Feb 11, 2019 12:00:41 GMT -6
Post by rajendra on Feb 11, 2019 12:00:41 GMT -6
♦ STUDENT INFORMATION ♦
Name: Rajendra Mahil
Gender: Male
Age: 370
Year in school: Freshman in College
Mastery: Hunter
Dorm: Vermillion
Height: 5’ 6’’
Appearance:
Personality:
Loyal: Rajendra is loyal to a fault. Once he has decided to side with someone he will almost never turn against them. He views betraying someone as one of the greatest crimes a person can commit against another.
Optimistic: This phoenix is just a bundle of energetic optimism who refuses to let anything keep him down. He’ll always try to find a positive even when it seems like everything is going poorly. Though his optimism can be a bit of a disadvantage since it can blind him from recognizing serious problems as quickly as he should.
Impulsive: Rajendra has a bit of a short fuse and is prone to acting on his emotions long before he can respond with rational thought. As such he can end up getting himself into some sticky situations by jumping into them without thinking it out before hand.
Caring: At his core Rajendra is a very caring individual who would do almost anything to help others. He enjoys being able to give people a helping hand though sometimes he can focus too much on aiding others and forget about taking care of himself.
Clumsy: During a rebirth trial after the Ancient War Rajendra abandoned many of the traits that had benefited him as a soldier. A side effect of the decisions he made during the trail resulted in him becoming incredibly clumsy.
Strong-Willed: Once Rajendra has set his mind to something it is nearly impossible to convince him out of it. He will stubbornly continue to strive towards his goal regardless of how many obstacles end up in his way.
Cold: While its a rare occurence Rajendra can sometimes slip back into his nearly emotionless war time personality. In this state he can act hostile and cruel without any sign of regret or remorse until he calms down.
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History: Rajendra was born to a noble family in a small kingdom that was driven out of existence during the Ancient War. His family having a history of military service began his training as a soldier at a young age alongside his lessons on how to be a proper nobleman. He was taught all the necessary skills he would need as a noble as well as how to lead an army, how to take advantage of the terrain in a battle strategy, how to fight, etc. Despite the rigorous training regime that was given to him by his parents the young phoenix lived a very peaceful and luxurious life.
As he grew older he began to explore further and further out from his family’s estate and to the chagrin of other noble families he began to interact with people outside the nobility. Eventually his antics were brought to an end as the Ancient War broke out and he was sent out to battle. It was during this war that he was introduced to the darkness of the world for the first time. He watched as many people died and was forced to harden his heart so he could continue fighting despite everything he had seen.
It was also during this war that Rajendra gained the ability to shift into a human form for the first time as he became exposed to the mutagens from the mountains. It took awhile to get used to but eventually he learned how to fight in his human form as well and came to favor a certain sword as his weapon of choice. He fought in many battles switching between his human and phoenix form and was a very successful general. From time to time he would end up injuried in a battle but it was never anything too bad, especially for a phoenix. It wasn’t until he was sent after a certain witch that he found himself completely outmatched.
He had been given orders to take down a witch that was causing trouble for another unit during a battle and in order to avoid putting his soldiers at risk he decided to go himself. Yet when he finally reached the witch he found himself completely outmatched. He was beaten down and was fully expecting to die when he passed out. Yet when he finally woke up he found that he hadn’t regenerated. Instead he woke up inside an abandon cabin with all his wounds patched up. He was intrigued. Not only had the witch beaten him but she had also spared him and tended to his wounds.
It was from that day onward that Rajendra began his pursuit of the witch, who he eventually found out was named Sita. He wanted to know why he had been spared. So he began listening to reports to locate when she appeared on the battlefield and than he’d charge into the fray. Being completely honest, he had no idea how many times he fought Sita but he did know that every single time he faced her he lost. Yet every single time he was spared. The phoenix only became more infatuated with every fight he lost.
Than as bizarre as it sounds and to the incredible irritation of his family, when they found out, the nobleman asked the witch to go out with him in the middle of the battle. There is no telling how many times Rajendra tried to woo Sita but eventually it seemed to work. As the war came to an end Rajendra and Sita got married. Around the same time, however, the kingdom he was a nobleman in fell. The family was able to maintain there wealth somehow but they were forced to disperse throughout the lands. Despite the lost of his title and land Rajendra remained happy and continued his life with Sita.
For a number of years after the war Sita and Rajendra were happily married. Unfortunately, this was all brought to an end when a curse, bolstered by the power of a Djinn, was placed on them by another witch. The curse prevented Rajendra from noticing Sita even when looking directly at her. Unable to locate his wife Rajendra has spent everyday since that time trying to break the curse and find Sita.
♦ SPECIES INFORMATION ♦
Name of Species: Phoenix
Baseline Dimension:
Human Form: Any height or weight is possible. It is possible to be aged anywhere between thousands of years before the Ancient War, to freshly born. It's also possible to lose some, most, or all memories in the rebirth process. It is possible for personality to also change in the rebirth process.
Phoenix Form: They are pretty big birds. Anywhere from eagle to larger than human size in the body, not counting wingspan.
Baseline Appearance:
Human Form: Due to the widespread of this species, nearly any physical trait is possible. The only thing that sets them apart physically are their eyes, which are unusually vivid colors, and crazy feathers that stick out of their hair at molting season, which is usually once every month.
Phoenix Form: Their eye color is constant regardless of form. While it is most common for phoenixes to have warm hued color schemes such as yellows, oranges, and reds, other colors are possible as well. Color can also change due to rebirth trial results. [See More Phoenix Lore below]
Culture/Origin of Species:
While the species has its roots in mediterranean climates and ancient mythology, the Phoenixes as a whole spread throughout the world and assimilated into nearly every society once able to shapeshift into human form. Most cultures have a form of the original pre-war mythos, and thus this species is shaped where the individual grew up. No matter what, though, they are nearly fearless in dangerous situations, making them a fiery, altruistic, and impulsive people. This derives from their disregard for death, since they can be reborn in flames and rise from the ashes once again.
One constant strictly to Phoenix culture is their mecca, hidden away in a secret land simply called Aubade. It's the place where the very first phoenix, Vissarion, still resides with a group of the earliest ancestors. They form the Bask Council and hand down the sun religion and rules for all other phoenixes. While mostly silent, they primarily provide political guidance and orders when needed, as well as the guidelines and rules for rebirth.
The soul of a phoenix after death travels to a spiritual world that is different for each individual, but the challenges and choices made there shape the new phoenix they will become. It tests the strength of character and will, and can have impact on anything from personality to retaining memories of the previous life. Vissarion is said to have one eye in the spiritual realm, making sure phoenixes remain a lawfully aligned species.
Rebirth is not to be taken lightly, since being immortal comes with responsibilities to everyone. Those reborn that chose selfishly or fail some aspects during their spirit trial can become chaotically aligned. Suicide is the heaviest taboo, since it is usually used selfishly to get back to the spiritual world and make changes, good or bad. Vissarion will see such things and dispatch enforcers to either force another rebirth as a reset of sorts, or to ensure the offender dies permanently should they be set on becoming a blight on the Phoenix race. While it is stated that the removal of a soul is permadeath akin to any other races death, there is a rumor that the souls are possibly contained somewhere in Aubade, in a vessel trapped in an inescapable afterlife.
About Age Appearance:
Phoenix form age has little change after going from egg, to chick, to adult bird. Once a phoenix’s body reaches adult form, this is the way it will stay for all of time, no matter how old. Vissarion’s phoenix form looks just as young and spry as a newly matured phoenix. Upon death and rebirth, a phoenix turns to ash and forms back into an egg. Once reborn, there is brief period between hours and days that a phoenix once more grows up from chick to adult.
Human form is a bit different. Phoenixes have a funny relationship with time, so they can actually directly control how old their human form is that they shapeshift into depending on where they need to fit in. For instance, if a phoenix needs to go back to school to relearn things dulled by time, they can appear as children and teens once more. If they are in a position of power and need to seem wise to all races, like Vissarion, they can assume a middle-aged or even elderly form. Rebirth affects human form as well. After hatching, if in human form they will rapidly age from infant to whatever their desired age is.
About Vissarion:
In appearance, the head of the Bask Council and the authority to all phoenix kind is a magnificent white bird with golden flames. In human form, he has adopted the the general appearance of an elderly man, so as to capitalize on most species’ perception that age equals respect and wisdom. His hair is white like his feathers, and his skin is a healthy tan from much time in the sun’s rays. His right eye is the deepest blue, while the left is white and lacks a pupil. The left eye is the one that can see into the spirit world and watches all rebirths, a gift to him from the sun god they worship. The ancient being is completely neutral to the point where it really is everything for the greater good, no matter what, and does not hesitate to make harsh decisions as long as it is for the good of all phoenixes as he sees it. He may also be responsible for memory loss within the trials.
About Rebirth Trials:
When a phoenix dies, the soul goes to its own personal spirit world, which is ultimately a place where they are tested before rebirth. Each spirit world is designed differently and finely attuned to test each individual phoenix, acting as a trial to target weaknesses and reward strengths. However, there is always temptation. Two gods war for a phoenix’s soul, offering different options during the trials to overcome obstacles and situations. The phoenix will not know which influence is which, making the trials very difficult and not to be taken lightly. In the eyes of phoenix law, good rebirths result from making most decisions aligned with the sun god they worship. Bad rebirths are falling victim to the moon god’s choices, which chips away at a phoenix’s natural ability to manifest good qualities, and ultimately drags them toward an chaotic alignment.
Repeated bad rebirths will warp a phoenix a little more each time. After so many and depending on the severity of a bad phoenix’s actions, Vissarion will dispatch enforcers to force one last chance at salvaging the soul. Ideally the offender learns to remedy the mistakes in the trials and returns to the approval of the sun god, but should that not happen, the Bask Enforcers will either imprison the phoenix for rehabilitation, or strip the phoenix of their soul to cause permadeath.
Another issue that will bring the wrath of the Bask Council is suicide. Since phoenixes are immortal, the purpose of killing themselves isn’t for traditional means of escape, but rather to enter the rebirth trials on their own terms to selfishly alter themselves for various reasons, good or bad. Those who have taken their own lives are automatically branded and hunted. Their souls are forcefully removed.
Playable Phoenixes-- Sun Phoenixes, Bask Enforcers, Moon Phoenixes, and Twilighters:
With the mechanic of rebirths, the world has found itself with variants of phoenixes.
Sun phoenixes are the most common of the species, making up the reckless heroic types we know and love. They reliably rebirth good when it comes to it. These are the culturally acceptable, law abiding souls unquestionably loyal to the sun, Aubade, the Bask Council, and each other. They are the frontlines in the wars and the protectors of the weak. Not all sun phoenixes are perfect, but they strive to be so Vissarion and the sun god will be pleased with them.
Bask Enforcers are the cream of the crop of sun phoenixes. They have proven themselves with very good rebirths, displaying top loyalty to Aubade and the Bask Council enough to become the most trusted elite force. They are extensively trained in Aubade to be the strongest, and even forced to rebirth repeatedly to weed out imperfections and cleanse pesky memories that could pose problems. Many enforcers stay in Aubade with the other ancients on the council as protection and a quick scramble military force, but others are allowed out into the world as reserves and are expected to be on-call if they're needed. They are in possession of a special lantern housing a black hole, called a Null Lantern. All an enforcer must do is utter the full name of the offending phoenix, command the lantern to ‘clip their wings’, and the Null Lantern will suck in all the light in range along with the offender’s soul.
Twilighters are those who have had bad rebirths and are stuck in between. They have retained some of their positive traits, but also have negative ones to complicate things. These have not yet fallen too far into the moon god’s grasp, thus not earning a visit from Bask Enforcers. They are closely watched by Vissarion’s spirit eye, though.
Moon phoenixes have traveled too far down the dark road, listening to the swaying hiss of the moon god too easily. A notable shift in personalities and identities as a whole has happened, giving life to a darkness within. A poor rebirth manifests the more negative personality traits. It’s how normally heroic phoenixes can become thieves, murderers, liars, adulterers, etc. They'll be more apt to manipulate others and slink around in the shadows. Their feathers will take on darker colors. Once a phoenix gives in to getting tainted or taken over by the moon god’s temptation, things get more complicated. It is against phoenix religion, thus they are branded and hunted, forced to rebirth so the trial can potentially send them back to the sun. If they fail the forced trial again, they are subject to imprisonment within Aubade or permadeath.
Traits:
• Immortality: Phoenixes can die, yes, but they are reborn either in a fiery blaze or rise up from the ashes within hours. They have 3 points in vitality.
• Pyromancy: Naturally attuned to flame, phoenixes are more adept with using the element to both harm and protect, and sometimes as a source of spooky divination.
• Fire Eagle Eyes: Birds have some pretty impressive sight when it comes to range and distance. Don't expect to get much past them.
• Partial Shape Shifting: Due to being immortal and having a high vitality phoenixes have control over their natural shapeshifting allowing them to partially shift.
Flaws:
• Molting: Molting happens about once a month, and renders a phoenix exhausted and lazy. It's almost like an illness such as a cold, where they will appear less than healthy and cough ash. This lasts anywhere from 1 to 4 days, but robs them of their flames until the fire is rekindled and burns the molting away.
• Praise the Light: They become weaker in darkness. Anything that blocks the light of the sun or moon from them for an extended amount of time will sap their strength.
