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"It is said the raven knows all, that saying is true."
Name(s): Terrence Rilby
Nickname(s):raven's master
Age: 30
Sex: Male
Birthday: 28/June/X751
Sexuality: Asexual
Class: Mystic
Alignment: Chaotic evil under the Journal's control. Neutral otherwise.
Rank: S rank
Guild: Raven Tail Guildmaster
Guild Tattoo: On the back of his left hand.
Face Claim: Trilby- Chzo Mythos
II. APPEARANCE
Height: 1M 75
Weight: 56 Kg
Hair: Black, greasy and generally not well cared for, Terrence does not have time for such things as washing his hair on a regular basis. Especially now that he has a guild to run.
Eyes: His eyes have grey irises and have rings around them caused by sleep deprivation.
General Appearance: Terrence is a man of large build with a quite slender frame. He usually goes dressed in a grey three piece suit and a grey trilby hat. He always carries a weathered journal with him due to it being connected to his right arm by a gilded chain. The Chain's shackle is usually concealed under his sleeve so as to not call too much attention to this particular peculiarity of his appearance.
He is quite visibly frail and pale due to the abuse he put himself through to serve the journal. He has some mild scarring on his face from a chemical burn he sustained in the recent past. Apart from these though, his body has a rather pristine look that some would consider attractive despite his aforementioned frailty and unhealthy pallor.
He also has a more formal wear he dresses himself in to adress the guild on formal occasions. This formal wear Consists of a black silken suit with matching dress pants. A long overcoat with an ornate rendition of the raven tail symbol emblazoned upon the back and a more expensive version of his everyday trilby hat.
Extra: He still has the Tattoo of his previous guild. He's not really sure why he hasn't had it removed yet as he claims no affiliation with them anymore.
III. PERSONALITY
Personality: Terrence is generally quite an unpleasant person to interact with as he regards literally every single person that adresses him with a certain disdain. He will swallow this disdain if the situation should call for it but generally makes no effort to do so when adressing those subordinate to him or otherwise inferior in rank or status to him.
On the other end, he will generally act quite amiable to those he thinks might be of worth to him, although this amiability is almost always just an act. One that he will often drop the moment he has what he wants from whomever he's adressing.
He likes to control situations and people whenever possible, and will become somewhat uncomfortable when things go beyond his influence. He will always try to regain control of the situation should this happen.Often through use of speech and, if necessary, force.
He is quite knowledgeable on a variety of topics on magic, and is very slow to admit his ignorance in the rare cases he doesn't know something. He will often obsessively study up on such gaps in his knowledge as to not be caught in such a situation again.
Sometimes, he start mumbling inwardly. this mumbling would be heard as garbled gibberish by anyone lsitening in on him during such times. Terrence himself knows perfectly wel what's being said in such situations however, although he himself is not the one doing the talking for the most of it. The being truly talking then is the journal which talks to Terrence using Terrence himself as a medium. During these times, the journal's influence is especially strong, such that anyone near him can easily feel an oppressive presence radiating off of him. These 'episodes' as he calls them, often end on their own after a while although they can be stopped more abruptly should an unexpected situation come up.When People press him on the nature of these happenings, he will dismiss them as harmless and, if pressed further, will agressively insist the issue be dropped.
Sometimes, the influence exerted over Terrence by the journal wanes, during such times, he will act genuinly friendly and amiable to those who would adress him, regardless of their status or rank. For those that would know Terrence's normal demeanor, this change would feel rather jarring and abnormal. Such lucid moments are rare however, especially around those not in a subordinate position to Terrence or otherwise in a position where he has control over them.
Likes:
- Varied literature, with a particular enthusiasm for cosmic horror stories.
- Studying magic.
- Reading the journal.
- Controlling people.
- Impoving upon his own magic.
- Locksmithing. Although he is expressly forbidden from practicing the art by the journal.
- Collecting magical lore not yet recorded in the journal.
- Destroying magical knowledge already recorded within the journal.
Dislikes:
- Treating people as equals.
- Physical exertion.
- heat, dampness, or anything else that could damage books.
- People bringing up anything pertaining to the journal's nature.
- Being denied knowledge of something by the journal for whatever reason.
- People trying to bring up his personal past.
- Caustic chemicals.
- People who do not listen to his command.
Motivations: Terrence's actions are driven by an irresistible urge to collect and hoard as much magical knowledge as possible, regardeless of it's usefulness in modern magical society. He will transcribe such sources into the journel's infinite pages after which he will destroy the original source.
Fears:
- He fears doing something that will cause the journal to judge his usefulness to have run out as this would mean the journal would end his live before moving on to a new owner.
- Paradoxically, he also fears the possibility of the journal being taken away from him, despite the detrimental effects it has on his physical and mental health.
- He fears the possibility of the journal being in any way damaged for aforementioned reasons and will thus do everything in his power to avoid even the slightest damage to the book, even if it means throwing himself into the line of fire of a powerful offensive spell.
- He has a mild phobia of caustic chemicals due to an incident that caused his desertion from his previous guild. Although it's not much more severe than a feeling of discomfort around such substances.
Positive Traits: Total:13
- Appraise Magic Value (+4): Your ability to determine an item's worth and your knowledge of magic allow you to determine the exact properties of a magic item.
- Daunting Presence (+2): You are skilled at inducing fear in your opponents.
- Deceitful (+2): You have a knack for disguising the truth. Your lies are difficult to distinguish from the truth.
- Persuasive (+2): You have a way with words and body language. Somehow you manage to persuade weaker minded people easily.
- Stealthy (+3): You are particularly good at avoiding notice. You could be sitting somewhere in a thread at a bar and people wouldn't even notice that you were there.
Negative Traits: total:13
- Aloof (-1): Your manner is cold and unapproachable, distancing you from friends and strangers alike. Your preternatural intelligence lends itself to viewing others as slow-witted and a waste of your precious time. Your charisma is lowered.
- Arrogant (-1): You firmly believe that you are better than anyone else is. Your ideas are the best, your clothes are the most stylish, and you have to let everyone else know how much better you are. Once in a while you openly show contempt or disdain for someone else.
- Bad Reputation (-1): You have a reputation that angers or frightens people. Examples include being unlucky, petty, or cruel. The rep may or may not be accurate, but in either case, word travels faster than you do.
- Branded (-2): You have fled for a crime committed and now have a prominent brand. You may have been a criminal, a slave, or some other such illicit individual. The brand is such that it cannot be easily covered, and a cursory search reveals it each time. Law enforcement agents of any lawful land will immediately take you into custody if they see the mark, for extradition or imprisonment. It is your choice as to whether or not you were falsely accused of the crime.
- Cautious (-1): You are uneasy engaging in behavior that carries a chance of failure. You must spend twice as long performing any skill that requires an action. For example, deciphering a page of text would take 2 minutes for you instead of 1.
- Cowardly (-2): You have a strong sense of self-preservation. You often hesitate to put yourself at risk, even if there's a good reason to do so. In dangerous circumstances, you are likely to run away. Even if there is a slight chance that you might be able to save your friends, you cower and run away.
- Dark Secret (-1): You have some sort of secret that, if revealed, would make you an outcast amongst your society and companions. While this secret is on your mind at all times, it will come up in topics only once in a while, but when it does, watch out! (the book's true nature)
- Derangement/Insanity (-3): Due to circumstances beyond your control, you are permanently insane. You may have a congenital brain disorder, or perhaps you saw something mortals were never intended to lay eyes upon, and it drove you mad. Choose a Derangement/Insanity for your character from the lists below. Though the list is by no means exhaustive, the following options are ones that have been presented in game terms and that have definable--and most times numerical—penalties.
- Obsessions: The character cannot help thinking about an idea, image, or impulse incessantly, often involving violence and self-doubt. These ideas are frequently repugnant to the character, but they are so strong that during times of stress (such as combat) she may be unable to concentrate on anything else, even if doing so is necessary for her survival.
- Harbinger of Ill Omen (-1): You seem to be cursed to forever bump into a specific person, time and time again. Each time you do, something bad happens not long afterward. This person in no way does this purposefully, it just happens with alarming frequency.
IV. MAGIC
Magic: Master's journal; Solid script
Caster or Holder: Holder
Description: The holder object of this magic Is a large leather bound book with no real title, but is often referred to by its owner as the master's journal, It has a seemingly endless amount of pages and can rearrange itself at will. Most of the pages are filed with handwritten research and lore about magic, with the occasional illustration. There is no table of contents and the book actively resist any attempts at adding one. The book is sentient and does not allow anyone other than it's owner to read it. This owner is usually a person of weak will which the book can easily dominate with it's mind-controlling powers. This control is limited to only one person at a time, this being the owner. The book is completel indestructible and seems to be able to move itself over distances on its own. as long as it's destination is a collection of other books
The magic Terrence learned from the book is a variation of solid script magic that allows the one casting it to temporarily store the words on the paper for later use. He has also develoed a way to augment the more basic spells with adjectives to alter their properties, for example, he could add the adjective 'flaming' to the word 'sword' to gain a spell that behaves as a sword set on fire. However, it is important to know that both the words flaming and sword are seperate spells in this instance, this allows for quite a bit of flexibility on what kind of spells are used. The spells within this magic can be roughly divided in two categories
Base words that can be used on their own, this includes words that behave like physical objects. These words can be used on their own but can also be augmented with adjectives.
Adjectives like flaming, electrified and others. These words augment base words but can not function on their own, if they are not attached to a noun they will harmlessly dissapate as.
The words can be written with any writing implement as long as Terrence is convinced it can write, regardless of whether or not it has ink in it or not or is even functional.
Strengths: Terrence's application of solid script makes for a varied and adaptable set of spells, He can also store the spells on paper for a small upkeep cost per word so he can deploy multiple words in quick succession. The words can also be written on solid surfaces to be triggered at a mental command of Terrence.
Weaknesses: Due to the fact that all of the words need to be written correctly and in a specific font, it is quite impractical to write up new words in the heat of combat, A single writing error could cause the entire word to harmlessly fizzle , wasting all magical power expended on it in the process. The words can also easily be erased by other persons if they have not been activated yet. Also causing the power invested into them to be wasted.
V. HISTORY
History:Terrence was born as the son of a librarian in a small town somewhere in Fiore. Even though he was born with magical abilities, he never had the ambition of learning to utilize it and joining a guild, instead preferring a more quiet life. He soon joined his father in maintaining the local library. Until the incident on his 15th birthday.
A mysterious death had occured not far from the library where Terrence and his father worked. The victim was identified as Phil Fowler, a small-time treasure hunter who had withdrawn from society for some reason some years earlier. The cause of death was severe sleep deprivation and malnourishment. As if he hadn't properly eaten or slept in days. He was also found clutching an enigmatic note warning whoever found him to 'not trust the book'. This event, though quite bizarre, soon faded from the general public's memory. A few weeks after the incident, Terrence came across a strange book while going through the library's as part of his daily routine.
For some reason, this particular book seemed to call to him. Terrence, who liked to read in his spare time, took the book home. That evening, he started reading. It was an aazing read, the book contained an absolutely enormous amount of data about magic, not just quick summaries, but detailed research and personal notes, and every time he grew tred of any particular subject, the next page would be the start of something else. It seemed like the book knew how to keep him reading and wanting for more, He was abruptly cut off when his father caled him to go to work.
Terrence had read the entire night. That day, He left the book at home, yet he coudn't concentrate on his job. He wanted nothing more than to go back home and continue reading.
He was quite tired from the entire night spent reading. This worried Terrence's father as his son would usually go to sleep quite early, only really staying up late on rare occasions. He didn't ask et as at this point, there was nothing unusual apart from that all-nigther reading in some old book. yet that evening, Terrence stated reading once more, again being so utterly absorbed into its contents that he lost all sense of time. This time, he was interrupted around midnight by his father.
He was worried about his unusual behaviour lately. He wondered just what book Terrance was reading, he had never seen it before, neither in his personal collection of books nor in the library's. He tried to ask his son just what was in the book that compeled him to read it so fanatically. But Terrance simply told him off, saying he didn't have time to talk about it.Terrance then forced him out of the room and locked the door. Subsequently spending the rest of the night and most of the following day reading through the book, failing to notice something about the book was slowly creeping into his head. He finally emerged from his room sometime around the evening.
His father and his mother were now both quite worried about their son. They tried to talk to him, but Terrence left the house without even answering them. He came back sometime later carrying a large collection of books about magic he had taken from the library. They again tried to talk to him but he simply went back to his room, again locking himself in.
This third night, he compared te books he had with him to the large book that had been dominating his life the last few days. Much of the information was already recorded in the book which he came to call the Master's journal. He didn't know when this name occured to him but it was simply the one that felt the most natural. Dissapointed that he couldn't add anything to the book, Terrence cast the smaller nooks, now worthless to him, aside. Finally, the sleep deprivation and lack of food of the last few days was starting to get to him. Yet he didn't want to go out of his room and risk having to talk to those troublesome parents of his. He did vaguely remember somethiing about his mother coming up to his door earlier saying she left a tray of food for him. So he fetched it from the hallway. He didn't spend much time eating, mostly wolfing down the food so he coud get back to work faster, but something was telling him to just get some sleep before he would collapse. So he laid himself down and fell into a deep sleep.
That night, a vision came to him in his sleep, a vision about the master's journal. It called to him in his sleep, explaining his new purpose to him. He was to leave his old life and name behind and become the book's owner. He would share in it's boundless knowledge in exchange for his service as the book's guardian and caretaker. When he awoke the next morning, he was his old self no more. He took the book and went downstairs, stopping in the stairwell as he could see strange men downstairs, he quickly realized they worked for the psychiatric clinic over in the next town. Quickly deducing they were probably here for hi and would take the Journal away from him. He stayed upstairs trying not to be seen.
The men in white were talking to his parents, who were describing his unusual behaviour of the last few days. His parents couldn't understand what got into their son to have him distance himself fro them and the res of the world to such an extent. Terrence had heard enough, he could not trust his arents, they would take the journal's guidance away. He went back to his, locking the door behind him. He wondered briefly what to do and decided on using the classic bedsheet escape rope to climb out the window. Just as he had finished tying the sheets together and lowering the n down the window, the men in white came knocking on his door. It wouldn't be long until they would force themselves in as they probably had experience with such situations.
They forced open the door to find the room empty save for a collection of books on magic that had been haphazardly strewn across the floor. They quickly realized Terrence had fled through the window and into the nearby woods. That day, Terrence followed the book's commands and left his old life behind. His parents, struck with grief, decided not to start a manhunt for their lost son. To this day, they wait, hoping that Terrence will see reason and return.
Terrence, now completely under the books control, spent the next 14 years wandering Fiore, Maintaining the journal and reading it's knowledge. Yet the rush of the first few times never really came back to him. The journal didn't want it's new owner to gain too knowledge, as quite a few of the previous owners had attempted to use their acquired knowledge to destroy the book. The previous owner had been quite a good inion, listening to its commands without question, yet he, like all the others, eventually broke. Terrence built up quite a record of petty theft and other minor crimes, some in his pursuit of knowledge to record into the jurnal, others in times of desperation where he had to do so to stay alive. Over these years, Terrence slowly but surely pieced together the knowledge within the book, learning himself how to use a magic based on words. the book begrudgingly allowed this as Terrence showed no indication of wanting to use this power to break free.
It was around his 29th birthday that Terrence's exploits caught the attention of Fiore's criminal underworld. More specifically the dark guild Eisenwald. As a dark guild, they were always looking for new members to replace the ones that got killed or arrested on the job. One day, Terrance was approached by one of Eisenwalds members. Extending an offer to join the guild.
Terrence, having lived on the street for most of this time, was skeptical about this person. However, the journal was ecstatic at the prospect of it's owner becoming a member of a magic guild. Thus ,Terrence became a member of Eisenwald. Although he didn't make many friends due to his constant questioning of everybody about magical without ever talking about another subject. He crawled through the next year with relatively little advancement within the guild. even worse, he hadn't been able to catch any of the members with strange or unusual magics in that whole year as they mostly ignored him as the insignificant grunt he was.
This situation continued for some time. It seemed Terrence had made the wrong choice joining this dead-end of a guild. The guildmaster was long gone, replaced by a long line of increasingly impotent guildmasters, each one more moronic and incompetent than the last. It wasn't until the incident following from the mass escape at the boiling rock prison that Terrence's delayed decision to desert the guild was finally made.
One of the escaped prisoners, having some sort of score to settle with one of the previous guild masters, had attacked the guild. Soon to be followed by some sort of vigilante affiliating himself with fairy tail who brought even more devastation to the guild. It was that day Terrence Left Eisenwald, now named Arche Erebus after an ill fated attempt to change the guild's image. and left for greener pastures.
He never did figure out the ultimate outcome fo the fight, although he frankly cared little. He had escaped with the book and his life intact, and that was all that mattered. After this incident, he wandered around for some time, attempting to go back to his pre-Eisenwald lifestyle, however, he found he just couldn't do it. the guild's semi organized enviroment had softened him up more than he liked to admit. Maybe it was time to find another guild.
Terrence's wandering eventually brought him to the city of onibus, home of the dark guild Raven Tail. Terrence, using the street smarts he picked up during his time with Eisenwald, quickly found out the guild hall's location and went there to apply. Only to find a familiar sight.
The guild had fallen on hard times not unlike Eisenwald/Arche erebus. The guildmaster here had also seemed to have dissappeared. not to mention them also being devestated by an attack by one of the boiling rock prisoners. Who had then come to blows with yet another powerful affiliate of Fairy tail. The paralleles were almost amusing to an extent, but the gist was that Raven Tail was just as broken As Arche Erebus was.
And then, an idea formed in Terrence's mind. He did not know whether it had been talked into his mind by the journal or had been an idea of his own, but that was a meaningless question to dwell on. He would take lead over this fallen guild. Whatever had happened to their guildmaster, most guild members were in agreement he was very likely not coming back. Opposition to Terrence's takeover was fierce at first. He looked ike an insignificant, scrawny weakling at first glance after all. But the journal seemed willing to humor Terrence's Idea that day.
Terrence began reading the book the moment an individual stepped forward to directly challange his claim to ruling the guild. The first challanger was simply knocked to the ground by an invisible force, of course, such parlor tricks wouldn't make any lasting impression upon hardened thugs such as the ones in the building that day.
Every challanger that stepped up after the first was dispatched in increasingly violent and lethal ways, Terrence read incantation after incantation from the book, forgetting just what they did mere moments after the fact, regardless, slowly but surely, the opposition waned. From that day forward, the majority of the guild accepted Terrence as their leader.
Over the next few days, Raven tail rose from the broken ruins of it's old guild hall like a phoenix from the ashes. The new Direction Terrence envisioned for the guild was a more subtle and secretive one though, and to that end, Terrence had a spell placed upon the dead forest around the guild hall such that anyone who was not welcome would get hopelessly lost and turned around after what would seem like hours of wandering around in circles.
The guild's rules were also changed. Terrence wanted to move away from the brutish crime the guild had dedicated themselves towards before his reign in favor of a more subtle approach. His new rules involved talking softly with a metaphorical knife behind the back and other such secretive doctrines. Although the more brutish guild members initially detested this new approach, most were in agreement it did indeed attract much less unwanted attention from White guild Do-gooders and the like.
Of course, Terrence did not forget the purpose the book had given him, in fact, his new position of power allowed him to reach things that were once mere dreams for him to own. And thus, both he and the book were pleased, at least for the time.