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Custom Text

UPDATED

Headcanon, for concepts not addressed in the game, is indicated in square brackets.

General description:

Azwel (unknown if this is his first or last or even his real name) is a European male of saturnine appearance, with long, thick wavy hair and a full beard of a deep purple hue [that occurs naturally], yellow-gold eyes, and very fair skin made paler by lack of sun. He has sharp features and prominent cheekbones, made even more so by how thin his face is, and a long, straight nose. He stands six-foot-even and his build is muscular, very defined due to an almost consumptive lack of body fat, with prominent collarbones, adam's apple, and hip bones. His hands are big, with long, clever fingers [that have faint glowing lines following the pattern of nerves].

DUPLICITY

In-game description so far:

Update: He has regained Palindrome, which means all the magickal radiation is back, the nerve damage is, if not gone then asyptomatic, and he's ever so slowly developing optic nerve necrosis. Hooray?

---

Azwel no longer possesses Palindrome. The Cursed Sword shard has been destroyed and the Spirit Sword shard has been locked away. When the one shard was destroyed there was an energy backlash that left him unconscious for four days. Upon regaining consciousness he began to experience nerve pain that has faded somewhat but remains constant. He's continuing to feel the effects of the energies separating from himself and from each other, which has resulted in withdrawal symptoms. He self-medicates with just about anything he can get his hands on.

Between two or so months of terrible food in the Down and no food at Fort Harmony his health is, at best, precarious, though he is recovering.

His radiation is all but gone, but the damage it has done is not, and will probably come back to haunt him later.

Azwel
Leader Of Humanity

BASIC

NAME:	Azwel
CANON:	Soul Calibur 6
AGE:	Unknown. [48]
DOB:	6 June
GENDER:	Male
SPECIES:	Human
ACTIVE:	duplicitynet

PLAYER:	Yume
CONTACT:	https://www.plurk.com/memorylikeasieve

APPEARANCE

VISUAL:	Link
HEIGHT:	6'0"
BUILD:	You tell me.
HAIR:	purple
EYES:	yellow
FEATURES:	Apparently half the people in SC6 are covered in glowing lines and Azwel is no exception. Canon gives no explanation as to WHY, though. When they aren't glowing, they look like scarification.
DRESS:	Elabourate robes. A belt festooned with what looks like half his worldly possessions. Some great big ribbony thing that floats for no apparent reason.
VOICE:	He sounds a lot like some guy called Taliesin Jaffe. Can't imagine why.
PB:	STUFF

PERMISSIONS

BACKTAGGING:	✔
THREADHOPPING:	✔
FOURTHWALLING:	✔
ROMANCE:	✔
MINDREADING:	✔
MANIPULATION:	✔
INJURY:	✔
FIGHTING:	✔
KILLING:	✘

YES

MAYBE

✓ blood play (needles, knives, fangs, etc, specific acts*)♥
✓ smoking
✓ oral
✓ seduction/dubcon/aphrodesiac (esp. receiving)°
✓ mind control (esp. receiving)†°
✓ sex in public♥
✓ sex in forbidden places (like churches)♥
✓ shower sex♥
✓ bondage (rope)
✓ pain (receiving, specific acts*)♥
✓ medical play, science, etc°

◌ tears
◌ pain (giving, specific acts*)
◌ frot
◌ anal
◌ sex toys
◌ breath play
◌ frantic/violent sex
◌ comfort sex**

✗ faeces, urine, vomit, flatulence, belching
✗ adult baby/diaper
✗ A/B/O
✗ humiliation (including things like spanking)
✗ clowns
✗ face-sitting
✗ rimming
✗ gimp suits, leather straps, etc
✗ inflation
✗ pregnancy

† = things I like and he doesn't
° = player fetish
♥ = things he REALLY likes

*For example, this would not happen during a fight.
**Really, anything involving intense emotion is a potential turn-on.

The entire 'No' category is not only things he doesn't like, but things I will not play out.

« « « HUBRIS » » »

« « « OOC INFORMATION

Name: Yume

Age: >40

Contact: https://www.plurk.com/memorylikeasieve

Timezone: PST

Other Character(s): none

« « « IC INFORMATION

Name: Azwel

Door: reapp/Submissive

Canon: Soul Calibur 6

Canon Point: After the end of the Libra of Soul storyline. He's dead and Palindrome has been destroyed.

Age: unknown [50?]

Appearance: https://soulcalibur.fandom.com/wiki/Azwel

History: https://soulcalibur.fandom.com/wiki/Azwel

DUPLICITY ADDITION: Azwel has been a terrible Submissive from Day One, refusing to cleave to any of the rules either in the city or Fort Harmony. He frequented black markets and got into fights on the streets, one of which resulted in his weapon be in damaged and becoming unsafe. Eventually he had to surrender the magickal shards within his weapon to Ivy who, in turn, destroyed one and kep the other. The loss of the shards completely unravelled the matrix of energies he'd used them to create within his own body. The resultant decline of his health caused him to disobey even more. Too, he delayed obtaining a contract and the city had to pair him with someone.

This had the benefit, however, of starting him on the path to becoming not so much a model citizen as a tolerable one, as the effect of rule-breaking was brought into personal focus for him. 'To spare Jennifer the trouble' wasn't the best motivation to behave himself, but it was a start.

At about the same time he started developing a romantic relationship with Rip van Winkle, a fellow Submissive, which will cause him no end of legal trouble, despite their mutual promise to help one another stay on the correct side of morality.

When Jennifer disappeared Azwel discovered he'd become attached, something he hadn't expected to happen. He spent a small amount of time uncontracted until Carden Weatherford bought his release from the People Zoo and then offered a contract.

After returning from the desert he discovered that the city or LIEs had given him a perfect replica of Palindrome. A very wilted Azwel was returned to his original obstreperous glory. Unfortunately this attracted Ivy's attention and the whole argy-bargy started all over again. This time, however, he was able to extract Palindrome's energies from himself so that surrendering it would have no adverse effect. Things were going relatively well for him, so of course the universe has to put a stop to that.

In quick succession he lost several people he'd grown attached to, then his home and his Dominant, then his other home, then more people. Perhaps it is best for him that he vanished for a while.

Personality: Azwel initially comes across as jovial, gregarious, and melodramatic, like someone out of an old play. In fact, he peppers his speech with theatre references (though it's genuinely difficult to tell whether the writers meant that as a reference to extensive cultural experience or lazy sexuality shorthand) and superlatives in at least two other languages. He appears to have emotions running very close to the surface. Everything about him, down to the way he fights, is loud, bombastic, and grand. He's a literal Renaissance man (coming, as he does, from the late 1500s), as well as a figurative one, educated in sciences/alchemy, medicine, literature, history, tactics, magic(k) etc., and is terrifyingly intelligent. From his extensive study of human culture he came to the conclusion that the species would destroy itself through wars and greed and such. However, also because of his study of human culture, he came to the second conclusion that he could not allow that to happen. He therefore decided he'd save his beloved humanity from itself. Like any good villain worth his maniacal cackle this means said goal is accomplished with a hefty dose of amorality and even a touch of sadism (for example, he forced a bandit gang leader to slaughter the rest of the gang and then tell him how that felt. It could, however, be argued the gang leader learnt a valuable lesson in empathy....).

He could be accused of some kind of -ism or other, as one of his objectives is to rid humanity of individuals who have been mutated by a cursed magical item (Soul Edge) and an environmental phenomenon (the interdimensional rifts that pop up intermittently). Interestingly enough, in a canon populated with viable non-human species his opinion of them is never addressed [though I expect he'd have a better opinion of them than of the mutants or the undead]. One detail of note is that, among the mutants, the ones he despises are the ones who lose their humanity and become mindless. The ones who retain their thoughts and personality fascinate him, though that isn't much better, because instead of killing them outright he'll use them as test subjects, further exposing them to the mutating factors in an effort to see how far that can be pushed before they lose their sapience. He believes that there's no kind of life for a fully Malfested (as the mutants are referred to in-game) and that it's best to end it. It's true that, as a rule, Malfestation cannot be cured and it causes an individual to go on a murderous rampage. Is killing Malfesteds a kind of 'cleansing?' Is it mercy? Is it for the greater good to prevent them from murdering innocents? Azwel would say it's all of the above. This kind of conundrum is what brings this man joy.

He absolutely loves the human race. And he will repeatedly observe that to anyone within earshot. He is especially fascinated and delighted by the dichotomies of human existence--how a species capable of such creativity and beauty is also capable of such depravity and violence, the fine line everyone treads between sanity and madness, the cruelty and kindness that can be shown by a single being, and so on. That he refers to humanity as 'they' even though he is human only brings this fascination into sharper relief. Furthermore, he throws the word 'love' about with reckless abandon, dropping it into his speech the way most people use the word 'the.' Taken at face value it would appear he loves almost everyone and everything and perhaps he does--but sometimes his love can be literally pointy. Apparently he even loves his opponents! There's more than a touch of the zealot to him in that regard. He also has a tendency to refer to his associates as 'darling' or 'dear' ('My darling little Grøh') or use diminutives of their names (a fellow named Valtro became 'Valty,' for instance). All this points to a surface irreverence and an apparent preference for keeping people always a bit wrong-footed.

All in all, he can be best described as 'mercurial,' which appears to be intentional: whether he is hero or villain, saviour or destroyer, all depends on his mood and what end of the sharp, pointy object you happen to be on.

DUPLICITY ADDITION It is said that suffering breeds kindness, and Azwel has suffered more in his two years and change in Duplicity than he has in his fifty or so years of life before that, and that's saying something.

After having developed some real relationships Azwel started growing a sense of compassion, if not actual kindness. His zealotry has cooled somewhat, but his arrogance and pride remain the same and will continue to cause him to act unethically.

Powers and Abilities: Besides being able to sense magickal energies, Azwel's only power this time is his terrifying intellect. His brain is capable of, among other things, processing the kind of numbers that can alter reality.

Inventory: This time he will arrive without his weapon, so he will literally only have the clothes on his back and a collection of magickal kibble--spell components and whatnot.

Samples:

https://duplicitymemes.dreamwidth.org/13451.html?thread=32874379&posted=1#cmt33576331
https://duplicitymemes.dreamwidth.org/14078.html?thread=33062654&posted=1#cmt33576702

You know the drill.

( Read more... )

BEEP!

Player Information

Name: yume
Contact: https://www.plurk.com/memorylikeasieve
Over 18?: Y

Character Information

Name: Azwel (all that's given in canon)
Canon: Soul Calibur
Canon Point: some point before the end of Libra of Soul.
Age: Not given in canon [~50?]

History: https://soulcalibur.fandom.com/wiki/Azwel

Personality:
Intellectual: Azwel's intellect is his greatest strength, and his greatest pride. He won't bother to deny his arrogance regarding this, either. To him it's a pride well-earned and hubris is a thing that largely happens to other people.

Amoral: Morals are, in his eyes, merely handwringing examples of timidity that obstruct true research and progress. He doesn't go out of his way to flout them, but has no patience for them if they present an obstacle. He will argue pragmatism over sensitivity every time.

Irreverent: This manifests itself not only as glib commentary and a lack of respect for stodgy traditions and dogma, but also a complete lack of any kind of respect for ethics, other peoples' choices, or accepted procedure. Anything and everything is a test subject to him, no matter its value to others.

Gregarious: Despite all of that, he is also personable and downright charming. He finds humour and delight in nearly everything and enjoys life to the fullest. Also there is a 99.9% chance he will flirt with you, whoever or whatever you may be.

Messianic: At the end of all of this, though, it's undeniable that Azwel has a massive God Complex. He literally sees himself as the Saviour of Humanity and, now, of the people here, too. How much of this springs from his own personality and how much of this is his research and the hazards thereof having driven him mad remains to be seen.

Where and how did your character enter the Hedge? Nearly everyone in Libra of Soul spends 90% of their time travelling, and a lot of that is done on foot. It's entirely possible he could have been waylaid on one of the innumerable forest paths he's trod. Also, there are dozens of gates/astral fissures/whathaveyou which have disgorged into the game world beings from Geralt of Rivia(SC6) to Link from Hyrule,(SC2) to Yoda(SC4). Yes, that Yoda. Soul Calibur is weird, y0. Said astral fissures are Azwel's current field of study, so you can imagine he'd encounter a lot of them.

Additional Memories Lost: N/A

Skillsets: He is a Renaissance man both literally and figuratively, so the list is long. This is a man who has, in canon, studied everything from literature to alchemy to warfare to diplomacy to history to art to magick and dozens of things inbetween. Granted, just because he's studied a thing it doesn't necessarily follow that he's mastered said thing, and he sure doesn't seem to have retained much of, say, ethics. Also he's only musically inclined if he leans on a piano. All those enhancements can't cure a tin ear. Wherever they put him, though, he will attack said job with vigour. He'll be damned if those aren't the cleanest dishes the place has ever seen. The most organised library. The loveliest garden. Etc, etc.

Inventory: one pair of enchanted metal (most likely some alloy like orihalcum) gauntlets, each bearing one inset piece of a metallo-crystalline substance of unknown origin (inert). Impossible gravity-defying accessories. A small curved dagger. A spellbook. Various small 16th-century magickal items.

Sample:
https://illmetbymoo.dreamwidth.org/6335.html?thread=666559#cmt666559

Bunch of threads c/p'ed from Duplicity

Some violence and loads of sex.

Azwel's lab in the Down has been growing more and more of a sense of permanency. Originally just a space to conduct his more flammable work, it's slowly become a highly organised workspace fronted by something very like an old-fashioned apothecary. Granted, those are common in this town, but his has that air about it of places where one can find things like dangerous magickal items and horrific statuettes from beyond the stars.

In the shop, the floor, walls, and furnishings are all of a dark, nearly black-varnished wood and the ceiling is panelled with something equally dark, yet the place avoids a cave-like look thanks to the generous lighting. To augment the rather substandard wiring typical to places in the Down, Azwel had added mirrors and lenses that catch and throw the light no matter how feeble it might become. The floorboards creak in a few places and the glass on some of the cases is so thick and old that it's started to ripple in a few places. The windows on either side of the door hold the traditional large glass carboys full of various-coloured liquids, as well as some antique tools laid out like museum displays. The cases are filled with bottles and vials and flasks of every description, from plain glass things to beautiful crystal, filled with all manner of substances gathered and concocted over the time he'd been here. Dried plants sit and hang in bunches here and there, and a shelf lined with stones and crystals dominates one part of the wall. Another shelf full of books of varying age and condition stands next to it. Planters hang from the ceiling and drip leaves and vines and flowers from their rims. The whole place is redolent with magick and herbal scents and antiquity. A door with frosted glass leads to the laboratory.

The laboratory, by contrast, is open, airy, about as well-ventilated as a place in the Down can get, and crammed full of scientific and medical paraphernalia from any number of eras. Prominent among them is a cushioned exam table retrofitted with metal rings bristling with crystals and mirrors and lenses around it. Brackets at one end hold glass spheres. Several other worktables hold tools and works in progress, and at one deliberately well-lit end of the space stands a giant wooden desk upon which sits papers and gadgets and a very thick book open to a half-filled page.

Despite the sheer amount of things, the place is well-organised, and Azwel himself quite easy to find.

Because I can't leave that Abstract Button alone, here's a bunch of AUs that roll about in my head that I figured I'd plop in here to see if anyone wants to bat them about.

Warnings apply for pretty much everything: smut, body horror, violence, nonconsensual science, cosmic horror, pregnancy, gender-switching, and probably more.

Wizarding AU
or
Harry Potter And The Contrived Fanfiction Plot

Is it Marauders-Era and you not only have to deal with them but this weirdo new Defence Against The Dark Arts instructor? Or, even worse, is this during the books and you have to deal with all of that plus this weirdo new Defence Against The Dark Arts instructor? What on earth was Dumbledore thinking? This man looks like he just crawled out from under the floorboards of Voldemort's own goddamn house. He makes Snape look trustworthy. But boy does he know his stuff. And all kinds of other stuff. So what's Professor Azwel really about?

Cthulhu Mythos AU
or
The Call Of The Thing On The Living Room Floor Of The Witch-House Of The Terrible Old Man With The Silver Key To The Challenge From Beyond The Wall Of AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Terrible things are afoot in New England in the 1920s. Fish-people and cultists and schlubs having horrible dreams are everywhere. Things are colours that don't exist. A squiggly symbol that scares the bejeezus out of you is scrawled on random surfaces. And what's that awful tekeli-li sound that rides the wind of an evening? What are those faceless flying creatures silhouetted against the moon? AND WHY IS AN EIGHT-FOOT-TALL BUG MAN THING CLAIMING HE'S RANDOLPH CARTER? Nobody knows except a strange mystic from Europe who calls himself only 'Azwel' and seems to know an awful lot about and awful lot of things. Things man (or woman or bug) was not meant to know! Do you follow him to the hilltops or into the cypress swamps or wherever else he says the horrible tomes direct him or do you do the smart thing and run screaming into the night, trailing As as you go?

Domestic Fluff
or
How I Married A Mad Alchemist

Ah, wedded bliss. Family life and home sweet home. Is there anything like it? Probably not. You are Mr. Or Mrs. Azwel. His first name is a secret he just might someday tell you. In the meantime, you now live in a big sprawling house with either three or seventeen cats (never any other number), a plethora of alchemical paraphernalia, and a husband whom you have to tempt out of the lab to eat. But he's wealthy. And he loves you more than anything. He just... has a very unconventional way of showing it.

Sex Slave
or
Fuggit, I'm Running Out Of Titles.

a Did you get bought from the sex slave market by this odd, mysterious nobleman who only goes by one name? How will this 'Lord Azwel' even treat you? Only one way to find out, as he's bringing you home to his mansion full of books and alchemy. Oh, my.

b You're looking for that special sex slave. Well, this fellow is certainly eye-catching, all big and manly, windswept and interesting. Watch out, though, the owner says he's a bit mad, too clever by three quarters, and was sold to him as punishment for some crime nobody will disclose.

Experiments? Oh My!
It can be any time, really, the aim is the same. This strange genius who calls himself only 'Azwel' has you locked up in his laboratory. He has a mission, you see, and that mission is to extract a very, very specific kind of energy from you. It can only be collected during orgasm. Oh, but he's terribly clever at getting people to that state....

Vampire AU
a Blaaaaaa! A mysterious alchemist who never goes out in the daytime has moved into that spooky castle. And at the same time there's tell of a mysterious fiend roaming the streets at night, ravishing nubile young maidens and... whatever the young gentleman equivalent may be... and draining their blood! Can anyone draw the obvious conclusion between these nocturnal shenanigans and that weird Count Azwel?

b You vampire, you! You've somehow gone and caught yourself a nosy alchemist who insists on being called only 'Azwel.' His fault for trying to investigate your castle/house/apartment/yurt/whatever, I suppose. Now what will you do with him? My, but he's a robust-looking fellow who'll certainly serve as a ready food supply....

Girl Genius AU
Explosions! Terrible mad science! Toothy monsters with cheesy accents! Giant switches actually labelled 'MUAH HA HA HA HA HA!' Gleeful destruction! Exclamation marks! Just what have you gotten yourself into walking into the midst of Mechanicsburg in a random era ruled by Azwel Heterodyne The Madder Than Usual?

Pet Person AU
a Who doesn't like a big fluffy kitty? A... really big, fluffy kitty. Even though he prefers to wear clothes, one can see just how fluffy Azwel is by his purple hair and beard, soft grey ears with purple tufts, and giant, fluffy purple and grey tail. Oh, but he'd make a lovely companion, if you can get him to stop chewing on you. His love is pointy, after all. His claws are so long they don't retract all the way, making him even pointier. But he's clever and just listen to that rumbling purr!

Oh, and one other thing. There's a very good chance he'll be in heat. And even if he's not, he's still very libidinous. Sorry about that.

b Are you the kind of pet person Azwel's looking for? He's after someone who can assist in his work and not push things off of shelves or knock things over with a wagging tail. A companion to curl up with on cold nights. A sexual partner. Is it you?

Sex Cult AU
There's a heady smoke in the air, a mist swirling grey-white under the full moon. A hypnotic drumbeat plays. Cloaked and hooded figures surround you, bear you along to the stone altar under the tall trees. They start a slow, circling dance and a low, sonorous chant slips into your hearing. At the altar stands another figure, clad in elabourate robes. He reaches up with beringed hands to remove his hood, revealing his face, long purple hair and beard surrounding pale features and a gaze that draws you in. He bids you step toward him. The ritual has begun.

As an added bonus, request Rule 63 of any of the above and hey, presto, Azwel was always a woman!

Got any other ideas? Feel free to throw them at me. ^.^

((Watch this space for updates and whatnot, as I try to keep track of everyone in Azwel's life. He's got a much better memory than I do, which is saying something, as all that astral radiation is eating his braaaaaaaaaiiiiiiinnn.

These are roughly in chronological order. Roughly.))

Someone asked what I think about the people I know.

Azwel hadn't returned from the raid. And when he is found, he's in dreadful shape--frostbitten and lacerated and profoundly unconscious. And yet every once in a while he groans, his voice nearly gone, broken words about voices and the cold and the wind. He shivers no matter how many blankets are piled onto him.

Time passes, the Winter breaks, the Hospital is opened again, and Azwel is found and placed in a room where he lies silent under the monitors and amid the tubes and wires, motionless. And so many days later, his eyes ease open. He stares up at the (unfamiliar) ceiling, blinking quietly. With some difficulty he tracks his eyes right and left, taking in the room and the machines whose provenance he can only guess at. He's too weak to even object to their presence, much less detach them. A dull pain washes in and out like a confused tide, sometimes sneaking up on him, other times crashing over him. He stares at the machines for what feels like hours. It is, in reality, five minutes before his eyes fall shut again.

Time passes, hours into days, and he finds himself looking at that ceiling again. Progressively, with every breath, a burning pain steals into his nerves. Quite different to the ache and stab of injuries, muffled by drugs, this burns through all other sensation. It steals his breath and makes him shudder. He squeezes his eyes shut again and moans stringily. This is apparently enough to summon a nurse who, despite asking many questions, cannot find the source of Azwel's mounting pain because Azwel, himself, cannot. It's only after a dose of a painkiller that leaves him woozy that he can even puzzle it out, though he has to do so in the short intervals that he's awake.

It's the shards of the Cursed Sword and the Spirit sword or, more accurately, their absence, that's responsible. It takes Azwel far too long to explain why he needs them to the baffled medical staff but, eventually, they're brought to him. Maybe the staff understood what he was trying to say, maybe they were simply humouring him. But the moment the shards are brought to him he feels that terrible nerve pain start to recede.

He doesn't actually put the gauntlets on--that'd impede use of his hands far too much, especially in the weakened state he's still in. Rather, it is enough to simply place them nearby, on the table next to the bed. He's told the crystalline settings pulse with light when he sleeps, giving a low, quiet, rhythmic ringing sound.

They bring him food now that the portals are functional again. Sometimes he can even keep it down. They speak of the slow, steady receding of the Winter. He'll believe it when he sees it. They tell him Henry's parents had been found, that they'd gone from dimension to dimension looking for him. This, at least, brings a vague smile to Azwel's face. When the family stop in to thank him and to say goodbye, the little boy climbs up onto the bed and hugs him fiercely. "Goodbye, little one," he whispers, holding the child briefly before letting him go, letting him return to his family and his home.

It's for the best, really. A life like his isn't one to add a child to, no matter what any Outer Goddesses might say. Or maybe that's just the pain and weariness talking.

"Is he going to be all right?" Henry's mother asks softly once outside the room. She glances back in through the window, seeing the man has already fallen asleep, again, twitching in his dreams. Henry clings to her leg, looking up with round eyes at the scrub-clad albinoid nurse with her dark goggles and cloud of hair and short antennae.

The nurse gives a small sigh. "Eventually. It'll take a long time to recover from what he's been through." She doesn't mention what the scans found, this woman isn't family or anyone else on the patient's rather short contact list.

Henry and his family go home. Time passes and one day Azwel wakes up and notices something.

"It's gone," he murmurs. "That awful wind is... gone."

https://bakerstreet.dreamwidth.org/5591101.html?thread=2448663869&posted=1#cmt2452126525

https://seasoflight.dreamwidth.org/6383.html?thread=518383#cmt518383

https://duplicitynet.dreamwidth.org/223757.html?thread=40384781#cmt40384781

https://seasoflight.dreamwidth.org/3591.html?thread=627207#cmt627207

13 January

I am told I was unconscious for four days. I believe it. I have little memory of what happened after the decision to disarm me was made. Only that I was brought to hospital and surrounded by machines whose provenance I've only just begun to grasp, my body promptly covered with various sensors.

At least here when I am stripped of my clothing I have an assurance that it'll be returned. Much more familiar.

Beyond that, I recall only a terrible pain, worse than any injuries I've ever sustained. A suffocating sensation. A terrifying sudden slipping of consciousness into hallucinations.

I am told I had a violent seizure. Again, I believe it.

I write the above only as a description of what has gone before in order to aid in drawing conclusions regarding my present state.

Presently, my mind is fogged with something they call morphine, which feels very similar to laudanum. It dulls this dreadful nerve pain to something bearable and I can sleep.

13 January

Memory has returned--not of my disarming, of Nissen's depravities, of what was done to me. It's small wonder the cold bothers me so much, now. And I am much more easily chilled.

Must thank Vash. And apologise. The poor fellow, he shouldn't have had to go through that.

13 January

I knew things would be different for me if I survived this ordeal. I knew I would be altered in mind and body, but I had no idea the extent of that alteration until now.

That noise in my mind is gone. It could probably best be described as some kind of singing, a melody of terrible beauty and its counterpoint. I'd noticed it when I'd first constructed Palindrome, but it had faded with familiarity and now it is only noticeable in its absence. That is inconsequential, though I may revisit the thought later.

Ever since Palindrome was damaged I had experienced a steady decline in vitality, to the point where I suspected I was dying. I still do not know if I was, indeed, dying, or if its imbalance had simply caused me to feel unwell. This decline has been reversed, it seems. This is no time for an accurate assessment of my condition, however. Whether I'll return to the level of vitality I had before it was damaged or not remains to be seen, but I suspect there are too many other factors at work in this loss of life-energy than solely the imbalance in question. I am still recovering.

More morphine is needed. This pain is infuriating.

14 January

I am told I shout and wail piteously in my sleep. Must rectify that. Meditation on my preoccupying thoughts should work.

They're different to the preoccupations I've had for so long, though. I feel, in some way, that a burden has been lifted from my mind. It feels so much freer, so much more alert to so many more things--simple things, beautiful things, painful things, as though the world and everyone in it has been brought into a sharp focus, again.

I find myself thinking of my family often. Must meditate on that, too. I'm certain my mind is trying to understand something subconsciously.

15th January

Providence has gifted me with a very intriguing opportunity to test just how much that magick that surrounded the city had influenced my thoughts and my passions.

[clickety fumble.]

Ahah! There it is! ahem. My apologies--I cannot answer at the moment. Clearly it must be important, so do leave me a message! Hopefully we won't continue to miss each other.

[BEEP]

Some things people might notice upon meeting Azwel:

He smells like metal and leather, a combination of countless odd chemicals that somehow blend into a not-quite-unpleasant whole, under the scent of hair oil which, even lightly used, smells a bit like sex in a garden at midnight--dark and musky-sweet.

Azwel's radiation

Those with the ability to sense magickal energy will see a swirling blue and red energy surrounding Azwel, glowing brightest at his hands, red on the right and blue on the left, and swirling around his head

and/or

feel heat from the red and cold from the blue

and/or

hear discord from the red and harmony from the blue.

Soul Edge is literally an essence of Chaos, just as Soul Calibur is literally an essence of Order.

Those with the technology to pick up interdimensional energy will see a coruscating white/gold glow, with flickers of red and blue. This energy is pretty powerful, so it'll ping hard on some sensors.

High-tech medical scans might show that this radiation is, like a lot of radiation, slowly changing his DNA and seeping into his brain and eyes, ever-so-slowly destroying neural tissue.

Astral fissures likely emit some kind of radiation, as do the sword shards. This would most closely resemble cosmic radiation, rather than that of radioactive material. Regardless, there will most likely be some kind of detrimental effect on him, as it's unreasonable to expect anyone to expose themselves to such energies to the extent that he has done and walk away unscathed. Effects range from cancers to eye/optic nerve damage to cognitive impairment, specifically memory and executive functioning difficulties.

The glowing lines are a point of especial interest, as they show up on individuals who have had exposure to Soul Edge. However, no-one else exhibits any evidence of them when the energy is dormant. Either they've made themselves more physical on Azwel because of the sheer level of exposure he's had or because they were created before his exposure to this radiation, possibly in some ritual or other.

Time period of origin is 1590.

Canon mentions a recent plague, the victims of which Azwel and his family (whoever they are) treated. Notable is that Yersinia pestis has no known sequelae, so survivors recover completely. Also possible is genetic immunity, a well-documented phenomenon.

Said family likely came into better circumstances after the Black Death and, by the time we get to 1590, have worked their way pretty far up the social ladder. His immediate family included two older siblings and two younger, and middle-kid syndrome explains a lot about Azwel.

Addressing the fanwiki's rather baseless notion about a paralysing illness, the most likely candidates would be tuberculosis, any number of febrile maladies, or syphilis. Also more likely is paresis rather than actual paralysis. This notion is unsupportable, however, in light of canon, which made no mention whatsoever of any kind of disability before constructing Palindrome.

However, alchemists would routinely poison themselves with mercury, silver, antimony, galena/lead, arsenic, lye, belladonna, nightshade, foxglove, et cetera.

The fact that he carries rather a lot of magickal kibble speaks to some kind of familiarity with, most likely, ritual magick. This would mean any kind of spellcasting he would do would rely heavily on material components, recitation of lengthy and complex spells, and astronomical events. Real John Dee stuff. Astrological charts and entrails and whatnot.

AZWEL

✖ SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Pansexual
✖ GENDER: Male
✖ PRONOUNS: He/Him
✖ RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single

✖ PLACE OF ORIGIN: Europe
✖ SPECIES: Human
✖ DIET: Omnivore
✖ HEIGHT: 6'0"
✖ BODY TYPE: Fit

✖ My self-summary:
And usually people tell me I talk about myself and my work too much! The date in my world when I left was 1590 which, I've learnt, is far in the past for a lot of people, and for this new world in general. Science, culture, history, medicine, literature, warfare, art, music, all things I've studied and will continue to study, have made such advances! It could make one giddy, all this new information, but I welcome it!

On a more immediate level, I've been accused of being clever, driven, creative, and not unattractive. I can hold my own in a fight and have been told I'm a good dancing partner. I can cook a decent meal, pen a passable rhyme, play a fair tune. My lovers have no complaints--at least none that I've learnt of!

In sum, I love to study everything and everyone.

✖ What I'm doing with my life:
Whatever I'm doing, it bears little to no resemblance to what I was doing before I came here. I am, in truth, in search of something new.

✖ I'm really good at:
Oh, do you want the list? I'll try to keep it to my favourites: alchemy, research, fighting, and general debauchery.

✖ The first thing people notice about me:
Apparently there's something odd about my clothing?

✖ Favorite books, movies, shows, music, and food:
What a question! I absolutely must come back and answer this later, once I have experienced these things! Since I arrived here, I've discovered there's a lot more than I knew existed.

✖ Six things I could never do without:
Only six? Oh, well, if I must narrow it down to such a small list: intelligent people, books, wine, sex, something to occupy my mind, and the usual requirements of survival.

✖ I spend a lot of time thinking about:
What I'm going to do with my time and energy now. None of the things that so occupied me in my home world exist in this world. Perhaps I should go back to what I was doing before, so many years ago. Or perhaps I should find something new!

✖ On a typical Friday night I am:
Is there something typical about Friday nights? I would like to find out.

✖ The most private thing I'm willing to admit:
If I told you that, it would no longer be private.

✖ You should message me if:
If you like what you see. If you're curious. If you've got something to say. If you wish to know what my real answer to the above question would be.

« « « ~~ZEALOTRY~~ HUBRIS » » »

« « « OOC INFORMATION

Name: Yume

Age: 43

Contact: https://www.plurk.com/memorylikeasieve

Timezone: PST

Other Character(s): none

« « « IC INFORMATION

Name: Azwel

Door: right

Canon: Soul Calibur 6

Canon Point: After the end of the Libra of Soul storyline. He's dead, but probably does't realise it yet.

Age: unknown [late 30s/early 40s?]

Appearance: https://soulcalibur.fandom.com/wiki/Azwel

History: https://soulcalibur.fandom.com/wiki/Azwel

Personality: Azwel initially comes across as jovial, gregarious, and melodramatic, like someone out of an old play. In fact, he peppers his speech with theatre references (though it's genuinely difficult to tell whether the writers meant that as a reference to extensive cultural experience or lazy sexuality shorthand) and superlatives in at least two other languages. He appears to have emotions running very close to the surface. Everything about him, down to the way he fights, is loud, bombastic, and grand. He's a literal Renaissance man (coming, as he does, from the late 1500s), as well as a figurative one, educated in sciences/alchemy, medicine, literature, history, tactics, magic(k) etc., and is terrifyingly intelligent. From his extensive study of human culture he came to the conclusion that the species would destroy itself through wars and greed and such. However, also because of his study of human culture, he came to the second conclusion that he could not allow that to happen. He therefore decided he'd save his beloved humanity from itself. Like any good villain worth his maniacal cackle this means said goal is accomplished with a hefty dose of amorality and even a touch of sadism (for example, he forced a bandit gang leader to slaughter the rest of the gang and then tell him how that felt. It could, however, be argued the gang leader learnt a valuable lesson in empathy....).

He could be accused of some kind of -ism or other, as one of his objectives is to rid humanity of individuals who have been mutated by a cursed magical item (Soul Edge) and an environmental phenomenon (the interdimensional rifts that pop up intermittently). Interestingly enough, in a canon populated with viable non-human species his opinion of them is never addressed [though I expect he'd have a better opinion of them than of the mutants or the undead]. One detail of note is that, among the mutants, the ones he despises are the ones who lose their humanity and become mindless. The ones who retain their thoughts and personality fascinate him, though that isn't much better, because instead of killing them outright he'll use them as test subjects, further exposing them to the mutating factors in an effort to see how far that can be pushed before they lose their sapience. He believes that there's no kind of life for a fully Malfested (as the mutants are referred to in-game) and that it's best to end it. It's true that, as a rule, Malfestation cannot be cured and it causes an individual to go on a murderous rampage. Is killing Malfesteds a kind of 'cleansing?' Is it mercy? Is it for the greater good to prevent them from murdering innocents? Azwel would say it's all of the above. This kind of conundrum is what brings this man joy.

He absolutely loves the human race. And he will repeatedly observe that to anyone within earshot. He is especially fascinated and delighted by the dichotomies of human existence--how a species capable of such creativity and beauty is also capable of such depravity and violence, the fine line everyone treads between sanity and madness, the cruelty and kindness that can be shown by a single being, and so on. That he refers to humanity as 'they' even though he is human only brings this fascination into sharper relief. Furthermore, he throws the word 'love' about with reckless abandon, dropping it into his speech the way most people use the word 'the.' Taken at face value it would appear he loves almost everyone and everything and perhaps he does--but sometimes his love can be literally pointy. Apparently he even loves his opponents! There's more than a touch of the zealot to him in that regard. He also has a tendency to refer to his associates as 'darling' or 'dear' ('My darling little Grøh') or use diminutives of their names (a fellow named Valtro became 'Valty,' for instance). All this points to a surface irreverence and an apparent preference for keeping people always a bit wrong-footed.

All in all, he can be best described as 'mercurial,' which appears to be intentional: whether he is hero or villain, saviour or destroyer, all depends on his mood and what end of the sharp, pointy object you happen to be on.

Powers and Abilities: All of Azwel's powers appear to be combat-oriented and originating from his weapon, Palindrome (the gauntlets). It's possible that he could do a fair bit of spellcasting without them, though. He can sense when and where astral rifts will appear, as well as various other magickal energies.

Inventory: He wears most of his belongings, it seems. The important ones are the golden gauntlets on either hand, which have embedded in them shards of two supernatural swords. They make up his primary weapon, and apparently are also his primary laboratory equipment, as he uses the two shards to create or intensify mutations in his test subjects.

Samples:

https://duplicitymemes.dreamwidth.org/2373.html?thread=5566021#cmt5566021
https://duplicitymemes.dreamwidth.org/2373.html?thread=5604677#cmt5604677
https://duplicitymemes.dreamwidth.org/2373.html?thread=5605701#cmt5605701
https://duplicitymemes.dreamwidth.org/2373.html?thread=6056005#cmt6056005

And from a different TDM:
https://soddersays.dreamwidth.org/13348.html?thread=2401828#cmt2401828

IN CHARACTER

Character Name: Azwel. Nobody knows if that's his first or last or even real name.

Canon: Soul Calibur 6

Canon Point: After the Libra of Souls storyline. He's dead, but he might not realise it, yet.

In-Game Tattoo Placement: on the neck, below the left ear.

Current Health/Status: Pretty damn good, though he might have had the crap beaten out of him recently....

Age: None given in canon. 40s or so?

Species: Human

History: https://soulcalibur.fandom.com/wiki/Azwel

CRAU History and Impact: None. Fresh new character.

Personality: Azwel initially comes across as jovial, gregarious, and melodramatic, like someone out of an old play. In fact, he peppers his speech with theatre references (though it's genuinely difficult to tell whether the writers meant that as a reference to extensive cultural experience or lazy sexuality shorthand) and superlatives in at least two other languages. He appears to have emotions running very close to the surface. Everything about him, down to the way he fights, is loud, bombastic, and grand. He's a literal Renaissance man (coming, as he does, from the late 1500s), as well as a figurative one, educated in sciences/alchemy, medicine, literature, history, tactics, magic(k) etc., and is terrifyingly intelligent. From his extensive study of human culture he came to the conclusion that the species would destroy itself through wars and greed and such. However, also because of his study of human culture, he came to the second conclusion that he could not allow that to happen. He therefore decided he'd save his beloved humanity from itself. Like any good villain worth his maniacal cackle this means said goal is accomplished with a hefty dose of amorality and even a touch of sadism (for example, he forced a bandit gang leader to slaughter the rest of the gang and then tell him how that felt. It could, however, be argued the gang leader learnt a valuable lesson in empathy....).

He could be accused of some kind of -ism or other, as one of his objectives is to rid humanity of individuals who have been mutated by a cursed magical item (Soul Edge) and an environmental phenomenon (the interdimensional rifts that pop up intermittently). Interestingly enough, in a canon populated with viable non-human species his opinion of them is never addressed [though I expect he'd have a better opinion of them than of the mutants or the undead]. One detail of note is that, among the mutants, the ones he despises are the ones who lose their humanity and become mindless. The ones who retain their thoughts and personality fascinate him, though that isn't much better, because instead of killing them outright he'll use them as test subjects, further exposing them to the mutating factors in an effort to see how far that can be pushed before they lose their sapience. He believes that there's no kind of life for a fully Malfested (as the mutants are referred to in-game) and that it's best to end it. It's true that, as a rule, Malfestation cannot be cured and it causes an individual to go on a murderous rampage. Is killing Malfesteds a kind of 'cleansing?' Is it mercy? Is it for the greater good to prevent them from murdering innocents? Azwel would say it's all of the above. This kind of conundrum is what brings this man joy.

He absolutely loves the human race. And he will repeatedly observe that to anyone within earshot. He is especially fascinated and delighted by the dichotomies of human existence--how a species capable of such creativity and beauty is also capable of such depravity and violence, the fine line everyone treads between sanity and madness, the cruelty and kindness that can be shown by a single being, and so on. That he refers to humanity as 'they' even though he is human only brings this fascination into sharper relief. Furthermore, he throws the word 'love' about with reckless abandon, dropping it into his speech the way most people use the word 'the.' Taken at face value it would appear he loves almost everyone and everything and perhaps he does--but sometimes his love can be literally pointy. Apparently he even loves his opponents! There's a touch of the zealot to him in that regard. He also has a tendency to refer to his associates as 'darling' or 'dear' ('My darling little Grøh') or use diminutives of their names (a fellow named Valtro became 'Valty,' for instance). All this points to a surface irreverence and an apparent preference for keeping people always a bit wrong-footed.

All in all, he can be best described as 'mercurial,' which appears to be intentional: whether he is hero or villain, saviour or destroyer, all depends on his mood and what end of the sharp, pointy object you happen to be on.

Abilities/Powers/Weaknesses & Warping: All of Azwel's powers appear to be combat-oriented and originating from his weapon, Palindrome (the gauntlets). It's possible that he could do a fair bit of spellcasting without them, though. He can sense when and where astral rifts will appear, as well as various other magickal energies.

Inventory: Clothing, athame, spellbook, four small belt pouches, skull fetich, one pair of gold-coloured metal gauntlets, each carrying a small piece of a supernatural sword.

Writing Samples:

https://soddersays.dreamwidth.org/13348.html?thread=2338852#cmt2338852
https://soddersays.dreamwidth.org/13348.html?thread=2401828#cmt2401828

In Which He Attempts To Leave Deerington

He has work to do. He knows he has work to do and that he can't just hang about in this strange town, wasting time. It's time to pack up his belongings and go--fortunately he hasn't collected many, so he simply straps on what he came with and walks out the door.

There may be vehicles available, but he's content to simply leave on foot. Anyone looking out their window at the street in this predawn gloaming might see the berobed figure calmly walking down the street, heading out of town. Well, there goes another one.

Azwel eventually passes the sign that reads 'NOW LEAVING DEERINGTON' and is a little puzzled at how his surroundings seem to be growing darker. Perhaps it's simply all the trees. This forest is quite thick. The road stretched before him into the horizon and the trees seem to go on forever on either side of him. Looking back, he sees the outskirts of the town and the first gleamings of sunlight on its lampposts and cars and buildings. Something tells him to turn back before he becomes lost in this darkness. At that, he stubbornly faces forward again and continues. All forests end eventually. All he has to do is keep walking.

The trees crowd closer. The light grows dimmer. The road continues, unbroken by even so much as an intersection. Keep walking.

Keep walking.

Ignore those eyes in the forest. They're simply animals. Animals are more afraid of humans than humans are of them. The thought causes a flicker of a smile. His beloved humans are, after all, the apex predators--other beasts may be larger or faster, but they cannot outlast humans in a chase. Nothing can. This thought brings him an odd kind of comfort and he continues walking. Time passes. How much time? He has no idea, there isn't anything so convenient as the sun or the moon to glance up at and determine the time from. Just darkness and the road and the trees and the eyes.

Staring.

Keep walking.

The staring eyes start to grate on Azwel's nerves and then start to worry him--what if they aren't simple animals? He's heard enough tales of monsters and other creatures to know they're very real and very near. Is that what's watching him in this dark, heavy stillness? His steps falter. He can hear his own breathing. The eyes stare and stare and stare.

"ENOUGH!" he howls, turning on the spot. He charges forward. Palindrome flashes brilliantly in the darkness, blades slicing into the forest and hitting... nothing. He stands in the darkness, amid the trees, panting slightly. The eyes are gone.

"That's that, then," he mutters, but he hasn't quite convinced himself of this fact. He returns to the road.

Keep walking.

He can scarcely see, now, it's so dark. The road before him is nothing more than a dim line. Whirling the glowing blades above his head does little to dispel the darkness, but at least he can concentrate on that instead of on this silence and the fact that he has no idea where this road is going or... why he's even on it... and those blasted eyes are back!

Azwel charges into the forest with an incoherent roar, blades swinging and flashing wildly, hitting nothing. No creatures, not even the trees. Those eyes... he can't see them but he knows they're there, watching him, watching him, and he doesn't even know where he is any longer, or what he'd set out to do--all is blood in his ears and lights in his eyes and he screams in rage and terror, countless spears and knives and swords and axes hurtle into the forest and hit nothing.

The scream dies in his throat and he stands in the grass, wheezing and sweat-soaked, hair hanging over his face and shoulders. He shivers. Stumbles backward until his feet find the road. Something rattles in his chest and before he can stop it a coughing fit seizes him.

I should go back.

Go back where?

He tastes blood. His knees buckle and he drops to the pavement, hard. But it's only a moment later when he feels something touch his face. His eyes snap open.

A spectral deer stands over him, calmly nudging his head with its nose. He hauls himself to his feet only a little unsteadily, and regards the animal, which looks calmly back at him. Then it starts walking down the road. Before he even realises what he's doing, Azwel follows the deer.

Perhaps this deer will lead me... where? Somewhere. Somewhere better than this forest and this road, perhaps?

He and the deer keep walking. Walking, walking, all he's been doing for as long as he can remember is walking. No... not for that long. One hand idly rubs his aching chest and he coughs wetly. His steps falter and the deer slows to let him catch up.

It's leading him back to town, he realises. He'd left because... because he needed to return home, to continue his work, to save humanity from itself....

He realises he can't do that, now. At least, not like this, not simply getting on the road and walking until he found another astral fissure. Some magick in this town clearly prevents that.

He shambles along the road as it grows lighter and lighter around him and the town comes into view again. A small group of masked women stand waiting for him. They watch the deer until it bounds off into the forest again. Exhaustion and a strange despair wash over Azwel for a moment as they close in around him and the utter futility of his attempt makes itself clear. They'd been waiting for him to return because they knew he would. They all do.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Player Name: Yume

Player Age: Old enough to know better. (43)

Player Contact: https://www.plurk.com/memorylikeasieve

Other Characters In Game: none

In-Game Tag If Accepted: Azwel : Yume

Permissions for Character: https://lovesuwithknives.dreamwidth.org/311.html

Are you comfortable with prominent elements of fourth-walling?: Aye, but I'd prefer to okay each instance first.

What themes of horror/psychological thrillers do you enjoy the most?: Pretty much all of them. I especially like things that'll challenge his perceptions of humanity, like body horror/gore and cosmic horror.

Is there anything in particular you absolutely need specific content warnings for?: Nope.

Page Summary

OOC | Permissions
Duplicity App Take Two
HMD
Ill-Met Character Info
Ill-Met IC Inbox
App For Ill Met By Moonlight
OOC - Threads Moved Off Game
Duplicity | Azwel's Lab
AU Box
IC Ramblings (aka A CR Chart)
nexus_crossings | IC | Forward-Dated After The Storm
On/Off-Game Thread Tracker
Duplicity | IC | Misc. Notes To Self
Deerington IC Inbox
Random information/headcanon
Duplicity IC Inbox
Duplicity Personals Profile
App for Duplicity
App for Deerington

Syndicate

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