Focraig'Diin
Ever thirsty for knowledge and enlightenment of the element he wields, the ice mage by the name of Focraig'Diin hails from the Eretejva Tundra, his spells and magics a mirror of the land's biting cold winds and hoarfrost chiil. Growing up almost nearly alone, under the apprenticeship of an eccentric master, Focraig set out into the world per his master's dying words, to study and gather knowledge of the world around him, and study the nature of his magics that he inherited.
A patient, snarky, yet temperamental individual, one can either be intrigued by his words or irritated. He likes to invoke the latter, yet he desires a peaceful confrontation and resolution of all meetings and conflicts he encounters. However, should one provoke the calm wizard more than they should, the poor fools will realize the cold fury of his hoarfrost can burn just as well as the pyromancy of the fire mages.
After a recent trip to the northern mountains of the Spine, he now finds himself on a quest, drawn to the steps of a shadow. Heeding the words of an old Keeper of Crows, he now travels Arethil with purpose other than knowledge. In search of truth and discovery, not even death will hold back the ice mage, last practitioner of the Rith Aeonic Cyromancy.
Appearance
Oddly young looking for his age, due to the eccentricity of his magic, he is often mistaken to be in his mid-twenties, a fact he takes pleasure in. With a full head of almost jet black hair, framed by a pale, firm face with the slightest wrinkles over the edges of his eyes, and his mouth, it is quite easy to make such a mistake to the average passing traveler. Mages on the other hand, may not make such assumptions on sight. His entire body has a skin-thin layer of cold surrounding it, and on hot enough days, can mist off his skin in flickers of white. It is not cold to the point of chilling, but still enough one can feel shivers on contact. On his side rests a tome as thick as he is, with a rune of an unknown design upon its front. The Rith Cryocodex, it is his most prized possession.
After a recent venture to the northern mountains of the Spine, he carries an additional piece to his overall appearance, at the cost of one of his most prized possessions - Rith Cryocodex, the spell tome his mentor passed down to him as the lone successor of the arts, in exchange for the Voidheart Amulet, a small hand-held trinket that whispers in voices only he can hear, of secrets to unlock the final stage of his craft. This is kept on a belt, hung at his right side. In dark areas and climates where there is naught but frost, this talisman glows with a light that reveals the way, allowing the man to traverse obstacles without much issue.
When using magic, his eyes light up, the irises gleaming in all their icy glory. A constant, swirling wind surrounds his form, buffeting his cloak and hood as the cryomancy activates. The cold aura spreads out to arms-length around his body, leaving patches of ice upon the ground. His skin alights with tendrils of frost, creeping about his limbs like veins. His magic causes his vessels to contract to contain the icy flow, and the change is reflected on his body. It gathers on his heart, a patch of pure white that resembles an eclipse, with a black circle in its center.
The constructs, when created, possess a pitch black core that seems to pulse and thrum like a living heart. His blasts and weaves of frost possess undercurrents of darkness that writhe and snake around the ice, like blood vessels. His pupils turn pitch black, opposed to the icy blue irises, creating the image of a haunting eclipse.
Rith'Equisidante Aeonic Cryomancy
The branch of cryomancy Focraig inherited from his master is a curious blend of several branches put together, as he displays the capability of construction, alteration, and even conceptualization. He admits he has not fully mastered the arts as of yet, despite his age, but what he can do with his current knowledge and skills puts him a head or two above the average cryomancer. He claims that he can make Frost actually burn as well as Fire itself. But his mentor paid the one price for passing down these arts, his life forfeit by the Herald of Magic. He continues to hone his craft with the aid of the Amulet, and practices an entirely new branch previously neglected. Combined, he is a formidable mage, capable of being strong against about any foe in his path in whatever ways his mind devises. Should push come to shove, Dry Ice spells the end for even the most hardy of foes.
His physical capabilities are not exemplary, but he has a sturdy constitution from living in the frigid, harsh climates of the Tundra, and a strong strength of will and mind, traits that are oft required when he casts his magics. In practice, he is less likely to tire. Still equally liable to being targeted like any mage, but he can at least run and prepare better than his peers.
- Ice Construction: He can create varying constructs of ice, ranging from the average everyday tools and utensils, to colossal objects of destruction/war, with a hardiness surpassing even steel. But there are fundamental limits to using such craft of construction, and if he attempts to create anything larger than a house, he will collapse the moment he begins, as the mental strength and will are drained in an instant to fuel the construction. Likewise, his speed of creation depends on the size and mass. Simple tools the size of his hand are created in mere seconds, while larger ones take minutes, if not hours to fully complete.
The amount he can create at once is varies as well, affected by design, intricacy, and function. If it were a plain sword, or a ball for example, the mage can fire them off perhaps dozens at a time, even more should he be pushed into a corner. But the more intricate it is, the more concentration it drains from the man. And at its pinnacle, the craftcan even display signs of sentience, in whatever form it takes. Taking mental commands, the aforementioned construct will carry out whatever objective it is assigned, a mental and visual link with the mage established.
His uppermost limit is the creation of a human's upper torso, shaped in his image and as large as a house, one that is seemingly sentient and aimed towards his protection as he prepares more magics to cast. However, whilst having such a construct on standby only enables him to create objects a third his size at best, and up to a certain limit. His other arts are also restricted to a proximity of around ten meters, centered around himself.- Jotun: The aforementioned sentient construct, it takes an hour to fully assemble, but the effects are immediate. Its structure, despite being ice, is harder than steel, and even attacks from its opposing element do little. Continuous assault can wear it down, but in the meantime, the attackers may find themselves subject to the remaining crafts Focraig has yet to use.
- Temperature Alteration: A rather esoteric art, it is like bringing down the temperature of an area of his choosing to a degree of his choice. Normally he can affect an area of 30 meters centered on himself, shortened as he uses multiple arts of cryomancy, and either drop the temperature of the entire area down to a degree of his choosing, or select parts to lower as he pleases. He mainly uses this in tandem with his ice construction, drastically speeding up the building process by freezing moisture in the air itself, and molding those into his constructs to save additional time and strength. It also proves itself a defensive/offensive tool equal to his construction skills, but his talents in this area are more limited. At best, he can render physical weapons all but useless, freezing their composition and leaving them brittle, or inflicting various degrees of frostbite upon his foes, immobilizing and/or killing them if necessary.
- The amount of temperature he can drop is also connected to his usage - the more widespread the easier, the more focused and concentrated, yet divided, the harder. TD;LR, either he can flash-freeze the whole thirty meter area and turn it into a kill-zone, or create pockets of zero temperatures that will slowly warm up as his concentration falters. He cannot sustain multiple sources of cold at the same time.
- He can also demonstrate an ability to absorb natural frost and chill, restoring his reserves but at the cost of undergoing partial transformation into ice. Should he absorb too much, he will die, as the blood in his veins freeze, and ruptures the vessels and organs within him. This is shown as his limbs slowly, literally freeze over, the limbs taking on a transparent tint like frozen water. With time, this condition will eventually fade away, but the mage will lose sensation and feeling in the limb/appendage for its duration.
- Listed Magic.
- Breath of Murath: Drawing upon his full control and power, Focraig forcibly drags the temperature around him to abyssal depths, utterly freezing everything around him in a thirty-meter radius. The area appears frozen in time, snowflakes frozen in the air itself. Everything around the ice mage is white, then crumbles into dust, unable to sustain their own composition, brittle from the sudden alteration. Powerful, but double edged, as the mage's own blood freezes for a moment, enough to cause internal bleeding if he is not careful.
- Destruction:Once a branch Focraig has neglected, this area of magics is the easiest to use, but the hardest to master. Instead of using constructs or alteration of temperature, his very mental will becomes a weapon, as he draws it forth in blasts and bombs of ice. Here, his claims of icefire ring true, as instead of causing frostbite or freezing a limb, this frigid psychic force turns victims to dust, like how snowflakes are tossed in the winter winds. Capable of unleashing beams that lacerate and act as swords, or clustered masses of psychic power that explode with all the power of dragonfire. The Amulet whispers secrets to mastery of this branch, and Focraig listens with utmost focus.
- Cocytus Fury: Offensively the Ice mage's most powerful spell, it has similar costs to Breath of Murath. With all of his will and power, the ice mage pinpoints an exact set of coordinates, and then literally rips the area apart with a concentrated sphere of pure frigid magic, his hands moving like he were tearing something apart. Even the hardiest of defenses will shatter like brittle glass. But at the same time, the mage will suffer severe mental and physical exhaustion in an instant, though nothing as crippling as the alteration spell. If centered on himself, nothing short of a dragon can hope to endure the abyssal cold that rages from the mage like how a Sun radiates fire.
But it is just as dangerous to the mage of ice, as he is unleashing magic from every pore, every cell to create such a cataclysmic phenomenon, will be near-helpless after, reduced to a shivering, red-skinned man, having ruptured his own flesh due to excessive magical exertion. - Eretejivan Tide: A beam, a laser of pure psychic power, it can shear through steel and instantly rend and freeze human flesh, like how fire cauterizes. He is rendered stationary when casting this particular spell at full power, channeled into his index finger. Smaller versions possess additional speed of execution, but lack the penetrative and razor-edge of the original, cast from the remaining fingers.
- Cocytus Fury: Offensively the Ice mage's most powerful spell, it has similar costs to Breath of Murath. With all of his will and power, the ice mage pinpoints an exact set of coordinates, and then literally rips the area apart with a concentrated sphere of pure frigid magic, his hands moving like he were tearing something apart. Even the hardiest of defenses will shatter like brittle glass. But at the same time, the mage will suffer severe mental and physical exhaustion in an instant, though nothing as crippling as the alteration spell. If centered on himself, nothing short of a dragon can hope to endure the abyssal cold that rages from the mage like how a Sun radiates fire.
- Dry Ice: Here, the true secret of his arts come to the fore. But it is a taxing and deadly magick that is nothing short of an impossibility. The center of his eyes light up with an icy, static blue flame, and the cold aura he emanates then drops to a dead silence. Everything seems to simply... stop. Even the mage himself is more statue than man, as his mind falls into a strange pattern. His spirit surges to meld with the world itself, and therein he decides to inflict a curse upon the grand Reality. A frost that burns like any flame. A fire that is colder than ice. A frozen flame that burns/freezes away all it touches. With a heart of Void and a touch like Death, not even ash remains in its path.
- A single use knocks him unconscious for a full day, and his magic is inaccessible for thrice the duration, even weakening and diminishing his skill. He has to train up the level of mental strength and will once more to wield it. But during the rare times when Lessat plunges the world into darkness for a day, this flickering icefire reveals a hidden nature - a pitch black core of nothingness within. In this time period, he can use it without the weakening drawbacks, though the exhaustion still remains. Precisely what this core is may reveal the true self of the magic he wields. He himself has yet to discover it himself, only how it functions when directed.
- After the Icy Veil, the mage can use it without collapsing, but is still limited to a single use a day. And while he no longer loses his skill and ability, the exhaustion renders his magic all but useless. More still, he has yet to fully grasp the fundamentals behind this sorcery, one he hopes Lithomancy can solve.
- Negate: Perhaps the one spell he can cast with Dry Ice activated, he points at a target/spell/concept of his choosing, and invokes a blue/black icefire that burns it away. Not a trace to remain. He has yet to test it on human entities, only invoking it on objects. But the results are immediate. Not a trace remains.
His physical capabilities are not exemplary, but he has a sturdy constitution from living in the frigid, harsh climates of the Tundra, and a strong strength of will and mind, traits that are oft required when he casts his magics. In practice, he is less likely to tire. Still equally liable to being targeted like any mage, but he can at least run and prepare better than his peers.
- Fused Crafts: A field he is yet to be accustomed to, like the craft of Destruction, the ice mage has recently realized the crafts have compatibility with one another, thanks to the whispers of the Amulet. He previously was dissuaded by his Mentor from practicing this path, as an attempt at such a young age would have crippled him severely.
- Glaive Storm: Combining Destruction and Construction, the mage creates an ice axe, and hurls it at his foes. its edge is empowered by the destructive ice energy, capable of shattering iron and metal with ease. With a focused mind, the mage can direct the spinning ice top of death towards the targets he wishes.
Personality
Contrary to his own element, yet similar in some ways, the man is a approachable if a little quiet man. He is receptive to advances of conversation, and one may rouse his interest if history and/or magic of the ice variety is involved. Even during conversation, he uses short terms and expressions, is rarely heard speaking beyond a couple sentences, and never raising his voice above house-level. He is also a little kinder than the norm, as he is not above giving coin to the beggar on the street, and even having his pockets picked on a good day does not worsen his mood. He himself is no stranger to struggle, and imagines those whom stole his coin would probably put it to better use than he would.
His temperament is remarkably calm as well, his composure almost unshakable. Many events which may leave the average human citizen frozen in shock, he takes it in stride like how he would walk on a street. It may seem indifferent, even cold to some people, but he has seen far worse in his youth, and having his own mentor killed trying to save him has left its mark on his mind. As a small defense-mechanism born from the traumatic event, he is subject to remarks of sarcasm as a way of mimicking his deceased mentor, and honoring the person's entity however best he can.
He is foremost, an archivist and collector of knowledge simple and complex both. He does not hunt for rare tomes of magic, as his own practices are enough for him. He reads history, of greats battles from ages before him, and feats, deeds, and legends of people whom are written in paper and ink. However, he also looks for information on cryomancy as a passing interest, to learn how his element is wielded by other practitioners, and also to refine his own control over the element. He himself admits he is no master of the strange ice magic he has inherited from his master, though his performance may suggest otherwise, and draws reference from the few cryomancy tomes he has read in his travels to influence his craft, somewhat.
