's surprise, Kanan was still alive, albeit barely. Sensing an opportunity, the emperor made a pact with the enfeebled Blood Mage. He was forced into a situation where a "deal" was made. In return for a having binding Cursed Seal placed upon him, forcing him to follow the will of the emperor, Kanan would be freed from his tomb and given enough blood for him to recover from his weakened state. He would come to serve the Imperial family as an advisor on Forbidden Magic, as well as a force for gathering intelligence, spying, surveillance and assassination. With no direct ties to any living individuals or organisations, and the Cursed Seal ensuring his loyalty, he would be a tool of the Imperial family without the complex affiliations, influences and goals of the established figures and factions in the Kosen Machi. In reward for serving them well, Kanan would be granted some land and wealth of his own. Kanan portrayed himself as someone lacking the ambitions of his past, and more focused on researching magic and enjoying himself, and while there may be some truth to that, it would be wrong to say his old pride and ambition has completely disappeared. Whilst he was once more discriminating in whom he killed back when he was hiding from Peredan, many of his older ethical considerations are no longer taken into account. Though it is not to say he is necessarily completely amoral, the fact that he tends to avoid forming bonds with others probably hints that he is deliberately cultivating his current lack of morals, at least to a certain extent.

Many years have passed and few alive are aware of his origins, though rumours have persisted over time. When he appears at court, he is seen as a fairly enigmatic figure, and most people presume him to be some wealthy young master from a reclusive noble family. He prefers people to refer to him as "Young Master Kanan". At court, he enjoys the presence of beautiful women, and disdains people he considers badly dressed or ugly. Those who have been in the court longer, or are more knowledgeable about matters, know he's not as young or as innocent as he appears. From time to time, he surreptitiously researches ways to remove Cursed Seals, particularly the one that binds him to the emperor's will. Thus far, he has been unsuccessful. During missions he tends to wear an enchanted white hannya/demon mask.

Additional Information:

Accepted

Character Name: Alfonse Orion
Appearance:

(Image)

House:None
Gender:Male
Age:18
Personality:He always seems to be smiling and one could say he is cheerful in a morbid way. He enjoys the sight of blood and goes out of his way to think of new uses for it. He has an abnormally high pain tolerance, and rarely notices if he's been hurt. He loves animals however, particularly wolves and ravens. He is also amoral
Mage Type (Mage, Sensor, Esoteric, Medic, Archmage, Dark Mage?):Dark Mage, Summoner, Sensor
Magic/Abilities (if any):
Various Curses:Many of the curses in his arsenal are not deadly at all, or even remotely able to kill. Most of them just cause inconveniences, such as a runny nose, or maybe a stuffy nose, crying, abnormal sweating, or maybe feeling like you're freezing. He prefers using these above all else, mostly because they don't require a lot of essence, and are easy to cast and dispel in case someone reflects it back at him. Anything simple that isn't written down can be attributed to this.

Called from the Grave:He is able to conjure up the souls of those who have died brutal deaths. They become mindless slaves to him and are bound by contract to him.

Death's Embrace:The victim dies within nine days of its casting, usually due to suffocation.

Selective Forgetfulness:Can Erase any short term memory, such as where something was placed, or maybe make someone forget they met before.

Martyrdom:In his dying moments should he be able to cast it, the any living being within 2 feet his dead body will burst into flames.

Boiling Blood:Able to increase the temperature of his victim's blood to any desired amount.

Dispell:Being a master at curses, he is also able to diispell the minor ones.

Reflect:Besides just dispelling the curses from himself, he can also choose to reflect them back at their owner, this is drastically more effective than dispelling, especially on more dangerous curses

Cursed Blades:Can turn portions of his essence into daggers to kill people.

Fire Affinity:Low level fire magic

Shadow Cloak:He can mask himself from other sensors

sensory magic:Self Explanatory, nothing beyond sensing other mages.
Limitations:While his various minor curses don't have any real drawbacks, they are incredibly weak and easy to dispell or reflect if you know how to do it they also only last 7 days max. Those he conjures up are mindless brutes who have a hard time thinking outside the box. While they may be strong, the magic holding together their bodies is weak, especially the mask area. A good blow to a weak spot will disintegrate them. It also takes a lot more essence than his curses and he can only call 3 at a time. Death's embrace cannot be used on more than 1 person at a time and has a 10 day cool down. Martyrdom requires Alfonse to be dying. Boiling Blood takes a lot of focus and essense. Dispell only works on weak curses, and reflect works on most spells and curses but takes more essence the more powerful what he is reflecting is. He can only have 10 cursed blades at a time and it takes 30 seconds before another is available. His fire magic is not a major threat. He is also physically rather weak.
Faction (does your character belong to a faction? Where does your character’s loyalties lie?):Himself.
Biography:He preferred to play with animals over other children from a young age and has a hard time understanding right from wrong. He was sent to an elite magic school by his parents in an attempt to help him. Being younger and thinner he was picked on and bullied. He used his fire magic to pass tests, and secretly, as well as illegally, learned the dark arts. When he had mastered his desired spells and curses, he used them on those who decided to hurt him. He was soon kicked out of the school. He continued his studies in the dark arts and made his way to the capital. He continues to perfect his magic from a scroll he managed to steal from the royal archives. He prefers to use his simple curses above all else because they are more fun to him, require less essence, and are mostly harmless so he would face very few consequences.
Additional Information:If Alfonse casts something not mentioned it was one of his various curses, this can include making people mute, deaf, or simply cause them to see spots every where, just little things like that. Also gonna be my first character open to recruitment, my first post with him will have him idle, first come first serve so long as you have something of interest to him, or are an interesting person, or have something in common with him.

I feel Martydom is a little too powerful, but everything else is good. ACCEPTED

Nerfed to one foot, it's meant to be one last attempt to kill the person attacking him, but he also needs to be able to cast it, he can't die instantaneously or martyrdom won't work so that's a drawback.

[Asardia]

I'm really in the mood for a debate on romantic "subplots" in fantasy, or YA in general. Mistborn pissed me off so much that I'll set up a poll here and a thread in NSG. I need to blow off some steam for BS romance AND SCHOOL. My state has closed down all schools until May 1. I cannot deal with those "e-learning" days again. I'm going to rage. Sometimes I wish the world of the Esoterics were real I could use some magic to release my teenage angst. Unfortunately, the Discord server became my outlet. Expect a wall of text.

Anyway, here's the list of the most recent accepted apps. These were not added to the roster, but they will be soon. And speaking of which....5pb, what happened to Lilli and Sara????

Carina Fajron: Xeng He

House Fajron: Xeng He

Kairaba Askiya: Asardia

Alaji Senhai: Asardia

Kanan Mizuno: Nea Videssos

Alfonse Orion: DeltaSource

[DeltaSource]

I'm really in the mood for a debate on romantic "subplots" in fantasy, or YA in general. Mistborn pissed me off so much that I'll set up a poll here and a thread in NSG. I need to blow off some steam for BS romance AND SCHOOL. My state has closed down all schools until May 1. I cannot deal with those "e-learning" days again. I'm going to rage. Sometimes I wish the world of the Esoterics were real I could use some magic to release my teenage angst. Unfortunately, the Discord server became my outlet. Expect a wall of text.

Anyway, here's the list of the most recent accepted apps. These were not added to the roster, but they will be soon. And speaking of which....5pb, what happened to Lilli and Sara????

Carina Fajron: Xeng He

House Fajron: Xeng He

Kairaba Askiya: Asardia

Alaji Senhai: Asardia

Kanan Mizuno: Nea Videssos

Alfonse Orion: DeltaSource

The explanation for my answer of "somewhat" is that it completely depends on context, characters, and over all placement in the story
Also, I'm homeschooled so school never got cancelled for me, but I'm flooded with projects atm.

[Asardia]

I'm really in the mood for a debate on romantic "subplots" in fantasy, or YA in general. Mistborn pissed me off so much that I'll set up a poll here and a thread in NSG. I need to blow off some steam for BS romance AND SCHOOL. My state has closed down all schools until May 1. I cannot deal with those "e-learning" days again. I'm going to rage. Sometimes I wish the world of the Esoterics were real I could use some magic to release my teenage angst. Unfortunately, the Discord server became my outlet. Expect a wall of text.

Anyway, here's the list of the most recent accepted apps. These were not added to the roster, but they will be soon. And speaking of which....5pb, what happened to Lilli and Sara????

Carina Fajron: Xeng He

House Fajron: Xeng He

Kairaba Askiya: Asardia

Alaji Senhai: Asardia

Kanan Mizuno: Nea Videssos

Alfonse Orion: DeltaSource

The explanation for my answer of "somewhat" is that it completely depends on context, characters, and over all placement in the story
Also, I'm homeschooled so school never got cancelled for me, but I'm flooded with projects atm.

I can understand that argument. I have only enjoyed two romances in my life (ironically, they were by the same author). Legend and The Young Elites by Marie Lu both feature wholesome romances that I came to enjoy. The problem I have is that romance tends to be there just to be there. Many times, it serves little to no narrative purpose, or the narrative is revolving around it. In that case, YA novels should be renamed "teen love dramas" because that's all they are. A dystopian setting is just a background to justify instant love. It doesn't help if the characters involved aren't fleshed out (cough cough Mistborn).

If you don't mind me asking, what's it like to be homeschooled?

[DeltaSource]

The explanation for my answer of "somewhat" is that it completely depends on context, characters, and over all placement in the story
Also, I'm homeschooled so school never got cancelled for me, but I'm flooded with projects atm.

I can understand that argument. I have only enjoyed two romances in my life (ironically, they were by the same author). Legend and The Young Elites by Marie Lu both feature wholesome romances that I came to enjoy. The problem I have is that romance tends to be there just to be there. Many times, it serves little to no narrative purpose, or the narrative is revolving around it. In that case, YA novels should be renamed "teen love dramas" because that's all they are. A dystopian setting is just a background to justify instant love. It doesn't help if the characters involved aren't fleshed out (cough cough Mistborn).

If you don't mind me asking, what's it like to be homeschooled?

yeah, ik.
I mean, homeschooling, I decide what order to do my classes in, have a more flexible schedule, my schoolwork isn't cancelled due to weather, corona, or anything of the sort. This also means I won't ever have extra days of school though, so there's that...I get to do a portion of it in bed, so that's nice...

[Asardia]

I can understand that argument. I have only enjoyed two romances in my life (ironically, they were by the same author). Legend and The Young Elites by Marie Lu both feature wholesome romances that I came to enjoy. The problem I have is that romance tends to be there just to be there. Many times, it serves little to no narrative purpose, or the narrative is revolving around it. In that case, YA novels should be renamed "teen love dramas" because that's all they are. A dystopian setting is just a background to justify instant love. It doesn't help if the characters involved aren't fleshed out (cough cough Mistborn).

If you don't mind me asking, what's it like to be homeschooled?

yeah, ik.
I mean, homeschooling, I decide what order to do my classes in, have a more flexible schedule, my schoolwork isn't cancelled due to weather, corona, or anything of the sort. This also means I won't ever have extra days of school though, so there's that...I get to do a portion of it in bed, so that's nice...

I see. The prospect of a flexible schedule seems nice, but with my school closing, I realized I get easily distracted outside a structured environment, which has me scared for college. How do you get your work done if there aren't teachers constantly around?

And I assume you have breaks like winter and summer vacation?

[DeltaSource]

yeah, ik.
I mean, homeschooling, I decide what order to do my classes in, have a more flexible schedule, my schoolwork isn't cancelled due to weather, corona, or anything of the sort. This also means I won't ever have extra days of school though, so there's that...I get to do a portion of it in bed, so that's nice...

I see. The prospect of a flexible schedule seems nice, but with my school closing, I realized I get easily distracted outside a structured environment, which has me scared for college. How do you get your work done if there aren't teachers constantly around?

And I assume you have breaks like winter and summer vacation?

Normally, yeah, though this year I'm just gonna start another school year directly after, I'm not doing a long summer break, I wanna get out of my house so am speeding up my school process so I can get out when I'm 18

[DeltaSource]

Me:*Says anything that could be remotely embarrassing*
My Brain:

[Asardia]

I see. The prospect of a flexible schedule seems nice, but with my school closing, I realized I get easily distracted outside a structured environment, which has me scared for college. How do you get your work done if there aren't teachers constantly around?

And I assume you have breaks like winter and summer vacation?

Normally, yeah, though this year I'm just gonna start another school year directly after, I'm not doing a long summer break, I wanna get out of my house so am speeding up my school process so I can get out when I'm 18

BIG MOOD. The moment I can leave home, I'm taking my laptop and I'll head off. I was almost able to graduate early, but I would have needed summer school, or I would have just graduated in January and not May. I didn't think it was worth it. But we have the same goals!!!

Me:*Says anything that could be remotely embarrassing*
My Brain:
(Image)

Uhhh are you ok there buddy?

[DeltaSource]

Normally, yeah, though this year I'm just gonna start another school year directly after, I'm not doing a long summer break, I wanna get out of my house so am speeding up my school process so I can get out when I'm 18

BIG MOOD. The moment I can leave home, I'm taking my laptop and I'll head off. I was almost able to graduate early, but I would have needed summer school, or I would have just graduated in January and not May. I didn't think it was worth it. But we have the same goals!!!

Me:*Says anything that could be remotely embarrassing*
My Brain:
(Image)

Uhhh are you ok there buddy?

Most important thing, yeah, I'm Ok, the guy isn't killing himself in the pic either. That's the protagonist from Persona 3, they used evokers to summon personas in that game, and evokers looked like guns, so....that's that, I'm fine, that was just a joke....
But yeah, I just wanna get out lol.

[Asardia]

BIG MOOD. The moment I can leave home, I'm taking my laptop and I'll head off. I was almost able to graduate early, but I would have needed summer school, or I would have just graduated in January and not May. I didn't think it was worth it. But we have the same goals!!!



Uhhh are you ok there buddy?

Most important thing, yeah, I'm Ok, the guy isn't killing himself in the pic either. That's the protagonist from Persona 3, they used evokers to summon personas in that game, and evokers looked like guns, so....that's that, I'm fine, that was just a joke....
But yeah, I just wanna get out lol.

Yeah I thought it was more to that gif. I feel that way every day tbh

[Asardia]

Actualizaciones para esto RP

There was a RP I was previously in that had a nice idea. It was basically akin to chapters of a book. I think this may do good here. I'll take into account DeltaSource's timeline.

1: Jairon Cult Saga

Aligned with DS's 1st bullet point on the timeline, this short arc will have the characters focus on Alaji and Kairaba's attacks in Ryobei. Maurikael will take Jasmine back from Diva as he worries about the Chaunyo's impact on her. To be honest, Alaji and Kairaba were both characters I created specifically for that game in the casino, so their deaths are to be expected (and won't bother me).

2: Coup Saga - Part 1

With the Censorate winding down the investigation of the Chaunyo, Maurikael will begin to put his coup into action. Zhian will have Azukana secede from the empire, making his Shendian Ji faction and the Azukana bloodline magic wildcards. He's going to conquer the neighboring states to have more control over the south.

3: Coup Saga - Part 2: Nightmare's Attack

As Maurikael throws Ryobei into chaos with a coup and Azukana leaves the empire, it's the perfect time for Nightmare to orchestrate his attack on the capital.

4: Three Emperors Saga

Maurikael crowns himself Emperor of the Salyans, gets deposed by Nightmare, who puts Arrindor on the throne. Despite Arrindor being crowned Emperor, Nightmare has the full power. With Maurikael either dead or banished, Arrindor solicits the aid of Jasmine to take back Ryobei

5: The Mandate's End Saga

Jasmine will be another wildcard as she'll either manipulate Arrindor or ignore him entirely. Either way, Arrindor is arrested after he is taken down by Nightmare. This ushers in a period of chaos, which DS says will result in a climactic showdown between Nightmare and whoever wants to orchestrate a counter coup.

---

This is merely a roughdraft for the timebeing. I know 5pb has been put under Dr Strange's infinite time loop, so we don't know when their character will get revealed. Please provide feedback and suggestions