Gaius Auriot - Pack Lands Character
Aug 5, 2017 1:11:02 GMT -6
Post by Leon on Aug 5, 2017 1:11:02 GMT -6
Name: Gaius Auriot
Gender: Male
Race: Anthropomorphic Wolf (Previously was Human)
Breed: Eastern Timber Wolf
Appearance:
Before his drastic transformation into what his is currently, Gaius was not to be considered an average human being. Standing roughly six foot five inches, he was lanky and broad of shoulder, giving him a gangly, awkward appearance. This, however, proved to be a boon, as he was the eldest of four, and the strongest son of the family. Fair of features, sporting an angular jaw, pointed chin, and blue-black hair and piercing blue eyes, Gaius was considered to be one of the most handsome men in his village, if not within the larger radius of the few villages that surrounded his own. Not overly taxed by strenuous work, given the task of gathering firewood and chopping it, Gaius never really built much in the way of visible muscle, his form seeming toned, but not well defined.
Son to a talented seamstress, and a wizened alchemist, Gaius was blessed with a good eye for detail. Though he was the oldest, his attention for needle-point waned as he began to view the world about him with ever increasing interest. Having a father who would oft go out of town in search for different materials to help those who came to them with sickness, Gaius would often find himself following his father to the gates and watch him go out. As he came more into his own, his features catching more and more of the young women of his village's attention, Gaius would study, taking everything that his father had to offer in lessons. This made him increasingly elusive, and had a significant effect on the pigment of his skin. With somewhat pale skin and rich dark hair and eyes, Gaius was almost a contrast by himself.
After the events of his subsequent transformation into what he currently is now, some of the features that he held while he was human carried over to his current form. Gaius now stands just under eight feet tall, his black hair falling down in a mane to the crest of his shoulder-blades. Resembling nothing of his human heritage, Gaius now appears as a pale furred, bi-pedal wolf. His lanky appearance has not changed, as his long arms hang down to his thighs, ending in black claws. His face now extends out into a wolven muzzle, complete with nose and enlarged canines. His eyes have remained the same piercing blue, but now have a predatory glint to them.
His body is covered from tip of head to bottom of paw in gray and black fur. His head is primarily covered in gray fur, with his black hair bleeding its darkened color into the area of his forehead, leading to the tips of his now triangular ears atop his head. Down to his shoulders does the gray, only broken by again his long black-blue hair. Black fur encompasses his hands, and ends just at his elbows, before succumbing to gray as it meets his shoulders. The dark color clings to his spine and runs the length of his body, down his flank and ending just above his knees. The black fur runs down his new wolven tail, its tip fading to the same light gray that covers his features. It resumes lightly just above his paws and down to the soles of his feet. Standing digitigrade, Gaius stands at a somewhat hunch, his new center of balance leaving him closer to the ground, and allowing for longer strides, and quickened sprinting.
Now somewhat acclimated to the transformation, Gaius has clothed himself in somewhat simple garb. Having woven together tough-spun fabric, Gaius has patched together simple trousers and a simple shirt. The shirt itself is a long sleeved one that he was partial to when he was a child, but having the sleeves rolled is his preferred style for them. The trousers fall to what use to be ankle height, but now standing taller and digitigrade, they fall enough to cover the majority of his lower body. Forgoing boots or shoes, Gaius feels the earth with his pawed feet, giving him ample traction in many situations, but leaving him subject to the elements.
Magic:
It is said that the element of fire is consummate with the idea of ever-changing life and passion. Life never takes on the same form for long, much like the dancing of flames, ever bending and reforming, moving and consuming until naught is left but the ashes. From those ashes, new life is found, taking root in the remnants of what was, and building up towards the ever yawning abyss that hold the stars in its arms. These same roots have found their way into the hands of one of the most unsuspecting people. Gaius always thought that the primal elements were fascinating, having been taught that the elements of the world shaped and wrought everything that he could see, feel, and touch. In the depths of his heart, a secret yearning called, wishing to have some kind of control of his own.
Gaius is blessed with two distinct forms of magic. The first are the ever hungry flames, forever licking and fanning themselves in their quest to consume. The second is byproduct of tampering outside of the natural order. His body also shares the pulsating currents of electricity. Bound to the element through the same series of events that changed him into his anthropomorphic form, Gaius finds himself able to harness the storms teeth, to a limited extent.
-Spells:
Fire Spells: Gaius' primary element, he has much more control over the flames that inhabit his body due to the normal fusion of spirit and mortal.
Fireball: As its name implies, Gaius conjures a ball of fire into the center of his hand. With little effort, Gaius can toss, throw or lob the orb towards his intended target. Should he desire so, Gaius can create larger and larger still pyroclastic orbs in his hand, but depending on the size, it may require the use of both of his hands. Though by stretch of imagination a simple trick, it does tax his strength, and after a few normal flaming projectiles, he begins to feel the tightness of his muscles and his breath comes in sharper pulls. Should he put more energy into the orbs, he taxes himself much more rapidly, leaving him with little room to preform even basic things such as running, much less dodging.
Ring of Fire: The ground that Gaius walks can easily serve as kindling to the waking inferno that is housed within his body, and it takes control to reserve himself enough not to play openly with the flame. Should the need arise, Gaius can summon a circle of small flames around him, effectively barring anyone or thing from getting too close. With effort, he can increase the size of the flames, starting a wildfire that can reduce fields to ash. It is in these cases, however, that Gaius loses some control, and cannot pull back the energy he has spent to eliminate the flame altogether. Much like the fireball, should he create larger flames, it requires more of his available strength, sapping him and allowing for mistakes to be made. More than once has he found himself within a hell-scape of his own making, due to his lack of care with his flames and his lack of strength to control the fires. In addition to this, Gaius is only able to summon the fires within himself as a ring provided there are suitable conditions. Rain, harsh wind, and snow all stop his attempts dead in their tracks, and he only succeeds in sapping his energy.
Burning Halo: More of a visual spell and one meant to deter those before him from approaching, Gaius can conjure a large halo of flame to float behind him, blazing in runes of his own creation. While they are still fire, they aren't strong enough to cause much harm to those who would come into contact with them, serving only to burn the skin or material that passes through them. To maintain this, Gaius has to focus intently on maintaining the halo, so he cannot do anything that would disrupt his concentration in a major way.
Wreathed in Flames: His crowning spell, and his most draining one, Gaius cloaks himself in flames, becoming like to an avatar of hell. He coats his entire body in searing flames and uses every effort of his to fight back his foe, draining his strength rapidly. While like this, he has basically surrendered to the flames that inhabit his body, so control is almost an afterthought. Much like his Ring of Fire spell, however, the conditions around him must be conducive to a flame to exist. Rain and snow will quickly put out the flames, and wind will cause the flames to snap and sputter, before fizzling out of existence. This spell requires the use of almost all of his available strength, and will leave him in a near lethargic state upon expatriation.
Lightning Spells: The bi-product of tampering with things outside of the natural order, Gaius has limited control over the element of Lightning, viewed as tedious at best.
Thunder Clap: A simple trick, but invaluable at the same time, Gaius charges the air around his hands. Quickly bringing them together, he creates a booming clap of thunder, strong enough to disturb the air around him. Not essentially a combative spell, Gaius has noticed (after his ears had stopped ringing) that he is able to deflect small objects from their path around him. In addition to leaving him nearly deafened, Gaius has also found that this causes several blood vessels to burst in his nose and ears, adding a physically damaging repercussion to this spell.
Bridge the Gap: As lightning moves so rapidly about, so can Gaius charge himself to do the same. Focusing on exciting the particles that make up his being, Gaius can move himself from one point to another, within a short range, much like lightning jumping from one point to another in the blink of an eye. Upon returning to his form, however, the spell leaves him somewhat disoriented and off balance, in addition to being winded from the spell itself. This is a very physically taxing spell, as he has yet to even begin to master it.
Skills:
Given that he was raised in a family of four, food was always something that was viewed as a necessity, and as such, was taught to forage at a young age, to help bring more to the table. In addition, his mother being a talented weaver of cloth, Gaius has picked up on the various methods of creating, and maintaining clothing. Though it is ironic with the spells at his disposal, Gaius enjoys working with different kinds of cloth and materials to make fabric out of.
From his father, Gaius also learned how to create potions, tinctures, and poltaces that help with various symptoms, ranging from a rash, to irregular stomach aches, to helping to fall asleep. Having an understanding of helpful herbs and other items found in nature, Gaius is able to discern if something can be used as a curative, if something can be used to ward away unwanted attention, or if something is poisonous. Given he has not the same level of experience that his father had, he still confuses some things with others he believes he knows, and has been on the receiving end of some unfortunate outcomes of his own making.
Personality:
Calm, collected, and distant, Gaius can be classified as a quite individual. Not seeking to draw much attention to himself, he rarely leaves his home that he has built for himself, to venture into populated areas of either wolves or man. Reclusive almost to a fault, seeing this large bipedal wolf moving about is reason enough to call for alarm. Because of his past and the forced changes he has been through, he is distrustful of man, viewing them as self centered and destructive. He believes that everything has a right to exist, but would rather distance himself from the destructive tenancies that humans hold to themselves. This ideology comes from lack of experience and a youthful nature to his character, placing him in a limbo of being educated in aspects of nature, but lacking in knowledge of interpersonal relations.
Should he decide to venture out into inhabited lands, Gaius tries to be quick about his work, whether it be foraging for food, for items to make into medicines, or in the rare case, to trade. Though he has clothed himself in garments of his own design, should he have to make repairs or desires to add flair to his garments, Gaius must don a long cloak that covers the majority of his features. Though he is reserved in dealing with the majority of the populace of man, there are some who are more agreeable to his exaggerated features, even going so far as to act friendly enough to invite him into their homes and partake in a simple meal. A flash of pain, regret, and longing pangs him in these instances, and though he would like nothing more than to return to the simple life that he had before, he knows that he would always be considered by the majority of people to be an alien creature who shares their method of speech. With this, he thanks those who would offer, but declines, stating that it would only bring misfortune, but would readily agree to further trades in the future.
In addition to his mixed feelings of dealing with humans, Gaius has mixed thoughts on dealing with those who are akin to him in his form between beast and man. Wary at best, he does not know how to react should he meet a wolf, or beast-kin, having secluded himself to his own home.
Biography:
His story something that he does not see fit to idly recall, Gaius is quite tight lipped about how he came to be in the circumstances that he finds himself within currently. Digging through the resolution, on the rare occurrence that he has opened up, Gaius divulges what he remembers of his life before this one.
Having been born into a family of four, Gaius was the eldest son of the resident Alchemist in the small town in which they had settled. His father known for making various salves and poltaces that helped with various medical problems, and his mother trading in fabrics of her own weaving, trade was a common theme within his home. An adventurous youth, Gaius would always trail after his father, stopping wistfully at the gates of the town and watched his father go off into the fields and forest nearby. Knowing that his father was out trying his best to help not only his family, but those whom came and traded for the healing items and cures that they had, the idea of learning how to treat the ailments of others took root.
Though his family grew several times, Gaius remained somewhat solitary as he grew. Already four summers older than his closest sibling, there weren't many in his age group whom he would find camaraderie with. Many of the older boys were much more interested in playing at solders and knights, fighting and tumbling about with sticks and make-shift swords their fathers had cobbled together. Many of the girls took to their mother's sides, learning sewing, stitching, and in some cases how herbs and the like could be used to help in various methods. Though it was similar to what he was interested in, they weren't as informed as his father, so he paid little attention to their teachings. Off times he would join the older boys in their games, but them being older and stronger, he was often sent home with bruises and nicks. From this, he began to learn that their lot was different than his own, Gaius preferring the solidarity provided by the windows and walls of his home. From there, he could watch and help his father with the various preparations of ingredients and materials in which his medicinal items were readied. As the wait would inevitably follow, he would find his eyes drawn to the dance of the flames in his family's hearth, entranced by the rapid dance and sputter of the object before him. The crack of wood, the pop and hiss of steam, and the eventual breaking of the wood as it submitted to the conflagration surrounding it. Many times he was reprimanded by his mother for toying with the flames, poking and prodding at the coals beneath the various pots and kettles that occupied the hearth and grate.
Now barely twelve summers old, and the eldest of three, his attention turned more towards the study of alchemy. His mother tried and failed to garner an interest in needlework within him, she supported his attention to detail and motivated him to take after his father. Soon, Gaius was given the ability to go with his father into the woods and areas that he had not been allowed before. Seeing these new areas, it instilled wonder and awe within him, telling him that he world was much larger than he had previously thought. The desire to learn as much as he could about the properties of plants and how to turn them into things that would help people moved him to paying rapt attention to his fathers lessons. He had been told countless stories of how the earth was blessed with the bounty it had due to the spirits of the land. Beings who cultivated the world through unseen magic and love for the harmony of life. Gaius had been told stories since he was little of magical adventures and tales of gallantry in the years of yore, and was always reminded that nature had a way about it to bring the unexpected into existence. Each night he would fall asleep with visions of magical adventures and slinging spells dancing before his eyes, of creating magical potions that would help the injured and sick to regain their vitality and to heal. This continued on for nearly ten years before taking on the mantle of apprentice alchemist.
On his twenty-third birthday, he was gifted his own herb bag, pestle and mortar, and the respect of both his father, and the locals for following in the honored and scientific path of a man of medicine. In the years that he had learned, his family had grown once more, and the need to allow for more room had been called upon several times. Not wishing to stand in the way, Gaius threw his shoulder to the construction of the family home, learning along the way of how a home was put together, how loads were balanced, and how to weather-proof a home to make it livable. This served to drive a fascination into him, allowing him an understanding of using many different elements to build a shelter out of basic materials.
With the expansion of the home, and the drive to learn more, Gaius would often go out on his own adventures into the woods and surrounding countryside, trying to find all kinds of different things that would help those in need of relief. It was on one of these adventures that he happened upon an overturned cart, and a battered and bloodied man. Going immediately to the man, Gaius offered the man salves and tinctures to ease his pain, and to staunch the bleeding. Not really able to refuse, the man allowed Gaius to patch him up as he recounted the tale of his unfortunate run in with brigands.
Seeing a profit from a lone man traveling with a single horse and cart, they attacked him and finding nothing of value except various bottles of liquid and a few crates of books, they took the only coin the man carried on him, and left him for dead. Coming to the end of his short tale, he thanked Gaius and made ready to try and push his cart to his destination. Seeing the man in no position to be exerting himself, Gaius offered to help the man back to his village, certain that his family would be willing to board the man until his wounds healed. Taken aback by such a generous offer, the man agreed and thanked him.
It took the better part of the day, but Gaius and the man whom he had helped to patch up returned to his home, after returning some of the items the man owned to the cart, and finding his horse. Seeing the condition of the man, his family readily agreed to take the man in and help him until he healed. Graciously he accepted their succor provided, and offered the only thing that he knew how to do in service to the family. The offer was taken with a look to each-other, for it was none other than Alchemy. Passing it off as simple coincidence, Gaius' father mentioned that he was the town's main alchemist, serving in potions and tinctures for the ails of the body. Not wishing to push it further, the man simply nodded his head and commented on a commendable and thoroughly useful study and process he subscribed to and retired to the small room in which was given to him.
Over the next two weeks the man remained in their home, Gaius became more and more interested in the kind of alchemy that their guest, now known as Zales, offered to them. It was a warm summer's evening that Gaius approached Zales on his offer, curious as to what he had to teach or show. In this time, Zales had been able to move the various items in his cart to the small room that served as his rest chamber. All kinds of curious phials and potions covered the small desk in the room, and the small hearth that was in the corner of the room supported a somewhat large, almost too large for the hearth, cauldron, filled with a strangely misting concoction. Heartened to hear that Gaius was interested in his works, Zales sat the youth down and regaled him in his studies into the realms beyond that of the mortal plain. Theories of realms similar yet distant to their own was the basis of his thoughts and studies, as well into the areas of magic and the like. All of this flew from the mans mouth, and was rapidly absorbed by Gaius. Claims of having derived “Elemental flux”, a source of magical energy in semi-liquid form were a repeated claim of Zales', seeming to be a claim of genius to his work. Liquids that contained the primary elements could be pulled from the world about them, allowing for utilization of different means to harness the world about them filled the majority of the time, and the more Zales went on, the more and more outlandish and wild his thoughts became.
By the time the man had finished, Gaius sat there in almost a stupefied state, having listened to a man go on about how all things were connected via magic and that alchemy was just the beginning of advancement of understanding. It all seemed to be much too far outside of the realm of possibility, much less the realm of mortal concept, yet a lingering feeling panged at him, of one from years prior. A desire to sling spells and to adventure in lands steeped with magic. Shaking his head, Gaius tried to clear his thoughts, but unfortunately this would prove to be detrimental. Having been riled up into a stare in which he had thought he had found someone who shared his understanding of things, Zales saw the youth shake his head and took it to mean that he was denying his claims. This enraged the man, making him think that even the young of the world denied his theories, much like their parents who had ridiculed and mocked him. Screaming and catching the boy unready, Zales claimed the he would show the world his studies would turn to be true.
Grabbing a large vial filled with a sickly yellow substance, Zales threw it towards Gaius. The vial shattered upon impact and knocked the young man backwards, directly into the cauldron sitting upon the hearth. Gaius, cauldron and ground met, and the two liquids, the one coating Gaius, and the one in the cauldron met together in catastrophic chorus. The liquids combined and mixed, coating Gaius in a flammable, and explosive, mix. Having been knocked into the hearth, they caught and burned, boiling outwards and consuming with a lust of destruction unseen in that land for many years. The ensuing fireball consumed the entirety of the room, both of the men in it, and furthered on to take the entire home, all those within it, and several other homes as well in one large, brilliant sphere of red, yellow, and orange.
Pain was the only thing that Gaius knew. Pain and a horrible, thundering boom; like standing under a turbulent sky just as a clash of thunder peeled from the heavens. This continued on for what seemed like eternity, the searing pain of fire, and the head-splittingly painful ache of thunder.
Then, silence. A deathly silence, like a pall had been placed over the world. There was nothing; no light, pain, feeling, or thunder. Silence was eternal, like the entire world had ceased to be.
It was in the midst of this silence that a voice called out to Gaius.
“Oh wayward soul, whose desire to understand the mystery around it,come and return to the world and see through different eyes. Return and learn.”
Feeling returned to him then. A dull ache that rocked through his body, a terrible throbbing in his head, and a feeling of unnatural sway came to him as he tried to stand. Screwing his eyes tight, Gaius raised a hand to his head trying to rub the pain from his temples. It was then that he felt the changes to his person.
As he touched his face, he felt the sudden change to his form, of an elongated muzzle, of fur under his fingertips, and of a claw. Panic raced through him and the desire to see what had happened raced through his mind. It was then that the realization of where he was came to him. No longer was he in his family home, surrounded by the wood that he and his father and brother hand hoisted and placed. No longer was he in the hearth filled with flames. No longer could he hear his mothers quiet humming to his child sister to soothe her to sleep. All he could hear was the crack and pop of fire, and of panicked shouts coming from elsewhere in the village. Blackened earth surrounded him, and smoke rose from the ashes and burning wood around him.
As the shouts came closer, they changed from concern to caution, to fear. Screams and yelling of a monster who stood in the ruins of a home came to him, and the feeling of dreaded blame fell upon him. Knowing nothing else to do, Gaius ran.
He ran and ran, knowing not where he was going, only that he had to get away from where he had woken. Stumbling and falling, he felt that his body had become something vastly different than the one he had know only moments before... Had it been moments? Or minutes? Days? Gaius wasn't certain. Time had ceased to mean anything to him, and only pain had remained.
Finally Gaius collapsed deep within the woods, in the dark of the trees. The air was cool, shaded by the boughs of the trees overhead, and filled with the songs of life about him. He had collapsed in the middle of a small grove of apple trees, nearby the sounds of a small creek trickled and tinked as it rolled over the stones. Pulling himself wearily to the edge, Gaius cupped water into his exhausted body, the cool water easing the burn in this throat and limbs.
~
Seven summers have passed since he had awoken in his current form. In the beginning, he lamented his fortunes, weeping bitterly over the loss of his family and home, how he had lost everything he had known including the village he had grown up within. But, eventually, the summer faded to fall, from fall to winter, and then then to warming spring. Time moved forward, and he was still alive. Granted a blessing to not have lost his life, he came to reflect on the voice that had called him back from the edge. Its sound had faded, but the words run in his mind, like a ghostly writing, emblazoned in his minds eye, calling him to move forward and learn of the world about him.
In that time since his re-awakening, Gaius has learned of the other blessings that had been bestowed upon him. Seeing his current form as an expression of a creature of the wilderness, Gaius has moved from areas tread by humans to one secluded to nature and its natural inhabitants. His obvious features, resembling a bipedal wolf caused distress and fear in those whom he had approached, though he used normal speech to call to them. His height, though it was already to a point of being quite tall had only increased, now standing easily chest and shoulders above a normal man. Due to his height, and the fact that his center of balance had been altered as well, he was forced to hunch over, giving him a more menacing appearance. Believing in the idea of a blessing of the earth, his new form allows for him to hunt and gather with relative ease, allowing for the collection of items in trees of greater height with more agility and ease.
Hearkening back to the clarion call to pull him from the edge, the spirits of the world had also deemed it fit to bestow upon him a small blessing. The nature of fire came to his fingertips in his time away from humans, appearing during a heavy rain outside of the small cave he had begun to call home. Cursing and wishing for a way to strike an ember, he threw his hands towards the ground and a shower of sparks cascaded from his fingers, sparking a small cluster of brush aflame. Excitement and intrigue followed, and experimentation followed closely afterwards.
Within recent times, a new discovery has come to Gaius, and that is a slight understanding over the power of lightning. Though fleeting as a bolt, Gaius has harnessed a small understanding of the power that has come to him, in addition to the flames that flow beneath his skin. Every time that he has reached out to grasp at this power of his, an incredible rumbling is heard in his ears, and crackling of lightning rolls through the air about him. Only able to preform minor spells, he is certain that his understanding of the magic will come to him eventually, though where this power comes from, he can only guess. An afterthought flashes in his mind for the briefest of moments, but an image of a pale yellow, sickly looking fluid sprints before his minds eye, of being covered in the stuff, and then flames dancing along his features, before darkness consumes the thought. Maybe that old fool Zales was onto something, or maybe he opened the way for another blessing of the world to descend upon Gaius. He will never know, but the part that is curious is content in knowing that sometimes the better questions are left unanswered...
Gender: Male
Race: Anthropomorphic Wolf (Previously was Human)
Breed: Eastern Timber Wolf
Appearance:
Before his drastic transformation into what his is currently, Gaius was not to be considered an average human being. Standing roughly six foot five inches, he was lanky and broad of shoulder, giving him a gangly, awkward appearance. This, however, proved to be a boon, as he was the eldest of four, and the strongest son of the family. Fair of features, sporting an angular jaw, pointed chin, and blue-black hair and piercing blue eyes, Gaius was considered to be one of the most handsome men in his village, if not within the larger radius of the few villages that surrounded his own. Not overly taxed by strenuous work, given the task of gathering firewood and chopping it, Gaius never really built much in the way of visible muscle, his form seeming toned, but not well defined.
Son to a talented seamstress, and a wizened alchemist, Gaius was blessed with a good eye for detail. Though he was the oldest, his attention for needle-point waned as he began to view the world about him with ever increasing interest. Having a father who would oft go out of town in search for different materials to help those who came to them with sickness, Gaius would often find himself following his father to the gates and watch him go out. As he came more into his own, his features catching more and more of the young women of his village's attention, Gaius would study, taking everything that his father had to offer in lessons. This made him increasingly elusive, and had a significant effect on the pigment of his skin. With somewhat pale skin and rich dark hair and eyes, Gaius was almost a contrast by himself.
After the events of his subsequent transformation into what he currently is now, some of the features that he held while he was human carried over to his current form. Gaius now stands just under eight feet tall, his black hair falling down in a mane to the crest of his shoulder-blades. Resembling nothing of his human heritage, Gaius now appears as a pale furred, bi-pedal wolf. His lanky appearance has not changed, as his long arms hang down to his thighs, ending in black claws. His face now extends out into a wolven muzzle, complete with nose and enlarged canines. His eyes have remained the same piercing blue, but now have a predatory glint to them.
His body is covered from tip of head to bottom of paw in gray and black fur. His head is primarily covered in gray fur, with his black hair bleeding its darkened color into the area of his forehead, leading to the tips of his now triangular ears atop his head. Down to his shoulders does the gray, only broken by again his long black-blue hair. Black fur encompasses his hands, and ends just at his elbows, before succumbing to gray as it meets his shoulders. The dark color clings to his spine and runs the length of his body, down his flank and ending just above his knees. The black fur runs down his new wolven tail, its tip fading to the same light gray that covers his features. It resumes lightly just above his paws and down to the soles of his feet. Standing digitigrade, Gaius stands at a somewhat hunch, his new center of balance leaving him closer to the ground, and allowing for longer strides, and quickened sprinting.
Now somewhat acclimated to the transformation, Gaius has clothed himself in somewhat simple garb. Having woven together tough-spun fabric, Gaius has patched together simple trousers and a simple shirt. The shirt itself is a long sleeved one that he was partial to when he was a child, but having the sleeves rolled is his preferred style for them. The trousers fall to what use to be ankle height, but now standing taller and digitigrade, they fall enough to cover the majority of his lower body. Forgoing boots or shoes, Gaius feels the earth with his pawed feet, giving him ample traction in many situations, but leaving him subject to the elements.
Magic:
It is said that the element of fire is consummate with the idea of ever-changing life and passion. Life never takes on the same form for long, much like the dancing of flames, ever bending and reforming, moving and consuming until naught is left but the ashes. From those ashes, new life is found, taking root in the remnants of what was, and building up towards the ever yawning abyss that hold the stars in its arms. These same roots have found their way into the hands of one of the most unsuspecting people. Gaius always thought that the primal elements were fascinating, having been taught that the elements of the world shaped and wrought everything that he could see, feel, and touch. In the depths of his heart, a secret yearning called, wishing to have some kind of control of his own.
Gaius is blessed with two distinct forms of magic. The first are the ever hungry flames, forever licking and fanning themselves in their quest to consume. The second is byproduct of tampering outside of the natural order. His body also shares the pulsating currents of electricity. Bound to the element through the same series of events that changed him into his anthropomorphic form, Gaius finds himself able to harness the storms teeth, to a limited extent.
-Spells:
Fire Spells: Gaius' primary element, he has much more control over the flames that inhabit his body due to the normal fusion of spirit and mortal.
Fireball: As its name implies, Gaius conjures a ball of fire into the center of his hand. With little effort, Gaius can toss, throw or lob the orb towards his intended target. Should he desire so, Gaius can create larger and larger still pyroclastic orbs in his hand, but depending on the size, it may require the use of both of his hands. Though by stretch of imagination a simple trick, it does tax his strength, and after a few normal flaming projectiles, he begins to feel the tightness of his muscles and his breath comes in sharper pulls. Should he put more energy into the orbs, he taxes himself much more rapidly, leaving him with little room to preform even basic things such as running, much less dodging.
Ring of Fire: The ground that Gaius walks can easily serve as kindling to the waking inferno that is housed within his body, and it takes control to reserve himself enough not to play openly with the flame. Should the need arise, Gaius can summon a circle of small flames around him, effectively barring anyone or thing from getting too close. With effort, he can increase the size of the flames, starting a wildfire that can reduce fields to ash. It is in these cases, however, that Gaius loses some control, and cannot pull back the energy he has spent to eliminate the flame altogether. Much like the fireball, should he create larger flames, it requires more of his available strength, sapping him and allowing for mistakes to be made. More than once has he found himself within a hell-scape of his own making, due to his lack of care with his flames and his lack of strength to control the fires. In addition to this, Gaius is only able to summon the fires within himself as a ring provided there are suitable conditions. Rain, harsh wind, and snow all stop his attempts dead in their tracks, and he only succeeds in sapping his energy.
Burning Halo: More of a visual spell and one meant to deter those before him from approaching, Gaius can conjure a large halo of flame to float behind him, blazing in runes of his own creation. While they are still fire, they aren't strong enough to cause much harm to those who would come into contact with them, serving only to burn the skin or material that passes through them. To maintain this, Gaius has to focus intently on maintaining the halo, so he cannot do anything that would disrupt his concentration in a major way.
Wreathed in Flames: His crowning spell, and his most draining one, Gaius cloaks himself in flames, becoming like to an avatar of hell. He coats his entire body in searing flames and uses every effort of his to fight back his foe, draining his strength rapidly. While like this, he has basically surrendered to the flames that inhabit his body, so control is almost an afterthought. Much like his Ring of Fire spell, however, the conditions around him must be conducive to a flame to exist. Rain and snow will quickly put out the flames, and wind will cause the flames to snap and sputter, before fizzling out of existence. This spell requires the use of almost all of his available strength, and will leave him in a near lethargic state upon expatriation.
Lightning Spells: The bi-product of tampering with things outside of the natural order, Gaius has limited control over the element of Lightning, viewed as tedious at best.
Thunder Clap: A simple trick, but invaluable at the same time, Gaius charges the air around his hands. Quickly bringing them together, he creates a booming clap of thunder, strong enough to disturb the air around him. Not essentially a combative spell, Gaius has noticed (after his ears had stopped ringing) that he is able to deflect small objects from their path around him. In addition to leaving him nearly deafened, Gaius has also found that this causes several blood vessels to burst in his nose and ears, adding a physically damaging repercussion to this spell.
Bridge the Gap: As lightning moves so rapidly about, so can Gaius charge himself to do the same. Focusing on exciting the particles that make up his being, Gaius can move himself from one point to another, within a short range, much like lightning jumping from one point to another in the blink of an eye. Upon returning to his form, however, the spell leaves him somewhat disoriented and off balance, in addition to being winded from the spell itself. This is a very physically taxing spell, as he has yet to even begin to master it.
Skills:
Given that he was raised in a family of four, food was always something that was viewed as a necessity, and as such, was taught to forage at a young age, to help bring more to the table. In addition, his mother being a talented weaver of cloth, Gaius has picked up on the various methods of creating, and maintaining clothing. Though it is ironic with the spells at his disposal, Gaius enjoys working with different kinds of cloth and materials to make fabric out of.
From his father, Gaius also learned how to create potions, tinctures, and poltaces that help with various symptoms, ranging from a rash, to irregular stomach aches, to helping to fall asleep. Having an understanding of helpful herbs and other items found in nature, Gaius is able to discern if something can be used as a curative, if something can be used to ward away unwanted attention, or if something is poisonous. Given he has not the same level of experience that his father had, he still confuses some things with others he believes he knows, and has been on the receiving end of some unfortunate outcomes of his own making.
Personality:
Calm, collected, and distant, Gaius can be classified as a quite individual. Not seeking to draw much attention to himself, he rarely leaves his home that he has built for himself, to venture into populated areas of either wolves or man. Reclusive almost to a fault, seeing this large bipedal wolf moving about is reason enough to call for alarm. Because of his past and the forced changes he has been through, he is distrustful of man, viewing them as self centered and destructive. He believes that everything has a right to exist, but would rather distance himself from the destructive tenancies that humans hold to themselves. This ideology comes from lack of experience and a youthful nature to his character, placing him in a limbo of being educated in aspects of nature, but lacking in knowledge of interpersonal relations.
Should he decide to venture out into inhabited lands, Gaius tries to be quick about his work, whether it be foraging for food, for items to make into medicines, or in the rare case, to trade. Though he has clothed himself in garments of his own design, should he have to make repairs or desires to add flair to his garments, Gaius must don a long cloak that covers the majority of his features. Though he is reserved in dealing with the majority of the populace of man, there are some who are more agreeable to his exaggerated features, even going so far as to act friendly enough to invite him into their homes and partake in a simple meal. A flash of pain, regret, and longing pangs him in these instances, and though he would like nothing more than to return to the simple life that he had before, he knows that he would always be considered by the majority of people to be an alien creature who shares their method of speech. With this, he thanks those who would offer, but declines, stating that it would only bring misfortune, but would readily agree to further trades in the future.
In addition to his mixed feelings of dealing with humans, Gaius has mixed thoughts on dealing with those who are akin to him in his form between beast and man. Wary at best, he does not know how to react should he meet a wolf, or beast-kin, having secluded himself to his own home.
Biography:
His story something that he does not see fit to idly recall, Gaius is quite tight lipped about how he came to be in the circumstances that he finds himself within currently. Digging through the resolution, on the rare occurrence that he has opened up, Gaius divulges what he remembers of his life before this one.
Having been born into a family of four, Gaius was the eldest son of the resident Alchemist in the small town in which they had settled. His father known for making various salves and poltaces that helped with various medical problems, and his mother trading in fabrics of her own weaving, trade was a common theme within his home. An adventurous youth, Gaius would always trail after his father, stopping wistfully at the gates of the town and watched his father go off into the fields and forest nearby. Knowing that his father was out trying his best to help not only his family, but those whom came and traded for the healing items and cures that they had, the idea of learning how to treat the ailments of others took root.
Though his family grew several times, Gaius remained somewhat solitary as he grew. Already four summers older than his closest sibling, there weren't many in his age group whom he would find camaraderie with. Many of the older boys were much more interested in playing at solders and knights, fighting and tumbling about with sticks and make-shift swords their fathers had cobbled together. Many of the girls took to their mother's sides, learning sewing, stitching, and in some cases how herbs and the like could be used to help in various methods. Though it was similar to what he was interested in, they weren't as informed as his father, so he paid little attention to their teachings. Off times he would join the older boys in their games, but them being older and stronger, he was often sent home with bruises and nicks. From this, he began to learn that their lot was different than his own, Gaius preferring the solidarity provided by the windows and walls of his home. From there, he could watch and help his father with the various preparations of ingredients and materials in which his medicinal items were readied. As the wait would inevitably follow, he would find his eyes drawn to the dance of the flames in his family's hearth, entranced by the rapid dance and sputter of the object before him. The crack of wood, the pop and hiss of steam, and the eventual breaking of the wood as it submitted to the conflagration surrounding it. Many times he was reprimanded by his mother for toying with the flames, poking and prodding at the coals beneath the various pots and kettles that occupied the hearth and grate.
Now barely twelve summers old, and the eldest of three, his attention turned more towards the study of alchemy. His mother tried and failed to garner an interest in needlework within him, she supported his attention to detail and motivated him to take after his father. Soon, Gaius was given the ability to go with his father into the woods and areas that he had not been allowed before. Seeing these new areas, it instilled wonder and awe within him, telling him that he world was much larger than he had previously thought. The desire to learn as much as he could about the properties of plants and how to turn them into things that would help people moved him to paying rapt attention to his fathers lessons. He had been told countless stories of how the earth was blessed with the bounty it had due to the spirits of the land. Beings who cultivated the world through unseen magic and love for the harmony of life. Gaius had been told stories since he was little of magical adventures and tales of gallantry in the years of yore, and was always reminded that nature had a way about it to bring the unexpected into existence. Each night he would fall asleep with visions of magical adventures and slinging spells dancing before his eyes, of creating magical potions that would help the injured and sick to regain their vitality and to heal. This continued on for nearly ten years before taking on the mantle of apprentice alchemist.
On his twenty-third birthday, he was gifted his own herb bag, pestle and mortar, and the respect of both his father, and the locals for following in the honored and scientific path of a man of medicine. In the years that he had learned, his family had grown once more, and the need to allow for more room had been called upon several times. Not wishing to stand in the way, Gaius threw his shoulder to the construction of the family home, learning along the way of how a home was put together, how loads were balanced, and how to weather-proof a home to make it livable. This served to drive a fascination into him, allowing him an understanding of using many different elements to build a shelter out of basic materials.
With the expansion of the home, and the drive to learn more, Gaius would often go out on his own adventures into the woods and surrounding countryside, trying to find all kinds of different things that would help those in need of relief. It was on one of these adventures that he happened upon an overturned cart, and a battered and bloodied man. Going immediately to the man, Gaius offered the man salves and tinctures to ease his pain, and to staunch the bleeding. Not really able to refuse, the man allowed Gaius to patch him up as he recounted the tale of his unfortunate run in with brigands.
Seeing a profit from a lone man traveling with a single horse and cart, they attacked him and finding nothing of value except various bottles of liquid and a few crates of books, they took the only coin the man carried on him, and left him for dead. Coming to the end of his short tale, he thanked Gaius and made ready to try and push his cart to his destination. Seeing the man in no position to be exerting himself, Gaius offered to help the man back to his village, certain that his family would be willing to board the man until his wounds healed. Taken aback by such a generous offer, the man agreed and thanked him.
It took the better part of the day, but Gaius and the man whom he had helped to patch up returned to his home, after returning some of the items the man owned to the cart, and finding his horse. Seeing the condition of the man, his family readily agreed to take the man in and help him until he healed. Graciously he accepted their succor provided, and offered the only thing that he knew how to do in service to the family. The offer was taken with a look to each-other, for it was none other than Alchemy. Passing it off as simple coincidence, Gaius' father mentioned that he was the town's main alchemist, serving in potions and tinctures for the ails of the body. Not wishing to push it further, the man simply nodded his head and commented on a commendable and thoroughly useful study and process he subscribed to and retired to the small room in which was given to him.
Over the next two weeks the man remained in their home, Gaius became more and more interested in the kind of alchemy that their guest, now known as Zales, offered to them. It was a warm summer's evening that Gaius approached Zales on his offer, curious as to what he had to teach or show. In this time, Zales had been able to move the various items in his cart to the small room that served as his rest chamber. All kinds of curious phials and potions covered the small desk in the room, and the small hearth that was in the corner of the room supported a somewhat large, almost too large for the hearth, cauldron, filled with a strangely misting concoction. Heartened to hear that Gaius was interested in his works, Zales sat the youth down and regaled him in his studies into the realms beyond that of the mortal plain. Theories of realms similar yet distant to their own was the basis of his thoughts and studies, as well into the areas of magic and the like. All of this flew from the mans mouth, and was rapidly absorbed by Gaius. Claims of having derived “Elemental flux”, a source of magical energy in semi-liquid form were a repeated claim of Zales', seeming to be a claim of genius to his work. Liquids that contained the primary elements could be pulled from the world about them, allowing for utilization of different means to harness the world about them filled the majority of the time, and the more Zales went on, the more and more outlandish and wild his thoughts became.
By the time the man had finished, Gaius sat there in almost a stupefied state, having listened to a man go on about how all things were connected via magic and that alchemy was just the beginning of advancement of understanding. It all seemed to be much too far outside of the realm of possibility, much less the realm of mortal concept, yet a lingering feeling panged at him, of one from years prior. A desire to sling spells and to adventure in lands steeped with magic. Shaking his head, Gaius tried to clear his thoughts, but unfortunately this would prove to be detrimental. Having been riled up into a stare in which he had thought he had found someone who shared his understanding of things, Zales saw the youth shake his head and took it to mean that he was denying his claims. This enraged the man, making him think that even the young of the world denied his theories, much like their parents who had ridiculed and mocked him. Screaming and catching the boy unready, Zales claimed the he would show the world his studies would turn to be true.
Grabbing a large vial filled with a sickly yellow substance, Zales threw it towards Gaius. The vial shattered upon impact and knocked the young man backwards, directly into the cauldron sitting upon the hearth. Gaius, cauldron and ground met, and the two liquids, the one coating Gaius, and the one in the cauldron met together in catastrophic chorus. The liquids combined and mixed, coating Gaius in a flammable, and explosive, mix. Having been knocked into the hearth, they caught and burned, boiling outwards and consuming with a lust of destruction unseen in that land for many years. The ensuing fireball consumed the entirety of the room, both of the men in it, and furthered on to take the entire home, all those within it, and several other homes as well in one large, brilliant sphere of red, yellow, and orange.
Pain was the only thing that Gaius knew. Pain and a horrible, thundering boom; like standing under a turbulent sky just as a clash of thunder peeled from the heavens. This continued on for what seemed like eternity, the searing pain of fire, and the head-splittingly painful ache of thunder.
Then, silence. A deathly silence, like a pall had been placed over the world. There was nothing; no light, pain, feeling, or thunder. Silence was eternal, like the entire world had ceased to be.
It was in the midst of this silence that a voice called out to Gaius.
“Oh wayward soul, whose desire to understand the mystery around it,come and return to the world and see through different eyes. Return and learn.”
Feeling returned to him then. A dull ache that rocked through his body, a terrible throbbing in his head, and a feeling of unnatural sway came to him as he tried to stand. Screwing his eyes tight, Gaius raised a hand to his head trying to rub the pain from his temples. It was then that he felt the changes to his person.
As he touched his face, he felt the sudden change to his form, of an elongated muzzle, of fur under his fingertips, and of a claw. Panic raced through him and the desire to see what had happened raced through his mind. It was then that the realization of where he was came to him. No longer was he in his family home, surrounded by the wood that he and his father and brother hand hoisted and placed. No longer was he in the hearth filled with flames. No longer could he hear his mothers quiet humming to his child sister to soothe her to sleep. All he could hear was the crack and pop of fire, and of panicked shouts coming from elsewhere in the village. Blackened earth surrounded him, and smoke rose from the ashes and burning wood around him.
As the shouts came closer, they changed from concern to caution, to fear. Screams and yelling of a monster who stood in the ruins of a home came to him, and the feeling of dreaded blame fell upon him. Knowing nothing else to do, Gaius ran.
He ran and ran, knowing not where he was going, only that he had to get away from where he had woken. Stumbling and falling, he felt that his body had become something vastly different than the one he had know only moments before... Had it been moments? Or minutes? Days? Gaius wasn't certain. Time had ceased to mean anything to him, and only pain had remained.
Finally Gaius collapsed deep within the woods, in the dark of the trees. The air was cool, shaded by the boughs of the trees overhead, and filled with the songs of life about him. He had collapsed in the middle of a small grove of apple trees, nearby the sounds of a small creek trickled and tinked as it rolled over the stones. Pulling himself wearily to the edge, Gaius cupped water into his exhausted body, the cool water easing the burn in this throat and limbs.
~
Seven summers have passed since he had awoken in his current form. In the beginning, he lamented his fortunes, weeping bitterly over the loss of his family and home, how he had lost everything he had known including the village he had grown up within. But, eventually, the summer faded to fall, from fall to winter, and then then to warming spring. Time moved forward, and he was still alive. Granted a blessing to not have lost his life, he came to reflect on the voice that had called him back from the edge. Its sound had faded, but the words run in his mind, like a ghostly writing, emblazoned in his minds eye, calling him to move forward and learn of the world about him.
In that time since his re-awakening, Gaius has learned of the other blessings that had been bestowed upon him. Seeing his current form as an expression of a creature of the wilderness, Gaius has moved from areas tread by humans to one secluded to nature and its natural inhabitants. His obvious features, resembling a bipedal wolf caused distress and fear in those whom he had approached, though he used normal speech to call to them. His height, though it was already to a point of being quite tall had only increased, now standing easily chest and shoulders above a normal man. Due to his height, and the fact that his center of balance had been altered as well, he was forced to hunch over, giving him a more menacing appearance. Believing in the idea of a blessing of the earth, his new form allows for him to hunt and gather with relative ease, allowing for the collection of items in trees of greater height with more agility and ease.
Hearkening back to the clarion call to pull him from the edge, the spirits of the world had also deemed it fit to bestow upon him a small blessing. The nature of fire came to his fingertips in his time away from humans, appearing during a heavy rain outside of the small cave he had begun to call home. Cursing and wishing for a way to strike an ember, he threw his hands towards the ground and a shower of sparks cascaded from his fingers, sparking a small cluster of brush aflame. Excitement and intrigue followed, and experimentation followed closely afterwards.
Within recent times, a new discovery has come to Gaius, and that is a slight understanding over the power of lightning. Though fleeting as a bolt, Gaius has harnessed a small understanding of the power that has come to him, in addition to the flames that flow beneath his skin. Every time that he has reached out to grasp at this power of his, an incredible rumbling is heard in his ears, and crackling of lightning rolls through the air about him. Only able to preform minor spells, he is certain that his understanding of the magic will come to him eventually, though where this power comes from, he can only guess. An afterthought flashes in his mind for the briefest of moments, but an image of a pale yellow, sickly looking fluid sprints before his minds eye, of being covered in the stuff, and then flames dancing along his features, before darkness consumes the thought. Maybe that old fool Zales was onto something, or maybe he opened the way for another blessing of the world to descend upon Gaius. He will never know, but the part that is curious is content in knowing that sometimes the better questions are left unanswered...
Super excited for you back in action, Leon! ^-^