I'm not here.

I cannot imagine bothering to leave a message.

So don't.

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Nat
Contact: Ammeschan, Discord: Ammeschan#5385
Age: 35
Current Characters: Demyx


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Ardyn Lucis Caelum
Age: As old as dirt. (2000+)
Canon: Final Fantasy XV
Canon Point: Darkness has fallen. He waits upon the throne for his dear nephew's return with bated breath.

Background:Wiki Link



Personality:

In the beginning, Ardyn was a gentle, pious man. He was incredibly devout to all of the Six. He saw his ability to take the scourge from people as a healing gift of the divine. He did not see eye to eye with his brother about how the scourge should be dealt with. While Somnus preferred to use a scorched earth approach, he snuck around the countryside, taking away the scourge with compassion. Originally, he did not want to be king, but the decision he left up to the Astrals, and his devoutness allowed him to accept their decision wholeheartedly. He would take up the mantle if they ordained it to be so.

His relationship with Somnus was fraught with challenges. At one time they were close, to the point he looked after his younger brother. They enjoyed playing chess together. They did not agree on matters, like the star scourge. He envied his charismatic ways and leadership, skill he did not feel he possessed, but he thought he would be the better king, at the time, until he began mass murdering people suspected of the affliction. It was then he thought he could do better, if the Astrals permitted it. He saw him as a figure to be feared, and he was betrayed by him in the end. The loss of Aera was how it was set off that the effects of what he was doing took hold and he was imprisoned at Somnus' behest. He thoroughly despised his brother for killing his fiancée and leaving him to rot, as well as effectively erasing his existence from history itself.

Aera Mirus Fleuret was the First Oracle, and his fiancée and someone he deeply loved. He found joy and solace in her presence. He took any opportunity he could to see her, sneaking away to explore ruins together, or even just to meet, even though it might have been improper. He will never forget that she promised to remember him, if time forgot. When she was killed by Somnus, his heart broke and he was filled with grief, to the point he began his descent into madness, aided by the scourge. This grief lingered the entire time he was incarcerated, until he encountered Bahamut and the prophecy, when he truly began to lose his grip on his sanity. At one point he sees a vision where Aera begs him to punish her for her sins, but he cannot bring himself to do it. Somnus does it in his stead. When the scene is seen again, he sees them as working together, and ultimately he feels betrayed by Aera, metaphorically cutting them both down and out of his life.

When he was prevented from killing Regis, it was Bahamut who offered the king his protection. He intervened, bringing Ardyn face to face with the one who seemed to be orchestrating the prophecy. He was told that it was not Regis he needed to kill, but his son that needed to bring forth the light. When he was told that he was to spread the darkness, he was angry, and betrayed, bitter and hurt. He feels as though he's sacrificed more than enough in his life, he just wants revenge, but Bahamut isn't having it. He will never see rest, if he doesn't spread the scourge and bring the darkness onto Eos. The encounter leaves him shattered. He doesn't care anymore. He'll have his revenge, but at what cost? He leaves the encounters saying. "Am I alive? Oh. Does it matter? Nothing matters." He ultimately gives into his fate, he will spread the darkness until the world is seeped in it.

Ardyn, of today, presents himself as being friendly, charming and jovial. He speaks slowly, as though relaxed, but he's really being condescending. He presents himself as the charming Chancellor, although he only leans into his position when it suits his whims, otherwise he doesn't seem to bother. He's happy to pass himself off as a man of no consequence, at first.

Beneath the facade, he's bitter, angry, resentful and full of a rage cultivated over two thousand years. He has a long held grudge against Somnus, his brother, even though he's long dead and gone and he's motivated to take his revenge on his descendants, considering them all to share in the sin of stealing the throne from him, along with everything else. Those that followed Somnus kept him imprisoned in Angelgard where he would never see his rest.

He has a tentative relationship of mutual benefit with Verstael Besithia. At first, there is no love lost for the man who rescued him and then conducted a bunch of experiments on him, but they become allies when he understands that the Astrals condemned him, and he was meant to take the throne. That spark of anger and revenge was lit through Ifrit, and he used the opportunity to help in the magitek research with what he knew about the Starscourge. He offers the man what he wants or needs to attain his research, but even years later when Besithia meets his end, Ardyn has no discernable reaction, except to taunt Prompto because he killed him. The man is merely a pawn, and it was likely he intended on getting rid of him like most of the Imperials were gone, through their own impetus.

Ifrit, the Infernian, is likely his closest ally. He used daemonification to bring him under his control, and although the first time he used the Astral to attack the crown city it was a lot more challenging, thanks to the whims of the Astrals, he has a much better relationship with him when the time comes to face Noctis. When he learned the prophecy, he cast the Astrals aside, but remained tied to Ifrit, likely the only one he has any remaining affection for.

He sees Noctis' retinue as pawns to be moved about the chessboard in the grand scheme he's playing. His killing of Lunafreya was calculated to make Noctis react, but he very nearly killed him then if it weren't for Ignis. He did offer Ignis the opportunity to make a deal, but Ignis declined. Because of this, he had needed a new pawn and he orchestrated stealing Prompto. The purpose was to drive Noctis to despair, to take things away from him like he felt had been taken from him. He views Prompto as a plaything, someone to be toyed with and even something that belongs to him, considering his origins. He is thoroughly amused in seeing a little MT that escaped and befriended the prince and takes great delight in engaging in psychological warfare, and later torture. The torment of Prompto was little more than a pastime until Noctis could make his appearance.

Ardyn saw Regis as an opportunity to take his revenge, before he was halted. He has not ever cared for the king, like any of Somnus' descendants, but he helped orchestrate the attack that killed him, and took a pleasure in it. He walked in, and caused problems just because he could, taking joy and amusement from Regis' off-balance and discomfort. Forced to bide his time, he took the time to cultivate the best plan for dealing with Noctis. He devised the tactic of pushing him through negative motivation. He encouraged the empire to take the deities away from Noctis, although that was ultimately unsuccessful. He wanted to take everything away from Noctis that he could - his father, his home, his kingdom, the Crystal, his friends...and he used Prompto as bait to lure him to Gralea, because reuniting him with the Crystal was the ultimate goal, once he'd seen how weak Noctis was in Altissia. He wasn't worth defeating then, not when he saw him as pathetic, he wanted Noctis to bring with him the force of the Astrals, so defeating him and taking his rightful place would be worth it. He desired a true challenge after waiting these many long years.

He sees this final battle as a win/win situation, because if he loses he will finally see his soul put to rest, and will no longer be cursed to walk Eos an immortal monster.


Abilities:

Immortality/Self-Healing: There is one condition in canon that will end his suffering of eternal life. He's been at it for well over 2000 years so far, and while he would like to rest, he needs Noctis with the full weight of the Astrals to accomplish this. Most injuries are shrugged off and healed within moments.

Nerfing: Ardyn will die if his head is separated from his body. Otherwise his skills remain the same.

Healing: Ardyn can heal others, taking their pain upon himself.

Daemonification: The opposite of healing, Ardyn can lay hands on a victim and transmit the starscourge he's afflicted with to them. Doing so allows him to see some of their memories.

Nerfing: Ardyn will not be able to spread the starscourge here. He will still retain the ability to see the memories however. A recoil effect instead of spreading will leave behind a massive headache. (Player permission required)

Power of Kings: A power granted to his bloodline that includes;

Warping: For short distances.
Phasing: He can go through solid matter.
Weapons: He has access to the Royal Arms of Lucis, and his own weapon the Rakshasa Blade, summoned from the aether at will. He can manifest a giant scythe.
Wall: He can erect a barrier, but it is clearly tainted with daemonic energy.

Magic: He can cast magic like lightning bolts, blizzards and causing fiery explosions without the need to refuel his magic. He can also fire laser beams, direct dark magic and miasma, and summon a barrage of meteorites on his enemy.

Nerfing: Effects will be limited to small areas, within reason. Blowing up a city block is too far, but getting a locked door open is reasonable.

Miasma: He can transform himself into miasma for a few moments, allowing him to teleport or fly to another area.

Nerfing: Reasonable limitations apply.

Time: Ardyn can stop time for a few minutes. (Player permission required)

Illusionist: Ardyn can assume the form of someone else, including voice and mannerisms. He can make them be seen as him in their place if necessary. He can also speak as an omnipresent voice while remaining unseen and observing, if he's in the same area - an area no bigger than Zegnautus Keep. (Player permission required)

Necromancy: He can revive the dead in some kind of pantomime of what they used to be, regardless of their allegiances and brainwash them into doing his bidding.

Nerfing: We're just going to not be doing that.

Summoning: Ardyn can summon, command and control Ifrit, thanks to daemonifying him earlier.

Ifrit: Ifrit comes with his throne, crown and sword accessories, when summoned. As the Infernian, he is surrounded in flame, and used fire as his primary mode of attack. He can turn to flames to disappear and reappear at will. He has three attacks: Meteor Strike, Flames of Rage and Firaga.

Nerfing: I'll take a different approach here and suggest he's about doll-sized and so the damage he can make while impressive looking, is rather minimal. It seems unlikely Ifrit will like that. Ardyn will just be tickled.




Alignment: Elios - Ardyn's entire life, and motivation at the moment is pure hatred and spite. Elios won't be seeing much in the love column from this one.

Other: He's gonna be grumpy. The perk to being a walking scourge infection is sharing it. Alas, he will have to suffer alone.


⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉

General Sample:Test Drive Link

Emotion Sample:

Ardyn Izunia walked along the road, a small, sinister grin on his face. To the untrained eye, he might even look happy, or pleased with what is going on around him.

Each step reverberated as his boots hit the ground. In a trail behind him, flowers began to wilt and darken as they began to rot.

This was precious wasn't it? Trapped in a world far from home, and nothing was under control. A warm, wholesome sunshine above him, waiting to burn his skin, and he sneered at it.

His beloved nephew would never find him here. A window nearby shattered, glass littering the street. Oh, he so dearly missed him and longed to have him near so he could strangle life's last breath right out of him. It would be a lovely family reunion.

Of course, without the crystal, without Eos it would be meaningless. He understood meaningless, a dark wave of despair that had enveloped him when he learned what the future held for him, what fate held for him. This was rather out of the ordinary. The daemons inside writhed and longed to get away from the sunshine and with a laugh he tilted his head back, letting the ones near the surface vanish in a bit of a black mist.

Ah, well. If he couldn't go home and await the king, then he might as well have some fun. Ardyn threw his head back and laugh as he walked, leaving a trail of wilting and dying plants in his wake.


Questions: No, but if anything else needs to be nerfed/adjusted I bow to your wisdom mods.