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Name: Yume Age: >40 Contact: https://www.plurk.com/memorylikeasieve Timezone: PST Other Character(s): none |
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 |
