Name: Joss Mueller
Race: Human
Age: 26
Skills: Arcane Geometry (Abjuration, Conjuration, Enchantment, Evocation); Pact Magic
Arcane Geometry: Arcane geometry is an extremely complicated means with which to cast and record spells. Arcane spells are usually recorded through tedious amounts of runic script and to be able to cast an average arcane spell requires a series of somatic, verbal, and material components that focus arcane energy into it's desired effect. Arcane geometry taps the essence of arcane magic in a more direct form through complicated and precise sequences of shapes allowing the caster to bypass verbal and material components of a spell in exchange for a more complicated somatic procedure. In addition Geometric spells take up significantly less space in a spell book than their lengthy runic predecessors, which allows him access to a considerable repertoire while using less space. Being a geometer also gives Joss a cunning, almost intimate insight to Runes, Sigils, Glyphs, and other arcane insignia whose meanings may escape even the most potent of arcane scholars. Following a description of each of Joss's schools of magic is an example of his most common spell from that specific school, but that does not imply, in any way, that the spell described is the only spell he has access to.
Abjuration: Abjurations are a group of spells that focus on protection. This school of magic includes spells that create barriers, shield a person from both physical and magical damage, cause significant harm to trespassers, and can even banish creatures of different planes of existence from his own. Abjuration magic is a school of professed importance to Joss, who takes great pains to ensure that he and his fellows are protected from any harm in any engagement, against any enemy. Joss prefers to strike his opponents with impunity and will often not engage until he is first out of harms way, or thoroughly protected.
Conjuration: The School of Conjuration is a group of spells that focus on creating something out of nothing and its many sub schools make it one of the most complicated of arcane supra categories to master. That being said, Joss's mastery over this particular group of spells isn't as intimate as much of his schooling in other schools of magic and he tends to favor the lengthy teleportation and summoning aspects, especially as a means to evade a situation that he has deemed unfavorable.
Enchantment: Enchantment magic is quickly becoming one of Joss's favorite series of spells and he pines to increase his limited mastery over the subject matter. Spells of this school focus primarily on affecting and compelling people or creatures to the will of the caster, however, spells from this school are also capable of driving an individual past their physical limitations of strength, agility, and intelligence. This form of magical alacrity allows Joss to imbue those around him with enhanced strength and speed. One of his favorite tactics is to turn one of his adversaries against the others and boost whatever abilities they had before to ensure that even an opponent who knows his thrall well enough to defeat him would be hard pressed to do so under Joss's influence.
Evocation: Joss fancies himself primarily as an evoker, though in all reality his skill with Abjuration may very well exceed his understanding of Evocation. The school of Evocation deals primarily with blasting magical energy at an adversary, or a group of them. Many of the most stereotyped forms of magical power can be found within the Evocation School of Magic, including fireballs, lightning bolts, and many cryo-potent forms of magic. Even without his training and understanding of other schools of magic Joss is entirely capable as an adversary with just his understanding as an Evoker and by combining his intimacy with Arcane Geometry and his skill as an Abjurer Joss is capable of decimating any opponent with an arsenal of spells that fit just about any occasion, while doing it safely behind a screen of protecting barriers.
Pact Magic: The archaic teachings of pact magic are a closely guarded secret of the selective and illusive group of wizards and sorcerers that make up the secret society of The Sigilbound. It is a well known fact that Pact Magic as a whole shaped the multiverse's understanding of Arcane Geometry, but what isn't fact is the assumption that the secrets of Pact Magic were burned along with The First Geometer's body after his acquitted suicide. In fact, the only secrets to be burned with his body were those of how to manifest yourself in the afterlife as a vestige to be summoned by the powers of Pact Magic. The Sigilbound are one of the only groups still left that practice Pact Magic, though there are many others who have over time unlocked the secrets of Pact Magic since it's rumored destruction who work completely independent and secretly. Joss's induction into the Sigilbound is a rather recent development and he is still only an apprentice of Pact Magic and he has yet to bind a vestige to himself. Sigilbound binders are constantly at odds with Joss whose personal vendetta against The Favians continuously gets in the way of his development as a binder, causing he and his father, Head of the Sigilbound, to have become almost completely estranged.
Pact Magic is a unique form of magic that revolves around binding, summoning, and harboring the powerful vestiges of banished gods and titans who have since been forgotten. Pact Magic in it's truest form is a series of rituals and ceremonies in which the caster, called a binder, must parley with ancient powerful 'spirits' who exist in a realm outside of the multiverse's understanding of space and time. These 'spirits' were banished there because of their status as immortals or gods and were unable to be dispatched by any other means. A vestige bound to a binder grants that user a significantly profound amount of power compared to even the most studied and versed wizard, but that power comes at a significant cost. As most binders will tell you, sharing your body with a god is a no easy task and even then a binder is only capable of tapping into a sixteenth of that vestiges original power. Binders risk insanity, the suffering of monumental taboos imposed by their vestiges, and completely losing control of themselves in the wake of a deity's overwhelming power and secret agendas.
A single vestige can be bound by up to fifteen separate binders while the remaining one sixteenth of that vestige must remain seated in it's void. There are theories that it may be possible to free a vestige from it's metaphysical prison, given credence by the recent discovery of a document that recounted the 'birth' of Seth'Tak'Marchian--Illithid--who is now believed to be a reborn Titan, which is now believed to account for his overwhelmingly frightening power. That believe has only spawned a considerable amount of new questions regarding whether or not such a powerful being can be brought into the world a second time as an immortal. It is now agreed that while a vestige can retain all of his magical, mental, or physical power upon rebirth--and that rebirth is of course possible for a vestige--that the revived vestige, for whatever reason, becomes bound by the cycle of life and death. Binder scholars however are still hard pressed to discover the secrets behind the binding ritual of Seth'Tak'Marchian's, or even his seal, despite numerous accounts of Binders who were able to summon him. Understanding these things in the light that the Sigilbound do now has forced them to move up their time tables considerably against such a threatening menace who has dispatched archdevil, after archangel, after demi-god in the short century he has been active.
Afflictions: Sigilbane
Sigilbane: This magical disease is the remnants of a curse set upon the very first geometer (to which Joss is hereditarily linked) who was forced to suffer such an end by tricking the bound vestige of Lormarie into divulging the basic secrets behind Arcane Geometry. Sigilbane infuses itself with any practitioner of Arcane Geometry who can trace his lineage back to the first geometer (whose name is forgotten, even in legend), it manifests itself in inky, fluorescent runes that spread over time. The runes are identical to the "Rune of Pain" and act just as the spell does when read, however their inky fingers that permeate the skin wrack the afflicted with intense, nauseating waves of pure pain that must constantly be alleviated by the means of magical spells and infusions--and often times with more mundane painkillers and opiates. As this curse gains potency so too do it's runic scripts which spread over the skin with time, almost always beginning in the small of the back before spreading farther outward in all directions. The effect of sigilbane has lead to pronounced understanding into the basic script from which the "Rune of Pain" is written (enhancing an understanding of Arcane Geometry), as well as allowed casters to develop and fine tune the basic glyph into even more formidable versions. However, the curse has eluded a cure for over three centuries (since it's inception), but it's presence has sought to further and deepen an understanding of Arcane Geometry and any subject burdened by it's presence must apply themselves to prolonged study and research from those geometers who specialize in the painful disease. One of the most potent forms of relieving agent is an extract from the plant Monkshood, or Wolfsbane, which in and of it's self is an extremely dangerous poison and those afflicted constantly walk the fine line between pain and death. The pain of Sigilbane is so overwhelming that nearly all those who have contracted it either commit suicide or quick means at death by another's hand, all those afflicted with Sigilbane are always addicted to painkillers of some form. Joss carries with him auto injectors full of morphine to help alleviate the pain.
Equipment: *
Wands: Most geometers find it much more simple to use the pointed end of a wand to gesture the somatic components of geometric spells, due to the fact that Arcane Geometry requires a considerable amount of precision versus regular arcane components. Joss is no exception and his collection of wands, for mere somatic gestures and their magical properties, is almost as extensive as his arsenal of known spells. He tends to favor straight, smooth shafts over their more common gnarled variants. However, is known to often suffer comfort in exchange for the more powerful gnarled shafts when the need arises, and one of his most commonly used wands is made of gnarled oak.
Savnok, Wand of the Psimancer: *
Spellbooks: In addition with Joss's familiarity of the Pallis library he also houses a huge storehouse of personal research data at his apartment in the city of Regulus--the astral port city that sits adjacent to the material realm, Terra Cognito, and it's several other less known material brethren. As far as spellbooks go Joss has hundreds of regular arcane source books for his geometric spells. Incomplete as of 11/7/11
.
Description: Pending: 11/7/11--
See Picture for a basic outline of what the character looks like and assume he's wearing whatever my avatar is, because that's how I do it. Actual description pending.
Notes:
* From the author: As of this character's profile release into the public journal Joss's equipment section is still as of yet incomplete. I apologize tremendously if any confusion arises from a lack of description of weaponry, spell books, or other odd and end equipment you may see Joss with that does not have proper descriptions here. I as a role player, especially a combatant, understand how insanely annoying it is for a player to make up some random a** "all-powerful" weapon on the spot. That being said I will do my very best to ensure that if any role play escalates into combat Joss will only use the weapons and spell books that he has listed here in this profile. While I don't plan to ever have Joss in a situation where his life is threatened, if such an event occurs I will make note of the fact that Joss has two other wands, an additional spell book, and a short sword. All of these, soon to be common, items are of a magical design and I will at the very least offer you a brief description of the items not listed on this page followed by a date at which time they were added to this disclaimer, so as not to seem unfair. You may also notice that these dates may not correlate with the release of this profile, or their dates edited. That is because I have the profiles saved onto my computer as an added bit of security.
Short sword of Anchored Teleportation -- Basic outline, Yet Unnamed
Vestige Bound Spell Book of Pact Magic -- Intelligent Magic Spellbook, Yet Unnamed
Sigilkeeper's Wand -- Wand of Geometers, Yet Unnamed
Savnok, Wand of the Psimancer -- Description finished but pending (I wrote it on paper and haven't transposed it yet.
Gnarled Wand of Evocation -- Evocation Wand, Yet Unnamed
** Note on Teleportation and Blinking: It is commonly regarded that teleportation is a form of power playing, something that I accredit to players emulation of Dragon Ball Z characters (who are all ridiculously overpowered creations anyway) that disappeared and then reappeared directly behind an opponent. It is important, I think, to clear up the fact that Dragon Ball Z characters never actually disappeared and then reappeared again. Though it is true that some of the characters on that show could teleport, including the protagonist (See 1:37-1:44), I feel that it needs to be understood that in battles like the one between the protagonist and the villan (See 2:25-2:29) the two characters are not actually teleporting; instead they are just moving too fast to be caught by the naked eye. At a glance this difference may seem trivial, but it is not, especially when it is common for players of a RP to have extraordinary abilities like inhuman speed and teleportation. Inhuman speed and teleportation by themselves should never be considered a power play if the player accounts for his vulnerability. Which leads me to my point.
The reason that teleportation (and the less common, more annoying act of blinking) is considered power playing is of course due to the fact that it is implied, though untrue, that disappearing leaves the character immune to attack until he reappears. So that makes me beg the question, "Where do they go once they disappear?" Logic dictates that, even in a fantasy setting, a character can not simply vanish, turn into nothing, and then reappear again where he so wishes with out in some way, shape, or form carrying his body from one place to another--that notion is by definition a power play because it leaves the character impune from attack or invulnerable after vanishing. However, the ability to disappear from one realm of existence, appear in a different existence, and reappear in the original realm of existence but somewhere else is not a power play--by definition. This is because your body is accounted for (unlike the original example). If you phase from existence, appear in a parallel realm that has some sort of difference in time that allows you to quickly get to where you are going ,and then reappear in that spot seconds later in the existence from which you vanished from. That means that you are of course vulnerable in the realm that you have to travel through to get to you new position--which is not power playing. A character that is accounted for in the example of remarkable speed is free from the definition of a power play in a similar way, just because he is moving so fast that he cannot be seen doesn't change the fact that he is still vulnerable. So where does a teleporting or blinking character go?
Cosmology affects combat because, even in a fantasy world, logic dictates that there must be some medium through which a character has to travel through to get from one place to another, even instantaneously. The answer is simple, and already worked in to the most basic cosmologies among fantasy role players. The answer is the Ethereal Realm or Plane--though it can go by a multitude of different names and be understood in different ways, commonly including Purgatory and The Spirit World. The Ethereal Plane is a place of existence that overlaps all other planes, except for realms like Heaven and Hell where it meshes seamlessly (and even without an Ethereal Plane of existence there are ways to possibly bend space and time to get from one place to another if necessary, but that's a whole lot of complicated scientific bullshit that I as a fantasy writer can explain much better with magic and logic, than with science and theory. Simply bending space and time doesn't necessarily make you invulnerable either).
In the Ethereal Plane time stands completely still and it is a foggy, bland parody of the world you're in currently (sometimes more grandiose, or more barren, depending), and it is the home of ghosts and other beings capable of teleporting naturally, like the spider-esque, quasi-intelligent Ethereal Stalker that hunts it's prey in the material realm but lives in the Ethereal Plane. In the Material Realm the Ethereal Plane is invisible, but in the Etheral Plane all inanimate, non-living objects appear as tangible entities (hence the stipulation for the Anchor Teleportation spell). Teleportation spells are designed to make a character travel quickly and unconsciously through the ethereal realm until his destination is reached and he returns to the Material Realm(these spells always have a safe-fail to bring the character back to the Material Realm if he is threatened or wounded in the Ethereal Realm), blink spells simply access the Ethereal Realm for brief windows of time, phasing characters in and out of the ethereal plane until the spell is expired.
