Nacht
A realist who still believes in fairy tales.
Appearance
Nacht has a burn scar on his arm that is clearly visible, and his first experience being burned left him an ashy white. He usually wears a regular tunic and trousers for better movement in battle or practice, given he can block the sun with his dark aura. A cat is usually seen by his side, known by the name Shade.
Skills and Abilities
Dumb cat: Nacht has a cat named Shade, who is just a normal cat. Nothing much special here, except that this cat dies in the sun thanks to it's being a shadow creature. Even though it is a shadow creature, Shade has not much use in a fight.
Darkness Control: Nacht has the ability to manipulate darkness and shadow to a certain extent. So far, though, it still takes a lot of Shadow Energy to use correctly. Abilities he can use thanks to this magic include:
Aura: Nacht's aura uses his Energy to form but then uses no more. The only way this magic goes down is if it is dispelled, Nacht turns it off, or he runs out of magic to use. The main use of this technique is to block out the sun without having to use many heavy layers, making it easier to fight. The less magic he uses, the less it protects from the sun and the clearer it is. His aura can also protect him from chill and heat, but as for extremes such as contact with fire, it will still burn, and sitting outside in the arctic will still, for example, give frostbite. This is the case no matter how much magic he puts into the aura.
Darkest Night: Nacht has the power to make the area around him dark to the point of becoming blindingly black. In order to do this, he must sacrifice some of his magic in order to infuse the dark, and he can only get the expended magic back by using the Erebus Ritual. This requirement means that just standing in regular shadow will give him his maximum energy minus the capacity being used for this ability. Thanks to it possessing his magic, Areas affected by Darkest Night can be areas of cover or even emergency spots to refill his Energy by however much magic he used to originally create the darkness.
Beast Tamer: This ability is relatively simple. In using it, Nacht solidifies shadows to form an animal he has seen and knows the capabilities of. This animal must be no more than half his height, or else it has the chance to "glitch" and fade into nothing. Anything physically bigger than him is guaranteed to do this, and anything about his size has a fifty percent chance to die this way as well. However, not all is bad, as the animals he summons have all their natural skills as well as added stealth thanks to their being made of shadow. Finally, these animals can speak telepathically, but only to their creator, and not from a range greater than 30 feet in any direction. The more magic he puts into their creation, the longer they can sty whole in the sun without fading and dying away. The reason Shade will die quickly in the sun, for example, is because Nacht did not know what he was doing and only used the bare minimum of his power.
Erebus Ritual: Instead of Mana, the magic in Nacht expresses itself as a limited amount of Shadow Energy, which Nacht refills using this technique. By standing in shadow when he has little or no energy, his body sucks up the darkness around him and replenishes his store of Shadow Energy. The ritual can also be used in dire situations where there is no cover to steal the shadows of others, but Nacht hates doing so, because it makes their skin burn in the sun like his has from birth. As an extra requirement, he can only easily steal shadows of those who have a weaker will or sense of life than he has and they must be totally or near totally defeated to guarantee a transfer. If he tries to steal from someone healthy or strong-willed, he must focus totally and completely or risk getting temporarily paralyzed, both of which open up his guard and make it easier to get attacked.
Liege Kasnakh, Avatar of the Darkmind: This is not so much an ability as a possession that happens to add or increase ability. Think Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen. He doesn't change Yuji much physically, but his Cursed Energy is unrivaled. Obviously though, the changes are not as dramatic as that example in terms of power level shift, because that would be insane.
Anyway, more pertinently, perhaps the most evident change in Nacht when he is taken over by Liege is in his personality: Above all, Liege works with what he has and tries his best to survive, no matter what. On the positive, this means an increase to Nacht’s focus, strategic ability, and efficiency, as well as notably better shadow control (All of the above abilities increase in some way). As for the negatives, these boosts come at the cost of increased coldness and cruelty, loss of empathy, and a life view that summarizes to “Fuck you all, I’m more important than your sorry asses ever will be.” Plus, trying to kill Liege means he will do the same in return, but with no mercy. Throw a dagger at him, and he’ll strap your head to a dartboard and try to get a bullseye, laughing every time he misses and hits an arm or a leg or an eye.
How does this crazy madman break through Nacht’s mental barrier? Well, given he’s so much stronger than Nacht, there are a few requirements to wake him up from dormancy. Firstly, Nacht must be in a life or death, kill or be killed scenario. Second, he must be highly or even irrationally emotional. A close friend dying, Shade disappearing forever, the like. Finally, he must be low on magic and in a dark area. The Erebus Ritual will activate, and the jumble of emotions as well as the magic entering his system does something to his head that allows Liege entry.
Finally, there is no way to stop this possession other than a very precise exorcism. Only Nacht can end it, usually thanks to a breakdown or two. See, Liege is a powerful being, and whenever he takes over a body, that mind attached to it is attacked by demands for control. There is only so long one can put up with it until they break down and their psyche becomes too unstable to remain in. You can usually tell this has happened when Nacht falls to the floor and begins muttering what he had been hearing for those seconds/minutes/hours he was possessed: "Shatter. Shatter. Become another of the Darkmind."
Darkness Control: Nacht has the ability to manipulate darkness and shadow to a certain extent. So far, though, it still takes a lot of Shadow Energy to use correctly. Abilities he can use thanks to this magic include:
Aura: Nacht's aura uses his Energy to form but then uses no more. The only way this magic goes down is if it is dispelled, Nacht turns it off, or he runs out of magic to use. The main use of this technique is to block out the sun without having to use many heavy layers, making it easier to fight. The less magic he uses, the less it protects from the sun and the clearer it is. His aura can also protect him from chill and heat, but as for extremes such as contact with fire, it will still burn, and sitting outside in the arctic will still, for example, give frostbite. This is the case no matter how much magic he puts into the aura.
Darkest Night: Nacht has the power to make the area around him dark to the point of becoming blindingly black. In order to do this, he must sacrifice some of his magic in order to infuse the dark, and he can only get the expended magic back by using the Erebus Ritual. This requirement means that just standing in regular shadow will give him his maximum energy minus the capacity being used for this ability. Thanks to it possessing his magic, Areas affected by Darkest Night can be areas of cover or even emergency spots to refill his Energy by however much magic he used to originally create the darkness.
Beast Tamer: This ability is relatively simple. In using it, Nacht solidifies shadows to form an animal he has seen and knows the capabilities of. This animal must be no more than half his height, or else it has the chance to "glitch" and fade into nothing. Anything physically bigger than him is guaranteed to do this, and anything about his size has a fifty percent chance to die this way as well. However, not all is bad, as the animals he summons have all their natural skills as well as added stealth thanks to their being made of shadow. Finally, these animals can speak telepathically, but only to their creator, and not from a range greater than 30 feet in any direction. The more magic he puts into their creation, the longer they can sty whole in the sun without fading and dying away. The reason Shade will die quickly in the sun, for example, is because Nacht did not know what he was doing and only used the bare minimum of his power.
Erebus Ritual: Instead of Mana, the magic in Nacht expresses itself as a limited amount of Shadow Energy, which Nacht refills using this technique. By standing in shadow when he has little or no energy, his body sucks up the darkness around him and replenishes his store of Shadow Energy. The ritual can also be used in dire situations where there is no cover to steal the shadows of others, but Nacht hates doing so, because it makes their skin burn in the sun like his has from birth. As an extra requirement, he can only easily steal shadows of those who have a weaker will or sense of life than he has and they must be totally or near totally defeated to guarantee a transfer. If he tries to steal from someone healthy or strong-willed, he must focus totally and completely or risk getting temporarily paralyzed, both of which open up his guard and make it easier to get attacked.
Liege Kasnakh, Avatar of the Darkmind: This is not so much an ability as a possession that happens to add or increase ability. Think Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen. He doesn't change Yuji much physically, but his Cursed Energy is unrivaled. Obviously though, the changes are not as dramatic as that example in terms of power level shift, because that would be insane.
Anyway, more pertinently, perhaps the most evident change in Nacht when he is taken over by Liege is in his personality: Above all, Liege works with what he has and tries his best to survive, no matter what. On the positive, this means an increase to Nacht’s focus, strategic ability, and efficiency, as well as notably better shadow control (All of the above abilities increase in some way). As for the negatives, these boosts come at the cost of increased coldness and cruelty, loss of empathy, and a life view that summarizes to “Fuck you all, I’m more important than your sorry asses ever will be.” Plus, trying to kill Liege means he will do the same in return, but with no mercy. Throw a dagger at him, and he’ll strap your head to a dartboard and try to get a bullseye, laughing every time he misses and hits an arm or a leg or an eye.
How does this crazy madman break through Nacht’s mental barrier? Well, given he’s so much stronger than Nacht, there are a few requirements to wake him up from dormancy. Firstly, Nacht must be in a life or death, kill or be killed scenario. Second, he must be highly or even irrationally emotional. A close friend dying, Shade disappearing forever, the like. Finally, he must be low on magic and in a dark area. The Erebus Ritual will activate, and the jumble of emotions as well as the magic entering his system does something to his head that allows Liege entry.
Finally, there is no way to stop this possession other than a very precise exorcism. Only Nacht can end it, usually thanks to a breakdown or two. See, Liege is a powerful being, and whenever he takes over a body, that mind attached to it is attacked by demands for control. There is only so long one can put up with it until they break down and their psyche becomes too unstable to remain in. You can usually tell this has happened when Nacht falls to the floor and begins muttering what he had been hearing for those seconds/minutes/hours he was possessed: "Shatter. Shatter. Become another of the Darkmind."
Personality
Nacht is a bit of a strange guy, and has a dark, magical aura around him at all times. In truth, though, he's not spooky at all. In fact, he's just a kid no older than eighteen, maybe nineteen. Nacht is kind of childlike, and is excited to begin his tenure as a squire because he thinks making friends will be easier. See, his magic's drawback is that his skin burns to the point of blistering when it's in unobstructed contact with the sun. This problem formed before he even discovered his magic, so for the longest time he had to wear heavy black clothes and a full-face mask, which made him more than a bit creepy to his classmates. Nowadays, he can form a barrier around himself unconsciously with his shadows, light enough to see through but still enough to stop the sun from burning him. Thusly, with everyone having magic (and a problem, he supposes), it should be quick to find someone he can relate to, and someone to relate to him.
On the day of the Valentennian Masquerade Festival, Nacht concocted an entirely new identity for himself by the name of Nathaniel Shade. Nathaniel is unlike Nacht in certain ways, but one can certainly see his spark. That makes sense, they're the same person for anyone who hasn't gotten that yet (joking). He gives off the feeling of someone who is trying to be formal and failing. He also has a deeper, less yippy voice, but it does sound a bit forced. One paying attention could see through it, surely. He's also slightly more adventurous, going as far as to engage in gambling...or trying to. No such luck so far.
On the day of the Valentennian Masquerade Festival, Nacht concocted an entirely new identity for himself by the name of Nathaniel Shade. Nathaniel is unlike Nacht in certain ways, but one can certainly see his spark. That makes sense, they're the same person for anyone who hasn't gotten that yet (joking). He gives off the feeling of someone who is trying to be formal and failing. He also has a deeper, less yippy voice, but it does sound a bit forced. One paying attention could see through it, surely. He's also slightly more adventurous, going as far as to engage in gambling...or trying to. No such luck so far.