Difference between revisions of "Zea Mazuo"

Latest revision as of 18:36, 1 January 2010

Zea Mazuo
name (rp world)	Zea Mazuo (Gaera Second Generation)
birthdate (birthplace)	12 Falisara 1319 Netherworld.
current residence	Doma
occupation	Mercenary/researcher
family	Quinn (mother), Zeke Mazuo (father), Rapierre Waepon (grandfather), Shillelagh Waepon (aunt), Kamos Mazuo(first cousin once-removed)
race	Mostly Human
physical description	Zea has dark blue hair cut in layers to frame her face. She also has violet eyes, a trait that comes, oddly enough, from the human side of her family.
typical clothing	When she's working she tends to wear a set of heavy black robes with a pattern of green climbing vines embroidered on the bottom hem. When she's simply relaxing around her grandfather's house, she wears a lavender sleeveless shirt cut off at the midriff with a pair of black dress slacks or occasionally a khaki skirt. She doesn't travel with much of anything except for a change of clothes and her scythe.
personality	Zea is one of very few "sane" necromancers. She has no desire to conquer the world or create wanton destruction. She's actually a rather nice girl, and most people are surprised to find out about the horrible bastardizations of nature she creates in the course of her research.
religious beliefs	Zea is a devout follower of Reshtaha.
drunk type	Happy/friendly.
affiliations	Ghosts

Background

Zea had contact with the dead when she was very young, around the age of four or five. This mainly consisted of the dead talking and Zea having little choice but to listen and respond. Her mother Quinn had this power magically suppressed. This did not, however, eliminate Zea's connection with the shadow plane. Her grandfather, in what turned out to be a rare bout of sobriety, recommended a tutor for the girl. Quinn had no problem with her daughter learning necromancy, but didn't want Zea growing up hearing the voices of the dead. Not conducive to a normal upbringing, even in Quinn's eyes.

Zea knows this ability was suppressed, but has little motivation to deal with it anyway. The dead have nothing she needs except their bodies, and she hardly needs their permission for that. Her connection to the dead often causes problems related to her spellcasting. The spirits of the recently deceased tend to be attracted to her magic.

Zea grew up in her grandfather's house with him and her aunt Shillelagh. Shelly had never approved of Zea, mainly because she'd never understood how anyone could stand humans in general. She'd certainly never stoop to breeding with one, an opinion she shared with her niece a little more often than Zea would have liked. But Zea didn't answer to her aunt. Her mother made that quite clear after Zea, having been brushed off for the last time, evened the score with her aunt Shelly. Shelly owned a rather unpleasant and dull-witted demon housepet. Zea killed the spoiled creature, reanimated its body, and commanded it to wait in Shelly's bed to attack her when she retired for the evening. Shelly was never in danger, but when she stormed into the living room demanding that Zea be punished, her mother only laughed.

Zea hadn't known her father growing up. She knew who he was, but she also knew why he was never around. Her mother had long ago assured her that Zeke Mazuo wasn't ready to be a father. Zea didn't hold it against him. From what she'd heard, Quinn was probably right about him.

When Zea turned 16 she left her grandfather's house to go find Zeke. He, by all reports, was pretty mobile, so she started her search somewhere he was likely to turn up eventually-- Doma. A lot of mercenary work seemed to start or end there.

She keeps in frequent contact with her mother, but doesn't answer to her family any more, Quinn included. Zea doesn't live anywhere in particular, but tends to take up residence in the worst slums she can find.

These places are perfect for her research because they're full of people no one will miss. She uses trespassers for her research in necromancy. She was frustrated by the limitations of animated corpses. They can't repair themselves and require too much energy to maintain. So, she thought she might be able to hybridize them with plants. Plants make their own fuel, repair themselves, and reproduce without the complication of sentience. So far she's had problems containing the negative energy animating the animal flesh, keeping it from contaminating and killing the plant matter.

Unlike many necromancers, Zea doesn't harbor any disdain for the living. She simply doesn't want their bodies to go to waste. This is reflected in her views on death: Everyone has a time to die so it isn't her job to destroy things wantonly. She is willing to accept the death of a friend as a part of being mortal, but will not be the agent of their death. She figures if her friend is in danger and she can somehow assist them, it obviously isn't their time to die.

Due to her childhood experiences with the dead, she is well aware of what happens when the spirits of the dead are not properly cared for. This led to her current ambition to someday become a reaper, helping the souls of the recently deceased make peace with their condition and find their way to their eventual destination. As far as she's concerned, she is destined for this position. Much of her faith in Reshtaha comes from the idea that everything she went through as a child at the hands of the dead was preparing her for something better and more meaningful.

She considers herself different from most mages in that she doesn't see their arrogance in herself. This isn't entirely accurate. The very nature of her research combined with her inability to grasp the importance of traditional morality set her up as "above" those around her.

Her morality is kind of an odd matter. She tries to do what's reasonable given a specific objective. She doesn't go out of her way to hurt people without provocation, but she isn't concerned for the welfare of people she has no personal relationship with. Zea can have good relationships with either "good" or "evil" people, but she's found that evil people tend to be less trustworthy. Not always, but generally. To her, it's more important that people be reliable than virtuous.

After the events of Blandly Titled: A Second Gen RP, Zea was initiated into the service of Reshtaha as a reaper. The advancement of her initial contributions is recorded in Dominion, also linked below.

Reshtaha himself has hinted at her later position as head of his "agents," or celestial forces. This will not occur for quite some time, and Zea herself tries not to think about her potential future as an archangel (The Archangel?) of death.

Fiction

Dominion

RPs

• Board: Valley of the Shadows (in progress, so...not archived.)
• Chat: Blandly Titled: A Second Gen RP

Philsys Necessaries

Spells and Techs

• [Innate]Inadvertent Medium - Zea's aura projects heavily onto the shadow plane. This makes her a talented sorceress as far as the school of death magic, but one somewhat inconvenient by-product of this dual projection is that her magic often attracts the unwanted attention of nearby disembodied spirits. Whenever Zea casts a spell, there is a chance (5% * Level) that she is contacted by a spirit of some sort. In extreme circumstances, the spirit may attempt to attack or possess Zea or her comrades. Precise effects are per GM discretion.
• [Shadow=1]Detect Corpse (6 MP) -Zea finds dead people. Or what's left of them at least. This spell can be cast as a free action--it also locates bodies or remains buried up to 10 feet below normal dirt or clay, but its effect may be blocked by some mineral deposits or other interfering objects.
• [Shadow=1]Preservation (14 MP) - Preserves the remains of a living creature for a number of days equal to rank/2. The spell can be recast at the termination of the duration to continue the effect if desired.
• [Shadow=1]Insinuation (8 MP) - Deals 8+rank*2+1d6 shadow damage to a single target.
• [Shadow=1]Desecrate (18 MP) - Make a piece of land (100 ft sq.) imbued with Shadow energy for (rank*5) days. The enchanted area has all the effects of a piece of truly unholy land until the spell wears off. It cannot be cast on an area enchanted with Consecrate unless the caster is at least 3 ranks higher than the caster of Consecrate. All celestials and holy creatures cannot pass through this area of land. Should they wish to do so, they must make a COU*3+d20 check vs. the caster's spellcasting check. If they succeed, they may pass through the area, but they suffer 100 points of damage as a result.
• [Shadow=3]Drain (10 MP) - Deals 6+rank+1d6 points of shadow damage, which is then absorbed by the caster as HP. Using this against undead creatures reverses the effect.
• [Shadow=3]Death Scrying (2 TP) - Determines the cause and time or date of death of an animal corpse. This spell will not give most specifics as to the cause; if a person was murdered or killed by an animal, for example, it will only reveal that they were killed violently, not by who or precisely how. If a person died of a specific disease, poison, or other condition, the spell will reveal the reason.
• [Shadow=4, Reshtahan Tradition=4]Death Absorption (4 MP) - Zea uses her mastery of death magic to transfer the injuries of another to herself. This heals any target of up to 12+rank*4+1d6 points of damage, but Zea takes 1.5x the amount of damage recovered. Zea can "cap" this spell's effectiveness if desired, effectively reducing the amount of healing and damage to a predetermined limit.
• [Shadow=4]Greater Insinuation (12 MP) - Deals 12+rank*4+2d6 shadow damage to a single target.
• [Shadow=4]Subjugation (22 MP) - Deals 10+rank*2+1d6 shadow damage to all targets within a 10 foot radius of the caster's target.
• [Innate, Shadow=6]Consume Death (4 TP) - Uses the energy supplied by the fleeting soul of a recently dead creature to restore astral stamina. Zea recovers rank*3+1d6 MP for each use of this ability, but it can only be used on a creature that has been dead for less than ten minutes and only once per creature. If the remains of an undead creature are used as a catalyst for this spell, she recovers rank*5+2d6 MP instead, as she is able to directly absorb the shadow energy powering their bodies.
• [Shadow=6]Shadow Channel (X MP) - Zea can use her body as the focus for an ally's shadow elemental spell. As an immediate action (that does not cost Zea her turn), Zea can supply half of the MP required to cast the spell, cutting the caster's consumed MP by half.
• [Shadow=8]Necrosis (18 MP) - Infects the target with shadow energy, causing slow but enduring tissue damage. Each round, an affected target takes 16+rank+1d6 shadow damage; this effect persists for rank/2 rounds.
• [Plant=1]Plant Stasis (10 MP) - Places a plant into a state of suspended animation. It neither grows nor wilts, and all other metabolic processes are effectively placed on hold. This effect lasts for 24 hours or until dispelled, and can be recast at any time to further preserve the effect. It doesn't work on bloody plant monsters.
• [Plant=2]Plant Growth (10 MP) - Accelerates the natural metabolism of a plant, as well as giving it the necessary energy to grow up to twice its original size and well beyond its natural potential.
• [Plant=2]Warp Plant (8 MP) - Changes the physical form of a plant permanently, but is essentially a glorified magical way of making bonsai trees. It doesn't change anything else about the plant.
• [Plant=2]Speak with Plants (6 TP) - Allows Zea to attempt to communicate with plant life. The precise effects are up to the GM. Most plants are not terribly intelligent and lack complex sensory organs, but this may not be a hindrance.
• [Plant=3]Merge Plants (12 MP) - Temporarily merges two pre-existing plants into one plant which possesses aspects of both. Used to create scientifically deviant plant hybrids. Zea is free to animate these plants or otherwise manipulate them as she sees fit. This spell requires a brief ritual to cast and requires roughly 10 minutes of time.
• [Plant=4]Animate Plant (20 MP) - Animates a pre-existing plant to serve Zea in whatever fashion she desires. This spell's effect is limited to smaller plants, vines, and shrubs (ultimately up to GM discretion). It does not grant a plant increased strength or other benefits, so most plants will ultimately make poor combatants, but there are numerous utilitarian and combat possibilities. Zea is able to communicate with animated plants either verbally or with instant mental messaging. An animated plant remains animated for a maximum number of hours equal to her Plant Magic rank.
• [Plant=5]Entangle (10 MP) - Animates nearby plants to restrain an enemy by grappling them. Resolve the grapple as a contest of base AT rolls. An opponent wielding a slashing weapon can use it to free himself, allowing him to use his skill-modified AT instead. The plants have an effective base AT of 10 + rank. A successfully grappled opponent cannot move until they escape and suffers a -3 PA penalty; a grappled foe can attempt one escape each turn. The grappling plants also deal 10+1d6 damage each round they manage to hold a foe.
• [Summoning=1, Plant=1]Summon Plant (10 MP) - Summons a non-magical plant of a type to be determined at the time of casting. Plants summoned must be of a relatively small size. This spell cannot be used to summon plant creatures, but it can be used to summon plants that would not normally persist in the area's environment, and it can also be used to conjure flesh-eating plants (of normal, small varieties, i.e. a regular pitcher plant or flytrap, but not a giant, Little Shop of Horrors monstrosity).
• [Summoning=1]Summoner's Mark (4 MP) - "Marks" an item with a sigil or arcane insignia. The sigil does not have to be visible. In order to summon an item to her person that she owns, Zea must have first marked it. Marks are permanent unless dispelled.
• [Summoning=2]Summon Alcohol (8 MP) - Summons booze from her grandfather's house. Woohoo. Generally speaking, it can be assumed that if an alcoholic product is manufactured on Gaera in any respectable quantity, Zea is capable of acquiring it.
• [Summoning=3]Summon Marked Object (10 MP) - Summons an object Zea has marked to her location as long as it is on the same plane.
• [Summoning=4, Shadow=4]Animate Lesser Undead (28 MP) - Creates an undead servant from an available corpse. If the corpse is in relatively good condition and not excessively decayed, it may be raised as a zombie. Otherwise, it can only be raised as a skeleton. If cast on a corpse that is buried or submerged, it takes one round for every five feet the corpse must travel to dig to the surface for the creature to arrive.
• [Scythe=3]Driving strike (2 TP) - Adds STR to AT a second time for one round.
• [Scythe=3]Crushing blow (3 TP) - Adds STR*2 to Zea's damage for one round.

Reanimated Assistance
Typical Humanoid Zombie:
HP: 50 Damage: Claw 10+1d6
MP: 0 AC: 0
TP: 0 Initiative: 2+2d6
AT/PA: 10/10 MBlock: 10
Move: 3

Undead. Takes double damage from holy effects and fire effects. Shadow effects instead heal an undead creature for the amount of damage that would be dealt. Zombies are immune to poison, do not need to breathe, etc.
Zombies have essentially no intelligence and can only obey simple orders. They will defend themselves if attacked, but have no actual self-preservation instincts. Zombies have none of the skills they had in life.
Zombies are mindless and immune to all illusions and other mind-affecting spells.
A zombie can be equipped with a weapon. If so, consider the zombie's STR to be +2. All normal weapon use rules apply. A zombie has no skill with any weapon.
These statistics are for a human zombie and assumes that the zombie is wearing no equipment. Zombies animated from other types of corpses may have slightly varying statistics. The GM is free to designate specifics.

Typical Humanoid Skeleton:
HP: 40 Damage: Claw 10+1d6
MP: 0 AC: 6
MP: 0 Initiative: 4+2d6
AT/PA: 8/8 MBlock: 10
Move: 4

Undead. See zombie properties.
A skeleton has no internal organs, flesh, or other similar analogues. As a result, it is more resistant to physical blows that rely on piercing flesh, such as attacks with daggers or spears. Against these attacks, a skeleton's AC is effectively 60.