Slayer of the Rot
01-16-08, 07:22 PM
Updates in Dark Gray.
General Info
Name: Dan Lagh'ratham
Aliases: Kross, Dak’Arsha.
Nickname(s): The Red Beast, The Black Tree.
Race: Full blooded (endangered) Saraelian.
Gender: Male.
Age: Thirty two years old. In appearance, he looks only to be twenty one.
Birthday: March eighteenth.
Profession: Slayer.
Blood Type: O+
Preferred Hand: Ambidextrous
Personality
Dan Lagh’ratham is best described as a cocky prick. He is noted to have a quick and petty temper, and presents himself simply to the world; as a man after his own ends. Beneath the obnoxious arrogance, however, he worries greatly for his daughter, the survivor of a slaughter of his own design in madness. The lives of others come in dead last however; it’s obvious he couldn’t give a damn about others problems. It’s only when a problem presents threat or harm to himself or someone he cares about that he’ll actually take action.
Appearance
Dan‘s appearance changes often due to his cellular control, but for the most part, his most consistent appearance is that of a twenty one year old man with a complexion browned by Fallien’s sun, hazel eyes, brown, wavy hair that is bordering on black, a tongue with a slight Aleraran inflection, and a large, pale scar running diagonally through his face. His body is chorded with lean muscle, more like an endurance runner than the bulky form of a barbarian as many would suspect. His skin is an ever-changing mosaic of natural tattoos, which changes on a whim.
Dan has taken to wearing a mandarin collared black coat with dark red embroidery with the Forgotten One, Xem'Zund's, sigil in the design. It is his uniform (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=8692&page=5) under the Black's service.
Weapons
Primary
Dan has replaced Rotslayer with a delyn buster sword, weighing two hundred and fifty pounds and measuring six feet long, give or take a few inches. It has been named “Bhidyate”.
Secondary
Dan employs the use of several arms, including an enormous drill spear with a broken gear box (A powerful enough jolt will start it up), an iron revolver with one hundred lead bullets, a pair of hidden mythril boot toe knives, a delyn combat knife, six traditional steel chakrams, six serrated steel chakram, and a single-bladed Mythril Great Axe with Delyn Core and haft.
Armor
Delyn Fullplate
A heavy suit of full plate that few others would be able to move in easily. The armor is an inch thick, making it very durable.
Shield of Vanguard
A living shield of indeterminate material with the strength of mythril and unknown properties. The soul of a daemon was sealed into it several years ago, and its mouth is centered on the front of the shield. It’s fickle, and picks its owners of its volition, depending on strength. It has the power to chew up weak spells (lvl. 0-1), as well as projectiles such as arrows or bolts, and spit them back at the casters.
Items
Ring of Vigilance
An ivory ring band that is set with a metallic "eye" that glows a dim orange color from time to time, it detects slight disturbances in magic as well as spotting supernatural creatures within a ten yard radius.
Tooth of Ifrit
The fang of a powerful fire demon, knocked loose by an intrepid hero during a battle in old Haidia. Some fool was either so brilliant or so stupid that he made a ring out of the tooth even. The rings effects are simple: it grants you a slight immunity to fire, reducing damage by a half.
Lion’s Rage Amulet
A silvery amulet with an odd decoration that looks like a lion's head. Upon activation, it will double its owner’s strength. The amulet has five charges on it at the moment, and last for five minutes after its activation.
Due to his affinity with nature, metal included, Dan has taken the amulet inside of his body and may activate its effects at any time needed. Currently, he is trying to understand its creation and the magic that forged it so that he may duplicate the effect without the use of the amulet.
Last Resort Sword
A seldom seen enchantment that will enable a glove or gauntlet to emit a blade of energy. The energy cannot burn, and remains under the laws of the physical realm; it still acts as a material sword so it cannot pass through armor to strike the flesh or anything of the like. This enchantment specifically has charges, and starts as a high strength metal (such as delyn), but with each use it lowers in strength, down to iron and steel. The enchantment is placed on the right gauntlet of his armor.
Strength Leaves
A set of five special leaves, which are taken from ground saturated with magic. Upon chewing these leaves, a person’s strength is doubled for an hour, as well as prevent them from succumbing to poisons. Additionally, after being chewed, if applied to wounds, the leaves help the healing process. Due to his affinity to nature, plant life included, Dan has absorbed these leaves into his body and can activate their effects without having to orally imbibe them. Currently, he is trying to understand the enzymes and chemicals within them so that he can naturally produce the effect, instead of relying on the leaves.
(For new items, go here. ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=10248).))
Skills/Abilities
Greater Cellular Control
Dan's demon blood allows the activation of a thus dormant ability to regenerate damaged tissue. Wounds heal under the slayer's discretion, unless it is damage that hinders his ability to think to activate it (Such as a strong blow to the head). Thus, smaller wounds often go unnoticed or simply shrugged off.
((Smaller wounds, stabbing, surface cuts, light burns, and slight lacerations and the like, can be healed in a few minutes (1-2 posts). Larger wounds, such as severe burning, strong poisons, deep cuts, bullet wounds and the like can be healed within seven to eight minutes (3-4 posts).))
With a greater understanding of his body and blood’s complex working, Dan understands how to control the regrowth of dead and dying cells into new and different things. He can regress muscle tissue into fatty tissues to alter his shape, change the tone of his skin by forcing the pigments of the new skins cells into darker or lighter colors, remove or grow new scars, cause his hair to lighten, darken, become straight, wavy, or curly, or grow longer. He cannot change eye color, the sound of his voice, or finger prints oddly enough, however. Dan can now greatly accelerate the deterioration and regrowth of his cellular structure in such patterns that he could now be considered a shape shifter, and can change into any humanoid form he wishes, of any age or shape, though his eyes stay the same. Considering this is an enormous undertaking of his strange metabolism, he can only change form so many times before becoming fatigued, following the same principle as a coal furnace. If he runs out of energy while in another form, he will not change back to his normal shape, but stay in the changed form.
Slayer's Bond
Dan has acquired a strong connection with all of his weapons, even the most recent. He can summon them from thin air, and have it vanish in the same manner. Also, he can summon it to his hand if it is at most, thirty feet away. This skill has a chance to fail if Dan is attempting to summon the weapon(s) under situations of extreme duress or intense pain.
A greater understanding has come to him with the duration of time he has been familiar with this ability. Dan has realized that he is simply phasing his belongings into and out of a small pocket dimension, whose origins are unknown. Between transit from the pocket and current dimension, they are in a form of shapeless phantom particles, and form shape with Dan’s memories of them (If he should forget he possess a weapon, and tries to summon it later without a clear picture in his mind, he’ll only summon a perfectly square block of metal). With this knowledge, Dan has become capable of summoning some of his weapons in combined forms. He is incapable of summoning a combined weapon if it’s component is already in use in another, and if he doesn’t have a clear picture of the combined weapon in mind, he’ll simply summon the two normal individual weapons. A combined weapon is made of the strongest metal of the normal combined weapons (i.e. combo of steel chakram and delyn knife, get delyn ring knife)
*Dread Moon: A large, heavy mythril blade, resembling a cross between it’s components; a great axe and a buster sword. The sword-axe is in the shape of a crescent moon, with it’s blade on the outer edge, and two cutouts molded into the metal on the outer edge for wielding it.
**Fenrir A delyn gunblade, fashioned more into the shape of a sword than it’s firearm component, this is a combination of Dan’s iron revolver and the Bhidyate. The buster sword’s entire blade isn’t used in its creation though, keeping its other two hundred pounds in his pocket dimension. Its handle resembles a curved sword grip and hilt, with the trigger emerging just under the crossguards, with a metal knuckleguard running down its length. The barrel is elongated and runs down the top of the blade.
* **Dread Moon and Fenrir can be summoned in tandem with some concentration, though DM's mass is reduced by fifty pounds.
Erupting Fist
Summoning up his new affinity with earth magic, Dan strikes the ground with either his fist or foot. The ground in a twelve foot radius shudders and cracks, cratering at impact as energy tears through it. Those of lower levels will receive large painful bruises and welts, as well as possibly broken bones, and will be thrown to the ground or into the air. Those of close or equal levels to Dan will receive lighter blows, but the result is still nonetheless painful. This can also be used in a linear attack; by swinging a weapon vertically, Dan can summon spines of stone to rise up from the earth and travel for a total of ten feet in a straight line to smash or cut anything its way.
Saraelian Form [Root]
Dan’s birthright, after the Seal of the Hybrid was removed rather roughly by his brother, Dan bled out the blood that made him human and swallowed the earth to become a Terran. When invoking this form, Dan’s skin alters into demon hide and takes on the color of lead, with many cracks running through it, glowing green from an inner light. His eyes lose definition and burn a chartreuse color, and rough obsidian horns emerge from his forehead. While he remains in the form, both Soul Link and Cellular Control are locked, and any weapons currently summoned into reality with his Soul Link are dismissed. However, he is able to create a spear of strange jade stone that is warm to the touch, and has the tensile strength of steel. He can manipulate its form with his Terramancy, and add additional blades and spikes to its body. If broken, the spear can be remade.
As he has only just eased himself into his full power as a Saeralian, Dan can only hold this form for six posts at a time without risk to his body.
There are several changes to his biology with the ascension to a full blooded Saraelian demon. If kept out of the sun for more than three days, Dan’s body will essentially wilt; becoming skeletal, robbing him of all of his strength. This is a jealously guarded secret however, and he will give it to no one. More so, if he is resting in clean water, or in the sunlight, for over an hour, his wounds, even fatal injuries, will close. In the summer, his hair will darken to a black color, in the fall auburn, in the winter, a light brown streaked with gray, and in the spring, a rich brown.
Saraelian Form [Branch] (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=8692&page=5 )*
A further mutation of his Saraelian D.N.A., its unknown if any of, at least, the Terran subrace of the species has been capable of achieving this next step in evolution. In this form, Dan’s height is increased by nine feet from his usual height, for a total of fifteen feet, and his mass is increased to nearly two tons. The lower half of his body takes on an equine form and dully shining chitinous plates the strength of young dragonhorn manifest on his lower body, torso, arms, and face. Though his strength remains doubled from its base amount in his human form, the real power of the Branch form is its new adaptability. Dan’s arms can alter their shape to meet with new, threatening situations. He can access the form of an axe, a shield, a three pronged short claw, and a lance. Additionally, he’s able to form a bow, and can form stone arrows with his Terramancy. The pull on the bow is nearly one ton of force. Though it’s unclear if it’s possible, it feels as though there’s even farther to go, beyond the Branch form.
*Must remain in the Root form for two posts before activation, lasts for four post.
Terramancy
The innate ability once possessed by all Terran Saraelians to manipulate the earthly elements, which include stone, dirt, plant life, sand, metal, and glass. Structures or items created by Dan with this ability have the strength of dehlar so long as he holds influence over them (if he would happen to drop a knife he created out of stone, it would break just like stone). His ability to manipulate metal is average, allowing him only to alter the direction or movement of metal with his signature on it (things belong to him) by employing magnetic fields. He can even simulate wingless flight by pushing against the earth. His ability to manipulate dirt is fairly simple; he can sterilize it and use to help speed along the healing process of his wounds or others, and can either sterilize a forty by forty foot patch of land or force it to flourish. By touching plant life, he can either kill it or cause it to grow, or even mutate it (changing its natural colors, causing it to grow fruits that it otherwise wouldn’t, grow unnatural flowers, produce bioluminescent chemicals). Glass is a simple element to manipulate; Dan can create simple and complex statues amongst others. Dan also has a fairly decent control over the magnetic fields of Althanas, which was first exhibited in flight. He can now project his control in concussive blasts that manifest in a transparent, blurred ripple. The force of these blasts can create a ten by ten foot crater in the earth.
Summoning
By creating a summoning circle by either carving it in the earth, or simply drawing on the energies of the Tap (something he has slowly learned with his exposure to Xem’Zund), and then invoking the spell with his blood, Dan can summon beings from different elemental planes. These beasts and spirits can only exist on Althanas’ plane of reality for short amounts of time, and only follow Dan’s barest orders as their summoner, depending on their temperament.
Fire: Dan draws out a spirit from the elemental plane of fire for a brief attack. The being spews a sticky, burning fluid over a thirty by thirty foot area that works under the same principle as napalm, and can only be extinguished through magical means (or magical controlled water. The fluid lasts for a total of three posts before evaporating, and can cause painful, crippling wounds if directly exposed, and minor damage to equipment. The fluid cannot affect Dan, the summoner.
Stone Heart
Dan's body has been strained to the breaking point so many times that it has actually adapted to his dangerous life. He can lose twice as much blood as the normal man before passing out, and greatly increases his pain tolerance, which means so long as he has a reason to, Dan will not stop rising to his feet until he is killed.
His body produces practically no fatigue toxins during physical activity. Dan can exert himself for a period of three days time without sleep, food, or water before beginning to tire. His body is also highly resilient to damage, and the only ways to kill him seems to be immolation or decapitation – a pierced heart can be regenerated.
Titan's Body
Dan is able to lift approximately four tons, is three times faster and agile than the normal human being, and is able to bend/break/rip/destroy materials equal to or beneath delyn. With his newfound agility and balance, Dan is able to twist and contort his body into unnatural positions that no normal man could place himself into, save for a yoga practitioner. With this he’s able to avoid blows and make unorthodox attacks. Furthermore, Dan's five senses are more attuned to his surroundings than normal human beings, equating to the level of an elves.
Overall Weapons Proficiency
While Dan is more than proficient in the area of guns and knives, he is able to pick up most hand-held weapons and wield them with a certain degree of ability. After using a weapon for a sufficient amount of time, larger weapons taking a little longer and smaller weapons easier, Dan's ability to wield them will be increased.
Heavy Weapons Proficiency
A specialized version of his usual weapons ability, Dan has adapted to mainly using heavy weapons such as large axes, maces, and swords, such as buster swords, greatswords, or zweihanders. This talent is greater than say, his ability to fight with a knife, to the point of mastery.
History
It should have been another stupid, simple day. He should have gotten up, showered, dressed, ate breakfast, and went to school like any normal fifteen-year old. Instead, he woke up to a dead family, dead friends, zombies, demons, vampires, overturned cars, fires, and a gloomy, blood-rust colored sky. Though frightened out of his wits, one of the last surviving members of the human race, then known as Dan Wilson Gosnell, decided it would be best to stay on the move, and threw his shoes on, grabbed his keys, and ran out the door.
He had taken no more than two steps when something fell upon his back, knocking him to the ground. Hitting the ground hard, the soon-to-be slayer was stunned, numbingly feeling the rotting fingers clutch at his neck. As the putrid breath washed over his face, he cried out, wanting to live, and pushed, slamming his elbow into it's jaw. He was rewarded with a grunt, and a wet snap, and the thing tumbled off his back. Scrambling to his feet, Dan ran towards a police car, abandoned in the middle of the road, only looking back once. He wished he hadn't.
Scrabbling at the concrete walk was something that was impossible, a dead man, somehow animated. His skin was spongy, and fell off in places, colliding with a wet slap on the concrete. His filmy eyes rolled aimlessly in moldy sockets, trying to find its prey. It's broken jaw still moved, trying to snap chunks of something out of the air. He shuddered, and yanked open the cruiser's door.
In the seat sat a blood soaked body, the badge pinned to his shirt breast was the only thing that allowed Dan to identify him as an officer of the law. After hesitating, wary of the body, Dan snatched the dead man's .45, two extra clips, and slammed the door, running around the side of the house. He quickly started his car, and left his house forever.
Doubting that the gun would work on....zombies, the only word that came to mind, he set his destination as a nearby weapons shop, knowing they had good swords, daggers, and knives. The store was quiet, and during his search he remained unperturbed. Carrying arms and pocket full of weapons, Dan began to head to the door, but dropped them all when he noticed a glint of well tempered steel and lacquered cherry wood in the shadows of the storeroom.
It was a katana. A very well designed sturdy katana. Ignoring the other weapons, he took it and quickly left. Later, listening to an old, automated rock station on the radio, with the car stopped, Dan unsheathed the blade and looked it over. He was unaware that the blade was of the Wilmhearst Family Slayers, and was also unaware that he himself was Wilmhearst. He decided at that moment, as he sheathed the sword, that he would survive. And to do so, he would kill.
So, over the next eleven years, he gained expertise, scars, and muscle mass, burning away his child's fat. At twenty-five years old, he was a strong warrior, though ignorant socially, and was ready for greater opponents than what earth was offering him. It was then that news of the portal and the monks of Ai'brone reached his ears.
The monks had heard news finally of the tragedy of earth and had come to the devastated planet to offer refuge to the strongest. They boasted that their land, Althanas held some of the strongest that time could name, and intrigue, powerful weapons. Of course, this drew Dan like a moth to a candle flame, and before he knew it, he was on the green grass and under the blue sky of Althanas.
Over the next year, Dan learned he was of the Wilmhearst family, and their twenty-seventh generation. He crossed swords with many of Althanas' warriors, participated in both the Serenti and The Cell, aided the Alliance in the Bazaar War, coming out on the winning side, and enjoyed a brief stint as the second in command of the Order Within Chaos. During the course of The Cell, however, two of Althanas' most powerful killers came to his attention as a mercenary, bounty hunter, and slayer; Max Dirks, a man good with his gun, and Valentina Snow, a vicious cannibal who Dan discovered to be the Weendigo. Through way of a cheap shot, and a well placed shadow portal, both thrust him from the tournament and bought them his constant, vigilant, vengeance.
After the Cell, Dan began to train in the Citadel, felling a few powerful opponents, including Luc Kraus, an arrogant geomancer who strives to gain the slayer's respect. After he had his fill of battle, Dan joined the Black Hand, combat sign of the Red Hand and a clan of elite warriors. A few months later, he caught a messenger trying to sneak out of Keller Hall, hoping to avoid the man with the huge sword's attention. Dan learned from him that Lord Ithermoss was dying, and was at the half-drake's side in only a few moments. The Red Hand's founder gave him one of his first weapons, a broad-bladed iron katar, one of the many gifts given to others who had assembled. Inspired by Ithermoss’ rough life, the slayer set out again, even more determined to return the Earth to what it had been at one time.
After a money making scheme at a prize fighting ring whose name he forgets, Dan met the impossibly strong Godhand Striker, as well as Claire and Sonya, who were even stronger, to the point of ridiculousness. They're all currently living in his apartment at Radasanth. His strange feelings for Claire, and the trustworthy camaraderie of Godhand have made the slayer begin to rethink his outlook on life. Could an individual's life be precious? Something not to be taken away? Can he trust the three? If it came down to it, would he lay his life down for them? His heart says yes, but his instincts scream no. And his instincts have gotten him very far up to now.
However, this wasn't discovered yet as soon after, his workload began to make him buckle beneath it's weight. Gild vanished and Damon Kaosi took the title and position of Aegis, giving the slayer the position of The Captain of the Sword. Also, with the Shards of Valori suddenly coming to light, his free time was occupied by Theatre of War battles to acquire the shards. Soon after he registered for the Althanas Adventurer's Crown alongside Seth Dahlios and Oberon Detruire. The three, under the name of The Black Hand, were charged with finding the legendary Lightbringer, the Calan Silaer. It was no more than they set foot into Hrenta Nodos that several explosions rocked the city, and the Demon Army flooded it. They arrested the slayer and took him to Telas Bauhaus, the public execution grounds, and forced him to fight The Raven King, quite a bit more powerful, who he had believed to have killed years ago. When it was apparent Dan was on a fast track to a brutal death, he went through a bloody metamorphosis that showed his half demon characteristics all too well. After killing the monstrosity, Dan was set free due to ancient laws, and caught up to Seth. He passed out, and during this time, a mysterious Demon who was of a high rank in the Demon Army spirited the Lightbringer away to Salvar. After awakening, he had an urge to enter the crypt, were the reanimated corpse of the demon prince Prellatar told him of his past, and his Saraelian demon descendents, and gave light to the lies the Wilmhearst family had been telling him. After sealing the crypt to give Prellatar rest, Dan and Seth made way to Salvar and met up with Oberon, who had went ahead to follow the army. The three made a daring raid on the camp of the six thousand strong force, and just when it seemed they had recovered the legendary weapon, the mysterious demon appeared and broke it, revealing it to be fake. He froze time around the three, and locked them away to deal with them later. With a promise to recover the Lightbringer, and having been beaten so easily, a hellish fury is soon to be dropped onto Belial's head...
After being rescued by the Tel Quissir, Dan and the other two members of the Black Hand succeeded in spiriting away the Calan Silaer. However, during a council of all the teams and the monks in Radasanth, the demons came again, seeking the other Calans, and though fighting bravely, they were all incapacitated. Afterwards, they were liberated again, and the Black Hand broke away from the tournament, sick of the constant attack, and their position as the tournament's whipping boy. When Dan split off from Seth and Oberon, he went back to his apartment, and in the following weeks found himself tied up in an assassination attempt to kill him by the Phoenix Syndicate, who wanted him out of the way so they could use his genetically altered clones to take over the world. They also kidnapped the girl he was keeping an eye on, Linda, and despite his best efforts, she was killed by the Syndicate's head, Jaken, moments before his escape. In a rage, Dan killed Jaken with the Rotslayer and was nearly destroyed in a humungous blast that leveled the Syndicate's headquarters, the Tsukioke Bulding in the upper east end of Radasanth.
Feeling the need for reflection, and solitude, Dan retired to the sands of Fallien, not bothering to tell any of his acquaintances. Without hesitation, his twisted brother, Delerion, inserted himself into his usual life’s routine, and began to ruin his good reputation. Slowly at first, acting as a reckless vigilante, then made it come crashing down all at once, launching a brutal attack on Radasanth, sinking a ship with at least one thousand people aboard while engaged in a battle with a Wilmhearst slayer. Eventually, when news reached Dan’s ears, he rushed back to the place he called his home, and Delerion fled, leaving him with a life in shambles. With no way to fix the damage, and unable to track his brother, Dan left for Fallien again.
Three years pass, and Dan Lagh’ratham faded away.
In time, a tribe in Fallien comes to boast about a Hunter with the strength of a titan. He came namelessly, and when he had proven himself, they gave him the title of Renuanupadin, or Sand Searcher. The soldier’s of the desert nation, upon watching him kill Arta while on a sortie from the Keep, came to name him Ren the Beast. The man named Ren was distant to all, so it came as little surprise when he proposed a leave from the tribe, widely rumored to be one of either redemption or peregrination. He garbed himself in black, and left the sands...for now.
Suffering from numerous irrational thoughts, madness, and dangerous psychotic episodes, a misguided Dan Lagh’ratham formed a criminal ring named the Audeamus, using it to plague citizens and hatch insane plots. After his black outs and episodes became worse and even more frequent, he came to in the small cottage that his lover and daughter lived their pleasant lives in. After realizing he had murdered them both, a sobered Dan Lagh’ratham buried their bodies and set off East, in aimless, guilty wonder. It wasn’t long before his twin brother Derium met him and after a short skirmish, informed Dan that his daughter had at least escaped. Immediately, he began to talk as though the two had spent childhood together, and destroyed a seal keeping Dan from accessing his power. After a brush with death, Dan become a full blooded Saraelian and set forth into Althanas in a desperate for his child.
His efforts however proved to be fruitless. During a sweep of Raiaera, he had a curious dream; a dream of age old evil, talons, and a stone spear. The Forgotten One, Xem’Zund, had carved his mark in Dan’s heart with the promise of power and his assistance in the search for his daughter. Altering his appearance to a man with overlapping scars through his left eye down to his chin, and across his nose and over his left ear, Dan took the alias Kross and followed as a protector when Skie dan Sabrial, daughter of the Starslayer, tried to usher students of Istien out of the country. After a trying battle against one of the Necromancer’s servants, Cydonia, and with a small army gaining on them, Kross finally revealed his true colors and abducted Skie, intent on delivering her to Xem’Zund as a gift.
((It is not stated in the thread but a PM from Call me J stating my spoils were granted from Blood Red Blossoms. You may contact him if there is any concern.))
General Info
Name: Dan Lagh'ratham
Aliases: Kross, Dak’Arsha.
Nickname(s): The Red Beast, The Black Tree.
Race: Full blooded (endangered) Saraelian.
Gender: Male.
Age: Thirty two years old. In appearance, he looks only to be twenty one.
Birthday: March eighteenth.
Profession: Slayer.
Blood Type: O+
Preferred Hand: Ambidextrous
Personality
Dan Lagh’ratham is best described as a cocky prick. He is noted to have a quick and petty temper, and presents himself simply to the world; as a man after his own ends. Beneath the obnoxious arrogance, however, he worries greatly for his daughter, the survivor of a slaughter of his own design in madness. The lives of others come in dead last however; it’s obvious he couldn’t give a damn about others problems. It’s only when a problem presents threat or harm to himself or someone he cares about that he’ll actually take action.
Appearance
Dan‘s appearance changes often due to his cellular control, but for the most part, his most consistent appearance is that of a twenty one year old man with a complexion browned by Fallien’s sun, hazel eyes, brown, wavy hair that is bordering on black, a tongue with a slight Aleraran inflection, and a large, pale scar running diagonally through his face. His body is chorded with lean muscle, more like an endurance runner than the bulky form of a barbarian as many would suspect. His skin is an ever-changing mosaic of natural tattoos, which changes on a whim.
Dan has taken to wearing a mandarin collared black coat with dark red embroidery with the Forgotten One, Xem'Zund's, sigil in the design. It is his uniform (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=8692&page=5) under the Black's service.
Weapons
Primary
Dan has replaced Rotslayer with a delyn buster sword, weighing two hundred and fifty pounds and measuring six feet long, give or take a few inches. It has been named “Bhidyate”.
Secondary
Dan employs the use of several arms, including an enormous drill spear with a broken gear box (A powerful enough jolt will start it up), an iron revolver with one hundred lead bullets, a pair of hidden mythril boot toe knives, a delyn combat knife, six traditional steel chakrams, six serrated steel chakram, and a single-bladed Mythril Great Axe with Delyn Core and haft.
Armor
Delyn Fullplate
A heavy suit of full plate that few others would be able to move in easily. The armor is an inch thick, making it very durable.
Shield of Vanguard
A living shield of indeterminate material with the strength of mythril and unknown properties. The soul of a daemon was sealed into it several years ago, and its mouth is centered on the front of the shield. It’s fickle, and picks its owners of its volition, depending on strength. It has the power to chew up weak spells (lvl. 0-1), as well as projectiles such as arrows or bolts, and spit them back at the casters.
Items
Ring of Vigilance
An ivory ring band that is set with a metallic "eye" that glows a dim orange color from time to time, it detects slight disturbances in magic as well as spotting supernatural creatures within a ten yard radius.
Tooth of Ifrit
The fang of a powerful fire demon, knocked loose by an intrepid hero during a battle in old Haidia. Some fool was either so brilliant or so stupid that he made a ring out of the tooth even. The rings effects are simple: it grants you a slight immunity to fire, reducing damage by a half.
Lion’s Rage Amulet
A silvery amulet with an odd decoration that looks like a lion's head. Upon activation, it will double its owner’s strength. The amulet has five charges on it at the moment, and last for five minutes after its activation.
Due to his affinity with nature, metal included, Dan has taken the amulet inside of his body and may activate its effects at any time needed. Currently, he is trying to understand its creation and the magic that forged it so that he may duplicate the effect without the use of the amulet.
Last Resort Sword
A seldom seen enchantment that will enable a glove or gauntlet to emit a blade of energy. The energy cannot burn, and remains under the laws of the physical realm; it still acts as a material sword so it cannot pass through armor to strike the flesh or anything of the like. This enchantment specifically has charges, and starts as a high strength metal (such as delyn), but with each use it lowers in strength, down to iron and steel. The enchantment is placed on the right gauntlet of his armor.
Strength Leaves
A set of five special leaves, which are taken from ground saturated with magic. Upon chewing these leaves, a person’s strength is doubled for an hour, as well as prevent them from succumbing to poisons. Additionally, after being chewed, if applied to wounds, the leaves help the healing process. Due to his affinity to nature, plant life included, Dan has absorbed these leaves into his body and can activate their effects without having to orally imbibe them. Currently, he is trying to understand the enzymes and chemicals within them so that he can naturally produce the effect, instead of relying on the leaves.
(For new items, go here. ( http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=10248).))
Skills/Abilities
Greater Cellular Control
Dan's demon blood allows the activation of a thus dormant ability to regenerate damaged tissue. Wounds heal under the slayer's discretion, unless it is damage that hinders his ability to think to activate it (Such as a strong blow to the head). Thus, smaller wounds often go unnoticed or simply shrugged off.
((Smaller wounds, stabbing, surface cuts, light burns, and slight lacerations and the like, can be healed in a few minutes (1-2 posts). Larger wounds, such as severe burning, strong poisons, deep cuts, bullet wounds and the like can be healed within seven to eight minutes (3-4 posts).))
With a greater understanding of his body and blood’s complex working, Dan understands how to control the regrowth of dead and dying cells into new and different things. He can regress muscle tissue into fatty tissues to alter his shape, change the tone of his skin by forcing the pigments of the new skins cells into darker or lighter colors, remove or grow new scars, cause his hair to lighten, darken, become straight, wavy, or curly, or grow longer. He cannot change eye color, the sound of his voice, or finger prints oddly enough, however. Dan can now greatly accelerate the deterioration and regrowth of his cellular structure in such patterns that he could now be considered a shape shifter, and can change into any humanoid form he wishes, of any age or shape, though his eyes stay the same. Considering this is an enormous undertaking of his strange metabolism, he can only change form so many times before becoming fatigued, following the same principle as a coal furnace. If he runs out of energy while in another form, he will not change back to his normal shape, but stay in the changed form.
Slayer's Bond
Dan has acquired a strong connection with all of his weapons, even the most recent. He can summon them from thin air, and have it vanish in the same manner. Also, he can summon it to his hand if it is at most, thirty feet away. This skill has a chance to fail if Dan is attempting to summon the weapon(s) under situations of extreme duress or intense pain.
A greater understanding has come to him with the duration of time he has been familiar with this ability. Dan has realized that he is simply phasing his belongings into and out of a small pocket dimension, whose origins are unknown. Between transit from the pocket and current dimension, they are in a form of shapeless phantom particles, and form shape with Dan’s memories of them (If he should forget he possess a weapon, and tries to summon it later without a clear picture in his mind, he’ll only summon a perfectly square block of metal). With this knowledge, Dan has become capable of summoning some of his weapons in combined forms. He is incapable of summoning a combined weapon if it’s component is already in use in another, and if he doesn’t have a clear picture of the combined weapon in mind, he’ll simply summon the two normal individual weapons. A combined weapon is made of the strongest metal of the normal combined weapons (i.e. combo of steel chakram and delyn knife, get delyn ring knife)
*Dread Moon: A large, heavy mythril blade, resembling a cross between it’s components; a great axe and a buster sword. The sword-axe is in the shape of a crescent moon, with it’s blade on the outer edge, and two cutouts molded into the metal on the outer edge for wielding it.
**Fenrir A delyn gunblade, fashioned more into the shape of a sword than it’s firearm component, this is a combination of Dan’s iron revolver and the Bhidyate. The buster sword’s entire blade isn’t used in its creation though, keeping its other two hundred pounds in his pocket dimension. Its handle resembles a curved sword grip and hilt, with the trigger emerging just under the crossguards, with a metal knuckleguard running down its length. The barrel is elongated and runs down the top of the blade.
* **Dread Moon and Fenrir can be summoned in tandem with some concentration, though DM's mass is reduced by fifty pounds.
Erupting Fist
Summoning up his new affinity with earth magic, Dan strikes the ground with either his fist or foot. The ground in a twelve foot radius shudders and cracks, cratering at impact as energy tears through it. Those of lower levels will receive large painful bruises and welts, as well as possibly broken bones, and will be thrown to the ground or into the air. Those of close or equal levels to Dan will receive lighter blows, but the result is still nonetheless painful. This can also be used in a linear attack; by swinging a weapon vertically, Dan can summon spines of stone to rise up from the earth and travel for a total of ten feet in a straight line to smash or cut anything its way.
Saraelian Form [Root]
Dan’s birthright, after the Seal of the Hybrid was removed rather roughly by his brother, Dan bled out the blood that made him human and swallowed the earth to become a Terran. When invoking this form, Dan’s skin alters into demon hide and takes on the color of lead, with many cracks running through it, glowing green from an inner light. His eyes lose definition and burn a chartreuse color, and rough obsidian horns emerge from his forehead. While he remains in the form, both Soul Link and Cellular Control are locked, and any weapons currently summoned into reality with his Soul Link are dismissed. However, he is able to create a spear of strange jade stone that is warm to the touch, and has the tensile strength of steel. He can manipulate its form with his Terramancy, and add additional blades and spikes to its body. If broken, the spear can be remade.
As he has only just eased himself into his full power as a Saeralian, Dan can only hold this form for six posts at a time without risk to his body.
There are several changes to his biology with the ascension to a full blooded Saraelian demon. If kept out of the sun for more than three days, Dan’s body will essentially wilt; becoming skeletal, robbing him of all of his strength. This is a jealously guarded secret however, and he will give it to no one. More so, if he is resting in clean water, or in the sunlight, for over an hour, his wounds, even fatal injuries, will close. In the summer, his hair will darken to a black color, in the fall auburn, in the winter, a light brown streaked with gray, and in the spring, a rich brown.
Saraelian Form [Branch] (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?t=8692&page=5 )*
A further mutation of his Saraelian D.N.A., its unknown if any of, at least, the Terran subrace of the species has been capable of achieving this next step in evolution. In this form, Dan’s height is increased by nine feet from his usual height, for a total of fifteen feet, and his mass is increased to nearly two tons. The lower half of his body takes on an equine form and dully shining chitinous plates the strength of young dragonhorn manifest on his lower body, torso, arms, and face. Though his strength remains doubled from its base amount in his human form, the real power of the Branch form is its new adaptability. Dan’s arms can alter their shape to meet with new, threatening situations. He can access the form of an axe, a shield, a three pronged short claw, and a lance. Additionally, he’s able to form a bow, and can form stone arrows with his Terramancy. The pull on the bow is nearly one ton of force. Though it’s unclear if it’s possible, it feels as though there’s even farther to go, beyond the Branch form.
*Must remain in the Root form for two posts before activation, lasts for four post.
Terramancy
The innate ability once possessed by all Terran Saraelians to manipulate the earthly elements, which include stone, dirt, plant life, sand, metal, and glass. Structures or items created by Dan with this ability have the strength of dehlar so long as he holds influence over them (if he would happen to drop a knife he created out of stone, it would break just like stone). His ability to manipulate metal is average, allowing him only to alter the direction or movement of metal with his signature on it (things belong to him) by employing magnetic fields. He can even simulate wingless flight by pushing against the earth. His ability to manipulate dirt is fairly simple; he can sterilize it and use to help speed along the healing process of his wounds or others, and can either sterilize a forty by forty foot patch of land or force it to flourish. By touching plant life, he can either kill it or cause it to grow, or even mutate it (changing its natural colors, causing it to grow fruits that it otherwise wouldn’t, grow unnatural flowers, produce bioluminescent chemicals). Glass is a simple element to manipulate; Dan can create simple and complex statues amongst others. Dan also has a fairly decent control over the magnetic fields of Althanas, which was first exhibited in flight. He can now project his control in concussive blasts that manifest in a transparent, blurred ripple. The force of these blasts can create a ten by ten foot crater in the earth.
Summoning
By creating a summoning circle by either carving it in the earth, or simply drawing on the energies of the Tap (something he has slowly learned with his exposure to Xem’Zund), and then invoking the spell with his blood, Dan can summon beings from different elemental planes. These beasts and spirits can only exist on Althanas’ plane of reality for short amounts of time, and only follow Dan’s barest orders as their summoner, depending on their temperament.
Fire: Dan draws out a spirit from the elemental plane of fire for a brief attack. The being spews a sticky, burning fluid over a thirty by thirty foot area that works under the same principle as napalm, and can only be extinguished through magical means (or magical controlled water. The fluid lasts for a total of three posts before evaporating, and can cause painful, crippling wounds if directly exposed, and minor damage to equipment. The fluid cannot affect Dan, the summoner.
Stone Heart
Dan's body has been strained to the breaking point so many times that it has actually adapted to his dangerous life. He can lose twice as much blood as the normal man before passing out, and greatly increases his pain tolerance, which means so long as he has a reason to, Dan will not stop rising to his feet until he is killed.
His body produces practically no fatigue toxins during physical activity. Dan can exert himself for a period of three days time without sleep, food, or water before beginning to tire. His body is also highly resilient to damage, and the only ways to kill him seems to be immolation or decapitation – a pierced heart can be regenerated.
Titan's Body
Dan is able to lift approximately four tons, is three times faster and agile than the normal human being, and is able to bend/break/rip/destroy materials equal to or beneath delyn. With his newfound agility and balance, Dan is able to twist and contort his body into unnatural positions that no normal man could place himself into, save for a yoga practitioner. With this he’s able to avoid blows and make unorthodox attacks. Furthermore, Dan's five senses are more attuned to his surroundings than normal human beings, equating to the level of an elves.
Overall Weapons Proficiency
While Dan is more than proficient in the area of guns and knives, he is able to pick up most hand-held weapons and wield them with a certain degree of ability. After using a weapon for a sufficient amount of time, larger weapons taking a little longer and smaller weapons easier, Dan's ability to wield them will be increased.
Heavy Weapons Proficiency
A specialized version of his usual weapons ability, Dan has adapted to mainly using heavy weapons such as large axes, maces, and swords, such as buster swords, greatswords, or zweihanders. This talent is greater than say, his ability to fight with a knife, to the point of mastery.
History
It should have been another stupid, simple day. He should have gotten up, showered, dressed, ate breakfast, and went to school like any normal fifteen-year old. Instead, he woke up to a dead family, dead friends, zombies, demons, vampires, overturned cars, fires, and a gloomy, blood-rust colored sky. Though frightened out of his wits, one of the last surviving members of the human race, then known as Dan Wilson Gosnell, decided it would be best to stay on the move, and threw his shoes on, grabbed his keys, and ran out the door.
He had taken no more than two steps when something fell upon his back, knocking him to the ground. Hitting the ground hard, the soon-to-be slayer was stunned, numbingly feeling the rotting fingers clutch at his neck. As the putrid breath washed over his face, he cried out, wanting to live, and pushed, slamming his elbow into it's jaw. He was rewarded with a grunt, and a wet snap, and the thing tumbled off his back. Scrambling to his feet, Dan ran towards a police car, abandoned in the middle of the road, only looking back once. He wished he hadn't.
Scrabbling at the concrete walk was something that was impossible, a dead man, somehow animated. His skin was spongy, and fell off in places, colliding with a wet slap on the concrete. His filmy eyes rolled aimlessly in moldy sockets, trying to find its prey. It's broken jaw still moved, trying to snap chunks of something out of the air. He shuddered, and yanked open the cruiser's door.
In the seat sat a blood soaked body, the badge pinned to his shirt breast was the only thing that allowed Dan to identify him as an officer of the law. After hesitating, wary of the body, Dan snatched the dead man's .45, two extra clips, and slammed the door, running around the side of the house. He quickly started his car, and left his house forever.
Doubting that the gun would work on....zombies, the only word that came to mind, he set his destination as a nearby weapons shop, knowing they had good swords, daggers, and knives. The store was quiet, and during his search he remained unperturbed. Carrying arms and pocket full of weapons, Dan began to head to the door, but dropped them all when he noticed a glint of well tempered steel and lacquered cherry wood in the shadows of the storeroom.
It was a katana. A very well designed sturdy katana. Ignoring the other weapons, he took it and quickly left. Later, listening to an old, automated rock station on the radio, with the car stopped, Dan unsheathed the blade and looked it over. He was unaware that the blade was of the Wilmhearst Family Slayers, and was also unaware that he himself was Wilmhearst. He decided at that moment, as he sheathed the sword, that he would survive. And to do so, he would kill.
So, over the next eleven years, he gained expertise, scars, and muscle mass, burning away his child's fat. At twenty-five years old, he was a strong warrior, though ignorant socially, and was ready for greater opponents than what earth was offering him. It was then that news of the portal and the monks of Ai'brone reached his ears.
The monks had heard news finally of the tragedy of earth and had come to the devastated planet to offer refuge to the strongest. They boasted that their land, Althanas held some of the strongest that time could name, and intrigue, powerful weapons. Of course, this drew Dan like a moth to a candle flame, and before he knew it, he was on the green grass and under the blue sky of Althanas.
Over the next year, Dan learned he was of the Wilmhearst family, and their twenty-seventh generation. He crossed swords with many of Althanas' warriors, participated in both the Serenti and The Cell, aided the Alliance in the Bazaar War, coming out on the winning side, and enjoyed a brief stint as the second in command of the Order Within Chaos. During the course of The Cell, however, two of Althanas' most powerful killers came to his attention as a mercenary, bounty hunter, and slayer; Max Dirks, a man good with his gun, and Valentina Snow, a vicious cannibal who Dan discovered to be the Weendigo. Through way of a cheap shot, and a well placed shadow portal, both thrust him from the tournament and bought them his constant, vigilant, vengeance.
After the Cell, Dan began to train in the Citadel, felling a few powerful opponents, including Luc Kraus, an arrogant geomancer who strives to gain the slayer's respect. After he had his fill of battle, Dan joined the Black Hand, combat sign of the Red Hand and a clan of elite warriors. A few months later, he caught a messenger trying to sneak out of Keller Hall, hoping to avoid the man with the huge sword's attention. Dan learned from him that Lord Ithermoss was dying, and was at the half-drake's side in only a few moments. The Red Hand's founder gave him one of his first weapons, a broad-bladed iron katar, one of the many gifts given to others who had assembled. Inspired by Ithermoss’ rough life, the slayer set out again, even more determined to return the Earth to what it had been at one time.
After a money making scheme at a prize fighting ring whose name he forgets, Dan met the impossibly strong Godhand Striker, as well as Claire and Sonya, who were even stronger, to the point of ridiculousness. They're all currently living in his apartment at Radasanth. His strange feelings for Claire, and the trustworthy camaraderie of Godhand have made the slayer begin to rethink his outlook on life. Could an individual's life be precious? Something not to be taken away? Can he trust the three? If it came down to it, would he lay his life down for them? His heart says yes, but his instincts scream no. And his instincts have gotten him very far up to now.
However, this wasn't discovered yet as soon after, his workload began to make him buckle beneath it's weight. Gild vanished and Damon Kaosi took the title and position of Aegis, giving the slayer the position of The Captain of the Sword. Also, with the Shards of Valori suddenly coming to light, his free time was occupied by Theatre of War battles to acquire the shards. Soon after he registered for the Althanas Adventurer's Crown alongside Seth Dahlios and Oberon Detruire. The three, under the name of The Black Hand, were charged with finding the legendary Lightbringer, the Calan Silaer. It was no more than they set foot into Hrenta Nodos that several explosions rocked the city, and the Demon Army flooded it. They arrested the slayer and took him to Telas Bauhaus, the public execution grounds, and forced him to fight The Raven King, quite a bit more powerful, who he had believed to have killed years ago. When it was apparent Dan was on a fast track to a brutal death, he went through a bloody metamorphosis that showed his half demon characteristics all too well. After killing the monstrosity, Dan was set free due to ancient laws, and caught up to Seth. He passed out, and during this time, a mysterious Demon who was of a high rank in the Demon Army spirited the Lightbringer away to Salvar. After awakening, he had an urge to enter the crypt, were the reanimated corpse of the demon prince Prellatar told him of his past, and his Saraelian demon descendents, and gave light to the lies the Wilmhearst family had been telling him. After sealing the crypt to give Prellatar rest, Dan and Seth made way to Salvar and met up with Oberon, who had went ahead to follow the army. The three made a daring raid on the camp of the six thousand strong force, and just when it seemed they had recovered the legendary weapon, the mysterious demon appeared and broke it, revealing it to be fake. He froze time around the three, and locked them away to deal with them later. With a promise to recover the Lightbringer, and having been beaten so easily, a hellish fury is soon to be dropped onto Belial's head...
After being rescued by the Tel Quissir, Dan and the other two members of the Black Hand succeeded in spiriting away the Calan Silaer. However, during a council of all the teams and the monks in Radasanth, the demons came again, seeking the other Calans, and though fighting bravely, they were all incapacitated. Afterwards, they were liberated again, and the Black Hand broke away from the tournament, sick of the constant attack, and their position as the tournament's whipping boy. When Dan split off from Seth and Oberon, he went back to his apartment, and in the following weeks found himself tied up in an assassination attempt to kill him by the Phoenix Syndicate, who wanted him out of the way so they could use his genetically altered clones to take over the world. They also kidnapped the girl he was keeping an eye on, Linda, and despite his best efforts, she was killed by the Syndicate's head, Jaken, moments before his escape. In a rage, Dan killed Jaken with the Rotslayer and was nearly destroyed in a humungous blast that leveled the Syndicate's headquarters, the Tsukioke Bulding in the upper east end of Radasanth.
Feeling the need for reflection, and solitude, Dan retired to the sands of Fallien, not bothering to tell any of his acquaintances. Without hesitation, his twisted brother, Delerion, inserted himself into his usual life’s routine, and began to ruin his good reputation. Slowly at first, acting as a reckless vigilante, then made it come crashing down all at once, launching a brutal attack on Radasanth, sinking a ship with at least one thousand people aboard while engaged in a battle with a Wilmhearst slayer. Eventually, when news reached Dan’s ears, he rushed back to the place he called his home, and Delerion fled, leaving him with a life in shambles. With no way to fix the damage, and unable to track his brother, Dan left for Fallien again.
Three years pass, and Dan Lagh’ratham faded away.
In time, a tribe in Fallien comes to boast about a Hunter with the strength of a titan. He came namelessly, and when he had proven himself, they gave him the title of Renuanupadin, or Sand Searcher. The soldier’s of the desert nation, upon watching him kill Arta while on a sortie from the Keep, came to name him Ren the Beast. The man named Ren was distant to all, so it came as little surprise when he proposed a leave from the tribe, widely rumored to be one of either redemption or peregrination. He garbed himself in black, and left the sands...for now.
Suffering from numerous irrational thoughts, madness, and dangerous psychotic episodes, a misguided Dan Lagh’ratham formed a criminal ring named the Audeamus, using it to plague citizens and hatch insane plots. After his black outs and episodes became worse and even more frequent, he came to in the small cottage that his lover and daughter lived their pleasant lives in. After realizing he had murdered them both, a sobered Dan Lagh’ratham buried their bodies and set off East, in aimless, guilty wonder. It wasn’t long before his twin brother Derium met him and after a short skirmish, informed Dan that his daughter had at least escaped. Immediately, he began to talk as though the two had spent childhood together, and destroyed a seal keeping Dan from accessing his power. After a brush with death, Dan become a full blooded Saraelian and set forth into Althanas in a desperate for his child.
His efforts however proved to be fruitless. During a sweep of Raiaera, he had a curious dream; a dream of age old evil, talons, and a stone spear. The Forgotten One, Xem’Zund, had carved his mark in Dan’s heart with the promise of power and his assistance in the search for his daughter. Altering his appearance to a man with overlapping scars through his left eye down to his chin, and across his nose and over his left ear, Dan took the alias Kross and followed as a protector when Skie dan Sabrial, daughter of the Starslayer, tried to usher students of Istien out of the country. After a trying battle against one of the Necromancer’s servants, Cydonia, and with a small army gaining on them, Kross finally revealed his true colors and abducted Skie, intent on delivering her to Xem’Zund as a gift.
((It is not stated in the thread but a PM from Call me J stating my spoils were granted from Blood Red Blossoms. You may contact him if there is any concern.))