Post by Augustine on Feb 15, 2023 17:31:27 GMT
Gan Ceann
Generalities
Name: Gan Ceann
AKA: The Black Rider
Age: 117
Gender: Female
Race: Devil
Faction: Ouroboros spy, acting as a member of the Templar
Squad: N/A
Role: Cavalry
Battle Theme: link (optional)
Rank: D
Red Orbs: 0/1000 (800 spent on Pegaso, 200 on Jet Cavalry)
Blue Orbs: 0/400 (400 gained from Pegaso, 400 spent on prototype shield)
Character Description
Physical Appearance(s): Ceann is the very definition of a devil, inhuman, unmistakeable, utterly foreign to laws of biology or common sense as humans would prescribe them. Standing just a few inches over six feet, Ceann is an imposing suit of ornate platemail with no head or helmet to speak of. Her body is entirely blackened plate, edged with ornate patterns of gold, the armor not wide enough at waist or arms to actually accommodate a human body, and completely hollow save for one thing. From within the armor pours a thick black mist, a shadowy fog that fills the armor up and oozes from the gaping hole where a head should protrude, and lastly a black cloak draped over the shoulders, ragged and old.
Naturally she does not conduct business in the human world in such a state and makes use of her demonic gifts to give herself a far more human appearance. A woman of long red hair and sky blue eyes, a somewhat tall woman as her height does not change, at least not technically. The presence of an actual head does increase height by a good half a foot or so at least. Her body is slender and fit, but doesn’t appear on examination to have the kind of physique a warrior like her should have. Her outfit is full body, a beige uniform that goes from the neck down, with dark brown gloves and several decorations to accentuate it.
The clothes are her actual body still, and she can’t actually undress, attempting to do so would simply see her black smoke pouring out and her body reverting to its true state. However simply feeling her body, such as grabbing a wrist, feels entirely normal.
Personality: Ceann is a woman of two faces, and how she behaves varies greatly depending on if she is acting as a loyal member of the Templar, or in a space where her true loyalty to Ouroboros need not be hidden.
To most that meet her she is a friendly if strange girl. Having a human face is alien to her and thus she is not as expressive as she should be, or tries too hard at expressing and it comes across as strange. She is quite helpful, always willing to help another and constantly working to prove herself. She knows as an actual devil that her status in the organization is shaky and comes across as one earnestly eager to prove she means well. All in all there is nothing suspicious about how she behaves around her fellow Templar.
Which is quite impressive given that she views devil hunters as a blight on the world that would deny paradise to devil and human alike.
Yes as a member of the Ouroboros Equation, as a young Eternity herself, she has seen the truth of infinity and what must be done. It is why she takes her job so very seriously. As a famous human general once said, “Know thy enemy.” Though she despises devil hunters she will swallow that bile and act as earnestly as she can in their favor. She resists all urges to sabotage, to trick, to betray, for no matter how certain she may be, if somehow she fails in that trifling effort, or someone else somehow learns of it, all her work would be for naught. The knowledge she can gain and provide to others who have seen the Infinite Truth is more invaluable than whatever temporary small gains she’d make killing one or even a dozen devil hunters.
When not wearing the mask of the friendly Templar, she’s less talkative and more cool. That extremely helpful attitude vanishes and it’s more an issue of it’s even worth her time to assist someone at all. Her composure and attitude changes, becoming more confident, more self-assured and more aloof.
Backstory
A dullahan is a strange and unusual type of devil, even among devils. A devil knight who died but remained ‘alive’ possessing their own armor. Most are fairly lesser devils, as are most demons in general, but a rare few can manage to distinguish themselves from the rest of their kind, and Gan Ceann is one such dullahan.
Her upbringing in Dis was fairly ordinary, born among servants of a wealthy family, she distinguished herself as a physically adept devil and was picked by the devilish dynasty her family served for training in security and guard services for family and estate. She picked up combat well and was given an excellent suit of armor with which to fight and serve in. This continued until her twenty ninth year when a conflict with another wealthy family turned from merely a competitive rivalry, to a rare violent conflict. She never really did find out why, it was above her pay grade after all.
Gan Ceann ‘survived’ this battle, for lack of a better word. Though laid low, she awoke a hollow suit of armor, seeing the ashes of her home around her. Her first thought was that she should seek revenge in some fashion, it was what she should do but the thought seemed…ill-fitting. She’d always done as she was told, the job she was given and told she was ‘meant’ to do. Yet now facing the ashes of all she’d ever known a question occurred to her which was…did she actually care?
It was surprisingly easy to reject revenge, though she did feel some guilt over it. She left that life behind, if one could call it living, and entered the streets of Dis. Dis only has as much crime as one would expect of a sprawling human metropolis…which is to say less than a human might think but still plenty of it, particularly in organized crime. It did not take long for a dullahan with no home or allegiances to get picked up by a petty criminal group and given jobs enforcing toll collections from local shops and homes.
Maybe it was something that changed upon being a Dullahan, maybe it was her being raised to be security and put her life on the line for a specific group and attack who they said to, or maybe it was even both. Bottom line was that Gan swiftly became a reliable piece of muscle for the gang, and over the course of years became a more notorious thug, and her gang leaned on her more thoroughly. She was given more important jobs, bodyguarding jobs, attack jobs. Hell they even got her a ride and taught her how to track folks down, how to check for places where they’d hide info, important things to look out for.
This all boiled to a head when the Gang leader’s right hand devil took off with a huge chunk of money. Gan Ceann, now the infamous Black Rider, feared among numerous rival gangs of Dis, was sent to track them down and return what was stolen. Things didn’t go well, the traitor had fled into the Devil’s Garden, but Gan Ceann was unconcerned, pursuing them into that dense, endless sprawl of jungle and forest. In fact she even tracked down her quarry yet again and slew them, but that…was where she met her mentor.
At a tender 100 years of age, she met an Eternity, the traitor had been working for them, bringing something the Eternity considered of great value to them. Gan professed to not care, and even attempted to battle the Eternity, and was resoundly beaten. Her mentor considered simply killing her, but they saw something in Gan Ceann, something of use, the perfect candidate for a scheme they had been concocting to further their pursuit of the promised future. Thus instead of killing her, he revealed to her the Ultimate Truth.
It was, as it is for all who see it, a truly inspiring experience. Gan realized that at no point in her life had she ever had a goal or a purpose. In a flash she realized how shallow and worthless her old life had been, doing nothing to aid her fellow devil. She fell to her knees as the visions of the future ended and proclaimed her undying loyalty and devotion, and her mentor began preparing her for her role. Devil hunters had only grown more organized over time and something would have to be done. The first step was annihilating her former gang, and burying her old reputation as the Black Rider. It was something she did without hesitation for any necessary sacrifice for the promised future was a worthy one. She was prepared for the role of spy, and originally the plan was to slip her into the US by some means, and have her offer her services and help to Project Gilgamesh. Then the rifts opened and everything changed.
Her mentor bid her wait, and they observed the shifting sands of human politics, watched as new devil hunting organizations sprang up, one even seeming to claim Dis as a frequent port and base of operations! After several years, it was settled on just which organization she would step forward to join, and thus did Gan Ceann approach the Templar. Shifted to a human guise, but making no attempts to deceive, she professed that she had long admired the old histories and myths of Sparda. She’d lived peacefully in the demon world, leaving the human realm alone as she’d thought he would have wanted. Yet, now that the rifts had opened and it seemed demonic activity would not wane, perhaps even only increase, she could no longer stand idly by.
Her acceptance was met with some criticism and a healthy amount of skepticism and suspicion. So far, ‘Lilika Fairbrook’ as she’s taken to calling herself, has done her utmost to give them no grounds for it. Her mentor was as clear as could be. The information and value she could provide by becoming a trusted templar, was more valuable than any petty sabotage, than even a dozen devil hunters tragically slain on missions with her. She has the means to contact her mentor, but is only to do so under exceptional circumstances and very specific very spread out dates. As an Eternity herself, much of her mission is left to her discretion. The only time she should ever consider ‘breaking character’ is if her work as a templar brings her into conflict with another Eternity, and even then…she was told only to ‘consider’ acting against the Templar.
So far all has gone as she had hoped, and though her misty heart aches when she must slay devils in the name of the Templar, she soothes it with the certainty that the knowledge she gains will one day be used to crush the Templar, and scatter their bones to the winds.
Traits
Shape-shifting
While able to shapeshift, Gan Ceann’s is limited in an unusual way thanks to her unique makeup. Essentially any form she shifts into must somehow maintain a total amount of body coverage roughly equal to the armor that comprises her body. In simple terms, a human in a tank top and shorts isn’t possible for her to do, but a human in a full parka, boots and snow pants is. For the form she learned to take on see physical appearance.
Elemental Body: Living Steel
As a Dullahan, Gan Ceann’s body is an empty suit of full plate, sans the helmet. It is raw metal filled with a thick, black mist. This mist represents the actual Gan Ceann more than the armor in technicality and if too many rents are opened in her armor then too much of this mist will escape and threaten her in a manner similar to blood loss for a human.
Equipment
Name: Prototype Shield
Description: The design of this shield has been inspired by similar weapons confiscated to a religious cult, the Order of the Sword. It has the dimensions of a tower shield, at a hefty 1.8 meters height and a meter across.
This shield is composed of three elements: a central T-shaped block that constitutes the basic structure of the shield; at the very center, the block is decorated with the symbol of the Templars. To this central block are attached two wing-like metal plates; they are ornately decorated, with a bas-relief resembling feathers. These metal wings attach to the central block via hinges, and can be locked into place to form the shield.
Upgrade Points: 1
Upgrades:
Angelo Shield - Trait-like
The shape of the shield is so that it can be worn on one's shoulder like a backpack. In this mode, the wings open up and lock into a new spread out position to resemble actual wings; the wearer's back can then be protected by the shield while their hands are free. It's also very easy to take the shield off of one's shoulders at a moment's notice.
Swapping between these two modes is extremely quick and can be done with just one hand.
Name: Javelin Cannon "Pegaso"
Description: The design of this javelin has been inspired by similar weapons confiscated to a religious cult, the Order of the Sword. This telescopic javelin is about 2.5 meters in length; the body is broken up into three sections that fold into one another, so that it can be easily carried. The body also features several valve-like hatches.
The guard is wider than the rest of the body and extends beyond the hilt, completely covering the hand and part of the forearm. Three exhaust pipes run along the guard and extend a bit further.
The hilt is modified to look like a motorcycle handle; this is connected to a small engine inside the main body of the weapon.
Upgrade Points: 2
Upgrades:
"Stella Rubia" Jet Propulsion - Aspect-like
The javelin is fitted with a small engine at the base of the guard. Twisting the handle activates the engine, which mixes combustible fluids into a chamber and ignites them.
The scorching hot gases then exit from the valves located along the body of the javelin and act like miniature jet engines.
This mechanism allows this weapon to accelerate forward extremely quickly, propelling the wielder forwards with it at blinding speeds.
Name: Black Haft
Description: A heavy glaive of metal design, the haft is a sturdy black metal, but the blade is large and broad, with a heavy hammer opposite it, making it a suitable weapon for crushing or slicing one’s foes. This Devil Arm was forged from the leader of the Gang Gan Ceann used to ride for.
Traits: 0
Combat Foci
Name: Devil’s Knight
Description: From a ‘knight’ in service to a wealthy family, then to the armored boogeyman of a gang, and then right back to a Knight in service of the Infinite Truth. Gan Ceann’s fighting style is brutal and effective. Favoring hard decisive blows and parrying or outright blocking a foe’s offensive over any attempt to dodge or avoid an attack. Skilled in a variety of weapons, as a Devil Knight she is most comfortable with polearms and shields, and tends to eschew ranged weaponry outright in favor of closing the gap by whatever means necessary to render such weapons useless.
Rank: D
Aspects: 0
Techniques
Name: Jet Cavalry
Description: Igniting the engines of her Javelin Cannon Gan Ceann leaps at the same time as the jets ignite, propelling herself forward at tremendous speed to both close distance and attempt to viciously skewer a foe upon her weapon.
Focus: Javelin Cannon "Pegaso"
Aspects:"Stella Rubia" Jet Propulsion
{Art Credits}
True form by Ganesagi (can be found by that name on pixiv, but fair warning some art is risque, but nothing explicit)
Human form credit to Blazblue Continuum Shift
Black Haft art credit to Elden Ring, Night Cavalry Glaive
True form by Ganesagi (can be found by that name on pixiv, but fair warning some art is risque, but nothing explicit)
Human form credit to Blazblue Continuum Shift
Black Haft art credit to Elden Ring, Night Cavalry Glaive