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eudio;;



PLAYER INFORMATION
NAME: Will
AGE: 26
CONTACT:beoluve
CHARACTERS PLAYED:
Susannah Dean | The Dark Tower
CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: Aria McDermont, but she goes by "Mal" exclusively.
CANON: Original
AGE: 27
CANON POINT: Before moving to the secondary Retreat.
BACKGROUND:In Mal's world, there is a clear divide between those able to cast magic (Mages) and those unable to (Humes). They're all humans as far as they're concerned. Mages went public roughly 1000 years ago, but up to this day they keep most of their practices and rites secret from the Humes. Society exists much as out own does, although the magic component has been steadily seeping into the everyday life of people thorough the centuries. Because only two Mages can birth another one, the marriages between these two "races" are not only uncommon, but also frowned upon. Mages have always been reduced in number when compared with their non-magical peers and have a very strict policy regarding their continued existence.
Boosted by magic, society has grown very similarly in many areas, yet in others (namely healthcare and environmental care) the differences are palpable; far less people die of disease and the world is in much better state, with the up and coming technologies working towards erasing any damage caused upon Earth by humanity. Despite their self-imposed (and harshly enforced) secrecy, Mages have become something of celebrities famous for simply being born that way, with a number of them becoming singers, actors and the like. The Mages at large hold something of a superiority complex in regards to Humes, but for the most part keep appearances for the sake of peace.
Mages are born with their full potential revealed; that is to say, as soon as its born, the infant's Mage full scope of their powers has been already determined. All that rests is that the Mage in question trains him/herself to skillfully use that power. While there's always been a debate between raw power versus skill and ability few are the cases where a skilled Mage could easily beat a more powerful one. Power is everything in a Mage's world and Mal...Mal was born with all the power she could imagine. And then some.
A natural genius, Mal's life was perfect up until she turned 10. She had all the advantages to train and learn her abilities, her parents (who weren't pressed for money at all) didn't need to pay a dime for her education and everyone basically praised for just existing. This all ended rather abruptly shortly after turning 10 though. Diviners all over the world detected a dark presence trying to pierce the very veil of reality to invade their world, a creature akin to an eldritch abomination of sorts with nefarious purposes, no doubt. Efforts to contain or destroy it were made all over the world, but its power was just too much. In the end, The Elders, who were the appointed representatives of the Mage Society worldwide decided to turn to dark and forbidden practices; by binding the magic of the very best among them they created a seal that stopped the entity on its tracks, freezing it in time and space before it could breach their reality.
This caused serious repercussions though; those Mages that had been collected and "tapped" into the sealing ritual soon found they had been stripped of their magic, rendering them basically humans. It also meant that they couldn't die of anything but natural causes, else the magic used in the seal would dissipate. Only when they passed naturally did the magic taken from them remained in place. 109 Mages were "tapped", becoming Sealed in the process, and Mal was among them. They were offered special treatment, but it only went so far; living as a non-Mage in a Mage world was difficult, specially since the way other people treated Mal became increasingly more daring. The Sealed banded in a support group of sorts, where Mal met Ilya, a Russian Sealed, as well as Rose, an American one, both of which became first her best friends and eventually the architects of her sexual awakening a few years later. It was the three of them, banded against a world that praised the strong and couldn't quite look at them at the eye anymore.
Her life was starting to gain a sense of normality once again when two of the Sealed where found dead in their houses. By then Mal was twenty and full of dreams to leave the world of mages behind. As they lived nearby Mal security was increased around her, but a month after their deaths she was attacked as well. They never had a chance; the attacker, who remained unseen and almost unheard thorough its attack obliterated the mages protecting her, then her family, and t would have killed her if Mal hadn't provoked an explosion in her house which nearly kills her anyway. Fully aware that she would never be safe if she kept on being herself, Aria McDermont died that night as well. Her strongest regret was that neither Ilya nor Rose could know she wasn't really dead, as it would likely put them into trouble, not to mention they needed to be on their guard themselves.
The next six years were a slow yet steady descent into a harsher, far crueler life than Mal had ever known. Finding herself powerless she had to learn how to obtain power in any way possible; the Diablerie wasn't her first choice, but ultimately the one that suited her best. While it usually granted small boosts of power to their usual practitioners it gave Mal abundant power, as she carried a void where her magic had been. Survival wasn't the only thing in Mal's agenda though; to learn who had given the order to Seal her and the others, as well as to find who was killing Sealed were her two primary objectives. One for revenge and the other for safety. Mal was smart enough not to put herself in the spotlight though, slowly working her way in the underworld thorough the years to secure a web of influences and information strong enough first, as well as perfecting her new craft, violent and damaging as it was. In order to make it on the underbelly of the mage society, Mal had to learn to do a bit of everything; from stealing to forging documents to beating people when someone more powerful deemed it necessary, as well as learning that "kill or be killed" was a rule that applied on a daily basis in that environment. The woman that stepped out of the shadows was but a pale reflection of the snot nosed girl that had survived by sheer luck years ago.
Mal had a head start in her quest for answers though; Elias Whitmore, the former Head of the Elders had been the one who publicly took responsibility for the Sealing, meaning that he was both involved and aware of who else had had a vote in it, making him Mal's first target. First target and final test of her diablerie. Tracking down the man was easy, considering he was widely known to have retired to his Villa in the Urals, among with the expected small regiment of mage protection detail. Said detail had no chance against Mal though, who used them as fuel to charge her own magic as she breached the house. The main house at least, since the Villa was a small town by itself. She was surprised to find little resistance past the guards at the gates, but it didn't become evident she was expected until she entered the main house to find Elias sitting in the dinning hall, bottle of wine and an extra cup for her.
He had several things to say to her, and much to Mal's surprise (and disappointment) he was in a talking mood. He had the names of other two Elders that seconded him on the decision to Seal mages, Solomon Marks and Lana Rodriguez, as well as Ezra Ilich, a Russian mage that had presented the schematics of the ritual. He also had some insight on whatever was hunting the Sealed; apparently more than the dead Sealed had vanished, but their bodies hadn't been found; they were simply "missing". With the information she needed secured, Mal was left with the internal debate of whether she should kill Elias or let him be. He assured her that her being there wouldn't be reported, but could she really trust him? Paranoia won in the end, and by the time the authorities found Elias he was but a charred form completely welded to the fine chair he had been sitting on.
Even if her face wasn't on the news, Mal knew she had to lie low for a while, as well as prepare her next move. She had three targets, all spread all over Europe and Asia, meaning she had a long trek. Mal spent the next year tracking down Marks, who was based on Switzerland with the rest of the Elders. It meant she would need to breach the Elder's Retreat, one of the most heavily protected buildings in the entire mage society. After carefully casing the place, it became evident that the easiest way was to work it from the inside, getting a job and making herself invisible in plain sight. But for that she needed another identity, and for that she needed a favor. What she didn't know was that the one giving her the favor, a mysterious figure her connections referred her to as the best forger this side of the hemisphere would end up being Rose; in the years after Mal's "death", things had gotten tough for many other Sealed, and Rose's parents had tried to protect her by changing her identity and sending her far away. This was a tactic many other Sealed had adopted, to varying degrees of success. Of the 109 Sealed only 75 remained, and as both Mal and Rose knew the number couldn't drop below 55, else the Sealing ritual would fail and everything would've been for naught. Even worse, if the ritual was disrupted chances were that the surge of magic returning to their bodies would kill the remaining Sealed. It was a lose-lose situation for them.
That aside, their meeting was a tearful one. Rose had had to endure believing that Mal (then Aria) was dead, and in a way she was. Ilya had vanished four years ago, but up until then the both of them had been going steady. Mal remembered Elias' words about the missing Sealed, which only troubled Rose more. She was willing to do anything to help Mal in her quest, although she was a bit disturbed in Mal's methods of gaining power, but couldn't really argue with her friend. With Rose working on a new identity for her, Mal focused on learning what she could about both Marks and Rodriguez. The second one was currently in South America, apparently, taking a leave of absence. They were both under fifty, which made them the youngest "Elders" at the time, Marks being 45 and Rodriguez 39. How they had became Elders years ago was a mystery, but apparently they were that good and connected.
A week later Mal was already working a simple paper pusher inside of the Retreat, but she had the chance to explore the entire place and learn the Elder's schedules. There she decided the best time to get some alone time with Marks would be at the Formal that would be hosted in the Retreat in two weeks, where all the employees were invited. With everything set, it was a matter of waiting for the date and making good use of the one shot she would have.
It didn't go as planned though, as two days before the Formal the Elder's Retreat was attacked at night by an unseen force, wreaking havoc and leaving many dead, among them a Sealed that had been working on the offices. Protocol dictated to remove the Elders into their secondary Retreat in Germany, which was far more secluded from public but also just as heavily fortified as the main one. This would've completely ruined Mal's plans if it hadn't been for the fact that a small group of employees, herself included had been asked to come along to help manage things from there. It was a chance she couldn't miss; with far less people and away from any external aid, Mal was no longer playing against impossible odds. Rose decided to stay in Switzerland and investigate the attack, as well as gather information of other similar happenings and wait for Mal to return. With their tasks at hand each parted ways, promising to meet again in Berlin in a week's time.
PERSONALITY
Mal compartmentalizes. There is just too much going on inside of her to express in one go, so she has made the habit of showing what's more convenient when it suits her best. So for the most part (and probably during her entire tenure in Eudio, barring some exceptional circumstances) Mal will show herself as a lighthearted, easy going young woman with a sarcastic streak tinged with offhand references to a darker past. She talks quite a lot when prompted right, but also enjoys listening to others. Mal is a great conversationalist and is more than capable of steering a conversation exactly where she wants to, when she wants to. Quick witted, there is little she can't reply to. Mal enjoys making people think, and is an enemy of "making it easy" for others when they can (or should, in her mind) learn and/or understand something with a bit of effort. Still, she's willing to give everyone a chance.
She deals with problems in two different ways; the ones that affect her intimately (like the people involved in the Sealing ritual and whoever's killing Sealed) and the ones that don't (basically everything else). To the first kind of problems she's methodical, patient and will more often than not pretend not to give a crap about them from time to time, as well as taking little "breaks" to keep herself from obsessing, although she will obsess now and then. Everything else sort of falls short of her immediate attention, and she will deal with it impassively and directly, wasting as little time and energy as possible.
She's bad at making friends. She can be friendly, she usually is, but whatever involves a real, lasting friendship- trust, real affection, dependency- it's where she usually falls short. Mal has built one too many barriers to simply let people in, but she tries now and then to make a real connection, mostly for the sake of proving to herself that she still can. Deep down, she's certain that she is "a bad person" and that she shouldn't try to surround herself with people, else she risk corrupting them, or worse, making them actually like her, but for all the self-deprecation that's going on under her easy smile and posturing she's still a social creature and hopes that some of the "goodness" she sees in others manages to somehow rub on her. Romance is a nearly nonexistent concept to her, but she's very sexual and unafraid to express it. Mal has a clear divide between having sex and making love, the later sending chills down her back because she has the worst commitment issues known to man. Despite this, Mal cherishes her intimacy and will go great lengths to protect it.
There usually needs to be an angle with her; nothing is free, or so she believes. Mal believes that nobody is good for the sake of being good, but that also applies to those "bad"; everything has a reason behind it and she loves finding out what exactly is. She's very good with puzzles, and tends to see people as such, to the point that figuring them out might end up being more important than relating to them. Because of this she tends to be manipulative, specially when her interests are concerned. She has learned that playing people into doing what she wants is not only the faster way, but also the safest one, as opposed to trusting someone else to do what's right. After all, "right" can mean many things to just a many people. She's paranoid about letting people know more than she lets everyone on about her, harboring a deep seated fear of rejection, which she covers with her inflated sense of personal pride and bright mood.
There is more to Mal though. Most of what she doesn't show often is her dark, violent and even sadistic self, which she keeps under wraps and away from social scrutiny. She's full of rage and resentment from having lost her magic, her chance of being "normal", her family and her friends, as well as her innocence. This side of her doesn't surface unless needed, but Mal also has a soft spot for other people in similar circumstances, which might sometimes get her into trouble for sticking her nose where she shouldn't, something she would usually admonish in other people. She just can't stand a bully.
INCENTIVE/FIT:
Incentive: To make sure Ilya is safe, where he is. Mal wants to meet up with him without outside intervention, but knowing he's not dead on a ditch would be great, thanks.
Fit: As mentioned, Mal isn't afraid of getting intimate. She's a bit picky and might play favorites, but other than that she's perfectly fine with all act of affection, and will specially enjoy the more innocent ones due to lacking a healthy amount of that in her life.
SAMPLES:
A thousand tiny threads, gosh.
One more.
Let me know if you want me to expand on this with a written sample.ANYTHING ELSE?
Mal is a practitioner of Diablerie. Diablerie is the art of drawing from the energy of others/other things to fuel your own. Normally a mage can only draw so much, but since Mal is a Sealed she has something akin to a black hole in her soul that allows her to draw so, so much.Mal can effectively draw energy out of anything in a 330 feet (roughly 100 meters) radius around her, provided she can see it. Mal can't kill anyone using this power unless she willingly focus on doing so. The killing intent must be there for it to work. This won't work on Eudio. Her power will only allow to knock people out. The energy she draws fuel her in two ways: physically (enhancing her to above human levels) and granting her a large pool of energy to cast magic. Mal however, is still a Sealed, and therefore can't cast magic like a mage would. She can only summon the most raw effects of nature, effectively controlling the elements and being able to create destructive waves of energy. She can also use the energy to heal herself quickly, as well as pouring it into others to heal them. She can still default to Ritualistic Magic, which involves the crafting of magic circles, following of certain rites and use of certain ingredients to bring forth a desired effect. She's become very good at this. Rituals are, however, mostly static and slow above all things. Experimentation has led Mal to discover that blood is by far the best catalyst to pour energy into, her blood being particularly powerful when she has enough energy drawn into her. Because of this, Mal's arms and back show many scars of varying size all over them. Drawing too much energy will make Mal go berserk. Unknown to her, whenever she abuses Diablerie she lets a bit of the entity her magic is blocking to seep into her, corrupting her and slowly driving her insane.