[Character Sheet] Embri

[Embri]

{I don't know if I'll be capable enough to participate in the upcoming events, but here's a Character Sheet just in case I manage. Apologies on the length...}

Name: Embri
Also Known As:The Gray Mare, The Flaming Unisus
Former Titles: Guardian of Light
Soulname: T'wrini (This is not public knowledge, nor would most beings have any way of finding this out if they are below Immortal in power.)

Age: Difficult to say. Depends on how you count her age. Strictly chronologically, from her first birth to present, over 6,000 years. However, She doesn't remember more than a handful of decades into her own past, along with snippets of earlier times. Also due to the fact of having been repeatedly reborn as a Guardian; standard measures of time have little meaning.
Apparent Age: Mature but fairly young, if she was a natural horse, maybe 6 or 7 years of age.

Gender: Female (Mare)
Height: Just under two meters at the withers (shoulder blades). Wingspan, easily six meters at full extension. Overall height of two and a half meters, not including her meter long horn.
Weight: About two metric tons, or 2,000 pounds.
Eye Color: Golden Amber
Hair Color: Difficult to say, since it's on fire. Pale golden yellow is probable, but her hair burns constantly anywhere from dull cherry red of embers up to a full raging blaze in orange, yellow and red.

Physique: Solid and muscled. Her proportions are not *quite* equine, with longer legs and neck than a standard horse. Creamy golden fur covers her from nose to rump, and she has a single spiral horn on her forehead. Fetlocks are also made of flames, varying from yellow through red. Embri as two large, feathered wings of a slightly lighter cream colour, which sprout from her shoulders.

Embri not only employs fire as her primary method of attack, but relies on it for her very essence. She is, quite literally, made of fire, at least in part. She could no more stop her mane and tail from burning than a human could stop their heart voluntarily. Her basic fire type attacks are innate and natural for her species, no stranger to her than talking or walking.

Race: (Apparent) Flaming Winged Unicorn (Unisus)
(By Parentage) 1/2 Nightmare, 1/2 Winged Unicorn

Languages:
Common
Equine (various body postures, gestures, and sounds used to communicate basic concepts between horses and other equines.)
Mindspeech (Telepathy, limited. See Powers)
Empathy

Religious affiliation: None of the traditional sort. Embri serves the world, the intangible force alternately called mana/life/magic/power which runs deep into the earth, and through it, fed by all living things. She is caretaker and keeper of that power, but channeling it's full force can very well be fatal to her.

Homeland:
Original: Titan's Forge (alternate plane)

Titan's Forge was a village in close proximity to an active volcano. Embri and her first human companion distinguished themselves in a fierce battle to save their home from a terrible foe.

Current: Her Glade - It has no formal name.

Embri resides in her Glade while not visiting Psychotopia or the CC. The Glade is located in a dimensional fold outside of normal space, and time passes much more quickly there than in other realities. The only way of reaching the Glade is by teleportation or other forms of dimensional travel. The Glade posesses many innate protections against unwanted intruders, and is quite capable of defending against unwelcome "guests". The Glade appears to be a sylvan woodland, with immense trees and a wide variety of wildlife, both flora and fauna. In the heart of the Glade is a Node - a nexus of three leylines where Embri draws her power. The Node is located directly under a rock spire that contains a fresh water spring.

Home/Location in Psychotopia: The Royal Palace
Heraldic Symbol: An everburning feather
Colors: Cream, red and gold.
Companions/Friends:
Angel - Embri's "heartsister", and lifebonded other half.
Sephiroth - A dark companion who often plays shadow to Embri's light.
Ajaxon - Her young foal.

Skills
Studies: None
Apprenticeships: Embri was tutored in both physical fighting and magic by One Eye, a fellow former member of the Guardians of Light. A very old, battle scarred dragon type being, One Eye is aptly named for his lack of a second eye, a deep and old scar running across his face.
Occupation(s): Courier for Psychotopia - Embri delivers whatever needs delivering, wherever it needs to go. This one mare operation goes under the title "Pony Express Delivery Service".

Natural Abilities:
Physical:
Fire Mastery - incapable of being harmed by either light, fire or anything hot. Very hot things, like lava, actually heal her. Uses a variety of fire attacks, such as Flamethrower (from her mouth).
Natural Element - Fire - Embri is not only immune to fire, but can exist in places no regular creature should go - in lava, plasma, and other types of intense heat sources. She cannot remain below ground indefinitely without air, but heat sustains her long enough for most purposes. Her favorite retreat tactic is to simply melt her way down into the earth, taking shelter in the liquid rock mantle, possibly resurfacing quite some distance away. Her traveling speed underground is quite slow, however.

Flight - Embri can fly with decent rapidity, though she runs faster. She would be capable of carrying several people of normal weight if the mare didn't have such an aversion to being ridden. Her agility in the air is exceptional, and the mare can hover, backwing (fly in reverse) for short distances, perform barrel rolls, loops and other acrobatic maneuvers.

Immunity - Embri is completely immune to all forms of poison, airborn, insinuated or contact. She can purify water or land from all types of contaminants with a touch of her horn. While of natural origin, Embri normally uses magic to accelerate this ability when used on bodies of water or land.

Supernatural:
Healing - (on others, mostly.) Embri can tap the lifestream of the earth, channeling its power to heal other beings. She cannot bring creatures back to life if they are already dead. (Angel was an exception, with rather severe consequences!)

Dimension Door - As a unicorn, Embri can shift from place to place via any large tree. This specialized form of teleporting has several restrictions. First, it only works between two large, living trees, so this ability is pretty useless unless Embri happens to be in a forest. Second, Embri can only move herself and up to one rider, making this a rare power for her to use at all.

Advanced Fire techniques - Examples include Solar Flare (heat, light and EM fields), and Eruption (small volcanoes, sulfurous gases). Other favorite attack routines include lava flows, pyroclastic blasts, and hails of molten hot rocks. All of these use her own power combined with whatever she can tap from a nearby leyline or Node.

Restoration - She can restore and revitalize landscape by running over it, causing plants to sprout and grow with surprising speed. This ability is volunatry, and not automatic. (Though it would be somewhat funny to be standing too long in one spot and suddenly find yourself in a tree!)

Other:
Embri has both mindspeech and normal vocal communication. Her mindspeech is very limited to those who have mindspeech of their own, else she has to "shout", and everyone close by would then hear her. "shouting" is also very tiring, and not something Embri normally likes to do.

Minor kinetic powers - (nothing stronger manipulating average sized objects with basic dexterity) which require her complete concentration. Because this leaves her vulnerable, she will normally only use her telekinesis in non-combat situations, usually to make up for her lack of hands. She has been known to use this to fetch and carry small items, open and close bags, etc.

Heartbond - see History.

Former Abilities:
Embri had, and may still have, an alternate form. It is unknown if she can ever again tap this power, but seeing it's effects on her makes it unlikely except under the most dire of circumstances. Her second form is known as Nexus. Taking up the power of all the leylines and Nodes as far as she can reach, she becomes something else.

As the Nexus, Embri is a double-edged sword. She has a strange and somewhat chaotic sense of justice, which can change in a heartbeat. One thing is certain; the Nexus wields unearthly amounts of power, making this form one that Embri will never choose to adopt voluntarily unless the very fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Her physical changes are mostly cosmetic; her fur becomes silver grey, her flames blue through white. However, there is nothing superficial about her powers in this state.

Abilities as the Nexus of Power:

Embri retains all of her Winged Unicorn abilities, detailed hereafter, but in addition, she has several unique (and destructive) Nexus Powers.

Channel - Embri can collect, disperse, use and tap any Node or Leyline in her vicinity, and use it to create any type of attack she wishes. This power has it's price. While Embri can wield almost any ability she can imagine, this type of assault is draining to both the Node and to her psyche. The longer she spends in contact with a Node, and the more power she uses, the more likely it becomes that Embri will become lost in the magic. The results tend to be all together unpredictable, but on the single known occasion of this event, she reverted to a primitive animalistic intelligence. Even if she avoids losing her sanity, a Node will not support the heavy drain she demands from it for very long.

Decimate - Possibly her most potent ability, Embri can destroy a creature or being which relies on magic at an atomic level, stripping away its strength and powers, which she then turns against them. Ineffective against normal enemies, this ability's destructiveness is relative to its target's power; the stronger the adversary, the better it works. This was the ability Embri used to eradicate the Great Phoenix in their final confrontation.

Drawbacks: At the conclusion of her first and only use of this power, Embri lost virtually all of her "self" and sentience, reverting to a primitive equine state of mind. Confused and lost, she fled from former friends without recognition and sought those of her own kind, unintentionally hopping through planes of existence in her search. Had it not been for the combined efforts of her heartsister and mentor, it's unlikely the mare would have ever regained her former self. Even at that, it was many months before she recovered.

Financial Status: Hard to say, since she has little use for money. Anything Embri needs is usually free for the asking at Au'Marui's Palace. Her material needs are very minimal.

Family
Original Mother: Name Unknown. Assumed to be an ordinary Rapidash.
Original Father: Name Unknown. Assumed to be an ordinary Rapidash.

Embri's original "incarnation" was many, many years ago. She remembers little of that time, for she was not yet winged nor endowed with her current powers. She was reincarnated in her current form, her "spirit" self placed in a new body crafted from two different species. She does not know who her parents were except from what she was told, having been raised by the other Guardians, mostly One Eye.

Mother (2nd incarnation): Name Unknown. From what Embri was told, a Winged Unicorn.
Father (2nd incarnation): Name Unknown. From what Embri was told, a Nightmare.
Brothers: Unknown, presumed to be none biologically. However, Embri does have an "alternate self" of sorts, who goes by the name of Embers. This unisus is similar to her except in gender and colour, for he is dark as moonless night and quite different in personality. Embers seems to have arisen from an alternate reality of the Dojo. (See Dojo Wiki, Embers)
Sisters: (biological) Unknown, presumed to be none.
(Chosen) Angel. (See History)
Half/Step/Adopted Siblings: Unknown, presumed to be none.
Spouse: None, for equines do not take permanent mates, though she shares a special affection for Rolan, Ajaxon's sire.
Children:
Son
Name: Ajaxon (aka Jax or "the colt")
Age: 6 months
Ajaxon is the end result of a pairing between Embri and the stallion Rolan, following her near demise in her battle against the Great Phoenix. Jax was conceived in Valdemar, a world far away from Psychotopia who's temporal flow is far different than the former's. Ajaxon was born a number of months later after a relatively short gestation time (for an equine). The newborn colt, soon named Ajaxon, was the first natively born Dojodian, and named heir to Au'Marui's throne. He was granted several powers and blessings at his birth, though so far he hasn't shown any great ability or promise.
See: Aftermath of the Great Phoenix's Demise (Amphitheater)
See: Into the First Morning's Light (Amphitheater)


Clothing: None.
Jewelry: None
Weapons:
Horn (Natural Weapon) - Embri's forehead is bedecked with a meter long spiraled horn, opal in colour, like all others of her kind. Harder than diamonds, her horn is well nigh unbreakable unless she wills it so.
Hooves (Natural Weapon) While not very effective weaponry, Embri's hooves are made of the same material as her horn, with similar properties. The edges tend to be sharp, and her considerable weight makes trampling a possible threat.

Armor:
Embri has been known to employ diamond plate armor, which she collects from the center of the earth, and fuses to over her fur. She has to travel down deep into the crust to "get" it, so to speak, and taking it off tends to be higly hazardous for anyone in the area - Embri can shatter her armor at will, breaking it up into small diamond shrapnel. Her armor makes her heavier and less maneouverable, so she only wears it when heavy combat is imminent.

Magical Items/Artifacts (and their powers):
Embri's Satchel
This highly enchanted carry-all is made of finely woven black silk, with straps designed to fit her equine body. It's front flap is embroidered with a red drop of blood and feathered wings, like her own. The interior of the satchel holds much more than it's modest exterior should allow - Embri has been known to produce entire crates of goods on delivery from her small bag. Embri's satchel seems to respond to the desires of its mistress, offering up whichever item inside itself that she desires.
Currency:
Tools/Utensils: None
Books/Scrolls: None
Food: While she doesn't usually carry around food (Embri is perfectly capable of eating grass just like a horse and it's a plentiful resource most places she goes) the mare has a fondness for roast Owl.
Medicinal Items/Herbs: Embri carries a variety of potions in her Satchel, only of the healing/ability granting/defensive type. Some of her favorites include:
Healing - a weaker form of her own magic, in a portable container.
Restoration - a potion capable of curing most minor ailments.
Flight - imbibing this grants a pair of feathery temporary wings.
Shadowsight - a potion that allows vision in lightless conditions, but renders the user vulnerable to bright lights (which are blinding).
Adaptation - possibly her strongest potion, and also the most unpredictable. A potion of Adaptation changes the imbiber's own form to match their current environment. (for example, if used while in a large body of water, it would most likely provide the means to breathe and move about underwater.)

Are any of your possessions sentient? No.

History:
Embri was one of an unknown number of Lesser Guardians, who served the Great (also known as Light) Pheonix, Guardian of Regeneration. There used to be three Lesser Guardians, but the Light Pheonix had been increasing their ranks for reasons known only to itself. During the final battle, their number was found to be nine all together, including the Phoenix itself. In order of seniority:

Great Phoenix - an immense flaming bird of legend, it's feathers reflecting all seven hues of the rainbow.
Arcalacos - a large orange and cream canine with black stripes and dragon wings.
One Eye - a dark orange, bipedal dragon with large wings.
Twelvetales - a kitsune, dark red with darker tail tips and paws, blade-like black wings.
Molterra - A firebird with peacock style tail and flaming wings.
Houndire - a black canine type creature with bladed tail and horns, white and red leathery wings.
Embri
Pyrogar - vaguely dinosaurian, red and yellow with white claws and a lizard tail. Small bat wings.
Inferneon - cat-like, with fluffy dark orange fur, long ears, a yellow mane and furry tail. Feathery pink wings.

All of the Guardians were aligned with Fire as their element, and winged.

Embri did not know where she came from, only that to serve the Balance under the Great Phoenix was her ultimate goal. The fire unicorn had no memories earlier than her evolution into her winged form by the Great Pheonix. Embri would fight for the underdog, the outnumbered, the helpless and the injured, or simply the side which is weaker. She was not herself good or evil, but is prone to taking the longer view. Embri was not holy, or royal, or anyway associated with those paladinic goodytwoshoes types. She was Guardian of Light is the purest sense - keeper of energy.

During the war between the EC vs. Gameware, Embri heartbonded Red Angel, bringing her back to life after she died from events directly caused by Embri's intervention. (See EC vs. Gameware thread, pages 110-111) They now share a single lifeforce; what happens to one happens also to the other. Neither knows if this condition is permenent or not, but for now they are dependant on each other.

Embri and her heartsister Angel share a tight mindlink that allows them to communicate effortlessly even over long distances, and they are constantly aware of each other's emotions and feelings.

After dealing with the return of Angel's vengeful creator, the Chaos Lord, who was banished into an inter-dimensional rift, Embri met up with her old teacher, One Eye, again. Her final battle with the Chaos Lord and Angel's nightmares awoke some of her own past. In her Grove, Embri chose to stay with Angel and keep her memories instead of relinquishing them to serve the Balance and the Great Phoenix. One Eye stripped away most of her Guardian abilities.

One Eye was found to be under the influence of something sinister, a dark and perverting parasite. Angel and Embri broke its control over the old dragon, and the three of them prepared to go up against the Guardians, their former friends and allies who were now acting more like enemies.

Known Weaknesses:
Embri has an intense hatred of water, with good reason. While water itself is not dangerous to her (a visitor to her Glade may be treated to the sight of the mare lolling about in her favorite hot springs, soaking wet), the high heat capacity and condutivity of it is, sapping her heat and strength. Similarly, she avoids very cold regions. Water also makes her wings soggy, preventing flight until she can dry them out. Bladed metal weapons are fairly useless against her, since their thin edges tend to melt on contact. High density, insulating materials, such as rock, are more of a threat - they can hurt her before she can melt them, especially if they are very heavy.

Embri's powers, both innate and extraordinary, are very powerful but one sided - beings immune to fire have almost nothing to fear from her, save physical assault. In close combat, her strength is hampered by her large size, especially when faced with a closed environment.

Possibly Embri's greatest weaknesses are her ties to others, and her caring nature. Despite her age, she remains a touch naive and very honest, and trusts that others are similarly honest until proven otherwise. Her heartbond with Angel is both a strength and weakness, for their fates and lives are codependent on each other's. Her foal Ajaxon is quite dependent on his dam for both food and protection, and Embri considers his safety to be of utmost importance, with good reason, for he is a much easier target than either Angel or herself.

Pets: None at Present.
Former Pets: Myste and Solaran, minor water and earth elementals respectively. Both live in Embri's Grove, serving as part of it's defenses and no longer travel with their mistress.

Character Depth:

~falling~
~...~
~why am I always falling...?~

~shadows and light, before my eyes, twisting and changing, form and size...~

The restless mare tossed her head nervously in her sleep, the comforting warmth of her foal Ajaxon on one side, and her heartsister Angel, on the other, the only things keeping her from bolting upright. Tiny fragments of her former life filtered down through the unisus's mind while she slept.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Grozzit, Embri, you're slower than a Qi-Aki in tar. Shurrrrrly you can do better?" The old dragon grinned at his pupil tauntingly, his dark orange-brown tail thumping against the barren ground. Embri glared at One Eye, sides heaving. With a grunt in reply, she pawed the dirt in irritation and charged again. Again, her teacher batted her aside.

"Danderrr headed filly, what are you doing?" With a snort, One Eye lifted his student off her front hooves with one taloned claw wrapped delicately around her horn. "If you're going to use your head for this, I'd be better off trying to teach that rock over there."

"Put me down!" Embri whinnied, "Why do I have to learn to fight anyway? I don't want to hurt anyone!" Trying to look indignant, the mare flailed her forelegs in the air.

"Too bad the world doesn't have your personal philosophy. There are many enemies of the Balance. Don't you wish to serve the good of the world?" One Eye regarded the flaming horse, winking his one good eye her.

"Well yes... but..."
"But what? Therrrre are no "buts", except the one you'll find yourself on when you get knocked down." With a flick of his wrist, One Eye sent Embri sprawling into the dirt. "So make your choice. Learn, or go home crying because it was too hard for you."

With a snort and a shake, Embri scrambled back up to her hooves. "I may not be very good, but I'm stubborn, so you won't be rid of me that easily, old lizard."

"Haha, so you do have some fire in you, besides what's on the outside. Good, good, I was afraid I wouldn't get to knock you down anymorrre today. Let's start again..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~A lifebond is for life, ashke. I could no more disown you than I could carve out my heart and live.~ Embri colours her sending with affection and acceptance. ~Surely you know this by now?~

Noting her heartsister's discomfort in the pale dawn, Embri fans out her feathers a bit, casting shadows across Angel. She sweeps Ajaxon out in front of her with the other wing, coaxing him to go faster as she quickens the pace. They were almost there. The dark entrance of the Corrupted Cave loomed ahead.

With relief, both mental and physical, the trio enters the relative safety of the Evil Council's lair. The newborn foal hesitates in the sudden darkness, pressing up against Embri's side until he is almost walking on top of her hooves.

"Relax, young one. This is home." Embri paused in the main antechamber, suddenly realizing they may well have a problem. The rooms she shared with Angel were on the second floor. They both normally reached them by flying... but Ajaxon would have to take the stairs.

Laying back her ears in dismay, Embri led her foal over to the stone steps. "This will be one of many challenges you face in your life, Jax. The first, but not the last."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A faint drizzle falls over Psychotopia, unusual in a land where paint buckets and Toads are more common precipitation. The Palace garden is empty, void of all but a single figure in the twilight gloom. The mare Embri seeks solace in a place she once stood, waiting for a time her own heart would be strong enough to carry on.

Gray.
All gray.
Gray sky, gray plants, gray world...

That's all that's left. No Order, no Balance... what a farce. How could I be so blind.

The mare turns her face up towards the sky, droplets of water gathering and dripping from her muzzle and drooping ears. Along her back, raindrops sizzle as they meet her flames, evaporating.

It used to be simple... right, and wrong, but now... it's just one big mess. Dropping her head with a sigh, Embri takes a few more steps along the cobble path and regards the city below. Even at this late hour, a few Psychotopians can be seen carrying on their business, probably happy the forecast hadn't called for steel bars today.

They all look so ... focused. They know where they're going, what they're supposed to do. Purposeful. Decided.

Not without some bitterness, Embri shook her head, water droplets flying in all directions.

So why don't I know where I belong? In all the worlds uncountable, surely there's a place for one lonely old mare... I hope so, and that the Fates guide me to it, for I cannot see the path any longer. All the world is gray to me, now.