Empatheias app
Jul. 27th, 2014 03:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Player: Badge
Contact: Plurk:
Age: 31
Current Characters: N/A
Character: Misery
Age: Unknown; visually about mid-twenties but could be hundreds of years old.
Canon: Cave Story
Canon Point: Post Game
Background: Once upon a time, there was a witch named Jenka. Jenka was the sister of Ballos, a very powerful man who used to be a very gentle individual, always thinking of those in need before himself. But as he grew more powerful and more loved, he drew the envy of the king of his country, who imprisoned and tortured him. Brought to the brink, Ballos snapped, and in a single night an entire country lay in ruins, his wife and children dead. Jenka was the only one powerful enough to stand up to him, but blood is thicker than water, and she found herself unable to slay her own kin. She instead sealed him away in a chamber deep within the floating island where they lived, ensuring that his madness would not consume the rest of the world. However, this is not the end of the story.
Jenka had a daughter. Whether she was originally named Misery, or whether this is a name she chose for herself is lost to the mists of time. Misery knew about her uncle, and about the tremendous powers he possessed. Convinced of her own aptitude, and deciding that simply leaving such power contained was a waste, she approached the sealed chamber and, somehow, forced the madman to create a crown for her, one that would allow her to channel his power and use it for her own. But she was rude, and demanding, and Ballos was hateful and destructive. Thus, he made the crown, but to punish Misery for her arrogance, he cursed it. The crown, rather than serving her to rule others, instead forced servitude upon her as well as the creature Balrog. From then on, so long as Ballos lived, the crown could never truly be destroyed, and Misery and Balrog would remain in stasis until the time when another power-hungry and evil individual would wear the crown seeking the power to rule. These monsters would have Misery and Balrog at their beck and call, unable to question their demands, until such time that they themselves died and the crown was destroyed, at which point they would simply return to nothing until the crown was restored. Such was the fate of one who attempted to coopt the power of a living God.
Misery lived in this state of affairs for many, many years, with many, many different masters. She would see their bloody rises and catastrophic falls. And for each, she would serve dutifully, hiding as best she could the resentment she felt for her situation. After all, it is better to see yourself as a loyal general than as a worthless slave. Regardless, the curse had a strange benefit: It allowed her to see the limits of ambition, to see how those who climbed to the top at the expense of everything else would eventually fall to the ground no matter how much power they had. Without a strong support, power only led to terrible ends. And if she had been the one to use the crown herself? Well, she might have lasted longer than these idiots, but the inevitability of self-destruction through these methods was obvious.
Dr. Fuyuhiko Date, despite being a man of the modern era, was the most terrible of her masters. He wanted power, certainly, but he was also far too interested in the effects of power from a scientific, sociopathic, and detached point o view. Not merely content to rule an island, he attempted to cultivate flowers in order to create an object which could turn anybody into thoughtless killing machines, with the hope of using these soldiers to invade the rest of the world. Misery herself bore the brunt of this when, thinking he was dead, she spoke out of line about her master. She was defeated, however, as she always had been, along with the Doctor. And she would always continue to be defeated, as her lot in life dictated.
Or, so it could have been. But this time was different.
How the robot Quote and his companion Curly Brace found the Sealed Chamber exactly is hard to say. But they did, and managed to accomplish what no other so-called hero had managed up to that point: gave Ballos the peace of death, and finally broke the curse that Misery had suffered through most of her life. In gratitude, she sent Balrog to save them from the collapsing chamber at the center of the island. And so they left, off to find a peaceful place to settle down. And Misery? She decided to seek her own path, one where she could study what she wanted, do what she wanted, eat and sleep how she wanted.
She was free. And so help her, she would never be a slave again.
Personality: Even without the influence of Ballos's curse, Misery is an arrogant, unpleasant individual. She may no longer have the ambition that possessed her to pursuit the creation of the Demon Crown, but that doesn't mean she thinks any less highly of herself and her capabilities despite multiple defeats. She's selfish and demanding, often relying on others to do her dirty work for her. She is sharp-tongued, and fully convinced she's the smartest person in the room at any time. Not exactly the sort of person you invite to parties.
Her relationships with others reflects her personality. Most individuals she will consider beneath her; it takes real effort in order to gain enough respect for her to even deign raising a finger against you, let alone address you as equal. She's condescending, and more than willing to use others if it means advancing her own interests -- within reason. She will never use her power to control others. If they completely refuse to help her, she will simply not bother with them.
Seems ripe for a villain, yes? Clearly, she had evil motivations in mind when she had the crown made, that much is true. However, the subsequent curse she received for her hubris, and the years of watching evil men rise and fall through the power and allure of the Demon Crown, has killed most of her desire to abuse power in order to rule. All she wishes now is to be left alone, and to study and live in peace. She will not generally bother to help do good deeds unless there's something in it for her, but she won't advance evil agendas either, and generally just keeps to herself these days. Her primary motivation for existence is freedom -- to be able to think, do, and say what she wants to without others forcing their will on her. She no longer attempts to rule others with power, but she won't let others do it either, preferring to seek the destruction of dangerous artifacts rather than using them or preserving them. As far as she's concerned, her days of slavery are over.
That said, though she will never admit it, she has an extremely loyal side. Do right by her, and she will do right in return. She may abuse her underlings from time to time, but she would never desire to see them killed. She sees these loyalties as weakness and will generally deny any attachments of any sort. Her actions, however, will frequently betray her true feelings. She may generally be insufferable in personality, but she knows allies when she see them. And one good deed deserves another, after all.
Abilities:
Misery has the following default spell set:
Transformation: Can cause the transformation of other life forms, although the mind is not affected.
Flight: Allows flight.
Teleportation: Can teleport self or other objects.
Dark Orbs: Blasts orbs of dark magic.
Dark Shield: Creates 3 indestructible orbs which circle around her.
Dark Bolt: Creates bolts of darkness.
Block Crush: Attempts to crush her foes with summoned blocks.
Other:
She has the training of a witch, which includes some knowledge of potion making and other witchcraft-related skills. She has let her talents in these fields lie dormant for a long time, however, so she tends to pursuit developing these. That said, expect her to charge an arm and a leg for her services.
First Person Sample:
Would the individual who is currently moping about which way whatever who lives near my hut KINDLY get over it sometime soon? I am growing DREADFULLY tired of having to take an umbrella for the whole fifty feet it takes to get out of the range of your wearisome raincloud, and you're beginning to drown my flower garden. Honestly, do you need a potion? I will GIVE you a blasted potion if it gets you to stop literally raining on me already!
And yes, I know some bleeding heart is going to try to tell me that ohhhh noooo, it is not that simple to cheer up! Why can't you understand this person's feelings? Well, I understand ONE thing, and that's my water-logged front yard. So if you're feeling so sympathetic, maybe actually do something to HELP instead of wagging your tongues at me. Hmmph.
Third Person Sample:
This place. Misery detested it.
Oh, the town itself was not so bad. A little simplistic in the way of technology, but hardly unlivable. The supplies in the wild were good, and people were willing to pay good money for a potion or two. The island even floats, which helps Misery feel right at home. This place should be perfect for her...
...except for the emotions. The blasted emotions.
She has one bad day, it thunders. This feeds into her bad mood, so the thunderstorm gets worse. Then customers don't want to come by, and her mood just gets WORSE, and it all ends up becoming a huge, irritating circle. At least it helps fill up that ludicrous pendant she had on her when she arrived. And the pendant! Wretched thing, using thought to communicate. Which means she can't even THINK what she's feeling, lest the piece of junk let the rest of the world know the little weak thoughts and emotions. The sooner she leaves this place, the better.
For now, she stews.
Questions: Huzzah?