Post by Shinzon on Jul 18, 2017 15:51:15 GMT -8
Anne-Marie Marigo, aka "Maria" or "Marie"
Resolve level: Apprentice ( 1 )
Appearance
Age: 34
Sex: Female
Origins: France, Duchy of Bourgogne
Physical Description: Trained for her task as a Vestal for her entire life, a strict regimen kept her fit for battle. Slightly taller than the rest of the sisters, she is still quite in the norm. Slightly tanned from her years assigned in Mediterranean conflicts, she stands out among other Europeans. Her hair is a golden blonde that has begun to fade with the years. All across her body are scars from the conflicts she has fought in.
Attire: In her everyday life, she wears the standard robes of a vestal, although crimson in color with a few black streaks. The flower of lys is completely absent from these clothes.
Biography
Quirks
Precise Striker "It's all about strength and applying it. There was this one time, my hammer hit so hard, it broke a man's skull and his brains splattered on the floor!"
Gothic "What do you mean, the occult resonates well within me? Hands off, heretic! And not a word, if you know what's good for you..."
Nymphomania "I'm not paying you for just one round, come on!"
Faithless "Why, I'd almost think you are putting my faith into question! Hehehe, that is quite a silly thing to think... or say."
Fear of Eldritch "What are you supposed to be, abomination? A nightmare, or a glimpse of what awaits me?"
Dacnomania "The rush of feeling life seeping away from their ruined form as you tower over them... glorious!"
Synopsis:
A young woman trained as a Vestal in a convent for most of her life, where she was taught powerful healing and smiting miracles, Maria has been through many battlefields. Involved in wars between worshipers of the Light with different definitions of how to follow their Faith as well as the Crusades, she was excommunicated following a bloody incident where most of her friends were branded as heretics. She was given a simple choice: to be executed, or receive the Mark of the Heretic and achieve redemption through sacrifice. She chose the latter, and was sent to the Darkest Estate... and it changed her.
Full:
Taken by the convent at the age of six, Maria was raised in the ways of the Light. When she was unable to properly channel its divine will into healing miracles as her sisters did, she was considered a failure: this changed when she beat a drunk deserter who had broken into the convent to death, the small hammer she had used imbued with a divine aura. Transferred into the care of more militant orders, she spent the first half of her life fighting in the crusades; this made the girl jaded and disgusted with the self-righteousness of her fellow crusaders, while she only saw mindless carnage.
Afterwards, she returned home, where she was tasked with training more vestals in the ways of her unique, offensive powers: this was mostly a failure, as half of them were unable to channel the raw fury that was required, and those that did were just as violent as she was as a result. When one of the trainees pulverized the skull of an abbot, the church buried the whole thing and sent Maria and her novices to die in the wars of religion between those who denounced the Church's corruption and those who treated them as heretics for turning away from the Church. When she had to watch the girls she had trained and cared for die one by one battle after battle, she completely let go of her faith, manifesting her powers through sheer fury alone. After a military commander called the devastating loss of her novices an 'acceptable loss', she crushed his knees with her war hammer and let his own horse trample him. The man's squire saw the crime, and she was taken away to be branded as a heretic, and sent in a carriage to the Darkest Estate, never to return.
Misc. Notes: The symbol of the flower of lys has been branded onto her right cheek, and the symbol of a skull surrounded by fire onto her back, signs of both her convent and her heresy respectively. She speaks with a light accent, being quite used to speaking English by now. She is quite aloof, but does her best to smile and appear serene to keep up appearances.
Skills & Equipment
Weapons: In combat, she uses an oversized, two-handed war hammer, covered in holy insignia that have begun to fade with the years. It is slightly rusty as well. This weapon is far too impractical to use, and, by all means, should not be taken by most people... but Maria isn't most people.
Armor: When it is asked that she goes in combat, she takes a protective set of steel armor to protect herself.
Other gear: Maria has been trained to be able to cast powerful sacred miracles; those based on combat are limited in a way that she, unlike other vestals, cannot "materialize" powers like Judgement. Instead, she goes about imbuing her weapon, armor, and body with a holy aura instead. This makes the armor or the weapon more apt to deal with unholy abominations, as well from stopping the corpses from rising once more - or, in the case of her body, allowing her to lift her war hammer. It also diminishes the effect of curses and dark sorcery. Her healing capacity is nonexistent: she is unable to cast any healing miracles that vestals are normally able to perform. Although she simply prays to manifest these powers, she acknowledges the fact that a holy talisman of the Light might help her get better results.
Strengths:
Posing as someone kind and generous, Maria pretends that she "lives to serve"; most people imagine her to be a kind and loving woman, which allows her with a sufficient cover to plot her next course of action, deceiving ally and foe alike. In battle, she can pass off her bloodthirsty tendencies as righteous fury, and her willingness to take damage for her allies as a desire to protect them, which could not be further from the truth. Still, it helps her image, and she uses this to her full advantage.
Although she does not naturally have the strength to swing her devastating war hammer on top of wearing her heavy plate armor, Maria builds up enough blessings and benedictions to be granted with supernatural strength, allowing her to lift her war hammer and crush her foes with its brute strength. Weathering devastating strikes as well as dishing out heavy punishment makes very effective in the tight confines of the Ruins, for example. Still, her thirst for blood and death does not surpass her instinct of preservation, and she will quickly retreat if things look too dire for her to handle - at least, as long as she's sane...
Mentally, things are harder for her. On top of dealing with the horror that inevitably follows any expedition, she has to keep up the "kind vestal" act, 'lest her companions see right through the deception and realize that she is far, far different from what she pretends...
Weaknesses:
One can lie and pose as a gentle figure: but keeping up appearances is not that easy. Should she grow too stressed, that facade will slowly crack, revealing her true visage to the world: someone that is selfish, manipulative, and to some, downright evil. While this is far more manageable when she is in the Hamlet where stress can be relieved, it proves far harder when she is in the dungeons themselves; then, it gets considerably harder not to show her irritation at the weakness of those around her, or her contempt for their lives.
Although her strength and endurance are remarkable, she cannot effectively use her war hammer before she has had enough time to apply the necessary blessings to herself: this makes her especially vulnerable during an ambush, and that also means that she has a hard time evading attacks: and being encased in thick, plated armor means that if the hazards of the environment get past the plate, it stays inside until she can properly clean it. Her affinity with the occult is something that can be spotted more easily than her fake demeanor by someone with knowledge of the Eldritch.
The first sign of her facade breaking away is the abandonment of all sort of restraint: she will keep destroying the bodies of fallen enemies, openly berate allies and show a morbid curiosity for crude totems, bloody traps and the likes...
Resolve level: Apprentice ( 1 )
Appearance
Age: 34
Sex: Female
Origins: France, Duchy of Bourgogne
Physical Description: Trained for her task as a Vestal for her entire life, a strict regimen kept her fit for battle. Slightly taller than the rest of the sisters, she is still quite in the norm. Slightly tanned from her years assigned in Mediterranean conflicts, she stands out among other Europeans. Her hair is a golden blonde that has begun to fade with the years. All across her body are scars from the conflicts she has fought in.
Attire: In her everyday life, she wears the standard robes of a vestal, although crimson in color with a few black streaks. The flower of lys is completely absent from these clothes.
Biography
Quirks
Precise Striker "It's all about strength and applying it. There was this one time, my hammer hit so hard, it broke a man's skull and his brains splattered on the floor!"
Gothic "What do you mean, the occult resonates well within me? Hands off, heretic! And not a word, if you know what's good for you..."
Nymphomania "I'm not paying you for just one round, come on!"
Faithless "Why, I'd almost think you are putting my faith into question! Hehehe, that is quite a silly thing to think... or say."
Fear of Eldritch "What are you supposed to be, abomination? A nightmare, or a glimpse of what awaits me?"
Dacnomania "The rush of feeling life seeping away from their ruined form as you tower over them... glorious!"
Synopsis:
A young woman trained as a Vestal in a convent for most of her life, where she was taught powerful healing and smiting miracles, Maria has been through many battlefields. Involved in wars between worshipers of the Light with different definitions of how to follow their Faith as well as the Crusades, she was excommunicated following a bloody incident where most of her friends were branded as heretics. She was given a simple choice: to be executed, or receive the Mark of the Heretic and achieve redemption through sacrifice. She chose the latter, and was sent to the Darkest Estate... and it changed her.
Full:
Taken by the convent at the age of six, Maria was raised in the ways of the Light. When she was unable to properly channel its divine will into healing miracles as her sisters did, she was considered a failure: this changed when she beat a drunk deserter who had broken into the convent to death, the small hammer she had used imbued with a divine aura. Transferred into the care of more militant orders, she spent the first half of her life fighting in the crusades; this made the girl jaded and disgusted with the self-righteousness of her fellow crusaders, while she only saw mindless carnage.
Afterwards, she returned home, where she was tasked with training more vestals in the ways of her unique, offensive powers: this was mostly a failure, as half of them were unable to channel the raw fury that was required, and those that did were just as violent as she was as a result. When one of the trainees pulverized the skull of an abbot, the church buried the whole thing and sent Maria and her novices to die in the wars of religion between those who denounced the Church's corruption and those who treated them as heretics for turning away from the Church. When she had to watch the girls she had trained and cared for die one by one battle after battle, she completely let go of her faith, manifesting her powers through sheer fury alone. After a military commander called the devastating loss of her novices an 'acceptable loss', she crushed his knees with her war hammer and let his own horse trample him. The man's squire saw the crime, and she was taken away to be branded as a heretic, and sent in a carriage to the Darkest Estate, never to return.
Misc. Notes: The symbol of the flower of lys has been branded onto her right cheek, and the symbol of a skull surrounded by fire onto her back, signs of both her convent and her heresy respectively. She speaks with a light accent, being quite used to speaking English by now. She is quite aloof, but does her best to smile and appear serene to keep up appearances.
Skills & Equipment
Weapons: In combat, she uses an oversized, two-handed war hammer, covered in holy insignia that have begun to fade with the years. It is slightly rusty as well. This weapon is far too impractical to use, and, by all means, should not be taken by most people... but Maria isn't most people.
Armor: When it is asked that she goes in combat, she takes a protective set of steel armor to protect herself.
Other gear: Maria has been trained to be able to cast powerful sacred miracles; those based on combat are limited in a way that she, unlike other vestals, cannot "materialize" powers like Judgement. Instead, she goes about imbuing her weapon, armor, and body with a holy aura instead. This makes the armor or the weapon more apt to deal with unholy abominations, as well from stopping the corpses from rising once more - or, in the case of her body, allowing her to lift her war hammer. It also diminishes the effect of curses and dark sorcery. Her healing capacity is nonexistent: she is unable to cast any healing miracles that vestals are normally able to perform. Although she simply prays to manifest these powers, she acknowledges the fact that a holy talisman of the Light might help her get better results.
Strengths:
Posing as someone kind and generous, Maria pretends that she "lives to serve"; most people imagine her to be a kind and loving woman, which allows her with a sufficient cover to plot her next course of action, deceiving ally and foe alike. In battle, she can pass off her bloodthirsty tendencies as righteous fury, and her willingness to take damage for her allies as a desire to protect them, which could not be further from the truth. Still, it helps her image, and she uses this to her full advantage.
Although she does not naturally have the strength to swing her devastating war hammer on top of wearing her heavy plate armor, Maria builds up enough blessings and benedictions to be granted with supernatural strength, allowing her to lift her war hammer and crush her foes with its brute strength. Weathering devastating strikes as well as dishing out heavy punishment makes very effective in the tight confines of the Ruins, for example. Still, her thirst for blood and death does not surpass her instinct of preservation, and she will quickly retreat if things look too dire for her to handle - at least, as long as she's sane...
Mentally, things are harder for her. On top of dealing with the horror that inevitably follows any expedition, she has to keep up the "kind vestal" act, 'lest her companions see right through the deception and realize that she is far, far different from what she pretends...
Weaknesses:
One can lie and pose as a gentle figure: but keeping up appearances is not that easy. Should she grow too stressed, that facade will slowly crack, revealing her true visage to the world: someone that is selfish, manipulative, and to some, downright evil. While this is far more manageable when she is in the Hamlet where stress can be relieved, it proves far harder when she is in the dungeons themselves; then, it gets considerably harder not to show her irritation at the weakness of those around her, or her contempt for their lives.
Although her strength and endurance are remarkable, she cannot effectively use her war hammer before she has had enough time to apply the necessary blessings to herself: this makes her especially vulnerable during an ambush, and that also means that she has a hard time evading attacks: and being encased in thick, plated armor means that if the hazards of the environment get past the plate, it stays inside until she can properly clean it. Her affinity with the occult is something that can be spotted more easily than her fake demeanor by someone with knowledge of the Eldritch.
The first sign of her facade breaking away is the abandonment of all sort of restraint: she will keep destroying the bodies of fallen enemies, openly berate allies and show a morbid curiosity for crude totems, bloody traps and the likes...
"The Light frowns upon such foul scribbles."
