![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Battle Stats
BATTLE STATS
A significant part of life at Finchwood Academy revolves around honing one's Persona and preparing to do battle with the otherworldly Shadows. Fill out the form below to help the mods out and give everyone the details of your character's combat style and their other self!
Responses are screened until the mods approve the character. This must be done, along with the Application before a character will be accepted.
A summary of battle stats (by squad), levels, and additional character abilities can be found HERE.
Responses are screened until the mods approve the character. This must be done, along with the Application before a character will be accepted.
A summary of battle stats (by squad), levels, and additional character abilities can be found HERE.
Character Name: Character's name.
Squad: Select your character's squad. These are pre-assigned for squad leaders.
Squad Position: Select your character's position on the squad. This can be Leader, Second, Member (High/Medium/Low), or Support based on what's available. Leaders and supports are pre-determined and can be found on the Character Roster.
Primary Weapon: Select your character's weapon of choice. Supports may mark this question as N/A.
Combat Style: Outline particular combat skills here, along with their attitude in battle. Are they gung-ho? Do they try to protect their teammates at risk of themselves? Do they try to let others do the heavy lifting? For support characters, this is how they handle their role and how they generally treat their team. Do they worry all the time? Are they quick to point out things, even if they're not a threat? Are they relaxed?
Attribute: Select the attribute that best defines your character's abilities: Strength, Stamina, Speed, or Balance! This will not impact bonuses but it it will impact narrative elements and dungeon navigation.
Persona Name: Please select an available Persona listed under your house.
Persona Appearance: Provide a brief description of your Persona.
Affinity: Select one of the two elements available to your character's house. This is the element that your character will be most proficient in attacking with and defending against. Swords may choose Air or Thunder, Cups may choose Water or Ice, Wands may choose Fire or Lightning, and Coins may choose Earth or Stone.
Weakness: Please select one of the elements not associated with your character's house. This will be the element that does the most damage against your character and their Persona.
Ailment Susceptibility: Select the mental or physical ailment that your character is particularly susceptible to: Poison, Sleep, Mute, Confusion, Enervation, Rage, Fear, Forget, Charm, and Despair. All characters may get all status ailments, but this will be the one most likely to impact the character. Keep in mind that a toned down version of the ailment may, at times, linger with the character for a few days after the initial exposure.
SWORDS
Scout Thoroughgood
Squad: Squad #1
Squad Position: Leader
Primary Weapon: Dual axes
Combat Style: Scout sees himself as more than just the leader of his squad - he sees himself as their protector, and the one who should always take the most risk and be the first forward. He's not reckless by any means, and in fact is rather calculated with his approach to fighting, but he's always in the middle of the fray, and always trying to protect his teammates more than himself. He's willing to wait until the right moment to strike, and can block blows steadily and without tiring for some time.
He's much sterner in combat than he is normally, and tries to provide succinct, direct instructions to avoid any miscommunication, but doesn't try to micromanage his team. Scout is prone to periodic check-ins with his team to see how they're feeling, both in the Shadow World and outside of it, and especially after a particularly tough fight. He asks for honestly and hard work from them, but is always willing to help and go the extra mile for them.
Attribute: Stamina
Persona Name: Yezalel
Persona Appearance: Yezalel stands proud and tall at approximately 9'6", a lean, androgynous figure wearing dull golden armor and a flowing cape in deep red. Along the back shoulders of the armor, panels mimic feathers along the shoulders and back, trailing down the edge of the cape for some ways. The head of Yezalel appears to be that of a youth with short, wavy hair that's a golden blonde and somewhat angelic looking, but where the face should be is merely a splash of flowers in whites and yellows and unnatural golds that seem to shift and blow every so slightly in a non-existent breeze. There are no gauntlets on its hands, but instead, pierced through the center of each palm, is a deep red rose the color of its cape, a bit of blood dripping from each wound. Its visible skin has an unnatural paleness to it.
Its magic is forceful, extremely directed winds, and the flowers on its face and hands rustle violently when it attacks.
Inspirations/visuals here!
Affinity: Air
Weakness: Ice
Ailment Susceptibility: Despair
Suzy Choi
Squad: 4
Squad Position: Member | Medium
Primary Weapon: Woldo. [Reference vid.]
Combat Style:
Fast, light, maneuverable. Su prefers to dance around rather than directly engaging -- she's more of an ambush artist who prefers to lie in wait, surprise, or herd enemies toward the harder hitters on her squad, though she is capable of significant damage if pushed.
Put most generally, Suzy is a good team player, and her style and strengths reflect this. She'll step up to fill in for you if you make a mistake, need assistance, or have poor timing, adapts well to new maneuvers, and never forgets that she's part of a collective. Collaboration makes her happy. That said, she can be pouty if you don't show her ideas and approach the same courtesy, and is always a bit nervous if asked to lead the charge or take initiative alone.
Attribute: Speed.
Persona Name: Haamiah.
Persona Appearance:
Haamiah is the angel of ritual, and it presents like a nine foot tall wayward priestess: a feminine body cloaked in a light gauze that obscures its shape, head crowned by a circlet of sharp points.
The persona floats, mobilized by a breeze of its own making, often wreathed in white and blue mist reminiscent of sweet-smelling incense. It punctuates attacks with bursts of high, biting wind, using these to push shadows away or hold them at a distance.
Hidden behind haze and gauzy veils, the total amount of Haamiah's limbs is ambiguous. It presents between a normative humanoid two and a slightly alien four arms, sometimes more. This seems to reflect Suzy's stress level in "real" life, though there's no way to verify.
References.
Affinity: Air.
Weakness: Earth.
Ailment Susceptibility: Despair.
Adam Ho
Squad: Squad #5
Squad Position: Leader
Primary Weapon: Brass Knuckles
Combat Style: Adam leads from the front and he goes into every fight swinging. He's a vicious combatant that takes full advantage of his strength and his instinct for predicting/reacting to enemy attacks to take control of the field. He's adept at preemptive attacks, counterattacks (even if he sometimes takes a hit to pull them off), and exploiting enemy weaknesses; his focus is almost always taking the enemy down hard and fast. This often works. But when it doesn't, his strategies tend to become more improvised and less effective over time.
As a leader, Adam expects a lot from his squad but he works just as hard and there's nothing he'd ask his squad to do that he wouldn't do himself. While he's immensely protective of his charges and will be out for blood if any of them are hurt, he generally has confidence in their abilities, so he doesn't often watch out for them during combat. He trusts that his support will do this instead. He's more reckless and headstrong than a leader really should be, so when he falters the consequences can be severe. Ideally, he would benefit from a second-in-command that can balance out his intensity with a more measured and objective approach.
Attribute: Strength
Persona Name: Aniel
Persona Appearance: Aniel is a frightening figure. The breaker of old patterns, it is associated with change and appears as one entity breaking free from and through another. Its outer self resembles a black stone statue but its face is broken in half, cracked through the middle as if by some powerful force or strike, with a shiny, golden skull poking through. This isn't just a human skull, though, and there are two goats horns beginning to sprout and push their way back. Its stone hands are similarly damaged with long, clawed, golden bones breaking through the tips.
Amidst all of this bizarre gore, though, the entity is dressed quite urbanely in a dark, three-piece suit with gold details on the blazer and shiny black shoes. However, the shoulders of the suit are accented with golden spikes running along the shoulders, small on the inside but growing larger on the outside, and its shoes are tipped with gold that extends down several additional inches and breaks into two distinct sections, creating an effect reminiscent of hooves. There are also golden shackles around its wrists but the chain connecting them has been broken in half.
Like most Personas, this entity is taller than most humans, standing at approximately nine feet tall and always floating above the ground. When it uses its magic, the spells are volatile and extremely loud.
Inspirations/visuals here!
Affinity: Thunder
Weakness: Water
Ailment Susceptibility: Rage
Marina Sarno
Squad: Squad #12
Squad Position: Support
Primary Weapon: N/A
Combat Style: It's no secret that Marina wishes she was on the front lines, but if she's going to be stuck being a support, then she's going to be the best damn support. At least, her version of one. Marina has yet to internalize the actual meaning of support and that she's meant to be working as part of a team. Instead she views her role as another competition, between herself and the Shadows, and she's determined to be the winner – the rest of the team is secondary to that goal.
Marina isn't the fastest at Shadow detection – a fact that bothers her a lot – but she's absolutely tenacious once she's finally got a target in her sights. In a battle of wills, Marina is artless but highly effective, using brute force and doggedness to push through and come out the victor.
Marina is never calm over the comms. Adrenaline starts pumping from the moment she begins hunting for Shadows and only crescendos once she's found one. She yells, a lot. Whether trying to direct battlefield movement from the backseat or giving an unconscious play-by-play of her own actions. When things go well, Marina is quick to celebrate and gloat. When things go badly, Marina is quick to become defensive and doesn't take responsibility well.
Marina dislikes taking orders, but her desire to prove she's the best means she'll push 110% to accomplish what's asked for her – with plenty of griping and insistences that she knows what she's doing along the way.
Attribute: Strength
Persona Name: Iah-hel
Persona Appearance: Iah-hel appears as a tall figure holding a large ornately framed mirror in front of itself, obscuring most of its body, other than the bottom of a long flowing golden robe. The mirror does not properly reflect the images of the outside world. Instead, inside the mirror is a dark regal figure, clearly masculine, but strangely disjointed – a partial mask where a head should be, limbs all in their proper places but not fully formed and strung together with wires. The figure's movements seem to match the figure behind the mirror. The figure holding the mirror itself is a golden woman, equally regal, equally disjointed. When Marina is seeing through Iah-hel, the figure in the mirror disappears and is replaced instead with her vision of the Shadow World. [x]
Affinity: Thunder
Weakness: Stone
Ailment Susceptibility: Rage
Marzio Sarno
Squad: 11
Squad Position: Member | Low Level
Primary Weapon: Dual punch daggers
Combat Style: Marzio is small and fast, and that's most of what he's got going for him. He's scared to be here. Every time a Shadow comes near, he has to fight his instinct to run and hide. But he wants to do well; his constant need for approval makes him a natural follower, and he just goes right along with whatever the stronger personality tells him to do. Make a plan too complicated, give him conflicting instructions, or leave him to make a decision, and, uh, uh, um, this is about how far he gets before he has a small meltdown.
It's easy to encourage him to take risks, though, and Marzio is very good for sneak attacks. He hates getting up close and personal, but that's exactly the motivation he needs to stay incredibly under the radar when it's time to get close. He's a darter, quick to get in and super quick to get out, with his heart pumping the entire time. He does have the tendency to get kind of tunnel-visioned and focus only on his own task at hand, and if a plan goes awry and needs to be changed at the last minute, will probably have to have this information clearly spelled out for him.
Attribute: Speed
Persona Name: Anauel
Persona Appearance: Anauel might have been magnificent once, towering and beautiful and fearsome, but not now. Anauel is a stooped and shuffling figure, crooked wings of gold wax stuck to its back and slowly, steadily melting away. Drops of bright gold splash onto its bare back, drip down Anauel's arms, sides, hang off the ends of its fingertips. But it's not just the wings, as the entire figure seems to be twisting and melting into nothingness. The top of the head has caved in, streaks of color slide down what was once a face, brown and pink from the eyes and lips, gold leaking from empty eye sockets. The arms look too long as they soften and stretch, and the entire body lists to one side, one leg succumbing faster than the other.
Though it looks slow and non-threatening, Anauel moves quickly, and with a brutal precision. Its magic is loud and may be visualized with splashes and bursts of wax, and a special attack is often preceded by the wax of Anauel's body starting to bubble and boil.
Affinity: Air
Weakness: Water
Ailment Susceptibility: Poison
Atticus Starling
Squad: 11.
Squad Position: Second.
Primary Weapon: Halberd. A particularly versatile polearm, it can be used to pierce, slash, or hook enemies, and its long handle allows for excellent leveraging of blows.
Combat Style: A tactician through and through, he prefers to put some space between his squad and their enemies. He can be a heavy hitter if that's what he's focusing on, but he more often concerns himself with battlefield control, deflecting blows from his squadmates, and looking for openings. He's a smart fighter, not a fast or vicious one. If he can incapacitate an enemy, he'll always do that before dealing them a critical blow. He also often uses his halberd to pierce and push shadows away from teammates who aren't prepared to take hits, or hook and drag them closer to teammates who are ready to strike.
As squad second, he's a little bit of a hard ass. He doesn't tolerate goofing off in training and is quick to tell people when they make stupid mistakes. But it's born from a place of concern; he knows what they're doing is dangerous, and he's determined to keep everyone safe.
Attribute: Balance.
Persona Name: Mikhael (Angel of Political Order)
Persona Appearance: An eldritch, kaleidoscopic tangle of human bones that sometimes resembles an angelic figure, but more frequently takes on symmetrical and architectural shapes. Reference.
Affinity: Air.
Weakness: Fire.
Ailment Susceptibility: Forget.
Rose Chapman
Squad: Squad #3
Squad Position: Member (Low)
Primary Weapon: A gunstock war club — a heavy, hardwood, bludgeoning weapon a little shorter than a baseball bat. It has a number of arrowhead-shaped blades embedded in one end and a strap that lets Rose carry it on her back.
Combat Style: Disorgansed. She acts on pure instinct, which can be good because she's vicious and also bad because she's a fucking moron who has no idea what she's doing out here. Basically, she's got courage and raw talent, but absolutely no skills, and her mile-wide anti-authoritarian streak means that that's not gonna change any time soon — at least, not without a leader that really gets her.
Attribute: Speed
Persona Name: Mebahel, the angel of liberty.
Persona Appearance: [ Inspiration ] Smoke & wires, mostly — somewhere between exposed wiring and 3D pen art. Colorful, in some places. Half-finished and liable to give you tetanus. Humanoid, but shapeshifting, unstable, faceless, and the resulting creature gives off strong WARNING HIGH VOLTAGE vibes. It looks dangerous and liable to go boom at any minute.
Affinity: Thunder
Weakness: Stone
Ailment Susceptibility: Confusion
Luke Pokorny
Squad: Squad #10
Squad Position: Low-level
Primary Weapon: An urumi, a flexible sword brandished like a whip, and a small circular shield.
Combat Style: Defensive. Tries to anticipate opponents' moves and delay them, or even cancel them, and is more concerned with his wellbeing and that of the people around him, than with whether or not they've won. Thaaaat being said, he's spent a lot of time reading books about Heroes and he would... totally try to sacrifice himself for the greater good, because he is dumb.
Attribute: Balance
Persona Name: Manakel
Persona Appearance: Luke describes Manakel as "Angel Abe," as in "Abe Sapien," as in "noted Hellboy fish-dude." He's tall and admittedly fish-like with mottled, scaly blue-green skin; large slitted gills along his neck; and webs between fingers, toes, arms, and torso. Lines of barnacles trail in spines down his back. His mouth can open unnaturally wide and when he does so, you can see four series of sharp, pointed teeth lining inside. [sorta reference]
Affinity: Air
Weakness: Lightning
Ailment Susceptibility: Poison
Hamsi Khan
Squad: 10
Squad Position: Med
Primary Weapon: Blunderbuss
Combat Style: Hamsi is an agile mid-range fighter unafraid to launch herself into the front lines. Sure, the blunderbuss has a better spread from a few paces back but nothing sends a message to the shadow world like buckshot to the face and a shotgun butt to the gut. Hammy's showy in combat, her style quick and mobile, incorporating almost dancelike moves. Her primary goal is to be distracting and then disorienting to foes who choose her as their target. She never sticks in one place for long - in and out and moving around constantly.
Attribute: Speed
Persona Name: Mehiel
Persona Appearance:
When summoned, Mehiel descends from nowhere on an old fashioned rope swing. Upon her perch, she is beautiful. A young woman in soft pastels, her dress opulent, detailed, massive, the skirts practically swallowing her up, her head...tucked under her arm.
Mehiel's distinctly Rococo style and distinct headlessness (complete with rather gory neckline) certainly call up the image of Marie Antoinette. Which is appropriate, because the lavishly dressed persona is clearly made out of sweets. Her skin and dress are fondant. Her powdered wig is made from spun sugar, adorned with buttercream flowers and marzipan birds. The "wound" at her neck is lined with raspberry jam, the insides clearly angel food cake.
Mehiel swings herself at enemies when attacking. When using magical abilities, she twirls up the ropes of her swing and spins out, unleashing ferocious gusts of wind.
Visual Inspo
Affinity: Air
Weakness: Lightning
Ailment Susceptibility: Forget
Shiloh Sadler
Squad: Squad 12
Squad Position: Member
Primary Weapon: Slingshot
Combat Style: Shiloh is not brave, but he does his best because he knows his team is counting on him, and because he knows being moderately brave, at least, might save his skin. He keeps as much distance as he can between himself and his targets, given that he has a slingshot as his weapon, and even though he's not a hard hitter he's a precise one. He's an attentive person, so he's generally quite aware of his surroundings, even in the middle of a fight. He takes directions well, though he may hesitate if a lot is asked of him.
Shiloh carries a (neon green) fanny pack on his hip filled with musket balls that he generally shoots from his slingshot. There's some other random junk in there - a paintball, a smoke bomb, a stink bomb, some rocks, some marbles. If he runs out, he can shoot almost anything that's small enough from it, including arrows.
Attribute: Balance
Persona Name: Laviah
Persona Appearance: Laviah is a strange Persona, in that it's fairly small - maybe six and a half feet tall at most. It looks similar to fortune telling machines found in arcades - like Zoltar - but the humanoid inside is simply a black, slightly amorphous figure covered completely in neon colored glowing eyes, the most prominent of which is a 'third eye' in the middle of its forehead. There's no glass on its black case, which glows in a faint rotation of neon colors, and when it attacks all the eyes across its body open wide as a concussive blast of thunder bursts from it.
Honestly, Shiloh's Persona kind of creeps him out.
Inspirations/visuals here!
Affinity: Thunder
Weakness: Earth
Ailment Susceptibility: Fear
Pansy Tipton
Squad: 9
Squad Position: Leader
Primary Weapon: Mabele (a hybrid knife-axe)
Combat Style: Pansy is a leader who is in the action. On the front lines. She deftly wields her weapon, parrying attacks and seamlessly transitioning them into strikes of her own. She fights like she plays basketball: in constant motion. She’s strong and unafraid. And she expects nothing less from those around her.
She will protect her other squad members when need be, but she knows that isn’t a winning strategy on its own. Everyone needs to contribute and hold their own. Everyone has a role to perform and a reason they’re here. She has no problem delegating responsibility and giving orders. But she does have a problem with them not being executed properly. The stakes are too high for people to be fucking up. Do your job or sit on the bench (metaphorically speaking).
Attribute: Strength
Persona Name: Caliel
Persona Appearance: Caliel appears as a giant horned buffalo, covered in a red paint-like substance that constantly drips off its body. Despite its size, Caliel can easily launch its large frame to great heights and then come crashing down. Caliel is constantly agitated, either pacing around and behind Pansy, or sprinting in one direction before turning around and rushing back. Its eyes always darting around, looking for whatever has pissed it off. It’ll spear its foes with its horns, leaving behind a wound and streaks of the red substance that coats its body. Caliel has little regard for its surroundings. It has an abnormally long tail that it will whip around. And it enjoys rearing back on its hind legs, letting out a thunderous roar, and then landing back on all fours, stomping on the ground. Caliel is not one for subtlety.
Affinity: Thunder
Weakness: Lightning
Ailment Susceptibility: Despair
Lyle Hemmings
Squad: Five
Squad Position: Member; Medium
Primary Weapon: Darts. They're tiny and unassuming, but they're steel and sharpened to strong, deadly tips. Lyle throws them, and he has a better eye than he'd thought.
Combat Style: Lyle doesn't actually love combat, so getting along with Squad Five, many of whom are very strong and talented isn't an automatic fit. He lets most other people have the glory. He considers himself mostly there as a supporting role. He won't ever win a bravery contest or kill count. He likes to sneak near (but to be fair, not exactly AT) the back, and throw his darts where they're most helpful to another teammate. Though he does follow orders very well (he figures leaders were put there for a reason,) he has a decent eye for positioning himself where it would be most strategically advantageous, and does so without asking all of the time, with mixed results. If he miscalculates, he's at least usually quick enough to duck out of the way.
Lyle doesn't rush in to situations, but he doesn't like to be seen as hesitant either, so he generally will wait for exactly one other person to make a reckless or bold decision, and then follow them as support. When he needs a heavy amount of damage, he prefers to use magical attacks.
Attribute: Speed; as in getting to the most logical position and/or darting in and out of the way a lot.
Persona Name:Hahahel; angel of generosity or the Trinity depending on who you ask
Persona Appearance: Hahahel stands about 8 feet tall behind Lyle, a series of charcoal line drawings and dripping ink come to life. They look like someone's animated scribbles, and their features flicker in and out of focus. Hahahel never appears in color. Their dark cloak is cloudy, but always night-black. During attacks, Hahahel reaches their hands out and black ink drips out on to the ground. Their face is always pale and vampiric, even when they don't clearly have a nose or mouth sometimes. There are always fangs, the clearest part of Hahahel, also dripping black. Lyle thinks his persona is maybe the scariest thing in the world and he tries not to think about the meaning too much.
[Visual Ref]
Affinity: Air
Weakness Water
Ailment Susceptibility: Fear
Blake Hasenkamp
SQUAD: 6
SQUAD POSITION: Support
PRIMARY WEAPON: N/A
COMBAT STYLE:
Now that Blake is part of a team, she's conscious of needing to be more supportive presence, and her efforts there usually come off awkward. But she tries. Sometimes. She dislikes taking risks, and will advise her squad to take the more cautious route, or to hold back for reinforcements. Blake will always prioritize keeping her squad safe above everything else, but she also hates conflict, and will usually defer to the chain of command in a disagreement.
Blake is never the fastest Support when it comes to detecting anomalies, but Umabel's method of interpreting battle information (see below) means that Blake can keep an eye on a lot of elements at once without having to expend too much concentration.
ATTRIBUTE: Stamina
PERSONA NAME: Umabel (Angel of Friendship)
PERSONA APPEARANCE:
Blake seats herself on the opposite side of the board, and Umabel carves chunks of clay out of herself with her hands, placing them on the board. These pieces can represent humans, Shadows or obstacles. Familiar items (e.g. Blake's squad members) will be rendered in detail when they come on the board, while unfamiliar items (e.g. Shadows) will look more amorphous. To get more information, Blake needs to mold the pieces with her hands, while Umabel uses her many hands to place clay and mold the environment around where Blake is working. Umabel will also sometimes hand her carving tools, like a nurse attending a surgeon. When trying to detect rifts or scan a particular object, the board can spin like a pottery wheel, and Blake will focus herself by shaping a single clay object.
"Finished" pieces will move on the board of their own volition, like a living clay animation, and when enemies are eliminated, Umabel will take the piece and "return" it to her body. The "game board" ends up being a constantly changing and shifting piece of art, with three sets of hands manipulating clay objects to represent the field.
AFFINITY: Thunder
WEAKNESS: Fire
AILMENT SUSCEPTIBILITY: Fear
Henry Arany
Squad: 9
Squad Position: Support
Primary Weapon: N/A
Combat Style: While Henry has well-balanced attributes as a Support and uncanny intuition about the nature of Shadows, he also has a lack of confidence in his abilities that sometimes makes him a lackluster Support. He tries his hardest during exploration, but often holds onto emerging readings for too long or otherwise undermines himself to the detriment of his team. He performs much better during training than he does in the field because his nerves tend to get the better of him. Still, he follows orders reliably and wants do be a team player. If only he knew how...
Attribute: Balance
Persona Name: Hariel
Persona Appearance: Hariel is an unnaturally tall, unnaturally slim Persona with a body made of metal and orange-yellow glass that seems to emanate light. The middle of its body is composed of metal barring and thin wires, forming an Aeolian wind harp through which wind passes and creates haunting music. The information that Hariel communicates to Henry is entirely auditory and is not made of words, but only the sounds created by the wind. For this reason, Henry closes his eyes and listens, allowing the music to conjure images and convey knowledge directly to him. Other Supports can glean very little meaning from this.
When Hariel is using its abilities, a sphere of light forms around it and Henry. This sphere is warm but not hot and glows brightly, but doesn't actually seem to offer any protection. Wind is also constantly moving around the pair and Henry never leaves training or exploration with tidy hair.
Inspiration/visuals here!
Affinity: Air
Weakness: Ice
Ailment Susceptibility: Charm
Roland Messer
Squad: Six
Squad Position: Medium
Primary Weapon: Greataxe
Combat Style:
Not to get too heavy handed with the Empress imagery, but if the battlefield is a game of chess, then Roland is your queen piece. Big and intimidating, he goes exactly where he wants, unfettered by the chaos around him. He is not fast, but he is single-minded and methodical in his pursuit of a goal in combat. And, boy oh boy, when he brings that axe down, there's not much that can stop that blade on its way to the floor.
So, he puts himself right into the thick of things and makes his presence a problem for everything around him. He's not a strategizer, and he does his best to put his ego aside and listen to orders from his squad leaders, but he is prone to bouts of inspiration. And if he sees a decisive action that might turn the tide of battle in his squad's favor, even if it endangers him, he'll take it. He's not a maniac, though. Roland will never endanger the rest of the squad if he can help it. On the contrary, given his size and strength, he's as like to put himself between a squadmate and a monster as he is to charge solo into the fray.
Attribute: Strength (Physical)
Persona Name: Yeiazel
Persona Appearance: Yeiazel manifests as a mass of vibrating shards of colored glass, swirling indistinct. But they don't stay formless for long. The jagged geometric shapes coalesce into a tall, lean masculine form - a very specific masculine form: that of Freddy Mercury in his iconic 1986 Wembley Stadium performance. White trousers with a red stripe, shirtless, draped in a flowing red velvet cape and wearing an opulent crown. The individual pieces that make up Yeiazel are constantly moving, glimmering iridescent, even when not catching light. The colors don't always match up 1:1 for the subject they're trying to emulate, but the slilhouette is always clear.
In this way, Yeiazel resembles a stained glass mosaic statue. But, really, he's more like an extremely intricate mobile. Whenever Yeiazel moves, the glass shards jangle like wind chimes. Armed with a microphone on a stand, the figure he cuts may be more strange or funny than intimidating, but once Yeiazel attacks, that red cape splits apart and reassembles itself into a set of six massive seraphic wings that rumble like thunder as they unfold. All together, the angel of Divine Support is a cacophony of color and sound that cannot be ignored.
Visual Inspo
Affinity: Thunder
Weakness: Earth
Ailment Susceptibility: Happiness
Yvette Barton
Squad: 1
Squad Position: Medium
Primary Weapon: Duel wielded daggers.
Combat Style: Yvette's best asset is her speed. She's quick on her feet, and can leap unusually long distances, roll, and dodge. Crevasses don't give her much pause, and she delights in running circles or sliding under larger, slower Shadows. Her technique is to get in and get out, running at the enemy for a quick, powerful slash and then disengaging as quickly as possible. If she can angle herself to stab a Shadow from behind, all the better. Hakamiah supports her with augmented Speed, and at her best she's untouchable. However, if she's forced to directly fight a stronger Shadow, Yvie's unlikely to match it in power.
With Scout and Glenn there to protect her and directly engage the enemy, and Ces to cover long-distance engagement, Yvie's able to work her way around the battlefield and remain maneuverable. Wielding her knives, she's graceful and precise, but a very short distance. She has to stay in the midst of things and stay on her toes. While she can work just fine without direction, her ears are always listening for Scout or Ces' orders.
Attribute: Speed
Persona Name: Hakamiah
Persona Appearance: A roiling storm cloud that hangs over Yvette at all times, Hakamiah is never at ease. Even when resting, she makes a yowling, whining sound, which blends in with the distant rumble of thunder. Sometimes, she'll flash from within, though no actual lightning is visible.
During battle, shapes can be made out in Hakamiah, and dozens of stormy cats can be seen trying to escape the cloud. Their tails are tied together in the middle, like a horrifying rat king made out of hissing and spitting cats. Hakamiah is fast, and flies behind Yvette like a set of stormy wings. When she speeds up, paws look like long feathers boosting her across the room. If Hakamiah attacks, the cats are suddenly more like dogs, howling and barking so horribly that even allies might be inclined to wince.
Yvie feels... bad for Hakamiah, who always seems to be in a little bit of pain. Even when she looks like a writing mass of cats, she feels compelled to soothe it during downtime.
(Visuals.)
Affinity: Thunder
Weakness: Earth
Ailment Susceptibility: Ennervation
Portia Frank
Squad: 7
Squad Position: Member [Medium].
Primary Weapon: Combat knife.
Combat Style: A bottomless well of crackling, scrappy energy, Portia has blossomed under Lee's encouragement in training and battle... but it would still frankly (ha) be an understatement to say she lacks refinement.
As a squad member, she brings a somewhat manic, gremlin-like energy to the field: effective and thorough destruction under the right direction, like a toy slasher you can wind up and release, but a touch chaotic when left to her own devices. She's hackin and whackin and smackin (and occasionally just, like, fuckin' throwing her knife at stuff). It's not hard to knock her down, but she'll pop up swinging. Years of Girl's Wrestling has given her some fierce chokeholds, and she knows how to throw her weight around. Portia may not always be 100% sure what the objective is, but let's get it done!
...She doesn't wanna die, though. Her tiny berserker act is incomplete. Though it wouldn't be totally out of the question to group her with some of the more reckless and borderline suicidal of Finchwood's finest, the source of her power comes not from an urge to self-destruct, but to survive. She's willing to do almost anything to succeed, even if it means a touch of pain here and there. (Iason is really good at healing flesh wounds!!!)
Portia looks up to her squad members and considers them icons of maturity and coolness.
Attribute: Stamina.
Persona Name: Damabiah.
Persona Appearance:
Damabiah is the calm to Portia's chaos in battle.
She's a being reminiscent of those classic biblical seraphim, aberrations who felt it necessary to forewarn those they appeared before: Be Not Afraid. A divine yet monstrous glitch, Damabiah appears as a weird, writhing mess of porcelain arms and many-jointed legs and churning wings and color-changing feathers. Her face is kaleidoscopic when unobscured. She is part bird and part human, with the hazy, hard-to-discern quality of a distant and uncomfortable mirage.
While Damabiah is difficult and disorienting to look at, she is worth studying. Once in a while her features settle, revealing a pair of deep, doe-like eyes, and a soft, somewhat apologetic smile.
When she attacks, her (10? 20? 100?) wings beat the air in a coordinated strike, pulsing with energy and intent. The sound is indescribable but immense.
Visual references.
Affinity: Thunder.
Weakness: Stone.
Ailment Susceptibility: Charm.
CUPS
Dallas Levy
Squad: Squad #2
Squad Position: Member (Medium)
Primary Weapon: Spear
Combat Style: Dallas isn't a particularly big guy so he relies on his agility, his speed, his smarts, and his weapon to take on opponents. Using a spear gives him additional reach and a tool with which to defend, attack, and maneuver around the battlefield (what do you mean you shouldn't pole vault with a spear?). While he's rarely the first charging into battle, he's an active and eager participant when it comes to fighting Shadows and he doesn't always seem to take the threat of injury as seriously as he should. He also relishes the artistry of combat and goes out of his way to incorporate impressive displays of acrobatics and other techniques that aren't always practical, occasionally resulting in more risk and less efficiency.
While Dallas can be a team player, he doesn't always like to take orders and if he's in a bad place with other members of the team it tends to show.
Attribute: Speed
Persona Name: Sehaliah
Persona Appearance: Initially, Sehaliah can seem human. It's small for a Persona, only about six feet tall, and dressed all in dark, modern clothes that seem more appropriate for a rebellious teenager going to a rave than an otherworldly entity. It has a hooded jacket with an asymmetrical cut and ribbed sleeves that are long enough to almost completely obscure its hands, jeans littered with zippers, and black high top sneakers. A blue, glowing cord from a pair of headphones hangs down from opening of the hood, which obscures everything else beneath it when its head is lowered, and loops improbably around its body before disappearing into the coat. But something about the figure is off. It's too slim. Its limbs are too long. Its movements are impossibly smooth and quick and agile and when it's not moving it's impossibly still.
This sense of otherness is confirmed when Sehaliah lifts its head and reveals a smooth, black face that resembles a screen and has no features except for the blue LED lights that form patterns on its surface. Usually it just has eyes, Xs or Os or other shapes that convey some vague expression, though every now and again it may smile or words may flash across its artificial skin. The fingertips peeking out from beneath the sleeves are the same dark, smooth surface and occasionally flicker with the light. In the midst of combat, blue glowing energy accompanies many of its movements. When it attacks, it does so with energy in the shape of a spear. When it makes contact with surfaces, often ricocheting from one to another, energy erupts in brief bursts under its shoes. When it jumps from great distances, energy-like wings appear briefly behind it. When it uses magic, a mobius strip halo of energy gathers over its head. Everything it does is a bit of a spectacle.
Its magic is accompanied by an influx of cold air and misty vapor.
Inspirations/visuals here!
Affinity: Ice
Weakness: Fire
Ailment Susceptibility: Fear
Eli Gardner
Squad: 4
Squad Position: Support
Primary Weapon: N/A
Combat Style: Eli is an attentive, fussy support for his squad. He's always on the communicators, and sometimes needs to be told to shush while the team's trying to focus. He's usually either making nervous, dry jokes, or freaking the fuck out because he saw something that's about to kill them. In his favor, Eli is very quick on the draw, and if he sees anything his team will hear about it immediately. He processes the information Nelchael gives him at a rapid speed, and is good at estimating the danger levels of what lies ahead. With a squad that's a little on the reckless side, Eli is often the one who has to try and hold them back from rushing into something they can't handle. Unfortunately, if his leaders are determined enough, Eli will inevitably buckle and go along with their plan.
Attribute: Speed
Persona Name: Nelchael (Angel of the Ardent Desire to Learn)
Persona Appearance: Nelchael is very abstract, apparently being made of a series of pulsing, shifting lines of colorful light that arrange themselves around Eli, somewhat like a halo. They spin, burst, change colors and rearrange themselves in the air, periodically revealing dozens of human eyes hidden within. When he's seeing through Nelchael, some of these shapes will move in front of his face for him to perceive the Shadow Realm. (Warning, flashing psychedelic gifs: x + x x x x x)
Affinity: Water
Weakness: Lightning
Ailment Susceptibility: Sleep
Dustin Espinosa
Squad: Squad #2
Squad Position: Leader
Primary Weapon: A cinquedea ("five-fingered") — an ornately carved, broad-based blade that straddles the line between dagger and shortsword.
Combat Style: Borderline suicidal. Last year, Dustin spent as much time as he could battling Shadows, where he proved himself to be uniquely devoted and determined. Always certain that the "right" choice is the best one — not to mention the one worth pursuing in this exact moment — in general, he fights well past the point when sensible people would retreat to lick their wounds. No matter the bomb, Dustin seems willing to throw himself on it — to great effect. While some friends and classmates have criticised his willingness to sacrifice life and limb in pursuit of the greater good, he is undeniably skilful, and his complete disregard for his own safety often gives him a valuable upper edge in fights.
As a leader, Dustin is (mostly) open and earnest, although without someone to reign in his ?heroic aspirations, he's liable to push his team a little too hard. He has the best of intentions, but he has a hard time walking away from Situations, so my preemptive condolences to his team if/when they get into a sticky situation, get sidetracked from the main mission, and/or get in way over their heads because he's lost the forest for the trees. Hopefully, no one gets hurt just because Dustin is so focused on Doing The Right Thing that he misses the real human consequences.
Attribute: Stamina
Persona Name: Pahaliah, the angel of deliverance, virtuosity, and sacrifice.
Persona Appearance: [Inspiration.] Pahaliah evokes the Mater Dolorosa with her heart pierced by swords... except, tbh, much worse. Uncanny. Beautiful and radiant and not quite right, made of implausible materials like marble and mercury and gold and ginko and clouds and thick, globs of paint. Too many eyes and they're all watching you, weeping. When it attacks, it pulls one of the swords from its chest and uses it as a weapon.
Affinity: Water
Weakness: Lightning
Ailment Susceptibility: Poison
Pearl Kline
Kodi Hansen
Quincey Waller
Nora Lee
Sabrina Lane
Merry Rhydderch
Mason Chambers
Cecilia Blackwell
Gregory de Leon
Jude Tobin
Justice Bishop
Monet Romilly
Tate Minett
WANDS
Neal Valentine
Squad: 11
Squad Position: Leader
Primary Weapon: Rope dart/chain whip, often set on fire. (x, x)
Combat Style: Neal is a classic glass cannon, able to move quickly and deal large amounts of damage with his rope dart and magic attacks. He's formidable in that regard, and his soaring flames can make any enemy think twice.
However, Neal can't take as much damage as he deals out, and relies on the rest of his squad to have his back. Without anyone to defend him, he's not too hard to take out due to his relatively fragile constitution. If he doesn't have solid support, Neal relies on being able to take out his opponents as quickly as possible, hoping to defeat them before they can get a serious hit in. Otherwise, he's toast. It's a risky strategy, but with a solid group behind him Neal's a strong point for his squad and can do a great deal of damage to shadows.
Attribute: Strength (magical)
Persona Name: Sitael (Angel of the Construction of The Universe and Worlds)
Persona Appearance: A dark shadowed knight backlit by fiery light. Flames lick around Sitael's silhouette like the sun's corona, and the air near him ripples and warps from the heat. Sitael's eyes peer out at you as bright hot points of light from a dark face. His body and limbs are long but he hunches low to the ground with graceful, inhuman movements. If he stood, he might exceed 15'. He leaves wispy arcs of flame in his wake. His armor looks burnt and sooty, but you can see suns, stars, and other celestial bodies alongside Egyptian poetry etched into it under the grime. Example:When Neal uses a special ability, a halo and three pairs of wings, also made of fire, briefly appear, but Sitael still doesn't stand up straight. (Visual references: x, x)
Affinity: Fire
Weakness: Ice
Ailment Susceptibility: Confusion
Sullivan Sinclair
Venus Rosales
Noah Dressler
Emma Lilywhite
Martin Geary
Francesca Salazar
Russell Reeve
Lillian Armstrong
clarissa day
Slade Winchester
Josephine Linville
Donovan McMorrow
COINS
Lucille Simon
Squad: 2
Squad Position: Support
Primary Weapon: N/A.
Combat Style:
Exceedingly calm and methodical. Lucille always assumes victory will be achieved, and lends a mixture of cold confidence and calculated risk-taking to her support. She's a bit like having a robot feed you statistics and updates, if that robot were also keen to see you kill something in a badass way. Don't take too long to do it, though. And stop showing off.
Lucy takes her role very seriously. Squadmates will find that she's far more understanding and supportive in battle than she is in "real life," even offering words of encouragement. She keeps them, their styles and preferences in mind at all times, and uses skills of perception usually relegated to judging people to keep things moving, yet meticulously strategized. Combat is a place where she feels purposeful, like a functional person, and it shows.
Attribute: Balance.
Persona Name: Yeialel.
Persona Appearance:
Yeialel is the angel of mental force. As Lucy's persona, it appears in the aesthetic middle of what makes her feel forceful and confident, which appears to be... an unknowable, untouchable enigma. With the suggestion of divinatory revelation and occult Visions. And the look of an expensive keepsake, maybe. Plus the muscles of a marble idol.
Yeialel manifests as a male figure: a ten foot tall abstraction of the mythological figure of Atlas, robed in shifting patterns, and then the "world" he carries, which is essentially a crystal ball: sometimes clear, sometimes misty or opaque. The color and comparable appearance changes and shifts at a constant rate, but only within the spectrum of natural minerals and gemstones. In essence, it always looks of earth, like a perfect sphere that just emerged from the soil or a mountainside somewhere, though it clearly isn't. This compliments Yeialel's statue-like appearance.
Yeialel carries the crystal ball on his shoulders, rolls it in front of him, or even just cradles it in the palm of a hand. Somewhat abstractly, the ball can also grow to absorb Yeialel's "body" whole for defensive maneuvering, to float, or to travel quickly from one area to another.
As a support, Lucy receives information from Yeialel from the perspective of the sphere as it shrinks or expands -- it's impossible to describe, but she often "sees" what she needs to know as if viewing it from somewhere within, as though viewing a projection on its inner curve. When receiving from Yeialel, Lucy appears in a trance.
References.
Affinity: Stone.
Weakness: Fire.
Ailment Susceptibility: Sleep.
ABILITIES
i. ANCHOR (Support Only) The Persona can teleport the squad back to an established location. This must be prepared ahead of time but can be useful when combat goes bad.
Liam Blumenthal
Flint Chambers
Kyra Wilkie
Hadlee Loxton
Zinnia Howe
Selby Denman
Ulrich Roth
Thalia Mitchell
Petra Warren-Yates
Eva Crawford
Ashton Norris Jr.
Glenn Turnbull
WILDCARDS
WILDCARDS: Suzy
Persona Name: Chamuel.
Persona Appearance:
A prehistoric nightmare of a tiger. Chamuel is immense and well-muscled, bigger than a horse, with the oversized canines of a sabertooth and a furious roar that is disturbing on a primal level. As if forever out in the cold, his breath comes out in foggy bursts and his fur is laced with frost and crystals of ice. Between his shining yellow eyes is a golden emblem in the shape of a starry snowflake.
When not engaged with Shadows, Chamuel lounges. He likes to bop his gargantuan head against Suzy for attention, like an oversized tabby, and will put bared fangs between her and a potential threat. The tiger's magic manifests as slow-creeping frost that radiates from his claw-points, and a fascinating (yet intimidating) ability to freeze things solid with his stare.
References.
Affinity: Ice.
Weakness: Lightning.
Ailment Susceptibility: Enervation.
___
Arcana: The Moon.
Persona Name: Ophaniel.
Persona Appearance:
A drifting astronaut with a broken helmet, visor caved in and skull grinning out. Ophaniel floats untethered, feet never touching the ground, surrounded by a field of glass shards that glimmer in available light. They give off the impression of being.... well, dead. Or close to dead. In fact, they often appear to have little to no control over the direction of their movements, as though truly lost in space: bouncing off the environment, slowly turning in circles in the squad's periphery, etc. Suzy is the center of a meandering orbit. If urgency is required, Ophaniel seems to simply reappear where needed, but even that has the floating, dance-like quality of a space walk.
When attacking, magic sparks like a mis-wire or short-out from somewhere in their suit. Lightning shoots from glass shard to glass shard around them, forming branching, beautiful displays.
This persona is mostly nonreactive, but occasionally crackles with static and garbled voices, like someone trying to make contact over a fuzzy radio.
References.
Affinity: Lightning.
Weakness: Stone.
Ailment Susceptibility: Sleep.
___
Arcana: The Emperor.
Persona Name: Hamal.
Persona Appearance:
A drowned king in ragged finery and crown, fused atop a bony, long-fanged Kelpie. River weeds entwine in hair and around limbs, with dark water forever rolling around their hooves, splashing as the horse-shaped creature moves (not exactly like a horse; in subtle and hard to describe ways, a bit more like a giant predator).
When Suzy directs an attack, the water grows troubled below Hamal's hooves, swelling in waves and lashing out with force. The king directs the kelpie around the battlefield with an authoritative point, and their horse head complies by biting and tearing at Shadows with relish.
Despite an unsettling appearance and apparent enjoyment in killing things, Hamal has a playful attitude toward both Suzy and her squadmates. The king occasionally removes his crown in salute to them, and the kelpie is capable of a kind of panting, doggy smile, greasy black tongue lolling out of its wolfish mouth.
References.
Affinity: Water.
Weakness: Thunder.
Ailment Susceptibility: Charm.
___
Arcana: The Devil.
Persona Name: Zephon.
Persona Appearance:
A sorrowful girl in antiquated mourning garb. Zephon has the appearance of an animated painting: rich colors, rich darks, a smooth, angelic face glistening with tears. She walks at a stately clip, clutching a flower in one of her hands. Occasionally she can be heard making a sound that resembles sobbing.
When Zephon attacks using earth magic, she flings her flower down like a gauntlet before the desired Shadow, which is viciously choked by the vines and thorns that spring from it like a snapping trap. Her crocodile tears turn to smiling laughter, and her face twists into a distorted sneer.
This persona generally doesn't seem to notice or care about other humans, but when Suzy dismisses her she likes to offer a pretty bloom in farewell. If taken, it crumbles to ash that smells of sulfur.
References.
Affinity: Earth.
Weakness: Water.
Ailment Susceptibility: Forget.
WILDCARDS: Zinnia
WILDCARDS: Pearl
WILDCARDS: Noah
WILDCARDS: CECILIA
WILDCARDS: Rose