Bio 1
Cool. I'll post my character here.
It occurs to me that the summary only goes to Chapter 19. Could someone either give me another summary or update that one?
Zaak the Uncanny, Lord and Master of the Rolling Legions
Name: Zaak the Uncanny
Age: 150ish
Bloodline: Uncertain.
Sire: Berek the Bloody - permanently deceased
Location of Siring: Some small town in Sylvania, now gone.
Location of Resurrection: A crypt, buried beneath the same non-existant town.
Appearance:
Tall, dark and handsome (or at least he thinks so). He stands at about 5'10". He is slight of build but surprisingly strong (he is a vampire after all). His countenance is near always contorted into a mad grin, his turquoise eyes bright and piercing. When saddened, his eyes dim to a slate grey, and when angered they slide towards green. His skin is pallid, his eyes sunken, and his fangs sharp. His hair is black and short-cropped. He wears the Osamatura, described below, and bears the Osgladius. He has an aura of authority, and strides with purpose. He is always attended by servants and at least two members of the Coven, and as such is never alone.
Abilities:
Beyond the standard strength, speed, endurance, magical prowess and awesomeness attributed to all Vampires, Zaak has additional abilities. He is not the greatest warrior in the land, but is as good as any mortal hero. Similarly, he cannot wield most magics as some specialist vampires, but he could match some of the greatest mortal wizards. In essence, he could out-do a magic-heavy vampire in combat, or blast a combat-heavy vampire with magic. He does have two specialties however. The first of these is summoning basic undead - he's fantastic at it. With a simple gesture of a hand he can pull fifteen skeletons out of the ground. In a cemetery, with a few minutes of invocation, he could call forth a hundred zombies. Of course, these servants could be fairly easily blasted to smithereens by a Necrarch or simply hacked through by a Blood Knight, but it will buy him precious time, and is hardly taxing on him.
His second area of focus is in magical crafting. Not only can he summon the dead with ease, he can also create magical weapons and armour, construct Blood Golems or even, with plenty of time and materials, create a huge battle-suit of mass destruction. His primary and favorite medium for crafting is bone, and as such he bears the Osamatura and Osgladius. He has been known to combine his specialties to summon skeletons and then smash them together into a spiky, lumbering Bone Golem. Of course, bone is not the strongest of building materials but the in-woven magic re-enforces it.
Equipment:
Osamatura: One of his first works as a vampire, but constantly being upgraded, osamatura translates loosely into "bone armour". It comprises of many sliding plates, covering all the way from gauntlets, up his arms, the entire torso, all the way down his legs and finishing with boots. There is no ornamentation, however the lower edge of every plate curves down from both sides to a point, creating a distinctive vampiric look. It is made entirely of bone, making it very light, and the sliding plates enable him to move easily.
The Osamatura has been enhanced over many years to the point that it is near impossible to pierce. Arrows, thrown knives, spears or stabbing swords will either break or simply bounce off. Likewise, slashing attacks such as a sword slash or with claws will likely scar the armor but will not penetrate it. However, with a crushing attack such as a mace, hammer, powerful fists or really strong axe, (or possibly sword) swing will smash the armor wherever it hits and hurt Zaak. A lance hit, or super-strong sword stab, would likely break the armor also, but only if it hit dead on or else it will simply glance off to the side. However, this is where the second ability of the armor comes into play - if someone feeds more energy into it it will repair itself. This does not mean that it will absorb an enemy fireball and fix itself, but if someone, including Zaak, siphons power into it it will bind itself together once more. This can be quite draining however, and should not be used too many times. The Osamatura also provides some magical resistance, but not much.
Osgladius: Loosely translating to "Bone Sword", this is Zaak's main weapon. It is a bastard sword, also known as a hand-and-a-half sword. It can be used with two hands for extra power or only one hand, allowing the other to cast a spell or pick something up. Created from bone, it has been empowered with immense strength; it wouldn't even dent if it were swung with full strength into another weapon - in fact, most metal blades would dent if met Osgladius' edge. As it is made of bone it is very light, and very fast, but still delivers powerful blow.
History:
In a village so small that it wouldn't appear on any maps, when beasts of the darkness and creatures of the night attacked, who did they turn to? The local hero, Zaak the Uncanny. A bold, courageous spell-sword, he cleft werewolves, swamp monsters and hundreds of zombies in his time, protecting the town from the perils of Sylvania. A dashing if slightly zany hero, he had a beautiful wife and a beautiful daughter Cassandra, and the adoration of the town. Everyone knew of his deeds, and rightfully praised him for them. Even Cassandra benefited - everyone loved the sweet girl, daughter of the hero with flowers in her hair.
However, whilst away questing after Necromancer with a horde of ghouls, disaster struck. His wife was slaughtered in her home, two puncture marks in her neck and her blood drained. Upon his victorious return, Zaak found his wife dead, and a message written in her blood upon his wall - "COME FIGHT ME, BEREK THE BLOODY!". Blinded by rage, he ran from the town even whilst the body was being buried, leaving his daughter in the care of the village midwife. He searched the mires surrounding the village, following the trail of slaughtered beasts with drained blood. Eventually he found him in a dark cave, feasting on a large deer. The ensuing battle was bloody indeed, with both sides taking grave injuries. However, at the last, Berek managed to sink his fangs into Zaak's neck. Appreciating a good fight and a fan of poetic irony, he sired the hero that once killed creatures of the night.
Upon returning to the village, fueled by the red thirst, he ran into the midwife's house and drank her dry. Unfortunately, his sweet daughter Cassandra came down and saw him reveling in his feast. The red thirst took over, and he began to walk towards her, blood dripping from his maw. In fear, she backed away, and turned to look over her shoulder. Alas, in doing so she exposed her neck, and her father ran forth and drank her. As she fell unconscious, she let out a soft sigh. That one tiny noise was enough to bring Zaak back to his senses. He knew then that the only way to save her was to sire her, which he did.
Before long, the town found out. Finding the dead midwife and the unconscious daughter, they knew what had happened. The man they had once adored they now hated, and chased him down. Many were butchered, but eventually he was burnt. However, they still respected his actions somewhat, and as such they kept his ashes in the town crypt.
When the daughter awoke, they noticed a distinct change in her. They assumed that the horrible things she had seen her father doing had simply broken her mind, but the truth was far worse. She stayed in during the day and roamed the streets at night, preying upon the town and messing with their pitiful little minds. Eventually, she too was caught. They burnt her also, but it was a windy night and only half of the ashes could be taken. Those that were connected were placed in another urn, in the same crypt.
Many, many years later, a coven arose. Seven necromancers combined their magical powers, and reigned a minor empire of a few tiny villages. They yearned for power, and were corrupt and feeble of mind. In their search for power they thought that they could master a vampire, and bend it to their will. They found an ancient reference to a hero, turned vampire, who's ashes were kept in a crypt. They found two urns, one much larger. They combined their powers, and created a dark ritual to resurrect him. Surely enough, Zaak rose, but he would not bend to the will of mere mortals. His mind sharpened by the resurrection, his face twisted into an insane grin. With a sweep of his hand, all seven necromancers (weakened by their efforts) were slaughtered, but their souls lived on. Seven dark wraiths rose from the seven dead bodies, cloaked in darkness and their own malicious intent. Their power was now unhindered by their mortal bodies, and they pulsed with pure dark power. This was what they had always yearned for. However, where they searched to be the master, they became the servants. Eternally bound to the will of Zaak the Uncanny, they serve him in death.
The very first thing he did with his new, awesome power was attempt to resurrect his daughter also. Calling the power of his coven, he summoned forth her body from her ashes. However, they were not enough. Her body wavered, and then collapsed once more into ashes. He tried again and a gain, and all he ever achieved was to bring her to unlife for a few seconds, see her plaintive face and then lose her again. Finally, he tried a new spell - rather than bringing her back whole, he would create for her a receptacle, laced with magic, that would preserve her consciousness as her strength grew. He created a coffin made of glass, and poured in her ashes. Casting his spells, an ethereal, translucent frame of his daughter swum into view. She smiled weakly, and closed her eyes.
He summoned for her a Black Coach, that she may aid him in her incorporeal state. This became the epicenter of the legions to come. Finding summoning legions to his side greatly enjoyable, he began learning more and more secrets to summoning true legions of the undead. Aided by the Coven, he traveled from cemetery to cemetery, calling forth more and more zombies. Eventually, he was beset by armies, but whenever a foe fell, it rose up once more to join Zaak's side. Ever moving, constantly losing old and gaining new troops, this bloody crusade swept a morbid swathe of destruction.
But it plagued Zaak that he still could not restore his beloved Cassandra to unlife. He yearned to see her whole once more. Finally, in a bid to call her forth he sucked all the magic from every zombie and skeleton in the entire army at once, and funneled it into the coffin. Corpses fell to the ground, and yet more and more dark power swirled into the Black Coach. The timbers themselves blew apart, and the glass coffin was left hovering in mid-air, Cassandra a sleeping beauty waiting for the kiss of life. With all the power of a thousand zombies funneled into the one body, surely she could return to the mortal realm?
No. It was not enough. She took it all, and needed still more. When no more did come, the coffin fell out of the air. Landing solidly on the earth softened by the blood of many, she fell dormant once more. Zaak wept for her sake, crying out to the heavens, where there was no response.
Zaak began pursuing his daughter's resurrection with renewed vigor. He began researching into ways to bring her back. One topic that particularly stood out to him was the crafting of magical artifacts. Perhaps he could create a frame for her to exist in. He continued his research, learning skills from masters long dead. He crafted his own armour and weapon, and many other things besides. But no matter what he tried, he could not bring his daughter to the realm of mortals.
Eventually, he left that topic as useless. There was nothing he could do. He decided to find more of his blighted brethren, other vampires, to see if they could assist him. With his new-found skill, he created a greater, more potent coach for her - a Black Carriage. Riding forth on this new construction with Cassandra and the Coven, spurring on the Hellsteeds he set to pull it into the skies, he journeys to find a way to bring his daughter to himself once more.
Strengths:
- Brilliant Summoner
- Crafting Skills
- Reasonably skilled at both magic and combat
- Osamature and Osgladius
Weaknesses:
- Not a master of magic or combat
- Slightly Insane, unpredictable
- Cares for his daughter immensely
- Inexperienced compared to other vampires.
NOTE: The Black Carriage Cassandra rides in is more powerful than normal Black Coaches. Assume that it has all the abilities that a normal Coach can get by absorbing magic, as well as +1 to all stats.
