Application for Noctium

[dragonblessed]

« PLAYER INFORMATION »

Name: Rynn
Are you over 18?: yes
Contact: chaneystarr
Other characters, if any: N/A


« CHARACTER INFORMATION »

Character: Shemazai / "Aza"
Canon: Original
Canon point: Approximately three years after he acquired his ship, the Huntress, but before he returned to the eastern seas.
OU or AU?: OU
Age: 31
Species: Aurain (birdlike humanoid)


« RECORD »


Disposition:

➝ Charismatic. It's one of the first things most people notice about Aza, because he very much comes across as "the world is his stage". He has the kind of personality that draws people in and he plays this role well. Even if some of his act is only surface-deep, he does have a way with people, which he can use to put them at ease, draw them into mischief or even manipulate them into doing what he wants. Perhaps if he hadn't come from the sort of past that he had, the lighthearted, friendly and easy-going act he often embodies would have been the real him, but as it is, it's only a facet of his personality now.

➝ Direct. Aza is shy about nothing. Unless he's playing an angle with someone, he has no hesitation about saying what he thinks. This can be both a good thing and a bad, because his truths are not always offered in the most tactful of ways. But for those who get past the stage of 'casual acquaintance', at least it means you often know exactly where you stand with him. But he also appreciates this trait in others and is often bluntly honest about himself as well - he respects those who tell it like it is.

➝ Untrusting. Because of Aza's history of being sold and used for the formative years of his life as a gladiator-type fighter, his trust is a thing hard-won. He's often wary of everyone, even if his approach appears to be open and friendly. It takes him quite some time before he lets his walls down around those he gets to know, or even what parts of himself he's willing to reveal. While he cultivates that air of mystery as a facet of his personality, it's also a very real coping mechanism for him - what someone doesn't know about him, they can't use to betray him down the road.

➝ Calculating. While one might think a physical fighter-type might be more 'act first, think later', Aza has a quick and calculating mind. It's one of the reasons he survived the pits as long as he did. He's an expert at taking in a situation at a glance and then being able to strategize a way out of it. Or into it, depending. He's adept at strategizing on the fly, often having to make up his plans as he goes in a constantly shifting battlefield around him. This applies extremely well to his general thought process as a tactician and often ends up employed in a great many other situations in his outlook as well. Does he come at every scenario like he would a battlefield? Not quite, but sometimes that resemblance isn't far off the mark.

➝ Emotional. This might be a strange fit following the previous point but it doesn't change the fact that for all Aza's careful planning and plotting he is, at his heart, often driven by pure gut instinct and need. This can lead him to be reckless and throw all those careful plans out the window to do a 180 - although when others are depending on those plans it does temper his more spontaneous reactions. He very much lives in the moment and goes by his own code of honor that exists in his head - what feels right to him. He'd rarely hesitate if he sees someone vulnerable in danger he could help mitigate, just as he could dig his heels in and get completely stubborn about something important to him - whether he knows he's in the right or not. Despite his tactician's mind, he's often just as driven by his heart and what he's feeling in a given moment.

Suitability:

Aza is, first and foremost, a survivor. He's been dropped into new and unknown surroundings multiple times in his life and actually thrives pretty well at the challenge of adapting and adjusting (even if he might grumble about it quite a bit). He also is a bit of a thrill-seeker, an adrenaline junkie, and loves to dive face-first into a new challenge or adventure.

The biggest challenge he is going to have here, however, is having to open up to people. That is always something he struggles with, and he doesn't have his old years-long companions he's used to falling back on and avoiding this here. It's something I'm really interested in seeing how it plays out and who manages to get under his skin or past his walls. He can be prickly and defensive, but he also has very few people he could trust in the span of his life so far, so it will be a good lesson for him regardless.

As for the body transformations, I wasn't sure where else in the app to put this but, Aza has a tattoo on his back that long ago embedded a magical glamour in his flesh. It was part of his identity in the fighting pits, where many of the fighters had transformed/adjusted or even outright monstrous appearances. There's a link in his race's origins to dragons, or so lore goes, and his glamour when activated changes his physical appearance to something more resembling that heritage - horns atop his head, fangs, eerie serpentine eyes. His black wings remain even in this form however since they are one of the most notable features of his Aurain heritage. He's long used to this appearance now and often falls back on it when fighting or needing to be terrifying/intimidating because it does give off a very dangerous aura when activated.

So basically, having a new transformation will not be all that strange, but it will be very confusing for him. Especially since I'm thinking of dropping him into mostly Naga territory, which will add an entirely new aspect to what he knows since he tends to be far more familiar with air-aspected environments and not water (despite being a ship's captain, he likes staying above the surface, thanks).

Also as an added note, Aza comes from the same universe as another OC in the game, Aspen. Aspen's player is very familiar with Aza's existence and his inclusion in this setting - I just didn't want anyone to think I was a random person jumping into another OC's world.

Condition upon arrival:

Fortunately, Aza is coming from a canon point where he's very much recovered (physically) from his time (12 years) in the fighting pits. Instead, he's spent the past few years on the seas serving first among a trade merchant's crew and then captaining a ship of his own. While his body still bears the evidence of those years in the pits in a variety of old scars and healed wounds, there'll be nothing too recent or fresh to be worried about, and for all appearances, he'll be hale and hearty when he arrives.

Abilities:

➝ Martial Ability
Aza was sold into the fighting pits at 11 and received the equivalent of a gladiator's training. His body's been honed into a weapon, his style of fighting pieced together from different styles rather than following one specific form. He's not above fighting dirty - in the pits, it's about outlasting your opponent, not noble ideals.

➝ Weapon Proficiency
Aza had to be ready to use whatever weapon was available to him, or turn whatever was available to him into a weapon. It seems broad to say he has a weapon proficiency in everything, but there are few weapons he isn't familiar with. His preference is a bladed weapon with range of movement, like a halberd or polearm.

➝ Storm Magic
Aza's natural magical ability is storm magic, a rare and volatile branch of magic in his world. While most abilities align with one element, his is a combination of wind and water, calling up gales, storms, and lightning. He has a high immunity to lightning/electrical damage and is incapable of drowning, although extended periods submerged in water are still unpleasant. He has a medallion he always wears that serves as a catalyst/focus - he cannot cast or channel his magic without it.

Spells:

Wind Speaker: sends a message on a gust of wind.
Water Breath: allows breathing underwater.
Wind Walker: aids movement speed.
Water Walk: walk across liquid surfaces like solid ground.
Fog Cloud: a dense fog to obscure anything within it.
Storm Heart: erects a barrier of strong winds.
Thunderclap: a disorienting boom of thunder and blinding flash of lightning.
Thunderwave: a wave of thunder knocking down anyone in its path.
Thunder Step: short teleportation spell, leaving a thunderous boom in its wake.
Lightning Strike: a bolt of lighting attack. Can be chained.
Sleet Storm: summons freezing rain and sleet. Turns the ground to ice.
Tidal Wave: creates a massive wave to slam outward.
Maelstrom: creates a whirlpool to trap and hold anyone caught within it.

*Aza can only cast/maintain one offensive spell at a time. Full details of his spells can be found here and are drawn from D&D5E Storm Sorcery. I can tweak these as necessary if you feel they are too powerful. Storm magic tends to be volatile and swings from a few simple support spells to counter the extreme dip into tempestuous weather spells. It rarely has a middle gound in between.

➝ Premonition
Storm mages can call on abilities like scrying or divination with proper training. Aza has not had any training, so at best he might occasionally get a sense that something is wrong, dangerous, or suspicious. A gut feeling. He's learned to pay attention to it, even though he doesn't understand it and can't control it. It can aid in his reactions, almost like a sporadic sixth sense.

Inventory:

➝ the clothes he was wearing.
➝ the medallion he wears around his neck at all times. The gold coin is imbued with magic and is both the catalyst for his storm magic and the trigger for controlling his glamour shift.
➝ the double-bladed polearm he wears sheathed along his spine - its his primary weapon these days. In addition, he also typically has a shortsword sheathed at his waist and several daggers hidden on his person. Just in case.


Gembond: Sapphire
Gem Location: on his back is a tattoo of a snarling dragon - the gem is nestled on the dragon's forehead.


« MISCELLANEOUS »

Sample: Aza's TDM