Difference between revisions of "Cardinal"

Latest revision as of 02:18, 3 June 2007

Cardinal
name (rp world)	Salvador "Cardinal" Messiah (Gaera Main)
birthdate (birthplace)	1465AD (age 24) Madrid, Spain.
current residence	Doma
occupation	Anthropologist, Adventurer
family	Shakti (sister), Paolo Messiah (father), Maria Messiah (mother), Juan Messiah (brother, deceased), Juan Messiah II (son)
race	Human
typical clothing	Longcoat, white dress shirt, pants. Pants are always good.
personality	Slightly high-strung and clinging to the morals of his old religion. Making the best of his life despite his past. And, at times, rather goofy and clumsy, prone to uttering incredibly amusing lines.
religious beliefs	Info about Catholics should go here.
drunk type	Philisophical/lightweight.
other	Associated with the Dimensional Protectors Guild.

Background

Cardinal is a man of MYSTERY. And here's the solution. The following is not, by any means, public knowledge. At current count, three people, including Cardinal, are aware of these facts.

Cardinal, born Salvador Messiah (pronounced meh-SEE-ya), was born to Paolo and Maria Messiah in the year 1465, in Madrid, Spain. He grew up with his parents, and two siblings, Esperanza and Juan, in the heart of where the Spanish Inquisitions were taking place. Salvador, innocently, felt a call to become a steward of God, and set himself to the task of becoming a priest. At 15, he was simply an altar boy in a local parish, but one day a powerful cardinal named Tomás de Torquemada. Salvador unknowingly wowed him with his biblical knowledge, and within a year, Salvador, in an unprecedented move, was made a priest, one of the youngest known.

In 1483, Torquemada became Inquisitor General, and Salvador was right there next to him, naively believing that the “work” the Church was doing was ordained by God. But, two years later, the Church came to believe that Salvador’s siblings were heretics, to be brought in. It took some convincing (Torquemada promised a fast track to cardinalhood and assured him that there were no way the charges were true, but they should be confirmed), but the young priest led them to his brother and sister, who had been living with the Roma people and calling the Inquisition evil. They were tortured (to no avail), and they were convicted as heretics, and sentenced to the flame. Salvador was ordered to set them ablaze, to show his faith and trust in God. But, all he saw were his brother and sister, begging him with their eyes to come to his senses, and all he heard was Torquemada screaming at him to send them to eternity. In the end, Torquemada’s screams, if only for that one important moment, was louder, and he set the pyre.

For what seemed like an eternity, Salvador stared at the pair, horrified at what he’d done. Torquemada clapped a hand on his shoulders, and praised his ward for his faith. And that’s when he came to his senses, and leapt into the blaze. He saved his sister, but for his brother, it was too late. Somehow, he escaped the Inquisition’s clutches, and made for his home. But, to his sorrow, his parents had heard what he’d done, and were furious at him for his actions. They let him run, but let him know he was no longer welcome there.

Salvador and Esperanza had nowhere to go, so they went everywhere, escaping the Church’s gaze. France… Prussia… Sweden… England… they visited all those places. But, oddly enough, England was their last, unscheduled stop. There, they met a man with no name, who said he’d been watching them, and that there was a place they would be accepted, and helpful. And not just to England, or Spain, or Europe. Not even to the entire world. This man was offering them a chance to help all reality.

How could they refuse?

This man took them to a place out of time, out of dimension. It was a dimensional nexus found (or was it made?) by the founder of the Dimensional Protectors Guild, the organization the Englishman worked for. Their mission was to observe, protect, and maintain all dimensions in existence. Esperanza and Salvador agreed, learning magic, how to fight, and how to observe. At the end, they took new names. Esperanza became Shakti, and Salvador became what Torquemada always wanted him to be, but not in the way he wanted. Cardinal.

Career in Doma

The lights in the throneroom were amazing. Flashes and bursts of photons dazzled the king and all his minions. The chaotic energy then slowed, and formed itself into a stable ball. Then, it ripped itself from its place high above the heads of its observers and slammed itself into the floor, causing a blinding flash. When all opened their eyes, they saw a man, bowed on on knee, clothed in red, and with short lightblue hair facing the king.

The king got up from his throne, and approached the stranger. "Who are you.... and what do you want in my kingdom?"

"My name... is Cardinal, and I have no past. All I wish to do is serve this land, its king, its people, and... its heroes..."

"I see... well, you must understand, you don't just walk... or teleport... into my throneroom and expect me to welcome you with open arms." He motioned to a guard. "Go get me a Caution Collar." The guard nodded and ran from the room.

"What... are you going to do to me, sire?" the mystery man wondered.

"I'm going to make sure you're not an assassin..." he said as the guard returned with a large black collar. Cardinal was then seized by some other guards, and the collar was placed around his neck. Then, it seemed to be absorbed into his skin.

"This is a Caution Collar. It has both mystical and technological elements. It can detect your thoughts. If you even think of harming something you shouldn't, it will send an electrical pulse through your nervous system, and effectively shuts your whole body down." He then paused. "I'm sorry to do this to you if your intentions are true. I must be sure of your true goals before I release you from it."

"I understand, O liege. This collar will not be on for long, I swear it. Now... how can I serve the royalty?"

He was involved in the Malachian War, and Charles needs to include more detail about it, since Kai wasn't there and can't do it for him.

He recently got hitched in what started out as a loveless marriage to Farida Testarossa. She was telling fortunes and he accosted her in the street with accusations that the young gypsy was cheating Doman residents. She predicted that he would become engaged to a dishonest person. She deliberately misconstrued his disbelief as a proposal of marriage. When he persisted in not knowing what the hell was going on, she threatened to spread rumors that he'd stolen the heart of a poor homeless gypsy girl, promising her love and riches one drunken night and then leaving her all alone. For fifty eagle she would call of the whole marriage nonsense. Cardinal refused to pay her, choosing instead to marry the girl.

Their relationship has proven to have a stronger foundation than either of them had anticipated, and they are actually quite happy together, despite the fact that one is a crazy gypsy and one is a crazy interdimensional former Catholic priest. Farida is currently pregnant with their firstborn child. He will be named Juan after Cardinal's deceased brother, Juan Messiah.

RPs

• Link should ideally go here.
• Then maybe another one.

Philsys Necessaries

Spells and Techs

• [Item Granted] Light of Law (18 MP) When striking with a slash attack, if the target is a demon, they immediately make a magical resist roll against + Cardinal's level. Failure causes the spell to be cast on them, which causes an extra 14 + Cardinal's level * 4 + 2d6 damage. This ability will not activate if there is not enough MP to cast it.
• [Acrobatics=3] Fancy Footwork (4 TP per turn) - Cardinal begins to move swiftly to avoid attack. Only critical hits will connect. Cannot take actions as long as the technique is being used. Success per turn is determined by a d12.
• [Prophecy=2] Prophecy (3 MP) - The GM rolls to see if Cardinal learns of a future event. This could be something that will actually happen, or it could be false. Of course, it could always fail completely.
• [Prophecy=5] Greater Prophecy (18 MP) - Similar to Prophecy, save Cardinal gets a +2 to his roll, and dialogue from a full five minute period, or vague knowledge of the entirety of future events to the adventure are known to him.
• [Innate] Charmer (5 TP) - Cardinal charms a member of the opposite sex. Success chance is (CHA * rank)%; use percentile dice.
• [Double Speed=4] Double Speed (7 TP) - Cardinal's speed increases rapidly, doubling his AGI for a minimum of one round and a maximum of (rank) rounds.
• [Innate, Light Swords or Staves=2] StarStrike (3 TP) - The stars fill Cardinal with hyperactive energy as he swings his weapon three times in a star formation at an opponent.
• [Innate, Light Swords or Staves=5] SuperStarStrike (10 TP) - Hyperactive energy fills Cardinal, letting him strike the target (rank) times, and always in star formation.
• [Star Magic=1]Nova (4 MP) - Spectral energy fries an enemy, dealing 6 + rank + 1d6 damage.
• [Star Magic=6]Supernova(26 MP) - The power of a collapsing star amasses in Cardinal's hands, allowing him to deep fry an enemy for 24+rank*8+2d6 damage.
• [Star Magic=2]Polaris Beam (10 MP) - Powerful light energy pounds enemies in a line, dealing 8 + (2 * rank) + 1d6 damage to a group of targets.
• [Star Magic=3]Orion Strike (28 MP) -The power of the stars converges on the battlefield, bombarding the enemy party with its energy. This energy burst deals 18 + (rank * 6) + 3d6 damage to a 15 foot radius.
• [Star Magic=1] Sunbath (14 MP) - The energy of the sun empowers the party, restoring 8 + (3 * rank) + 2d8 HP.
• [Star Magic=4] Guiding Star (7 MP) No matter his position on Gaera, Cardinal can always attune himself to the stars and determine which direction is north.
• [Star Magic=7] Crush (20 MP) - This spell creates a gravitational point within a creature, collapsing its body. Those able to be hurt by this method take 20+rank*5+2d6 damage, as well as possible other forms of damage from collapsed organs. Only affects living creatures, in terms of damage, though it can cause constructs and the like to crumple (dealing half damage).
• [Star Magic=10] Starshard (25 MP, 5 MP per 10 minutes) - A small fragment of a star, which manifests as a long, glowing, spike of light, forms in Cardinal's hand. It can illuminate a darkened space. Furthermore, if Cardinal encounters an enemy, it can be hurled at them for 20+rank*5+2d6 damage, plus an additional (rank*2) damage for ever ten minutes the shard has been burning. Additionally, this spell can be cast in battle.
• [Time Magic=4] Metabolic Disruption (16 MP) - This spell deals damage by increasing a target's metabolism to insane rates. The result is that the target burns energy/ages extremely quickly for a short duration, leaving them feeling somewhat spent, like the after-effect of a Haste spell, but on a higher level. This attack deals 12+rank*4+2d6 points of direct damage and 1d2 points of temporary STA damage. For each point of STA lost, a creature loses 5 HP. A creature with less than -5 STA is unconscious, and a creauture with less than -10 STA is dead. This STA is recovered after sleeping or resting for a few hours.
• [Fire=1]Fire 1 (4 MP) - Does 8+rank*2+1d6 fire damage to a single target.
• [Time Magic=1]Sleep (3 MP) - A scene of the night sky appears above an enemy's head as mystical forces move it to fall prey to slumber. Effective 10 + (rank * 10)% of the time. The enemy will sleep, and be inactive, for 1d4 rounds or until it recieves a non-magical attack.
• [Time Magic=2]Slow (5 MP) - A temporal bubble is formed around an enemy, making them slower than the normal flow of time. This gives the target a (rank / 2) deficiency to AGI, and the affected target will take his or her turn at the end of each round.
• [Time Magic=4]Slow2 (18 MP) - Like the effects of Slow, but affects up to (rank/2, round down) + 2 targets.
• [Time Magic=3]Haste (7 MP) - The speed of the stars fills an ally to increase his speed. This gives the target a (rank / 2) bonus to AGI.
• [Time Magic=4]Comet (20 MP) - Stones from the heavens fall to earth and do massive non-elemental damage to an enemy. Being smacked by a huge burning rock is rather painful, and deals 16 + (rank * 6) + 2d6 to the target.
• [Time Magic=6]Timeheal (15 MP) - The caster brings a target's past physical body into the present, nullifying any wounds in the interim. The body to be brought back may be up to (rank) minutes in the past, and cannot be used to revive someone who has died, as it only brings forward the body, not the soul. This spell may also be used to re-harm a target that healed itself, bringing back its old injuries from the past body.
• [Mental Magic=1]Telepathy (5 MP) - Cardinal contacts someone via brainwaves. Out of combat, this ability can be used free of charge.
• [Mental Magic=2]Control (9 MP) - Cardinal rolls to see if he can take control of an enemy's mind for one turn. He can then extract information, or force him to attack another foe. This can only be used if the target's WIS is less than Cardinal's, and if the target fails a standard magic resistance check.
• [Mental Magic=2]Mind Barrier (6 or 12 MP) - If a mental effect spell is cast on him, 6 MP is spent to give a +3 on his resist roll. This is spent whenever. If Cardinal casts this conciously, then the target gains a +6 on their resist rolls against mental spells until Cardinal's next turn.
• [Mental Magic=5]Sense Link (10/5 MP) - Caster can cause the target to experience the sensory input of another person to whatever degree the caster chooses. Casting this on an unwilling target costs more MP.
• [Mental Magic=5] Migraine (14 MP) - Cardinal induces a disabling migraine in his target, causing them no actual damage but greatly effects their ability to function. All rolls (attacks, magic, resists, etc.) are -4 for 1d6 rounds.
• [Mental Magic=6] Minor Forgetfulness (20 MP) - Cardinal causes an enemy due to attack within 3 turns to simply... forget what they were doing, and forfeit their turn.
• [Mental Magic=6]Mind Lash (16 MP) - Uses a forced telepathic link to attack a single opponent, driving their mind into disorder and chaos. Deals 10+rank*5+2d6 damage.