Irassos, Johann Ceodore

**Prophet Irassos** Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:58 am

DOSSIER: Sorcerer, Imperial Combatant
RANK: Prophet

DETAILS

-NAME

Johann Ceodore Irassos

-GENDER

Male

-AGE

56

-BIRTHPLACE

Crown District, Aenias City

-BIRTHDATE

March 21st, 384 A.R.

-THEME SONG

Second Chance - Shinedown
Where Is My Mind? - Pixies

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-PICTURE

Spoiler:

-DESCRIPTION

A tall man, Prophet Irassos, stands with a bulky frame at the imposing height of 6'5. He always seems to retain an aura of calm about him, and has swept-back greying-blonde hair, bristly stubble, and a fair complexion due to dwelling in the North for a good majority of his life. He generally wears regal attire, ceremonial pauldrons, a tunic, and gold-trim armoured boots. A vast portion of his wide, heavy-built, barrel-chested thick upper torso is usually bare and visible. Generally, the man holds a cape about his shoulders, and a black/gold sweatband keeps his hair the way it is.

With deep golden-yellow eyes, Irassos' colours of choice generally seem to match his warm, calm, yet slightly cold and rather tactical visage. Nevertheless, the man is fully and wholly human, and has a near-equal cast of friends and enemies - appearing just about as neutral as one can. Normally, the Prophet will be found with a long, wooden pipe propped in his mouth, generally alight, thin smoky tendrils raising from it as Irassos relaxes during moments of intense philosophy and thought.

Irassos' mannerisms are generally calm, calculated, and well-thought out. The man moves slowly, and sometimes not at all; even when he speaks, a lot of the time, his booming yet gentle voice, what with the gravity it carries, only drops a few words, if any. Irassos is a man to think and then act - often labelled as wise, and a middle-ground between the fiercely traditional Daedalus, and the hot-headed Barius, fellow Prophets that he always seems to be a mediator for.

When truly with people he loves, Irassos seems to become exuberant, visibly happy, and over-exaggerated in his movements, showing a very different side - one that's required to be bound, chained, and kept suppressed during his many dreary duties as Prophet.

-PRIMARY WEAPONS

- Balmung, a large and unorthodox zweihander kept on or around Irassos' person.

-SECONDARY WEAPONS

- Gram, a long tobacco pipe concealing a hidden blade.
- Fenrir, a miniature hand-held arrowgun.

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-SORCERY SPECIALITY

Fire, and pretty much everything to do with it. Irassos specialises in anything that's burning, but, as of this current level, needs a heat source in order to manipulate it.

-SKILLS

- Can blow smoke rings
- Not a bad leader
- Tactical thinker
- Level-headed
- Logical
- Can instil morale and lead troops when push comes to shove
- Learned swordsman
- Very much likeable, can cause a situation to call down when diplomacy is a necessary alternative
- Physically fit

-WEAKNESSES

- Overtly caring
- Tends to fight more with words than blades
- Can get too caught up in less-important and more introspective matters than ones which precede them in priority due to his nature as a ruler
- Can often come across as too calm and somewhat carefree
- Lazy
- Smoker's cough's a bitch

-COMBAT STYLE

Irassos is slow to start and often prefers diplomacy to fighting, but he does understand that when push comes to shove, sometimes, locking blades is the only solution. When he does this, Irassos is something of a multi-purpose all-rounder, a jack of most trades and a master of one: flame. His sorcery is primarily his main function of attack, generating a wreath of flame from his pipe and directing it in your direction if you piss him off badly enough. He's quick, powerful, and deadly with his sorcery, and considering flame is a monstrous, hungry, devouring beast, it will lick and eat away at just about anything in its path. Concentrated enough, Irassos can even launch high-pressure ignited oxygen threads at someone, acting as, simply enough, spears of fire.

Even despite being once just a regular man, his sorcery barely six, seven years old, Irassos is still learned and deadly with the most basic of concepts. However, like any other, he too enjoys variety, and is versatile if somewhat limited in his options. Fenrir allows him the delusion of range, and Balmung the ability to carve devastating wounds into others at close proximity. Gram even has a small, concealed, spring-loaded blade mechanism within its frame to allow stealth kills, should such a circumstance ever arise, as unlikely as it is - Irassos is a wealthy man, and pivotal when it comes to Thibudis' relative see-saw of power balancing.

Irassos, despite his age, is muscular, physically fit, and combat-ready. He's a figurative for a reason - perhaps he's slightly less fitting than Barius for true destruction, but he's definitely the man you want at the head of an army, due to the morale he can instil in troops with his unparalleled hammy speeches.

-PERSONALITY

Johann Irassos is the absolute and complete epitome of calm. You will not find a man more fitting for any sort of situation which requires eternal level-headedness and a lulled sense and ability to put ego aside and consider things from a truly neutral point of view. He can keep his cool in almost every single scenario or situation you can think up, and will be able to rule similarly, holding fast to the rules and creeds he lives by, quiet, tactical, and calculating to a t.

He's a fitting leader, but one to make advanced political and economic decisions. Worthy as a figurehead and generally quiet, Irassos can talk beyond a few short, abrupt sentences - infact, he's regarded as having a penchant, in his neutrality, for completely swaying the troops. Irassos' word is generally correct, and a viewpoint to take into account - he's the perfect mediator, and constantly does act as a referee and line not to cross for Daedalus and Barius. Because of his seemingly reduced amount of flaws when compared to the hot-head and traditionalist, he's often regarded as the father-figure of the three Prophets, intelligence, age, and relative positions aside.

Irassos, despite consistently choosing diplomacy as the moral high ground, if it's an availability, is no idiot. Not by any stretch. The Prophet respects that sometimes war and violence is the answer, and a solution can only come by clearing the air and shedding the blood of troops and grunts. For this, he respects every man and woman who sign their lives up to any armed force universally, but it should be known that even in his restful, calm appearance, he is fiercely loyal to the Empire. Inside his territory, if he encounters a known rebel figure, he will attempt to detain them regardless of what others would do - shooting on sight is wrong, in his opinion.

Irassos is never the one to make the first move. He's thoroughly tactical, and very much one of the most calculating people you'll ever know. The Prophet takes just about every detail, minor, major, and monumental, into account, regardless of its current significance in the big picture - everything happens for a meaning, in Irassos' overly philosophical mind, and it's always good to have that knowledge locked away and readily available.

To continue, Irassos is a silently religious man, and can often be found praying to Aenias. He doesn't go crazy about people blaspheming, or 'taking the King's name in vain', as others would say, but regards religion as a matter of opinion, in his level-headed and neutral mindset. When push comes to shove, if agitated enough, he can be forced to make major decisions in light of his religion, and whether or not various options align with what is 'right'.

Irassos has been said to be apathetic and uncaring, and, truly, he would agree with the first. The second; not so much. Apathy is his forté, but he's required to be as he is simply for his position. Sacrifices have been made to get him to where he is today, and it's almost certain that more will be made to keep him firmly rooted in that position until the day he dies.

No matter how much can be said of Irassos' calm visage, occasionally, those who agitate him beyond the norm will find that when he lashes out, it can be almost explosive. His anger is short-lived, rare to see - rarer to survive - and normally comes from his protecting a loved one - of which there are few - from the line of fire. This anger is followed by a rather ruthless attitude in combat; but the Prophet feels that his sacrifical attitude is necessary to compensate for how foolishly he's acted in the past. Although Daedalus is far older than him, it's arguable that Irassos is easily the most grounded and mature of all three Prophets.

The man can be broken back down into base human emotion by close friends and family, although he can count those who know they have the ability to do this on two hands. When he's with the people he loves, Irassos will show it desperately - and it's usually platonic or familial love, due to his regrets regarding the past. Irassos feels a gaping void inside him that he desperately wishes to fill by seeking out Opal and Ruby and spending time with them.

In reality, his children are really his two regrets. The reasons he distanced them number many - but in reality it is because he cares, even if it was something of an insensitive decision to make. Almost immediately afterwards, he cut ties to all his close friends, family, and even his own lover - it was a regretful action, but, still, has its uses to this day. Irassos' skin is made of thick boot leather - he has to be distant from those he loves to keep them safe, for both practical and political purposes. They can't be allowed to become nasty, spoilt, princely brats - and at the same time, can't be put in jeopardy because of his career.

Above all else, however, Irassos is truly a respectful man. Whether out of power, intelligence, or sheer unorthodox ability, you'll find it's easy to garner this mainly friendly and warm man's respect within moments of his initial judgement of you - he's not someone to be too worried about unless you have a sword to his throat.

To sum Irassos up, he can be said to be a calm man who distances himself from others out of care and love... with a side that's hardly ever shown which holds a very ruthless perspective on the world and, more importantly, those in front of him... altogether, it's said that he is one of the closest Prophets, throughout history, to achieving perfection in Aenias' image.

-HISTORY

Born fifty-six years ago to previous Prophet Decanus, Irassos knew he was destined for royalty since the day he could fathom a single thought. Everything was handed to him on a platter, but despite his greatest urges to give in to a life of luxury, Irassos constantly sought challenge. He was oft exposed to the idea that the 'grown-ups' stayed thoroughly segregated from the children, and whilst some seek after age and wish desperately to grasp the perks that growing up does have, Irassos was always contented with life as it was, happy to just drift by, even as a young boy.

Irassos has few memories of his mother, who was but one of Decanus' many concubines. Brought up within the palace, schooled by the most prestigious tutors gathered from all over Thibudis, no expense was spared in the upbringing of a boy meant to rule from day one. He was taught geography, politics, how to master the written word; and much like his father, he had a good, clear, understanding of the world as it should be, and quickly marked down in his mind points that definitively required changing.

Taught immediately in the art of combat, Irassos excelled especially at swordsmanship. Kept away from most other children to remove a chance of the would-be-Prophet being shaken from his path but an inch, the boy lived a very lonely lifestyle, but with his active and constructive imagination, he could occupy himself. Man was, however, a social creature, so at a young age, with little else to do, Johann wandered about the house one day, seeking a companion.

That was when he found her. Francesca Hutchinson, she called herself. She was proud, haughty, and held her head high; the pair of them were the same age, both eight when they met, and Francesca immediately lead the princely Johann away, no idea who he was, no educated guess made of his attire, and simply announced that he was a 'good looking boy' and one that 'his mother would be happy for her to marry'.

Alienated by concepts of vices not yet explained to him, Francesca opened up a new world of possibilities. It became quickly evident, as the boy's manservants separated him from the potential 'threat' to the nation's future, that she was from an aristocratic family too dwelling within the Dominion; her mother was an ambassador, and her father served as her main role model in life, very relaxed to counter the fierce, draconian woman's vim and vinegar.

After complaining to his father for one of the few times in his life, Decanus finally allowed the boy to see her. Irassos, even at a young age, could tell he was gifted to have such good company; boastful, proud, and discriminating, Hutchinson was flawed in every way she could be. And Irassos was intrigued, fascinated by her. With time, he didn't outgrow her, and nor she him. The pair simply grew closer and closer, their meetings becoming regular, daily, and by the time they were thirteen or fourteen, they were the best of friends and saw each other almost every single waking hour of the day when Irassos wasn't being taught his latest subject.

At such a young age, the boy had found himself in love, blissfully unaware of his father's position. As the man's only heir, Irassos was destined to take the throne at whichever and whatever point he either stepped down or died. And when Decanus came to him, barely seventeen, feelings still hidden beneath the surface for Francesca, when Decanus announced that he was to go to war.

Blissfully ignorant of the danger his father was in, Irassos presumed it was as simple as many of the other skirmishes that required a figurehead. Something about a gathered group of indigenous tribesmen mounting an assault across the northern tundra; the Aenian Three-Hour Siege of 401 AR, as scholars will now recognise it. Decanus strayed out into the field, and a stray arrow caught him in the lung, knocked him from the horse, and the rebel butchers cut the fallen monarch apart during an ambush whilst the man had been readying a speech; the small Imperial group was forced back to the gates, but, all-too-quickly, it was over, as another Prophet responded with all his might, crushing every last man who had been involved in the slaughter of one of the city's leaders - a man called Daedalus.

This all happened overnight, and when Irassos awoke, he was unaware entirely of the situation; why did a strange silence hang over the city that day? He remembers now asking himself just what had happened to make the atmosphere so sombre... and then he was informed. Dropping to his knees, and coming to terms for the first time with true, crushing, devastating loss... it tore the man apart.

And when the other two Prophets, his father's cohorts, strode in the room and threw him his regalia, telling him it was time to step up to the mantle, the boy simply looked down to the clothes, then to the aging faces of men who'd ruled for far too long, before bolting for the balcony. He'd kill himself. This was... he couldn't... how could they expect him to... there was no way...

Guards bound and restrained the boy before Daedalus as his father's brother stepped towards him. A glare in his eyes. Not one of anger, but of revenge. And he spoke to Irassos... who knew this man had played a part in his father's death. Why would anyone want to hurt him? Decanus had as been a fair a leader as Johann would turn out to be.

"You're angry. You're sad, distraught, even. You're in pain." He spoke, before pressing his face further. "Good. You'll need to harness that anger if we're to stop this from ever happening again." With that, the Prophets locked the balcony doors, left the room, and left Irassos alone, weeping, curled up into a foetal ball as he tried desperately to accept this reality.

It took him a few days, but, eventually, a mourning, grieving, and yet strong-faced man took the throne. Not a boy, a man. In just those hours, he had progressed so much, and so far; told that for the coronation, he would need a wife to accompany him, out of the blue, Johann proposed to Francesca. Taken aback entirely, bewildered, the woman looked at him, before confessing that his love had not just been reciprocal. He had lost something in those few days, but he had gained something that more than made up for it.

Following in his father's footsteps and wishes, so began a reign which has now spanned four decades. With Francesca at his side, Irassos ruled without obstacle or penalty, fair and strong, growing with every decision. Those first few years shaped him; but, eventually, the monarch accustomed, and garnered his reputation for simply being an acceptable, agreeable, and overall calm person. This debacle, fleeting, having left as quickly as it had come, shaped the demeanour of the Irassos most now know today.

But that, however, was not all. Eight years after the beginning of Irassos' reign, the man now barely twenty-five, Francesca's first pregnancy was announced. Deciding that the child would take her name to avoid inappropriate connotations as she walked through the streets, to allow it to live a life independent and disassociated to the idea of one day leading if it so wanted - for the same reason that Francesca and a younger Johann had earlier concluded that she would keep her own name, to allow her to be an independent entity for all intents and purposes, to lead her own life, and not be branded constantly as 'the kid Prophet's wife'.

Nine months later, a girl, Ruby, popped out, and in another four years, her sibling, Opal. The pair were never close, and both seemed to be, despite their parents' attempts to push them together, fiercely independent, cold and charismatic, and uninterested in each other to the point of a true sibling rivalry, taking elements from both their mother and father, who couldn't do anything but smile and reminisce.

Eventually, however, it became apparent that Opal was to be the heir; no matter how much Francesca and Johann argued over Ruby's superior suitability, Irassos explained that he simply couldn't break tradition. Eventually, his wife submitted, still irritated, and the man began to think of alternatives, the girl confirming that she indeed wanted to work with her father, to Ruby ruling - and he came up with an idea.

A day after her thirteenth birthday, Ruby promptly disappeared from the Dominion's gilded halls, nowhere to be found. At first, Francesca was simply confused, but, later, discovered infact just what her husband had done; and for the first time in her life, she was furious. He'd sent her daughter, her baby, away to a town that she'd never heard of in the South, to be trained under the watchful eye of a man Johann knew - to survive, for five years, with no contact with the pair of them.

That's when the arguments began. The husband argued that there had to be a wedge driven between himself and his daughter to ensure the same thing didn't happen if he were to pass away, and to see if she could really handle the kind of work she wanted to - and alongside that, it was for her own safety. Survival instincts were one thing, but Ruby was leverage. He couldn't have his daughter used as leverage.

A few weeks later, Francesca packed her bags and announced that she was leaving. Opal had been taken to a higher part of the Dominion to stop the Prophet's wife from getting to him, where he was exclusively only allowed to see Johann and no-one else, and, finally, the man returned to his room, barren, empty, still smelling and tasting her despite there was nothing left but a shadow... and he wept.

For the second time in this despicable chamber, he wept.

But, nevertheless, regrets aside, it took strength that Johann wasn't sure he possessed to do the same thing a few years later; Opal was to be taught of honour, of strength, and above all else, independence. It had been four years since Ruby's send-off... and Opal was treated in exactly the same way. Sent off with just one bag and a box from his father, containing Kratos, a rapier which Opal would never use til the advent of his return, knowing that he was always to be with him, as Ruby became bitter, Opal simply became apathetic. Both represented fiercely different aspects of his personality; and, Irassos was sent into a downward, depressive spiral, convinced that both would make better leaders than he ever could, just wishing that, hopefully, later in life, they could just BEGIN to understand the amount of hardships he'd put himself through - and the reason why.

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-SORCERY TECHNIQUES

Level 1 - Oxygen Manipulation - By altering the flow of oxygen in the air, provided he has the appropriate source of ignition - anything - Irassos can actually manipulate fire into explosive balls, streams, wreathes, and even far more complex shapes. The flame itself, however, has to already be present. As well as this, once the fire's created, Irassos can disconnect it from the original source and manipulate it as, say, a floating 'ball' of flame. He can't yet appropriately detonate fireballs or generate heat sources themselves - this will come with time and further training.

-SORCERY FINISHER

Level 1 - Overlord's Fist - By using his sorcery on his own hand, Irassos can actually cause a wreathe-like ball of fire to appear to surround it, incinerating the very air, flickering and devouring as it goes. When Irassos draws his hand back, the flame only grows larger and larger, before he falls forwards, launching his fist towards the enemy - a giant fist-shaped fireball will propel itself in their direction, loosing from the source. Causes AoE damage on impact and can cause severe burns. As well as this, when Irassos' foot hits the floor in his stomp, a few short-lived wreathes and tendrils of flame may lash out at anyone nearby. The fireball swells rapidly to around the size of a large television mid-transit.

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-CUSTOM RANK

- CHAOS' PROGENITOR

-ALIAS/NICKNAME

- Ross

-OTHER CHARACTERS

- Opal Hutchinson