Name: Argus Malum Velorian
Age: Estimated around 500
Race: Vampire, formerly Human.
Physical Description: With his height and weight he has a seemingly lean and muscular physique, something like that of an Olympic runner. His actual height is around five foot seven, his weight being about 180 pounds. His skin is fair and pale, seemingly soft to the touch. His complexion is also flawless with pointed ears. White hair flowed smoothly from the top of his head, down to his upper back with gleaming silver hues. Overall giving him the look of someone in his late 20's to early thirties while holding a near perfect posture, as if his presence in any room or area demands the attention of those around him. His body, though, is constantly covered in Victorian era clothing. A black and red suit with a ruffled collar white shirt. The coat itself is engraved with intricate designs of white linen sewn into the fabric itself, a grey vest over the white shirt that seems to hold similar engravings. Upon his shoulders are what seem to be golden shoulder plates, with wrist guard like pieces of armor and metallic guards over the pointer and middle fingers of his left hand. He wears a thick, brown leather, belt around his waist to hold up his back dress pants with white pin stripes. His boots also are black, with brown leather trimming which seemed to be inlaid with golden thread. His over all regal appearance is one to be taken in high regard. From his back, leathery and bat-like wings can be seen.
Mental Overview: He's sane, ambitious and neutrally aligned on the scale that rates one from good to evil. If someone were to expect help from him they would have to remain under the impression that he'd only help if it benefited him or his own goals. Although when he finds something that is worth protecting, which is normally any and all of his personal possessions and things he has interested in, he defends it valiantly. But, who knows what else lies under the surface.
Powers and Abilities:
Author Note: The next three abilities are called Disciplines and have roots in a rule set called Vampire: The Masquerade (V:TM for short). In V:TM, blood contains an energy called Vitae. It's a primal force that sustains the undead body and thus why the vampires need to drink it. To use disciplines, the blood that a vampire consumes is burned away in order to generate pure vitae which is then molded and used to create any of the effects listed for Protean, Obtenebration and Nihilistics.
Protean: Protean is a Discipline that gives vampires the ability to change form, from growing feral claws to evaporating into a cloud of mist.
Lvl 1:
Witness of Darkness: See normally in complete darkness.
Lvl 2:
Feral Claws: Turn one's hands into dangerous claws.
Lvl 3:
Earth Meld: Melt into the earth to hide and rest.
Lvl 4:
Shape of the Beast: Transform into a specific animal.
Lvl 5:
Mist Form: Transform into a cloud of mist.
Obtenebration: Obtenebration is the trademark Discipline of clan Lasombra which grants them control over shadows and the supernatural darkness of the Abyss.
Lvl 1:
Shadow Play: Move and shape the natural shadows around you.
Lvl 2:
Shroud of Night: Blanket an area in a cloud of unnatural shadow that obscures light, sound and heat.
Lvl 3:
Arms of the Abyss: Summon black tentacles from the shadows to assist you.
Lvl 4:
Black Metamorphosis: Encase your body in Nightmarish armor and grow black tentacles from your sides.
Lvl 5:
Tenebrous Form: Transform into pure shadow that can only be harmed by fire, sunlight or Magic.
Nihilistics: Nihilistics is a vampiric discipline that allows the kindred to penetrate spiritual borders and directly channel the forces of Oblivion, more commonly known as Chaos.
Lvl 1:
Eyes of the Wraith: Extend your senses into the Shadowlands (or shadowrealm).
Lvl 2:
Consume the Dead: Gain sustenance from spirits or other undead.
Lvl 3:
Aura of Decay: Infect an Object with the taint of Oblivion.
Lvl 4:
The Dark Touch: Attack a target with the energy of Oblivion.
Lvl 5:
Night Cry: Summon creatures from the Shadowlands.
Other Abilities:
Superhuman Physical Properties: All basic physical attributes are enhanced. This includes, but is not limited to, Strength, Speed, Endurance, Stamina, Dexterity, Regeneration, Mental capacity/strength.
Flight: He holds a natural mutation that takes the form of two large, bat-like, wings that can sprout from his upper back. He can hide them and form them at will, using them to move large distances through the air and even as methods of attack.
Telepathy/Telekinesis: Due to his enhanced Mental capacity/strength, he holds the ability to perform basic Telekinetic feats such as Levitation and telepathic feats such as enhanced Empathy and mind reading.
Equipment: He doesn't have much in the way of equipment, but two things would stand out upon his form. The first would be a sword upon his left hip. Sheathed in a black scabard the longsword bore brass trim with a black leather wrapped hilt. The cross guard was a mixture of brass trimming and obsidian stone. The blade of the weapon was double edged and incredibly sharp. The weapon in itself looked beautiful and deadly in it's own right. The second object would be a little bit harder to see. But it's a black crystal within an amulet around his neck. The amulet itself is rather small, as is the black crystal. Both of which are on a brown leather chain that wraps around his neck. This crystal is a diamond tainted with the powers of oblivion, which acts as a buffer against sunlight. Filtering out the Ultra-violet radiation that would otherwise prevent him from going out in the day.
Brief History: The history section should be brief, so I shall try to keep this as short and sweet as possible. He was born to a lesser known family of nobility in the middle of the night within the well to do neighborhood of Dublin, Germany. The night seemed to sit particularly heavy when he was born and thus gave him the middle name of Malum, which essentially means darkness. His first name, Argus, comes from Greek/roman mythology. His parents were fascinated by the Greek and Roman culture and lore, always saying they would name their first kid after some facet of that culture. They were proud of him and gave him all the best education that their money could afford. He attended the best schools and got the best treatment and soon became a rising star within his community.
He grew up humble, despite the amount of wealth spent on his education and the amount of success that he achieved. Eventually he came into the possession of a younger sister and brother, both of which he cared for as much as his parents did. But despite his family, despite his wealth and despite his success he had always had a hungering for more. He saw the world and everything in it as a possession, something that he could claim for his own if he worked at it hard enough. If he could just dedicate enough time to his ambitions he could achieve everything this world had to offer, but he was merely mortal. These thoughts planted seeds deep within his mind, into the very fabric of his subconscious so that not even he knew they were there. To him they were merely passing fantasies, dreams that seemed to flitter away as quickly as they came.
Time went on and he achieved more wealth and influence, claiming more of the family business for his own endeavors. By this time he had made it into college, achieved a masters in business management and moved on to take over the family business entirely. His mother and father retired, he stepped to the head of the family and the figure head of the Velorian machine. He saw to it that his siblings received the same education as he did, wondering and hoping that one day they would replace him or fight him for control of the family business. What was life without a little bit of challenges, the way he figured it they were the only ones that would be able to try and usurp his power. He made sure they would be ready for the challenges ahead of them. But still he longed for more.
It seemed like that the hustle and bustle of maintaining and economical powerhouse and sustaining a wealthy family, only to further their own dividends, was not enough for him. He would be seen standing within his study, standing at a large window and looking out over the city that he lived outside of. He looked over the lights of Dublin and saw only more for the taking. And thus he took it. One business at a time he gained control over the financial market, moving like a political plague over the entire city and dominating all of the markets. He rose to a political position, giving the current 'mayor' of the city a running in the next political debate. He became known over the entire country. But it still wasn't enough for him. He had nothing to fear, he had power beyond the dreams of many men and enough wealth to protect his name and his family.
It was on a full moon night, with clear skies, in the middle of spring when he decided to take a walk through his home town. He walked slowly, casually, foregoing the guard that was suppose to be with him at all times. It was during this time that he ran into a stranger, a man dressed in black. This man urged him forward, asking him to come into the confines of an alley where the two proceeded to talk. The stranger himself told Argus up front what he was but Argus was not afraid, he only looked at the man with a sort of awe as he stood there and listened to his story. This stranger offered him an eternity, an endless amount of lifetimes to complete all of his goals. To achieve power and riches they would extend to the ends of the earth. He could achieve the world itself and wrap everything into the folds of his embrace. It was on this night that he was sired.
He honed and trained his skills and his mind, sharpening his wits and furthering his own powers and his power base. With his increased abilities he furthered his own goals and spread the wealth and power, the influence, of his family. He spread out into neighboring cities as the markets all over Germany were individually cornered and taken one by one. Argus then committed a crime only mentioned within Biblical history, he turned upon his siblings and sired them himself. Together, the three of them turned on the true maker and slew him and thus had their own freedom. Argus then began to study, delving deep into he darkest machinations that his world had to offer and taken up the worship of Chaos itself. He desired order, perfection, for everything within the world to become his. He wanted everything to become engulfed within the folds of his families embrace. Before his eyes all would fall to his power.
But he had a major weakness, the sun. It was the only blight that was holding him back. So, like all the other weaknesses that came before him he looked for a method to rid himself of it. He delved deeper into the realm of Oblivion, giving more and more of himself over to the dark power that seeped below all things within the mortal world. It was an influence that sought the same goal he did, to control all that this life had to offer. He gave into it, allowed it to consume him and provde him with further knowledge on how to achieve his desires and bring his ambitions into the light. And from this knowledge came the Obsidian Crystal that he carries, passing these out to his siblings. This crystal allowed him to break his undead coil and walk out within the day, despite the fact that it pained him to do so.
He pushed his limits further, delving deeper into rituals that were supposed to be removed from the knowledge of mortals. But these were rituals that were given to him through Oblivion itself. Despite allowing itself to be used by Argus, the Oblivion was using him to further it's own goals. Furthering it's own devices. It knew that through Argus, it would be able to get itself into the mortal world where it could manifest and spread. Using Argus as a harbinger the Chaos would rule the mortal coil of all men and women, dead and living. This sentient beast played him like a drum. But one night everything went wrong. During a ritual where Argus was delving deeper into the fabric and memories of oblivion itself he slipped, concentration lapsing, so that he fell into the Chaos that was the Oblivion. He fell deep into the churning energies through multiple layers of reality and found his body torn apart from within.
He lingered for days, weeks, months. Who knew how long he was in there, scattered nearly beyond sentience and beyond recognition. But still, deep within his core which floated around within Chaos itself, the fires of his ambition burned bright. It ran deep, through concentrated effort he pulled himself back together and manifested himself into the mortal world. He reassembled the lost pieces of his mentality, the lost pieces of his psyche and pulled all the fragments of his body back from desolation and re-emerged back into the world of the living. He was tainted though, bringing back with him Chaos incarnate. Wings were now found upon his back, he looked at them with skepticism before he turned his eyes on the surroundings. Silver hues measured the landscape for what it was, but it was not his world.
But what he did know was that he was in a new world. Perhaps he would find it to his liking? Perhaps there was more for the taking.Below is a picture, credit goes to the deviant art artist. hgjart. Brilliant work.
