Josef of Greenbrook

[Zelphas]

Mechanics

Josef Rossi (PL 4, 60 PP)

 

Combat
Initiative: +0. Attack Bonus: +2. Effect Bonus: +6. Defense: +3. Resistance: +5. Stamina: 165.

Skills
Deception: +15. Expertise: +10. Insight: +0. Intimidation: +0. Investigation: +0. Mobility: +0. Perception: +10. Persuasion: +0. Stealth: +0. Technology: +0.

Fields of Expertise: Crystal Lore, Demons, History, Horticulture, Medicine, Runic Script, Sculpture, Survival, Tactics, Weaponry.

Advantages

All-Out Attack
Move-By Action
Power Attack
Uncanny Dodge

Powers

Descriptor Savant: Energy/Energy [Fire] for Damage, Physical/Physical [Bludgeoning] for Affliction, Energy/Sensory [Overload] for Weaken.

Nerves of Thorn: Damage 4 (Reaction [When Touched], Feature/Quirk [If touched by a tool, targets the wielder instead of the tool itself], Melee, Mundane). {9 PP} 

Feel No Pain: Regeneration 4 (Restorative, Temporary, Stabilize, Feature/Quirk (If conditions are reinstated they are instead returned as Damage as if he had Withstood them)), Immunity 5 (Pain, Weakness 5 (Injury Tree, Mundane)). {3 PP}

Knightly Speed: Speed 5. {3 PP}

 

Thorny… Club? Array: 16 PP Array, 2 Alternates. {18 -3 = 15 PP}

--Flaming Bash: Damage 4 (Multiattack) Linked Affliction 4 (Impairment & Injury Trees, Extra Condition).

--Ember Burst: Damage 4 (Multiattack, Ranged) Linked Weaken 4 (Defense).

--Overgrown Conflagration: Damage 4 (Burst Area 1, Irresistible, Unavoidable).

 

Calculations
Stats 16 + Skills 10 + Advantages 4 + Powers 30 = 60/60 PP (PL 4)

Complications

“Born” to be a Knight (Motivation: Responsibility): Josef’s father has believed that he would be a peerless Knight since a few years after his birth. He signed up. He completed the training. He even received a Blessing. What else can he do except live up to it all?

 

I Was Three (Fame/Temper): Thanks to his traveling merchant father’s enthusiastic retelling, the story of a three-year-old standing against a demon armed only with a stick has made the rounds in many of the smaller villages and towns of Terat, with even some in larger towns hearing about it. It’s not tremendously famous, by any means, but it’s a sensational enough little story to stick in people’s minds, and Josef’s last name is enough to connect him to the story for the discerning listener. Josef tends to at first brush off the story without much reaction, but he quickly grows irritated if someone persists in talking about it—or worse, if they ask him to give “his recollection” of the events.

 

False Apple of His Eye (Relationship): It isn’t quite right to say that Josef’s father Dimitri pushed his son into becoming a Knight; it is more true to say that the idea that Josef wouldn’t be a Knight never entered his father’s mind. Dimitri set aside the funds to finance Josef’s training and education to Knighthood; Dimitri bargained with the Knight who saved young Josef all those years ago to eventually train Josef as his Squire; and Dimitri bought Josef a ruby and a heavy Knight’s club as a gift for completing his training, convinced that replicating pieces of the night fourteen years ago would make Josef an even greater Knight. Josef doesn’t know how to begin to talk to his father; Dimitri has such a clear vision of his son’s future that Josef can’t even see how to get a word in edgewise.

 

Eyes Remembered (Phobia/Hatred): The only thing Josef remembers from the night of his supposed “triumph” is the vivid, nightmarish image of huge, glowing eyes, staring at him without blinking. Ever since then, large eyes even in humans make him nervous, and demons with large eyes can seriously test his courage. The fact that the particular Demon he supposedly faced down is now an Undemon has not helped this fear; instead, it has curdled his fear towards that particular Undemon into disgust. Josef hates to see the thing, to be near it, and avoids it whenever possible; he dodges his father’s boastful assurances that the Undemon will be “his to command one day”, since having that thing permanently near him is something he can’t stand to imagine.

 

The Oldest Fear (Phobia): Perhaps the most shameful secret Josef hides from his father is the fact that he is afraid of the dark. Normal darkness, with a fire or a light nearby, is something he has trained himself to tolerate, but true darkness, especially the darkness of caves, will eat away at his stability quickly. Knowing that this is not something a Knight should have in their makeup, Josef hides this fear as much as he possibly can.

 

Verdant Digit (Obsession/Secret): Deep within himself, Josef harbors a simple love of growing things, especially flowers and garden vegetables. He kept a very small garden in a hidden corner of the woods near his home before going to Fort Naoth, and he used some of his time during his training to learn as much as he could about the growing things of the world—so much, in fact, that he once caught the attention of a visiting Emerald Knight, though he was able to convince her that his interest was merely curiosity. You see, a love of plants and growing simply does not fit into Dimitri’s vision of the perfect Knight, and so Josef hides his passion from everyone except himself whenever he can.

 

Pale Red (Reputation): Among the prospective Knights around his age, Josef is not known for his moment of fame as a three-year-old, much to his relief. Unfortunately, he is instead known for being aloof, unfriendly, and sullen, a pale stick-in-the-mud who was neither interesting nor knowledgeable nor especially skillful. “Pale Red” is expected to be a lackluster Knight by most of his fellow trainees, and the fact that his Blessing comes with a clear and massive drawback is unlikely to boost that reputation.

 

Errant Thorns (Disability/Quirk): After his dip in the Pool, Josef is unable to physically feel anything. He can sense pressure to some extent, but a slap, a punch, and a knife all “feel” roughly the same to him, especially if he can’t see the contact. He doesn’t notice extremes of heat or cold, whether he’s wet or dry, or anything else. While it can seem pleasant to be unaware of pain, this has a host of unpleasant side effects, from danger of accidental frostbite or burn to actual, dangerous wounds that he simply would not notice until too late. Luckily, Josef seems to be on the durable side for the Knights, but it is still an issue.

 

More fortunately, reduced or even numbed sensations are not a unique problem among Knights, even if they are uncommon. When the extent of Josef’s Blessing was brought to light, he was drilled on the habits he needed to keep himself and others safe. Quietly terrified of what could happen, Josef follows these instructions religiously; he is often performing a self-check, trying to see all parts of himself and making sure there aren’t any new holes, cuts, or abrasions. He has also taken to moving very carefully outside of battle, for this same reason.

 

Fire-Forged Thorns (Power Loss/Accident): When Josef concentrates (or his skin is broken), thorny vines composed of pure red fire burst out of him. If he is covered with water, his fire naturally weakens; if he is fully immersed, the fire is quenched… for the moment, at least. On the other hand, the fact that the thorns are pure fire has already caused several accidental burnings, and this is only exacerbated by the fact that Josef doesn’t always notice when something breaks his skin.

Backstory

If you listen to Josef’s father Dimitri, his son proved himself to be the equal to any Knight when he was three years old.

It was a rare warm night in late autumn, and the traveling salesman Dimitri returned to his home in Greenbrook to discover the town in an uproar. An unexpectedly large wave of Demons had come, and while most had still been shredded by their defenses, three had broken through the perimeter. Two of those Demons were quickly accounted for, but the last was still missing, last seen near the south side of town… where Dimitri’s house stood.

Dimitri rushed home as quickly as he was able, fearing he was too late. His fears seemed confirmed when he reached the front door, flattened under some heavy weight, and smelled the smoke of burning cloth and wood. Dimitri’s wife, Josef’s mother, had died in childbirth. Josef was watched by a nanny while Dimitri was away, but the nanny had fled out the back door. Dimitri charged up the stares into his son’s nursery, fearing, hoping, dreading… and saw a sight that changed all his future plans.

A candle in the room had overturned, setting fire to the drapes and the frame of Josef’s bed. In the smoke and the flames crouched a Demon, a great toadlike beast, with enormous eyes and a mouth full of tiny, sharp teeth. And before the Demon stood… his son, three-year-old Josef, holding a burning stick of wood in both of his pudgy hands. There wasn’t even fear in the little boy’s eyes, as Josef recalls it; just the fire, and the Demon, and a little boy, standing confidently before it.

Dimitri's entrance broke the spell. Josef cried out and dropped the stick, his hands burned; the Demon croaked and sprang at Josef—no, over him, through the nursery window and out into the night; and Dimitri gathered up his brave, fearless son, astonished that there were still no tears, no fear, just confusion and a little bit of pain in the boy’s eyes.

One day later, a traveling Amethyst Knight named Yetunde of Lomorre encountered the same Demon and managed to coerce it into the Greenbrook pool, purifying it into an Undemon in the process. By that time, Dimitri had told everyone in the village about his son’s great fearlessness, and the sight of the new Undemon only confirmed his story. Surely, such a brave, fearless young child would become a peerless Knight in his own right some day.

That is Dimitri’s side of the story. For Josef, his first concrete memories begin two months after that event and continue from there. All he recalls, if he tries as hard as he can, is the hazy scent of smoke, a woman’s scream (likely the nurse, though he doesn’t know), and the horrifying, vivid memory of huge, glowing, bulging eyes, staring into his soul.

But Josef did remember being constantly thrust into the spotlight by his father. He remembered the story being told over and over, with him as the centerpiece, part of the performance his father gave to guests at the home or prospective buyers when Josef was taken with him on the road. He remembered the looks—pitying, assessing, disbelieving, judging—that he got from his peers and his elders alike. He remembered the expectations, that he be fearless, that he be decisive, that he be bold and confident, no matter what was happening or how little he knew. He remembered that the idea that his future could be anything other than a Ruby Knight wielding a burning club was not even imagined, let alone considered, by his father.

One day when he was fourteen, Josef tried to tell his father what was wrong. He had only gone so far as to say he was afraid when his father laughed.

The laugh wasn’t disbelieving, or mocking, or even cruel. It was an honest laugh, as if at a private joke. “My son has nerves of fire-forged steel,” Dimitri said, ruffling Josef’s hair. “I know it. I’ve seen it. He doesn’t have to be afraid of anything.” So Josef dropped it. There was nothing to say.

During his year at Fort Naoth, that phrase, “nerves of fire-forged steel”, kept playing and replaying in Josef’s head. His father had used all sorts of phrases before, and had certainly forgotten that one as soon as he said it, but it etched itself into Josef’s mind. At some point, he decided: if it was going to etch into my mind, why not etch it onto my person? Josef set about tattooing that phrase onto himself in runic script, more concerned about where to place it than getting the words exactly right. It had to be hidden, so that no one would ask why he wanted such a phrase; he was already supposed to be fearless, so asking for fearlessness would open up questions he didn’t dare answer. He settled on the inside of his left bicep; being left-handed, few would expect him to tattoo himself there, and so few would look.

If the script was Scoured away, he could pass it off as a bit of young foolishness and let his father laugh at his eagerness. If it was accepted… then perhaps Josef would finally be the son his father thought he already was.

Perhaps Josef should have spent more time making sure he got his wording precisely right; or perhaps he was correct, but using his non-dominant hand caused him to make a small error. Whatever the case may be, by chance or fate, the Runic marking for “steel” was remarkably similar to the Runic marking for “thorns”…

Physical Description & Personality

Josef is a little bit short for his age and built solidly, with the training at Fort Naoth hardening any baby fat into muscle. His skin is pale and absurdly freckled, and his hair is a brilliant shade of orange-red that bursts out around his head as though it’s trying to escape. He has a wide mouth that he generally keeps shut in a thin line, a squashed bump of a snub nose, and pale yellow brown eyes with long eyelashes set slightly farther apart than would be conventionally attractive, under two thin eyebrows the same bright color as his hair. His wardrobe consists almost entirely of reds, browns, and a few oranges-his father’s idea of theming him as a Ruby Knight—and he wears them with muted discomfort. After his Blessing, Josef's Soulstone appeared as a deep burgundy stone set just over his left ear; perhaps unconsciously, he often keeps it hidden by his hair.

 

Josef is “good with adults”—that is, if he’s dealing with authority figures or people who expect something from him, he can model himself quickly to at least superficially represent what they’re looking for. When dealing with his peers or unclear expectations, he quickly becomes lost, and has taken to withdrawing into cold, aloof silence as a means of protection. The only times he is passionate is when he is by himself—working with plants, berating himself over this or that failed question, chasing down a new idea—but this passion tends to vanish when he’s dealing with others.

Knight Mentor(s)

Yetunde of Lomorre, Amethyst Knight, the Watcher, is mostly known for her Undemon, the frog-thing that attacked Josef which she has named Augapfel. With her own powers over shadow allowing her to cloak herself and her “pet” from notice, the Undemon’s natural stealth and perception, and the strange bond forged between Undemon and Knight has allowed her to become a peerless spy and scout. Her star has been rising in the fourteen years since the incident at Greenbrook, and Dimitri was quick to capitalize on that; Josef doesn’t know how he did it, but at some point while offering his home as a rest for the traveling Knight whenever she was in the area, Dimitri extracted a promise from Yetunde that Josef would be her Squire. Dimitri believes that he has also convinced her to switch the Bond from her Undemon over to Josef, something neither Josef nor Yetunde wants to happen.

 

Unbeknownst to either Josef or Dimitri, however, there is another Knight quietly competing for the spot as his mentor. Esmat of Teague, Emerald Knight, the Quiet Knight, Long-Nose, is the Knight that came upon Josef while he was in the middle of studying horticulture while at Fort Naoth. Esmat's Knightly powers grant him the ability to grow and manipulate vines, which he often uses as a form of mobile armor and weaponry in one; he gained his "Long-Nose" Title by refusing to stop poking at a small problem until the root cause--a corrupt noble--was exposed, and the noble used his connection with a group of Knights to "grant" him that title just before he was arrested. Esmat wears the title with a kind of quiet pride.

Esmat wasn’t as convinced by Josef’s show of disinterest as the boy thought, and in the months since then he’s been making quiet inquiries about Josef Rossi and his situation. He has only recently begun making overtures to Yetunde, convinced that her taking on Josef as a Squire would enforce a dangerous pattern that only he seems to see at the moment.

Edited April 20 by Zelphas (see edit history)

[Zelphas]

Power Descriptors

Nerves of Thorn [Prana][Divine][Energy (Fire)]: When in combat, Josef perceives any contact as an attack; and so, his thorns respond, covering him in a net of stinging fire whenever something touches him.

 

Feel No Pain [Physiological]: Josef does not have enhanced healing. However, due to his lack of functioning nerves, what he has is the ability to flat-out ignore pain and injury—until it physically impairs his functioning. This is, at best, a mixed blessing.

 

Knightly Speed [Prana][Divine][Physiological]: Knights are fast, and Josef seems to have picked up a pretty high amount of that speed—though he certainly is no speedster.

 

Thorny… Club? Array [Prana][Divine]: Dimitri gave Josef a Dragonsteel club as a graduation gift. Even if his powers are somewhat different than his father expected, he may as well put the club to use; Josef trained in them while at the Fort, after all.

--Flaming Bash [Physical (Bludgeoning)][Energy (Fire)]: Josef’s go-to attack is extremely simple: wrap the Dragonsteel club in thorns of flame, and swing. The thorns cling to his target and continue to burn, causing pain and hampering the target’s actions.

--Ember Burst [Energy (Fire)][Sensory (Overload)]: By pointing his club at a target and concentrating, Josef can “fire” thorns towards them as an attack. Instead of sticking, these thorns explode into bursts of brilliant light on contact, dazzling the target and making it difficult for them to focus on other attacks for a time.

--Overgrown Conflagration [Energy (Fire)]: With a few moments of intense thought, Josef can send his flaming thorns out in every direction around him, sparking and burning everything nearby. The longer he concentrates, the more thorns fill the space around him, until they are very nearly impossible to avoid.

Future Musings

Overarching goal:

Josef is mainly going to be a tank or defensive fighter, with a secondary focus on battlefield control. Drawing aggro to himself while simultaneously making the enemy pay every time they hit him is the ideal.

 

Definite plans:

--Pick up the Interpose advantage, likely on next level-up; he’s built tanky and has a central power that activates when touched, so this is a no-brainer.

--Make his main combat array Dynamic, likely around PL 7-8. I’m in a game with Quellian.

--Grab the Tracking advantage, some ranks of Insight, and the Assessment advantage, for some out-of-combat utility and to show him learning how to deal with people and combat better.

--Get rid of the club. It’s not going to remain his main weapon.

 

“Still working on it” plans:

--Once he realizes he can make plants of fire and not just thorns of fire, branch out (ha) and bring in plant effects into his powers; how far can I do this before edging into Emerald territory?

--Replace the club with either a shield (interpose, spiky shields are fun) or a whip (spiky whips are fun, not a classically “heroic” weapon); not sure which yet.

--Figure out how to give him more movement options with plants of fire; I think it’s doable, but inspiration hasn’t struck yet.

--Push his nerveless thing to its limit; be careful not to overstretch into body horror, though, since that’s apparently a tendency of mine.

 

Edited April 9 by Zelphas (see edit history)

[Llyarden]

Just as a notation thing, Flaming Bash should have Extra Condition.

While it isn't technically stated I would imagine that the free Charged that comes with Burst Area is keyed to Burst Area; I don't think you can kinda repurpose it to boost Unavoidable instead.

Also, a couple points worth noting for Nerves of Thorn - first, my standard rules for Reaction powers are that they are either Sustained (and you can choose to turn the whole thing on or off on your turn, but it turns off if you get Stunned) or Permanent. I think Permanent would make more sense in this case? Second, if you have it active alongside Ember Burst, it will allow you to react to attacks at range, which feels like it might not fit thematically.

Lastly, the power description saying he perceives any contact as an attack would suggest that it ought to trigger when an ally touches him, but currently that isn't the case. As with the range thing that might be intended but is probably worth noting.

Edited April 16 by Llyarden (see edit history)