Azel (Sir Noah Balbanes)

[The Great Nevareh]

This is a work in progress. Please withold comments until I'm done. And yes, I have discussed the related issues with the Avon's steward.

This thread will also host brief histories of the background characters necessary to this character's existence.
Name: Azel
Race: Human?
Age: ? (estimated at 20-35)
Eyecolor: White(left) and Brown(right)
Haircolor: Brown
Height: 5'10''
Weight: 165 lbs
Build: Slim but sturdy
Nationality: ? (Avon)

Appearance:
Azel has the deep tan of a farmer, with calloused hands, dirty fingernails, and soiled clothes. When at a semi-official function, he is usually cleaner in appearance, wearing the body-covering robes usually favored by other Avonians. His eyes are bright, clear, and extremely innocent. Most strangers he encounters notice first his aura of gentle bewilderment and then his very strange accent.

Persona:
Azel is incredibly calm and understanding, with a gentle, innocent demeanor. He is fairly conservative, and usually refrains from speaking unless spoken to, or is in a situation where speaking might be required of him. He fills the same emotional space as a very subdued, introverted child.

History:
Azel's tale begins somewhere around a year and a half ago, in the harvest season of 1312...

Arizobanes was a farmer. He wasn't exceptional at it, but he liked it better than what he used to do, and he was growing to love his land as the more orthodox farmers of Gaera had done so. The change had been kind to him, and he enjoyed his peaceful life with the contentment of one who has never known peace. Ever since he followed Reshkigal and the others, his life had been pleasantly uneventful.

So, when he found a dismembered dead body in his field, it was a surprise. It was even more surprising when it turned out that the body wasn't dead at all, though it was well on its way there.

Arizobanes thus took the almost-corpse with him to Lordoban, one who was very knowledgeable and skilled in the anatomy and medicine of mortals. Lordoban immediately took the body, put its recipient into a trance, and made it/him stable.
It turned out that the soul was in the process of trying to leave the body not through natural means, but by way of a malicious spell that was attempting to draw it away. Lordoban thus called in several other sages to craft a semi-permanent enchantment to keep the soul within the body of... whoever it was they had found.

As they crafted the spell, Lordoban worked diligently to reconstruct the body of Arizobanes' foundling. Since there were no arms or legs found anywhere around the body, new ones had to be crafted and attatched. As the soul was repeatedly put under binding spells to keep it stationary for the enchantment, the foundling soon had a replacement arm, two replacement legs, most of his face (it turned out to be male), his lost skin, and the parts of his skull that had been lost. The damage to his brain was technically and medically repaired, but true knowledge of that would only come out once he was awake.

A week after he had been found, teetering between life and death, the enchantment was cast upon him, thus binding his soul to his body until death. And he woke up.

It was like being born.

The foundling had no memories. At all. The soul wouldn't yield and the mind didn't contain.

So, whoever the man had been before then was dead. Lordoban named the foundling "Azel."

Azel was taken in and raised by Lordoban for a short while, long enough to get Azel back into the habit of speaking and feeding himself, until it became evident that Lordoban could not host Azel for long. Lordoban had too many other things to do, and not enough time to do them AND take care of a foundling. Yet, Azel couldn't be turned loose, since he barely knew the basics of communication, and very little about survival. So, Lordoban found a foster parent: the demoness Malharida.

Malharida took Azel in, cared for him, and taught him the basics of life with a strange kindness, like a mother to her child. So Azel regained his facilities with life, and began to serve the community as a farmer. Within a year, he was sowing and reaping crops... not exactly with expertise but with enough facility to do it independantly without supervision. His regard for the Avonians is that he is one of them, perhaps not quite a demon but still attempting to live a peaceful life away from those who would have it differently. And he never had the opportunity to learn differently.

PS Sheet (Begin)

HP: 65
MP: 65
Initiative: 5+2d6
AT/PA: 12/12
Dodge: 20
MAttack: 10
MResist: 18

Courage: 2
Wisdom: 3
Intuition: 4
Charisma: 3
Agility: 3
Dexterity:-2
Strength:3
Stamina:2
Magical Aptitude: 3

Skills:
Farming: 2
Meterology: 1
Languages: 2
(K)Farming: 4
(Detriment): Phantom Limb Syndrome: 4
Demon Affinity: 1

Techs/Skills
[Meterology=1] Predict Weather [TP=1]
Using his rudimentary knowledge of weather patterns, Azel can make a prediction as to what the weather will be in the near future. The less information he has to base this on and the further in the future he has to predict, the less likely it is that he will be right. This only applies to natural changes in weather.

[Farming=1, (k)Farming=4] Sow Seeds [TP=2]
Azel takes his knowledge and skill as a farmer and uses it to sow [Farming/2, rounded down]row(s) of any kind of seed that is easily planted. Takes more or less an hour per use.

[Farming=1, (k)Farming=4] Make Row [TP=1]
Azel uses a farming tool to make a row of earth suitable for planting or sowing seeds. This is also useable with a shovel, but unusable without any tool at all. Takes more or less an hour per use.

[Farming=2, (k)Farming=4] Harvest [TP=2]
Azel uses a farming tool to reap or harvest [Farming/2] rows of any crop that is easily harvested. Takes more or less an hour per use.

Quirks:
Homunculus: Azel isn't entirely natural- A very powerful disenchantment would kill him. His soul is kept in place by a spell, and thus only a spell of equal or greater power can remove it from his body. His astral presence is extremely screwed up, and he looks upon magical inspection to be a low-order demon without a disguise. He is immune to mind-control and sleep effects, and he gains + (character level) to resist or see through illusions.

Demon Eye: One of his eyes is an artificial eye crafted by Demons and what they made wasn't quite right but still useable. It's the wrong color and it doesn't take in the same information that a human eye would, but renders the information still processable. This enables Azel to see things as a Human would, as a Demon(without using any powers) would, or both at the same time (though this is generally confusing). It takes him a few seconds to adjust to the new information he is recieving, though, and too many switches would give him a headache and serious eyestrain.

Phantom Limb Syndrome(PLS): Every time Azel has to roll to percieve something with his arms or legs, he recieves a -(PLS) detriment to it because his aura is still semi-rejecting his new limbs. He also recieves -(PLS) to every (PLS) out of 4 attacks, parries, or dodges. This detriment can be lowered by expending future skill points, but only by one a level, at cost of 2 SP per level.

Demon Affinity: Whatever he is or looks like, he has a genuine rapport with Demons. He doesn't belong to any clan or house, and thus few demons consider him a threat. His innocence, however, might irk non-Avonians. GM-applicable

Born Yesterday: Azel is ridiculously inexperienced and naive. He begins with eight skill points, no matter what his wisdom or intuition, due to this lack of skill and experience.

Perfect Amnesia: Azel is an amnesiac with absolutely no hope of recovery outside of divine intervention.

Not My Soul: Azel cannot willingly trade his soul for anything- just as other people cannot take it away from him without vast power, he cannot give it away without vast power.


BACKSTORY Fragments- Other important things.

The story of Lordoban
"What good is it to a man if he gains the world and loses his own soul?"
Lordoban used to be a demon who was incarnated as a very sharp sword on the Gaeran Prime Material- he was wielded by those who would trade their souls for power, which he gladly accepted. He also stole the souls and memories of those he was used to slay, and when his wielder was killed, he was summarily banished from the Gaeran Prime Material. His stolen knowledge was also available to his wielder as part of the bargain. At one point, during the War of the Crystals, he was used to execute an entire school, one after another, and he was inundated with the ideas and the knowledges of the righteous and the scholarly, gaining great proficiency and knowledge in the practice of science and magic. After he had been banished in the aftermath of the War of the Crystals, he refused to be summoned again by a mortal wanting vast power. He, since then, has wanted to do nothing but repent for his ways, so swiftly changed by the inundation of forgiveness and sorrow that flowed into him during the executions. He is now one of the most ardent followers of Reshkigal, unwilling to allow anything to die an unnatural death if he can do anything about it. Is currently incarnated as a tall, thin humanoid with long limbs and a very sylvan nature.

The story of Arizobanes
"I don't want to do this!"
Arizobanes is a lesser demon without a large amount of brain capacity- he was never much of a thinker. However, his latent moral compass was much stronger than those of many of his brethren, and despite his lack of erudition he did question the necessity of his existence. Never left his home plane, he was a servant to a more extravagant greater demon until he migrated away with Reshkigal's group. Prefers his life as a farmer to his life as a houseboy. Is currently incarnated in exactly the same form he had in his home plane- that of a small yet strong imp with red skin and segmented eyes.

The Story of Malharida
"For it takes someone with the capacity for true kindness to also have the capacity for true cruelty."
Malharida, the cruel seductress, is a (formerly) beautiful succubus whose entire existence was the act of breaking the wills of men and women and degrading them to nothing before taking their ruined souls from their equally ruined bodies. Her cruelty was astonishing and laudable amongst her peers, for she instinctively knew how to turn every possible kindness into every possible cruelty. She was frequently incarnated as something young and defenseless to lure in her prey. However, she just as frequently ended up with other young, defenseless beings as with people who would prey upon them, and her breaking was thus frequently done on innocents. She was eventually repelled from the duty that she was so skilled at, and when she could she left the original demonic plane. Since then, she had traveled the world disguised as a matron to protect and nurture children in need of safety and love, never staying too long in one place as to protect herself and her wards from discovering her true nature. Once she had discovered Reshkigal's movement to the Prime Material and the establishment of Avon, she made her way there and introduced herself, and has since been a matron/nurse in service of the community. She appears as a succubus, yes, but not one with a voluptuous, sexy figure. Rather, she is a succubus that looks like a middle-aged mother or grandmother would- she's full-figured, soft, gentle, and boisterous. Sometimes she wears some padding on her horns to prevent them from sticking people.

The Story of Noah Balbanes:
(That's all for now.) <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 2/13/05 20:31

[Zemyla]

Oh, look! He has amnesia! <p>-----
Do not taunt Happy Fun Zemyla.

<span style="font-size:xx-small;">I think boobs are the lesser of two evils. - Inverse (Pervy)
Dammit, Dan, I'm not dating a damn NPC! - OOC Will (Will Baseton)
Of course! Anything worth doing is worth doing completely wrong! - Travis English
Ultimately, wizards and clerics don't say, "Gee, I want to become a lich because weapons hurt less and I don't have to worry about being backstabbed; that whole 'eternal life' thing is just a fringe benefit."-Darklion
But this one time I killed a walrus with my bare hands, and I suddenly understood spherical coordinates. - KnightsofSquare</span>

Brotherhood of Elitist Bastards</p>

[Spleen]

Nev...don't use the amnesiac excuse. Everyone here is experienced enough as a roleplayer to understand that just because they know who this guy really is, it doesn't mean that their characters do. Even if it's just a skeletal overview of drab mundanity, my suggestion is that you put something about his pre-dismemberment existence. <p>__-__-__-__-__-__

"If a tree falls in the middle of a forest and no one's around to hear it, it was obviously the work of ninja."
-Darkknight

"Screw normal, because if you're normal, the crowd will accept you, but if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader."
-Christopher Titus</p>

[NebulaQueen]

Didn't this guy used to be a noble?

I think it would be interesting to know why he was dismembered, exactly, as well as the other gaps between his previous backstory and his latest incarnations. <p>

---

*Megaman sounds like a little girl*-Uncle Pervy, on the Voice Acting in MM8

"Well, we've made it to Leeds without being robbed or violated. We win at time traveling!" - Shelley, Scary-Go-Round</p>

[The Great Nevareh]

Believe it or not, this ISN'T DONE. I said so beforehand. I also asked, rather nicely, that people avoid commenting until I said it WAS done.

If you're literate enough to read and understand the parts you don't like, why aren't you literate enough to read and understand the parts where I ask you to refrain until I'm finished? <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>

[Zemyla]

Because we enjoy annoying you. <p>-----
Do not taunt Happy Fun Zemyla.

<span style="font-size:xx-small;">I think boobs are the lesser of two evils. - Inverse (Pervy)
Dammit, Dan, I'm not dating a damn NPC! - OOC Will (Will Baseton)
Of course! Anything worth doing is worth doing completely wrong! - Travis English
Ultimately, wizards and clerics don't say, "Gee, I want to become a lich because weapons hurt less and I don't have to worry about being backstabbed; that whole 'eternal life' thing is just a fringe benefit."-Darklion
But this one time I killed a walrus with my bare hands, and I suddenly understood spherical coordinates. - KnightsofSquare</span>

Brotherhood of Elitist Bastards</p>