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Castille: I don’t care how, I just want to look... Alive. | |
| APP HMD WIZARD MAG |
Player Name: Mag
Age: 25
Contact: missmag#7070 on discord or
Timezone: CST
Other character currently in game: None
Character name:
Age: ??? She's technically the ghost of an elf stuck in the body of a statue. Age is an illusion. Time is fake. ... But she's been in her current body for about 15 years and was at least 80 when she died.
Canon: Friends at the Table
Canon point: Near the beginning of Marielda 14: The Killing of the King-God Samothes By The Traitor Prince Maelgwyn Pt. 4 (Before she ever gets the chance to turn stone cold, ba dum tsh)
History: Here and here
Three key adjectives: Protective, Inquisitive, Hell-bent
Influential Events:
THE QUIET YEAR
--> (AKA: Saving the world is hard, who knew)
--> (AKA: Saving the world is hard, who knew)
Castille did not start out as a living statue. She was once a powerful elven mage named Charter, desperate to save her world from its inevitable destruction. (Funny how that worked out.) Her life's work had culminated in a plan built upon decades embroiled in academia and god-given authority. All she had to do was transport her tower from The Last University to Marielda, the city ruled by a god that just so happened to be the ex-lover of her god, and somehow convince the ruling deity that her plan-- his ex's plan-- would work. As if this wasn't complicated enough, the two aforementioned gods were technically at war at the time. But Charter was sent to prove that the world could be saved, and she'd never given up on a mission before, and so she laughed in the face of the odds stacked against her and carried on in spite of them. She had help along the way in the form of another mage named Bolster Valentine, her partner in crime. Together, they destroyed any forces that dared hinder their progress, even when those forces were magical statues that were as strong as their sentience was nonexistent. They taught any who would listen the secrets of magic and knowledge denied to them by their city's ruler. They evaded the clutches of the ruler's son, the prince who served one of his two fathers faithfully even as he spurned the other that sponsored Charter's endeavors.
Up until they didn't. Charter knew that they could only resist the full might of the city bearing down upon them for so long. They were running out of time. Something had to be done, and there was no room to consider morals when the fate of the world was potentially resting on their shoulders. What was one life in the face of many? So Charter made a hard decision. She sold out her partner. Led the local Church right to him with a slip of paper at the right time and the right place, all so she could continue her work in peace. It was a betrayal of the highest order, and in the end, it was all for nothing. Death came for her all the same, and it disregarded morals as easily as she did. It just had the decency to not hide behind some grand purpose as an excuse.
Even at death's doorstep, Charter still had one trick left up her sleeve. As the son of the dueling gods named Maelgwyn cut her down with the aid of her heated rivals from the city's underground school, she weaved a spell that would ensure she endured. She separated her consciousness from her body and fled to one of the statues she was so used to fighting against, molded it into a form she was pleased with. And for all her magical prowess and contingency plans, she still miscalculated. It was a rush job, and while her soul carried on, her memories did not.
Charter died that day, and Castille was born.
Up until they didn't. Charter knew that they could only resist the full might of the city bearing down upon them for so long. They were running out of time. Something had to be done, and there was no room to consider morals when the fate of the world was potentially resting on their shoulders. What was one life in the face of many? So Charter made a hard decision. She sold out her partner. Led the local Church right to him with a slip of paper at the right time and the right place, all so she could continue her work in peace. It was a betrayal of the highest order, and in the end, it was all for nothing. Death came for her all the same, and it disregarded morals as easily as she did. It just had the decency to not hide behind some grand purpose as an excuse.
Even at death's doorstep, Charter still had one trick left up her sleeve. As the son of the dueling gods named Maelgwyn cut her down with the aid of her heated rivals from the city's underground school, she weaved a spell that would ensure she endured. She separated her consciousness from her body and fled to one of the statues she was so used to fighting against, molded it into a form she was pleased with. And for all her magical prowess and contingency plans, she still miscalculated. It was a rush job, and while her soul carried on, her memories did not.
Charter died that day, and Castille was born.
THE CROSSTOWN JOB
--> (AKA: Found family calls itself The Six despite not having six members, thinks they're very clever)
--> (AKA: Found family calls itself The Six despite not having six members, thinks they're very clever)
Imagine waking up with no idea of who or what you are. Then imagine walking outside, only to discover that what you are is something that's not supposed to have any free will or personhood. That's how Castille found herself one day, a newly awakened pala-din who was only supposed to have three functions: Guard, Discover, and Acquire. Instead, she could talk and move freely and ignore orders if she so chose. And oh, did she ever choose. She built up a life from nothing, discovering herself along the way. Over the years, she found out that she had a taste for the finer things in life, both by making them (becoming a smith and crafting ornate weapons for sale) and taking them (staring at a beautiful cat sculpture in a shop window that she somehow found herself able to control and promptly whisked away). She learned that she had a curious mind that sought out new experiences and answers, mingling with tea witches that brewed potions to allow her to temporarily feel and longing for ways to dismantle the city's oppressive regime that kept information under lock and key.
Above all else, she realized that there were people who were not only willing to be near her, despite her whole... Everything, but wanted to. They accepted her as an equal, protected her when threats came knocking, showed her that she was a valid person even if she wasn't a human. It helped that they were all a bunch of misfits, too. Alongside them, she learned to laugh and tried to cry and laughed some more when that didn't work. She dedicated her life to protecting them in kind, decided that she didn't have to be a mindless killing machine and became someone who only steps in once needed instead, and threw her lot in with them on a new grand purpose, because some things never change.
After all, they did become a bunch of criminal information brokers who pulled off daring heists to achieve their ends. Not all that far off from her last life, if you squint.
Above all else, she realized that there were people who were not only willing to be near her, despite her whole... Everything, but wanted to. They accepted her as an equal, protected her when threats came knocking, showed her that she was a valid person even if she wasn't a human. It helped that they were all a bunch of misfits, too. Alongside them, she learned to laugh and tried to cry and laughed some more when that didn't work. She dedicated her life to protecting them in kind, decided that she didn't have to be a mindless killing machine and became someone who only steps in once needed instead, and threw her lot in with them on a new grand purpose, because some things never change.
After all, they did become a bunch of criminal information brokers who pulled off daring heists to achieve their ends. Not all that far off from her last life, if you squint.
WAR AND AZALEAS
--> (AKA: Castille gets called a cop, starts a war with the actual law enforcement in response)
So there was this train heist, right? No big deal, Castille and her criminal friends just robbed an actual god on the inaugural journey of the new Crosstown Express. Sure, there was some collateral damage. And yes, some unfortunate engineers lost their jobs for accidentally helping them. ... There's no "but" here. All of that happened and it was wild. To make up for their part in getting those people fired, The Six hired them on to the crew. This brought their total members up from five to seven, because life is never easy. As pacifists that were new to the criminal life, it was not a smooth transition for the newcomers. Zaktrak, a well-meaning cobbin (otherwise known as a kobold) who was the less physically capable of the two, accidentally led some Preceptors of the Font of True Knowledge (otherwise known as the knowledge cops) to their door. Not in a literal sense, originally, more like on their radar. Of all their members, Castille was harshest on the cobbin in the stern talking-to that followed, leading to a lot of ribbing about her being the true cop in the coming days.
Yet when push came to shove, Castille was the one who protected Zaktrak when it did become a literal threat. Some time later he was followed to their secret library when another member didn't show up on time to help him lose the trail, and no sooner had he walked through the door and uttered a quick apology than the door went up in flames. Castille saw to it that none of his pursuers ever made it past that doorway in a very permanent way. They came for her people, they came for her calling, and in doing so they didn't just start a fight. They started a war.
And Castille finished it.
Yet when push came to shove, Castille was the one who protected Zaktrak when it did become a literal threat. Some time later he was followed to their secret library when another member didn't show up on time to help him lose the trail, and no sooner had he walked through the door and uttered a quick apology than the door went up in flames. Castille saw to it that none of his pursuers ever made it past that doorway in a very permanent way. They came for her people, they came for her calling, and in doing so they didn't just start a fight. They started a war.
And Castille finished it.
THE VALENTINE AFFAIR
--> (AKA: Has a meet cute with her killer, remembers that she's dead and keeps meeting him anyway)
The job was stealing a book from a university. The circumstances were... Complicated, but nothing could have prepared the Six for the events that followed. For Castille's part, most of the night's absurd events paled in comparison to a few choice encounters. Because in the library of that university, she was forced to square off with the ghost of the person she'd gotten killed by way of betrayal without even knowing it. She brought him there herself entirely by accident, setting the stage for an encounter years upon years in the making. (Un?)fortunately, the fight was cut short when an attempt at transferring to her cat form landed her stuck outside of both her bodies as a proper ghost in the spirit realm. Blind to the struggles of everyone in the outside world at the time, she was drawn to the most noticeable thing she could see, a blinding golden light emanating from the vault the fight had been taking place around. Once there, she was greeted with another familiar figure she could not yet place. It was not until her crew freed his gauntlet from the vault that she understand why. The figure was Maelgywn, the man who had killed her all those years ago. He hadn't been a ghost, but he might as well have been for the ethereal state he was trapped in for the last decade or so. It was thanks to their help that he was restored to his body, and he showed his gratitude by erasing the ghost Castille had been fighting from existence, among other things. The ghost who she then knew to hold the key to her old identity. Great.
She had been a whole different person, lived a whole different life, and she had no idea how to reconcile that. Maelgwyn's experience left him with some memories to sort through, too, and the once-enemies began meeting at a café once a week to work through them together. With their combined efforts, Castille eventually managed to remember her old life in full. Both versions of herself were so similar in some respects, and so different in others, and they were both her at the same time. How do you even deal with that?
She'll get back to you if she ever figures it out.
She had been a whole different person, lived a whole different life, and she had no idea how to reconcile that. Maelgwyn's experience left him with some memories to sort through, too, and the once-enemies began meeting at a café once a week to work through them together. With their combined efforts, Castille eventually managed to remember her old life in full. Both versions of herself were so similar in some respects, and so different in others, and they were both her at the same time. How do you even deal with that?
She'll get back to you if she ever figures it out.
FOUR CONVERSATIONS
--> (AKA: Castille stared into the abyss and the abyss stared back)
For a time, she managed to keep a lid on the stress of her situation. She could sort of turn off her consciousness for a while, go into pala-din mode and march around mindlessly obeying her objectives to blow off steam. The Charter side of her saw fit to eventually take that away from her, too, and it manifested in a particularly nightmarish way. One day she was patrolling around what remained of Memoriam College by the end of her last heist, a pit of darkness made of the nothingness that was predestined to tear her world apart. Only she wasn't supposed to notice it. In that mode, she wasn't supposed to notice anything. To her horror, she became aware that she was very conscious and very trapped in her own body as it kept patrolling around the Dark for a whole 12 hour shift. This supernatural darkness pulled at her consciousness every second of that experience, attempted to swallow her whole, and it was only by sheer force of will that she held out.
After that, the ability to turn off her consciousness was lost to her. As if she would have wanted to try again, anyway. It was a stark reminder of the future she'd effectively spent two lifetimes trying to prevent. If the opportunity presented itself to personally destroy the Heat and the Dark completely and utterly, Charter Castille would take it, no matter the cost. She would protect the world, or-- Well. She couldn't die trying, probably. But she had to try.
After that, the ability to turn off her consciousness was lost to her. As if she would have wanted to try again, anyway. It was a stark reminder of the future she'd effectively spent two lifetimes trying to prevent. If the opportunity presented itself to personally destroy the Heat and the Dark completely and utterly, Charter Castille would take it, no matter the cost. She would protect the world, or-- Well. She couldn't die trying, probably. But she had to try.
THE KILLING OF THE KING-GOD SAMOTHES BY THE TRAITOR PRINCE MAELGWYN
--> (AKA: Everything happens so much)
Charter was a mage and a scholar supported by a god, but Maelgwyn? He was the son of gods. Divine blood ran through him, and it was that blood that became the new plan to save their home. Weeks after weeks of meetings passed, and at one of those meetings Maelgwyn took Castille's hand and told her he was confidence breathing. That he could use the Blade in the Dark theorized by Charter herself to keep the Heat at bay and kill his father with it, use the regret it would make him feel as a divine spark with which to solve the eternal problem. Charter Castille responded by telling him:
"Regret is much more manageable than you would think."
She helped him. Of course she helped him. She stayed by his side the whole time. They went to his father's palace alongside her friends (who all had clashing allegiances to the various gods that would play out in the ensuing conflict) and a whole host of others (who only wanted to celebrate the holy day, bless their souls). Castille experienced magic that made her look and feel like her old self, just for a while, and managed to make a lot of regrettable decisions in the time that passed between getting off a stolen train and watching a nihilistic sword pierce a god's chest. Some of them involved alcohol and stolen moments and pretending the world wasn't ending. Most of them revolved around trying to help so much that everything went so, so much worse than it could have. Should have. Would have, if it weren't for...
Well. She must have been fooling herself when she thought that regret wouldn't haunt her like the ghost she truly is.
"Regret is much more manageable than you would think."
She helped him. Of course she helped him. She stayed by his side the whole time. They went to his father's palace alongside her friends (who all had clashing allegiances to the various gods that would play out in the ensuing conflict) and a whole host of others (who only wanted to celebrate the holy day, bless their souls). Castille experienced magic that made her look and feel like her old self, just for a while, and managed to make a lot of regrettable decisions in the time that passed between getting off a stolen train and watching a nihilistic sword pierce a god's chest. Some of them involved alcohol and stolen moments and pretending the world wasn't ending. Most of them revolved around trying to help so much that everything went so, so much worse than it could have. Should have. Would have, if it weren't for...
Well. She must have been fooling herself when she thought that regret wouldn't haunt her like the ghost she truly is.
NOTE: Her canon point is before the thing with the sword happens, meaning there’s less guilt over betraying even more people and everything falling apart. Yay! Instead, she gets to think that her plan failed because they were simply too late to save the world. Yay...?
Chosen path: Wizard
3 Abilities: Cat Form (canon power), Detect Magic, Ray of Frost
Re: Cat Form, this functions similarly to Find Familiar in D&D 5e except kind of worse? Because the cat is not an independent being that can operate separately from her. It's a fancy statue of a cat that she can only control by moving her consciousness into it, so whichever body she's not controlling is essentially lifeless. She can't smell or taste in this form normally either, because even magic statues have limits. It does, however, look rad as hell.
I did not include her body as her canon power because it's, y'know, her body. It's pretty comparable to that of the Warforged in D&D, except it's all stone. I only mention this here because it offers her some unusual advantages and disadvantages alike. I am entirely open to this making healing her harder or unusual (Warforged seem to vary wildly on this front in various D&D editions), or adhering to any other changes that may be necessary, such as damage resistances (the only ones I've nailed down are resistant to slashing, no resistance or even vulnerable to bludgeoning, and no resistance to magic) or anything else I might be forgetting. That might all be too granular to matter, but there you have it!
Why this path?: Castille's been a thief, worked with a god, and has a body straight up referred to as a pala-din where she comes from. But at the end of the day, being a scholarly mage on a quest for knowledge and power earned on her own terms defines her more than any of that. Being a wizard is her true calling.
blurb code by photosynthesis
