application - realityshifted
Player Name: Maggie
Player LJ: sykkea
Email and/or AIM: AIM = TharianDream
Timezone: US/central
Character: High Wizard Thenris, Eithan Paine. ... Or, you know, just Eithan Paine. Fuck the Order, power to the people
Series: Original - Meridian Uprising
Deviance: d1
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Species: Half-breed: demon and vampire (he claims the demonic moreso)
Appearance: Eithan is a tall (6'2) and skinny guy. He's grown out of the awkward-gangly-teenage-stick stage and finally has some tone to his body, but he's still thin. Think an average runner's build - especially since that's his exercise of choice (why would a mage need to body-build? Seriously.) His hair is naturally red, long enough to hang in his face, and has the whole straight, segmented and spiky thing going on. His eyes are a deep red, a sign of his race. His skin is bordering on pale, but he spends enough time outside that he has a faint tan (his body gave up on instantly burning after a while).
Psychology:
Eithan is... a piece of work. Okay, more seriously:
Eithan is fierce, energetic and to quote one of his friends: "a hot-headed fireball". His reactions to anything are usually on the extreme side of the spectrum, though often, this is just to get a rise out of other people. He values emotion and intuition over pure, by-the-books logic, and he likes to see people react accordingly - especially if they typically wouldn't. He also has no problem telling people how he feels... or what he thinks about them. His mouth gets him into a mess of trouble, especially with women in his world, since he's not exactly much of a shining gentleman until he actually decides to be. He isn't quite at the level "troll", just a troublemaker.
Still, most of the time, he's a happy person. Just as he likes to share his extremes, he likes to make other people happy, too. He's a singer/songwriter and plays guitar in his spare time, and it isn't just for his sake. Meridia needs more bright points, and he likes to think that his playing in the coffee shop on open mic night brings needed smiles to people's faces. He's also silly and a bit of a clown, especially around children. He'd be the cool babysitter you always hope your parents will call again, but unbeknownst to you, they're not going to do so because he left a few dents in the door...
He regards strangers as potential friends until proven otherwise. He can read people pretty well and is a strangely good judge of character, so if you're not the kind of person he wants to be around, he'll catch on pretty quick and steer clear. Then again, if you're of the evil variety, he might try to teach you a lesson instead - especially if you threaten him, anyone he's close to, or an innocent person. He has zero tolerance for bullying, though he does believe in friendly teasing and poking fun at people for laughs. He does stop when he realizes he's crossed a line, but it might take him a push or two too far to realize he's already crossed that line.
Of course, there's always a flip side. A full year of his life was filled with nothing but death, destruction, betrayal, and cruel political games all concentrated into one huge fiasco that, yes, lasted that whole year. It left him hardened (and vaguely murderous) for a while, and to an extent he still is, especially if you attempt to talk to him about the Wizarding Order... but more on them later. It's also left him with a sense of duty, one that he's not going to back away from, but he's come to realize that this doesn't mean he needs to be stonefaced and fierce in the meanwhile. He's come away from the mess more determined and a whole hell of a lot more mature than he was before, but mature doesn't have to mean serious and boring, does it~?
Other Skills/Abilities:
Eithan has control over fire magic with a special emphasis on explosions. So basically, he could fling a fire ball at you, or fling a fire ball at you that will blow up in your face.
Non-combat related, Eithan is a talented musician. His "weapons" of choice are guitar and vocals, but he pokes around with other stuff when he's bored and it just happens to be there.
Being a half-breed doesn't give him much of an edge as far as intrinsic race qualities are concerned since he mostly got the short end of the stick in inherited traits there (see weaknesses), but his demonic heritage gave him a sort of sixth sense for magic in things or people nearby.
Other Weaknesses:
Squishy! Just like a human. He also sucks at hand-to-hand combat physically, since he's more magically inclined than physically inclined. He knows how to blow things up, then run away if needed. Still, if you can catch him, good on you, but I wish you luck because you might be about to lose a limb in a rather volatile manner.
There are other weaknesses due to his status as a half-breed. He managed to get quite a few negatives from both sides of his heritage: due to being a demon, he's incredibly susceptible to light magic. Vampirism means that he has to drink blood (at least once a few months- would be more, but again, half-breed) and can't touch silver without having a pretty bad allergic-like reaction.
His magic requires incantations that necessitate perfect control of tone, pitch, emphasis and etc. lest the spell change entirely. So if you can shut him up or get him to slip on his words, that could be disastrous. Though... that may or may not be disastrous in your favor... depends on the slip. Eheh.
History:
** It may help to read the Reality Description first before trying to slog through this... things would probably make more sense. **
Eithan was born in the city of Tenec in Meridia, the son of a noble vampiric father and a demonic mother from the other realm, Tharia. When a representative from The Order informed them that Eithan was capable of magic, neither of his parents knew what to expect when they promised to let them train their son when he grew older. They had another child, Arianna, when Eithan was four years old. His parents should have grown suspicious of the Order's motives when, after they determined Arianna was not at all magically inclined, they offered to "take care of her" anyway. They politely declined, still none the wiser.
Since Eithan's mother was from the other realm, they were able to jump-start his magic training at a young age by allowing him to take small, trivial lessons under a magic-user there. He proved to be proficient enough in basic control, and it came to a point that his teacher couldn't do anything for him that Eithan couldn't do on his own with a little bit of fooling around, and that's just what he did. By the time he was ten, he'd set his room on fire at least five times, made an absolute charred mess out of the gardens at least seven times, and magically aggravated the hell out of his little sister, Arianna, more times than possibly be counted.
He lived a normal life for a noble's son and heir until he was ten years old, at which point the Order arrived with the name of his new master: Garreth. Garreth quickly became like another father figure to him. He learned his specialization, which just meant that instead of setting things on fire, he now had the option to blow them up instead. He put this to the best of uses, of course, by which I mean he constantly thought up new ways to terrorize Arianna. Though she wasn't pleased with his magical ability outwardly, all of his family was proud of him and the progress he was showing.
He had friends, of course - in both realms, even, since his family had influence enough that they were free to travel between them whenever they wished (and besides, his mother was Tharian). Some were more... interesting than others, and most were Tharian. When he was fifteen, he met his best friend, a demon named Travis Byora, in a bar in the Tharian city-state of Sennec. Both had various ways of getting themselves in trouble (Travis by virtue of being an assassin for hire, and Eithan by virtue of... being... Eithan), and they continually bailed each other out whenever possible.
When he was sixteen, he met Valerie, a human from a small town that he can't even remember the name of anymore. Their first meeting did not go well - he was being his typical jokester self and called her such things as "boring," "un-fun," and "stick in the mud"... and she retaliated by grabbing his ear and twisting and pulling on it while she interrogated him and generally lectured him about being an absolute moron. Love at first sight, am I right? Negative first impressions aside, they grew close. Any time Eithan needed a listening ear, good advice, a reality check or a good smack upside the head (metaphorically or literally), Valerie was always there for him. Eithan isn't sure exactly when he fell for her, but he knows that he did, and that's all that matters to him. (Meanwhile, Travis is pretty damn sure it was during the ear-pulling interrogation. Eithan denies this, on the grounds that it "$&%@ing hurt, okay?!")
When he was seventeen, his master finally told him the truth of what would happen on his eighteenth birthday.
He fought this revelation tooth and nail -- planning escape routes, thinking up elaborate ways to fake his own death (or his master's)... He eventually ran away three months before his birthday. He traveled the whole of Meridia, playing his guitar and entertaining the masses whenever he needed to make enough money to keep going. He knew that he couldn't keep running, though, and decided to make one last trip before he returned to the inevitable. He went to Tharia, found Valerie, and spend the evening talking with her. He kissed her (finally!), and asked her to wait for him, determined to come back to her no matter what happened.
The battle between Eithan and his master lasted two days, purely out of Eithan's stubbornness and downright refusal to do it. Garreth, however, was completely under the impression that killing Eithan would be a favor to him, that Eithan wouldn't have to endure what he had. Eventually, Eithan had no choice but to kill Garreth to save his own life. Even then, he did so "indirectly," by detonating a hillside, thereby instigating a rock slide that carried Garreth away with it. He was given the title High Wizard Thenris, and then hauled off to complete his training.
That year consisted of one horrible trial after another. If he spoke out of turn, they punished him. If he didn't get a new spell right, they'd rather harshly "inspire" him to do better. Worse than any of that, though, was the fact that the new spells he was learning were incredibly, obscenely powerful... and he was expected to use them to kill innocent people, or the Order would see to it that he wouldn't wake up the next morning. Eithan complied, but he loathed himself for it. He contemplated suicide a few times, and even entertained the thought of trying to run away just so they would kill him. Though when he thought about his friends, family... When he thought about Valerie... he found strength. One night, he made the decision to stop entertaining thoughts of running or finding easy ways out. He was determined to survive this ordeal, and when it was over, he'd make up for what he'd done. In the meanwhile, he was not going to give the Order the pleasure of killing off another "weakling," and if he had anything to say about it, their doing this to him was going to come back to bite them in the ass. He would find a way to pay them back, to bring them down. But for now, he had to comply. He forced himself to bottle away his emotions, and he faced the remainder of his study year head-on.
When he returned home, he learned that his father was ready to give the title of head of the household over to the next generation. Eithan declined, saying Arianna was far more suited for it. Besides, she wanted it, and he didn't. He had enough power at his fingertips, why would he want to bother with political power? No, he didn't want that kind of attention. Most of all, though, he didn't want the Order with that sort of direct influence over the family name. He would not give them that right.
His first act of direct rebellion against the Order was to tell his family and friends exactly what he had done and what the Order expected of their people. They wanted so badly to do something about it, but Eithan warned them away from it and told them to keep quiet - that he'd do something about it when the time is right and they could help out then. He was most afraid of what Valerie would say... but she stayed by his side, comforted him just like she used to, and helped beat into his thick, stubborn skull that he was not a monster, not some puppet of the Order, and he would pull this off someday. The end of that conversation was the first time he'd allowed himself to cry since his eighteenth birthday. It was also the beginning of his emotional recovery. Slowly, he returned to the energetic, fun-loving smartass he was before... for the most part.
Now, ten months after returning from his training, Eithan is actively engaging in his second act of direct rebellion against the order: he is helping to rebuild the cities he was forced to help to destroy in the first place, and reaching out to families of those he was ordered to kill. His life is slowly being salvaged - it's hard to completely let something like this go, but he knows he can't dwell on it unless he plans to do something constructive about it. He's laying low for now, never giving his real name (or, heaven forbid, title) to anyone he's aiding... so as far as the Order is concerned, he's just another high wizard in their ranks. In the woodworks, though, an uprising is brewing, and damned if Eithan isn't going to be right there in the middle of it... even if it kills him.
Reality Description:
The Realms
Eithan's reality is actually split into two worlds, or "realms," as they're called. It isn't known exactly how they are connected, but different constellations in the night sky suggest they're at the very least not in the same galaxy. A parallel dimension? Maybe. At this point, no one in either realm knows.
Tharia is the more "advanced" of the realms. For the most part, it seems comparable to 1990s technology, except with fewer cars and more creative weaponry. There are two continents, each its own country. As a whole, Tharia is peaceful enough, with the exception of a handful of constantly warring city-states within the country of Sennis, but everyone sort of ignores them anyway since they haven't stopped bickering in centuries and it's not going to stop anytime soon. Tharia is mostly inhabited by humans, with the second largest race (and not by much) being the demons. The angels are few in number and keep to themselves. No one talks about them much, and they definitely don't try to reach out and help them - angels are too proud and take charity as an insult. Racial tension is nonexistent, for the most part. (You know, there's always some of those people, yes?)
Meridia, Eithan's homerealm, is way less developed. It's a small planet, so far as they know, consisting of one small continent divided into several states. Rule is via "monarchy," with a twist: each race (of the three major races) has its own royal family: the humans, the demons and the vampires. What laws a person follows has nothing to do with where they live, each person must follow the laws of their race. It's not always effective, and it's definitely not easy, but it's worked for the longest time with no signs of change. The demons get along with everyone, but the humans and the vampires don't like each other all that much.
Travel between realms is known very widely in Tharia, but only the royalty and nobility of Meridia have even heard of Tharia's existence. As such, travel between the two is very, very minimal. Besides, Tharia has no need for anything in Meridia. Meridia, however, can easily benefit from travelers from Tharia, so there are portals set up between the two, created at first with magic from the best Meridian wizards, and later perfected by Tharian scientists.
The Races
Humans are analogous to... well, us. Easy.
Somewhere along the evolutionary path ages ago, demons evolved slightly differently: built more for running than the other races, with red-colored eyes (no exceptions here) and slightly extended canines, essentially fangs. Some have been able to channel their magic enough to tap into a "full form" at will, with batlike wings, horns and enhanced speed/reflexes. (Eithan is incapable of this, since he's a half-breed.)
The Vampiric race became its own race way later, after the outbreak of a venom that changed the genetic and biochemical makeup of of those that caught it (via prolonged exposure to a vampire's saliva, blood, other bodily fluids). They do thirst for blood, and silver is poison to them - fatal if ingested/put into the body, horribly uncomfortable to touch (think of an allergic reaction) and bordering on burning if contact is maintained for too long. However, the garlic thing is a joke and they don't have to be invited inside. Once exposed to the venom, usually by being bitten, it takes 24 hours to run its course in the body. In this time period, it can be cured, but good luck finding the antidote. After that, you're stuck. The venom also passes to children, so it is possible to be born a vampire. Since conversion is possible, there are very, very strict laws in place by the royal family to keep everyone in check. Those who turn another without consent are punished, usually very harshly. Note: It's possible to feed on someone and not turn them.
There are also a few elves in Meridia, but they are few in number and follow the rule of the humans as they have no royal family of their own.
Magic
In both realms, the existence of elemental magic is commonplace. In Meridia, it's far more integrated into life and culture. Tharia treats magic like just another profession or skill, though, so it isn't quite as common but it's by no means unknown. If you're Tharian and you discover you have magic, then that's awesome, good for you, etc. Now carry on with your life. In Meridia, however, it works differently.
The Wizarding Order of Valeya is a powerful organization of wizards. They have just as much rule and control over their magic-users as the royal families do, and no, that is not a good thing. A few mages manage to slip through the cracks and avoid the Order's notice, and some other mages dodge rule by the Order just because they're not useful enough for the Order to waste their time with them. There is a hierarchy within the Order: wizards are apprentices, high wizards are the masters that have passed all of the Orders trials and tests, grand wizards have completely proven their loyalty (usually through slimy politics, secrets, or whatever else) and serve directly under the leader, and the Grand High Wizard... well, is the leader. The term "mage" is just sort of an all-encompassing term for magic users, whether they're involved with the Order or not.
At birth, a representative from the Order will see if the child is capable of magic. If not, they leave, but they make a note of it "just in case". If so, they return when the child is 10 and enlist him as an apprentice under a high wizard. At 18, the training is over and the worst part begins.
The first trial of a wizard is to defeat his master... and kill him. This makes him a high wizard. Once that's done, the Order will spend a full year teaching the high wizard more advanced spells and expect them to be used to the Order's benefit - most of these trials/tests include killing someone that defies the Order in some way, killing a mage that isn't even in the Order (that is to say, "killing off the weaklings"), or assisting in destroying cities that are suspected to be against them. Failure to comply means they will kill you on the spot. The whole thing is very life-or-death. Most people do not survive, either because they have a conscience or they're just not strong enough.
After a year, if the high wizard survives, he is allowed to return to his former life. ... As if that's such an easy thing after a year of hell and torture. They are expected to respond whenever the Order comes calling. Because the Order is typically very vigilant in eradicating wizards or high wizards that won't comply, it's exceedingly rare that anyone who survives the whole ordeal isn't loyal to the cause (and therefore, a power-hungry, cold-blooded killer). Those against the Order who have managed to pass, though, are incredibly hush-hush about it for fear of their lives. Most don't even know about each other.
Magic itself is intrinsic to a person. No one knows if it's hereditary or random, there is evidence to support both theories. From the start, a mage pretty much knows what their ruling element is: fire, water, wind, earth, light or darkness. Through training, they realize what sort of specialization they have. For instance, someone may be able to create vacuums instead of gusts of wind, or maybe blades of ice instead of a splash of water. In Eithan's case, instead of setting something on fire, he can just blow it up. Spells are cast through incantations, and incantations are highly sensitive to tone, inflection, pitch, emphasis... basically, putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable could be the difference between a fire ball and a fire cube. Or, it could be the difference between a fire ball and oh dear God the couch is on fire and so is my hair aaaaah. ... Basically, you have to be extremely careful.
Other Interesting/Important Things
* Psychics exist. The Order actively hates and hunts psychics. It's unknown where this hatred stems from, but it's definitely vicious.
* Tharia and Meridia not only have the same languages spoken today (Tharian is the same language as Meridian), but they also share the same ancient languages, such as ancient Demonic and Heavenscript (called ancient Angelic in Tharia). This lends a bit more credibility to the parallel-universes theory running around.
* Yes, there are dragons and gryphons and other various magical creatures. They aren't ridiculously rare, but they're not exactly as common as various fuzzy woodland creatures are.
* There are many different religions in both worlds. Eithan happens to follow the most common religion in both worlds: he believes in the Goddess Miina and follows her church's doctrine... about as strictly as a Christmas-and-Easter-only Christian follows theirs. Which is to say... he believes it, but he doesn't think on it much and it's not exactly a huge ~thing~ in his life.
Important NPCs
* Valerie Tanaka - Eithan's girlfriend, soon to be fiancee once he stops being a worry-wart and friggin' proposes already. She's serious, level-headed... though she has a bit of a sadistic streak. She also happens to be a very talented healer.
* Arianna Paine - Eithan's little sister. They fight constantly, and still engage in ridiculous, childish pranks, bickering, hair-pulling, throwing things... the whole nine yards, even though they're nineteen and fifteen respectively. Still, they love each other.
* Travis Byora - Eithan's best friend, an assassin for hire. Has a pretty carefree, c'est-la-vie attitude most of the time.
* Grand High Wizard Lunnec, Byron - The man behind the Wizarding Order, a cold and calculating individual who thinks the world is his own personal toy chest. Eithan wants to live to see the day that this man is killed for all that he's done. He'd also like to be the one to do it, but he'd settle for just witnessing it.
More to come with canon updates.
Third Person Writing Sample:
Eithan sat at the table in the corner, face-down, arms dangling by his side. He was exhausted, and really, he didn't care who knew. Every few moments, he might let out a heavy sigh or a tired mumble along the lines of, "No more buildin', please..." but otherwise, he was still, silent. He had an hour before he was expected to start his performance, and he was determined to take that hour to not do a damned thing.
Well, okay, maybe he'd have some cake. The problem was, that required getting up and ordering some, and that just seemed like too much effort at the moment. Decisions, decisions...
As if on cue, the clinking of a ceramic plate against the table made him look up. Travis shook his head, grinning, and shoved the small slice toward him. "You look like you just got hit by a bus," he said. He laughed when Eithan made a face at him in return. "Ginny said to give this to you." He jerked his thumb back toward the front counter, where the barista was waving at him.
Eithan smiled at her, then at Travis, then descended upon the cake like an orphaned kid who hadn't eaten in days. "Dear Goddess, man," he said through a mouth half-full of cake, "th' two of you 're lifesavers. Plain as that."
"It's a living," Travis answered with a shrug. "So what exactly has you so run-down?"
"I've been reconstructin' Barec City since just before sunrise. I mean, we got a lot done, but it's still nowhere near okay, yeah?" He sighed. "Sometimes I think I'm never gonna really finish this whole... makin' amends thing."
"Sure you will. They're letting you help, right? That's a step."
"Yeah, and I've made some allies for it, too. Which is good." Eithan wasn't smiling. His eating finally slowed as his mind decided to spin on itself, and he was reduced to simply poking the squishy, red cake absently with his fork. "But, I dunno, man, it doesn't feel like enough."
"It'll get better. It's only been, what, a few months?"
"Yeah. Long way to go, huh?"
Travis said nothing, but Eithan didn't mind. He took another few seconds to feel sorry for himself, then shook himself out of it with a grin. "So hey, what did you do today? Get into trouble? Piss off your girlfriend again?"
"You must be psychic," Travis deadpanned, then groaned.
Eithan laughed. "Dude, seriously? Maybe if you stopped flirtin' with anything with a rack..."
"It wasn't that," Travis protested, crossing his arms defensively, "I just..." he sighed, exasperated, then muttered through gritted teeth, "apparently can't cuddle properly."
"Are you fuckin' serious." When Travis nodded, Eithan very nearly tipped his chair backward, he was laughing so hard.
"Hey, man, it's not funny! She's crazy!"
"Are you kiddin'? That's hilarious! And you knew she was crazy when she told you she likes whips and chains."
"Can you blame me?"
"No, but I'm gonna dedicate my next psycho-girlfriend-themed song to you, man."
Travis reached over to sock him in the shoulder, but Eithan scooted his chair backward to escape the blow. Unfortunately, the legs weren't sturdy enough, and his laughter was interrupted by a startled yelp as the chair finally did tip backwards and his rear came in contact with the floor. Of course, then he was back to laughing, and didn't even bother getting up.
Travis shook his head, grinning. "Well, at least you're awake now. And smiling again. Don't worry me like that, huh?"
Eithan just grinned up at him. "Yeah man, you're a great friend, pushin' me outta my chair so I'm not too tired to play guitar."
"You're welcome."
Eithan finally stood, smiling for the first time since he'd entered the coffee shop as he set the chair back upright and brushed himself off. Yeah, he really did have a long way to go before everything was back to how it should be. Really, he was pretty sure it would never completely go back to normal. It couldn't, not after what he'd been forced to do. He had his friends, though, and that would help him through this. Sometimes, it just took him getting knocked onto his ass for him to remember.
Player LJ: sykkea
Email and/or AIM: AIM = TharianDream
Timezone: US/central
Character: High Wizard Thenris, Eithan Paine. ... Or, you know, just Eithan Paine. Fuck the Order, power to the people
Series: Original - Meridian Uprising
Deviance: d1
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Species: Half-breed: demon and vampire (he claims the demonic moreso)
Appearance: Eithan is a tall (6'2) and skinny guy. He's grown out of the awkward-gangly-teenage-stick stage and finally has some tone to his body, but he's still thin. Think an average runner's build - especially since that's his exercise of choice (why would a mage need to body-build? Seriously.) His hair is naturally red, long enough to hang in his face, and has the whole straight, segmented and spiky thing going on. His eyes are a deep red, a sign of his race. His skin is bordering on pale, but he spends enough time outside that he has a faint tan (his body gave up on instantly burning after a while).
Psychology:
Eithan is... a piece of work. Okay, more seriously:
Eithan is fierce, energetic and to quote one of his friends: "a hot-headed fireball". His reactions to anything are usually on the extreme side of the spectrum, though often, this is just to get a rise out of other people. He values emotion and intuition over pure, by-the-books logic, and he likes to see people react accordingly - especially if they typically wouldn't. He also has no problem telling people how he feels... or what he thinks about them. His mouth gets him into a mess of trouble, especially with women in his world, since he's not exactly much of a shining gentleman until he actually decides to be. He isn't quite at the level "troll", just a troublemaker.
Still, most of the time, he's a happy person. Just as he likes to share his extremes, he likes to make other people happy, too. He's a singer/songwriter and plays guitar in his spare time, and it isn't just for his sake. Meridia needs more bright points, and he likes to think that his playing in the coffee shop on open mic night brings needed smiles to people's faces. He's also silly and a bit of a clown, especially around children. He'd be the cool babysitter you always hope your parents will call again, but unbeknownst to you, they're not going to do so because he left a few dents in the door...
He regards strangers as potential friends until proven otherwise. He can read people pretty well and is a strangely good judge of character, so if you're not the kind of person he wants to be around, he'll catch on pretty quick and steer clear. Then again, if you're of the evil variety, he might try to teach you a lesson instead - especially if you threaten him, anyone he's close to, or an innocent person. He has zero tolerance for bullying, though he does believe in friendly teasing and poking fun at people for laughs. He does stop when he realizes he's crossed a line, but it might take him a push or two too far to realize he's already crossed that line.
Of course, there's always a flip side. A full year of his life was filled with nothing but death, destruction, betrayal, and cruel political games all concentrated into one huge fiasco that, yes, lasted that whole year. It left him hardened (and vaguely murderous) for a while, and to an extent he still is, especially if you attempt to talk to him about the Wizarding Order... but more on them later. It's also left him with a sense of duty, one that he's not going to back away from, but he's come to realize that this doesn't mean he needs to be stonefaced and fierce in the meanwhile. He's come away from the mess more determined and a whole hell of a lot more mature than he was before, but mature doesn't have to mean serious and boring, does it~?
Other Skills/Abilities:
Eithan has control over fire magic with a special emphasis on explosions. So basically, he could fling a fire ball at you, or fling a fire ball at you that will blow up in your face.
Non-combat related, Eithan is a talented musician. His "weapons" of choice are guitar and vocals, but he pokes around with other stuff when he's bored and it just happens to be there.
Being a half-breed doesn't give him much of an edge as far as intrinsic race qualities are concerned since he mostly got the short end of the stick in inherited traits there (see weaknesses), but his demonic heritage gave him a sort of sixth sense for magic in things or people nearby.
Other Weaknesses:
Squishy! Just like a human. He also sucks at hand-to-hand combat physically, since he's more magically inclined than physically inclined. He knows how to blow things up, then run away if needed. Still, if you can catch him, good on you, but I wish you luck because you might be about to lose a limb in a rather volatile manner.
There are other weaknesses due to his status as a half-breed. He managed to get quite a few negatives from both sides of his heritage: due to being a demon, he's incredibly susceptible to light magic. Vampirism means that he has to drink blood (at least once a few months- would be more, but again, half-breed) and can't touch silver without having a pretty bad allergic-like reaction.
His magic requires incantations that necessitate perfect control of tone, pitch, emphasis and etc. lest the spell change entirely. So if you can shut him up or get him to slip on his words, that could be disastrous. Though... that may or may not be disastrous in your favor... depends on the slip. Eheh.
History:
** It may help to read the Reality Description first before trying to slog through this... things would probably make more sense. **
Eithan was born in the city of Tenec in Meridia, the son of a noble vampiric father and a demonic mother from the other realm, Tharia. When a representative from The Order informed them that Eithan was capable of magic, neither of his parents knew what to expect when they promised to let them train their son when he grew older. They had another child, Arianna, when Eithan was four years old. His parents should have grown suspicious of the Order's motives when, after they determined Arianna was not at all magically inclined, they offered to "take care of her" anyway. They politely declined, still none the wiser.
Since Eithan's mother was from the other realm, they were able to jump-start his magic training at a young age by allowing him to take small, trivial lessons under a magic-user there. He proved to be proficient enough in basic control, and it came to a point that his teacher couldn't do anything for him that Eithan couldn't do on his own with a little bit of fooling around, and that's just what he did. By the time he was ten, he'd set his room on fire at least five times, made an absolute charred mess out of the gardens at least seven times, and magically aggravated the hell out of his little sister, Arianna, more times than possibly be counted.
He lived a normal life for a noble's son and heir until he was ten years old, at which point the Order arrived with the name of his new master: Garreth. Garreth quickly became like another father figure to him. He learned his specialization, which just meant that instead of setting things on fire, he now had the option to blow them up instead. He put this to the best of uses, of course, by which I mean he constantly thought up new ways to terrorize Arianna. Though she wasn't pleased with his magical ability outwardly, all of his family was proud of him and the progress he was showing.
He had friends, of course - in both realms, even, since his family had influence enough that they were free to travel between them whenever they wished (and besides, his mother was Tharian). Some were more... interesting than others, and most were Tharian. When he was fifteen, he met his best friend, a demon named Travis Byora, in a bar in the Tharian city-state of Sennec. Both had various ways of getting themselves in trouble (Travis by virtue of being an assassin for hire, and Eithan by virtue of... being... Eithan), and they continually bailed each other out whenever possible.
When he was sixteen, he met Valerie, a human from a small town that he can't even remember the name of anymore. Their first meeting did not go well - he was being his typical jokester self and called her such things as "boring," "un-fun," and "stick in the mud"... and she retaliated by grabbing his ear and twisting and pulling on it while she interrogated him and generally lectured him about being an absolute moron. Love at first sight, am I right? Negative first impressions aside, they grew close. Any time Eithan needed a listening ear, good advice, a reality check or a good smack upside the head (metaphorically or literally), Valerie was always there for him. Eithan isn't sure exactly when he fell for her, but he knows that he did, and that's all that matters to him. (Meanwhile, Travis is pretty damn sure it was during the ear-pulling interrogation. Eithan denies this, on the grounds that it "$&%@ing hurt, okay?!")
When he was seventeen, his master finally told him the truth of what would happen on his eighteenth birthday.
He fought this revelation tooth and nail -- planning escape routes, thinking up elaborate ways to fake his own death (or his master's)... He eventually ran away three months before his birthday. He traveled the whole of Meridia, playing his guitar and entertaining the masses whenever he needed to make enough money to keep going. He knew that he couldn't keep running, though, and decided to make one last trip before he returned to the inevitable. He went to Tharia, found Valerie, and spend the evening talking with her. He kissed her (finally!), and asked her to wait for him, determined to come back to her no matter what happened.
The battle between Eithan and his master lasted two days, purely out of Eithan's stubbornness and downright refusal to do it. Garreth, however, was completely under the impression that killing Eithan would be a favor to him, that Eithan wouldn't have to endure what he had. Eventually, Eithan had no choice but to kill Garreth to save his own life. Even then, he did so "indirectly," by detonating a hillside, thereby instigating a rock slide that carried Garreth away with it. He was given the title High Wizard Thenris, and then hauled off to complete his training.
That year consisted of one horrible trial after another. If he spoke out of turn, they punished him. If he didn't get a new spell right, they'd rather harshly "inspire" him to do better. Worse than any of that, though, was the fact that the new spells he was learning were incredibly, obscenely powerful... and he was expected to use them to kill innocent people, or the Order would see to it that he wouldn't wake up the next morning. Eithan complied, but he loathed himself for it. He contemplated suicide a few times, and even entertained the thought of trying to run away just so they would kill him. Though when he thought about his friends, family... When he thought about Valerie... he found strength. One night, he made the decision to stop entertaining thoughts of running or finding easy ways out. He was determined to survive this ordeal, and when it was over, he'd make up for what he'd done. In the meanwhile, he was not going to give the Order the pleasure of killing off another "weakling," and if he had anything to say about it, their doing this to him was going to come back to bite them in the ass. He would find a way to pay them back, to bring them down. But for now, he had to comply. He forced himself to bottle away his emotions, and he faced the remainder of his study year head-on.
When he returned home, he learned that his father was ready to give the title of head of the household over to the next generation. Eithan declined, saying Arianna was far more suited for it. Besides, she wanted it, and he didn't. He had enough power at his fingertips, why would he want to bother with political power? No, he didn't want that kind of attention. Most of all, though, he didn't want the Order with that sort of direct influence over the family name. He would not give them that right.
His first act of direct rebellion against the Order was to tell his family and friends exactly what he had done and what the Order expected of their people. They wanted so badly to do something about it, but Eithan warned them away from it and told them to keep quiet - that he'd do something about it when the time is right and they could help out then. He was most afraid of what Valerie would say... but she stayed by his side, comforted him just like she used to, and helped beat into his thick, stubborn skull that he was not a monster, not some puppet of the Order, and he would pull this off someday. The end of that conversation was the first time he'd allowed himself to cry since his eighteenth birthday. It was also the beginning of his emotional recovery. Slowly, he returned to the energetic, fun-loving smartass he was before... for the most part.
Now, ten months after returning from his training, Eithan is actively engaging in his second act of direct rebellion against the order: he is helping to rebuild the cities he was forced to help to destroy in the first place, and reaching out to families of those he was ordered to kill. His life is slowly being salvaged - it's hard to completely let something like this go, but he knows he can't dwell on it unless he plans to do something constructive about it. He's laying low for now, never giving his real name (or, heaven forbid, title) to anyone he's aiding... so as far as the Order is concerned, he's just another high wizard in their ranks. In the woodworks, though, an uprising is brewing, and damned if Eithan isn't going to be right there in the middle of it... even if it kills him.
Reality Description:
The Realms
Eithan's reality is actually split into two worlds, or "realms," as they're called. It isn't known exactly how they are connected, but different constellations in the night sky suggest they're at the very least not in the same galaxy. A parallel dimension? Maybe. At this point, no one in either realm knows.
Tharia is the more "advanced" of the realms. For the most part, it seems comparable to 1990s technology, except with fewer cars and more creative weaponry. There are two continents, each its own country. As a whole, Tharia is peaceful enough, with the exception of a handful of constantly warring city-states within the country of Sennis, but everyone sort of ignores them anyway since they haven't stopped bickering in centuries and it's not going to stop anytime soon. Tharia is mostly inhabited by humans, with the second largest race (and not by much) being the demons. The angels are few in number and keep to themselves. No one talks about them much, and they definitely don't try to reach out and help them - angels are too proud and take charity as an insult. Racial tension is nonexistent, for the most part. (You know, there's always some of those people, yes?)
Meridia, Eithan's homerealm, is way less developed. It's a small planet, so far as they know, consisting of one small continent divided into several states. Rule is via "monarchy," with a twist: each race (of the three major races) has its own royal family: the humans, the demons and the vampires. What laws a person follows has nothing to do with where they live, each person must follow the laws of their race. It's not always effective, and it's definitely not easy, but it's worked for the longest time with no signs of change. The demons get along with everyone, but the humans and the vampires don't like each other all that much.
Travel between realms is known very widely in Tharia, but only the royalty and nobility of Meridia have even heard of Tharia's existence. As such, travel between the two is very, very minimal. Besides, Tharia has no need for anything in Meridia. Meridia, however, can easily benefit from travelers from Tharia, so there are portals set up between the two, created at first with magic from the best Meridian wizards, and later perfected by Tharian scientists.
The Races
Humans are analogous to... well, us. Easy.
Somewhere along the evolutionary path ages ago, demons evolved slightly differently: built more for running than the other races, with red-colored eyes (no exceptions here) and slightly extended canines, essentially fangs. Some have been able to channel their magic enough to tap into a "full form" at will, with batlike wings, horns and enhanced speed/reflexes. (Eithan is incapable of this, since he's a half-breed.)
The Vampiric race became its own race way later, after the outbreak of a venom that changed the genetic and biochemical makeup of of those that caught it (via prolonged exposure to a vampire's saliva, blood, other bodily fluids). They do thirst for blood, and silver is poison to them - fatal if ingested/put into the body, horribly uncomfortable to touch (think of an allergic reaction) and bordering on burning if contact is maintained for too long. However, the garlic thing is a joke and they don't have to be invited inside. Once exposed to the venom, usually by being bitten, it takes 24 hours to run its course in the body. In this time period, it can be cured, but good luck finding the antidote. After that, you're stuck. The venom also passes to children, so it is possible to be born a vampire. Since conversion is possible, there are very, very strict laws in place by the royal family to keep everyone in check. Those who turn another without consent are punished, usually very harshly. Note: It's possible to feed on someone and not turn them.
There are also a few elves in Meridia, but they are few in number and follow the rule of the humans as they have no royal family of their own.
Magic
In both realms, the existence of elemental magic is commonplace. In Meridia, it's far more integrated into life and culture. Tharia treats magic like just another profession or skill, though, so it isn't quite as common but it's by no means unknown. If you're Tharian and you discover you have magic, then that's awesome, good for you, etc. Now carry on with your life. In Meridia, however, it works differently.
The Wizarding Order of Valeya is a powerful organization of wizards. They have just as much rule and control over their magic-users as the royal families do, and no, that is not a good thing. A few mages manage to slip through the cracks and avoid the Order's notice, and some other mages dodge rule by the Order just because they're not useful enough for the Order to waste their time with them. There is a hierarchy within the Order: wizards are apprentices, high wizards are the masters that have passed all of the Orders trials and tests, grand wizards have completely proven their loyalty (usually through slimy politics, secrets, or whatever else) and serve directly under the leader, and the Grand High Wizard... well, is the leader. The term "mage" is just sort of an all-encompassing term for magic users, whether they're involved with the Order or not.
At birth, a representative from the Order will see if the child is capable of magic. If not, they leave, but they make a note of it "just in case". If so, they return when the child is 10 and enlist him as an apprentice under a high wizard. At 18, the training is over and the worst part begins.
The first trial of a wizard is to defeat his master... and kill him. This makes him a high wizard. Once that's done, the Order will spend a full year teaching the high wizard more advanced spells and expect them to be used to the Order's benefit - most of these trials/tests include killing someone that defies the Order in some way, killing a mage that isn't even in the Order (that is to say, "killing off the weaklings"), or assisting in destroying cities that are suspected to be against them. Failure to comply means they will kill you on the spot. The whole thing is very life-or-death. Most people do not survive, either because they have a conscience or they're just not strong enough.
After a year, if the high wizard survives, he is allowed to return to his former life. ... As if that's such an easy thing after a year of hell and torture. They are expected to respond whenever the Order comes calling. Because the Order is typically very vigilant in eradicating wizards or high wizards that won't comply, it's exceedingly rare that anyone who survives the whole ordeal isn't loyal to the cause (and therefore, a power-hungry, cold-blooded killer). Those against the Order who have managed to pass, though, are incredibly hush-hush about it for fear of their lives. Most don't even know about each other.
Magic itself is intrinsic to a person. No one knows if it's hereditary or random, there is evidence to support both theories. From the start, a mage pretty much knows what their ruling element is: fire, water, wind, earth, light or darkness. Through training, they realize what sort of specialization they have. For instance, someone may be able to create vacuums instead of gusts of wind, or maybe blades of ice instead of a splash of water. In Eithan's case, instead of setting something on fire, he can just blow it up. Spells are cast through incantations, and incantations are highly sensitive to tone, inflection, pitch, emphasis... basically, putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable could be the difference between a fire ball and a fire cube. Or, it could be the difference between a fire ball and oh dear God the couch is on fire and so is my hair aaaaah. ... Basically, you have to be extremely careful.
Other Interesting/Important Things
* Psychics exist. The Order actively hates and hunts psychics. It's unknown where this hatred stems from, but it's definitely vicious.
* Tharia and Meridia not only have the same languages spoken today (Tharian is the same language as Meridian), but they also share the same ancient languages, such as ancient Demonic and Heavenscript (called ancient Angelic in Tharia). This lends a bit more credibility to the parallel-universes theory running around.
* Yes, there are dragons and gryphons and other various magical creatures. They aren't ridiculously rare, but they're not exactly as common as various fuzzy woodland creatures are.
* There are many different religions in both worlds. Eithan happens to follow the most common religion in both worlds: he believes in the Goddess Miina and follows her church's doctrine... about as strictly as a Christmas-and-Easter-only Christian follows theirs. Which is to say... he believes it, but he doesn't think on it much and it's not exactly a huge ~thing~ in his life.
Important NPCs
* Valerie Tanaka - Eithan's girlfriend, soon to be fiancee once he stops being a worry-wart and friggin' proposes already. She's serious, level-headed... though she has a bit of a sadistic streak. She also happens to be a very talented healer.
* Arianna Paine - Eithan's little sister. They fight constantly, and still engage in ridiculous, childish pranks, bickering, hair-pulling, throwing things... the whole nine yards, even though they're nineteen and fifteen respectively. Still, they love each other.
* Travis Byora - Eithan's best friend, an assassin for hire. Has a pretty carefree, c'est-la-vie attitude most of the time.
* Grand High Wizard Lunnec, Byron - The man behind the Wizarding Order, a cold and calculating individual who thinks the world is his own personal toy chest. Eithan wants to live to see the day that this man is killed for all that he's done. He'd also like to be the one to do it, but he'd settle for just witnessing it.
More to come with canon updates.
Third Person Writing Sample:
Eithan sat at the table in the corner, face-down, arms dangling by his side. He was exhausted, and really, he didn't care who knew. Every few moments, he might let out a heavy sigh or a tired mumble along the lines of, "No more buildin', please..." but otherwise, he was still, silent. He had an hour before he was expected to start his performance, and he was determined to take that hour to not do a damned thing.
Well, okay, maybe he'd have some cake. The problem was, that required getting up and ordering some, and that just seemed like too much effort at the moment. Decisions, decisions...
As if on cue, the clinking of a ceramic plate against the table made him look up. Travis shook his head, grinning, and shoved the small slice toward him. "You look like you just got hit by a bus," he said. He laughed when Eithan made a face at him in return. "Ginny said to give this to you." He jerked his thumb back toward the front counter, where the barista was waving at him.
Eithan smiled at her, then at Travis, then descended upon the cake like an orphaned kid who hadn't eaten in days. "Dear Goddess, man," he said through a mouth half-full of cake, "th' two of you 're lifesavers. Plain as that."
"It's a living," Travis answered with a shrug. "So what exactly has you so run-down?"
"I've been reconstructin' Barec City since just before sunrise. I mean, we got a lot done, but it's still nowhere near okay, yeah?" He sighed. "Sometimes I think I'm never gonna really finish this whole... makin' amends thing."
"Sure you will. They're letting you help, right? That's a step."
"Yeah, and I've made some allies for it, too. Which is good." Eithan wasn't smiling. His eating finally slowed as his mind decided to spin on itself, and he was reduced to simply poking the squishy, red cake absently with his fork. "But, I dunno, man, it doesn't feel like enough."
"It'll get better. It's only been, what, a few months?"
"Yeah. Long way to go, huh?"
Travis said nothing, but Eithan didn't mind. He took another few seconds to feel sorry for himself, then shook himself out of it with a grin. "So hey, what did you do today? Get into trouble? Piss off your girlfriend again?"
"You must be psychic," Travis deadpanned, then groaned.
Eithan laughed. "Dude, seriously? Maybe if you stopped flirtin' with anything with a rack..."
"It wasn't that," Travis protested, crossing his arms defensively, "I just..." he sighed, exasperated, then muttered through gritted teeth, "apparently can't cuddle properly."
"Are you fuckin' serious." When Travis nodded, Eithan very nearly tipped his chair backward, he was laughing so hard.
"Hey, man, it's not funny! She's crazy!"
"Are you kiddin'? That's hilarious! And you knew she was crazy when she told you she likes whips and chains."
"Can you blame me?"
"No, but I'm gonna dedicate my next psycho-girlfriend-themed song to you, man."
Travis reached over to sock him in the shoulder, but Eithan scooted his chair backward to escape the blow. Unfortunately, the legs weren't sturdy enough, and his laughter was interrupted by a startled yelp as the chair finally did tip backwards and his rear came in contact with the floor. Of course, then he was back to laughing, and didn't even bother getting up.
Travis shook his head, grinning. "Well, at least you're awake now. And smiling again. Don't worry me like that, huh?"
Eithan just grinned up at him. "Yeah man, you're a great friend, pushin' me outta my chair so I'm not too tired to play guitar."
"You're welcome."
Eithan finally stood, smiling for the first time since he'd entered the coffee shop as he set the chair back upright and brushed himself off. Yeah, he really did have a long way to go before everything was back to how it should be. Really, he was pretty sure it would never completely go back to normal. It couldn't, not after what he'd been forced to do. He had his friends, though, and that would help him through this. Sometimes, it just took him getting knocked onto his ass for him to remember.