Ensō CatalystTerith BlairU S E R Description
The Gate of the Revenant, while serving the vessel a great deal, came not without a timely cost. To have lifted its seal prematurely before the designated time befell a misfortune not only for Terith, but towards the lesser imprints as well. After having consulted the proclaimed sage Matildis, the swordsman eventually felt the full gravity of their situation - so long as the Origin Spirit persisted within the Chronicle, both his earlier memories and the other imprints shall remain suppressed, pushed back by virtue of necessity because truthfully, the Origin did not choose this sort of outcome. There are no possible means of closing a previously unsealed gate, and if not for the spirit's efforts to bury the other 'essences' in the Chronicle, the vessel's physical and spiritual body might not have withstood the energy influx.
For the Origin, death was the least painful of all the possible consequences.
Nevertheless, the swordsman had been adamant on the subject of retrieving the things that which he'd lost - and with the Sage's bidding there certainly was an alternative. Though the vessel was nowhere near escaping the sacrificial cycle that afflicted him so, and as customary, whatever Matildis is to do begets a hefty sum. And for what his simple humanity was worth, Terith paid his price with a third of his entire life span - an already benign trade for the sage to spearhead the recovery ritual. Only by offering a part of himself of his own accord was the vessel able to realize the full success of the process; an early grave was the lesser thought when his previously fragmented self ebbs back into wholesomeness. The voices of the incarcerated spirits that flooded his brain, however jarring at first, wailed out in happiness for having been released. His memories alongside didn't go unnoticed either, of course, reducing the adult blonde to a grieving mess.
And yet, of the things the vessel expected to occur all through out the ritual, the Origin gaining a bearing on the physical world (apart from being moved into the 'space' inside his Etherblade) felt sourly off-tangent. While the recovery had been agreed upon by both parties, the vessel withheld a resentment for the spirit for having devoid him the truth of the other imprints for ever so long. Whatever reasoning to this would largely go unheard; though the reality was that, now that the spirit acquired himself a slightly more tangible body, their interactions were in-bound to persist still, no matter how much Terith desired to avoid any manner of conversation with the Origin until forgiveness became a inevitability.
Matildis later informed her guests of this unforeseen event, speaking of an interfering energy as she tried to seal the Origin into Kushinda. Comically, whatever entity that currently bound itself to the etherblade did not appreciate sharing their 'housing' with another being, and henceforth exerted a greater force to implant the spirit into a body for everyone's convenience. The sage described the ordeal to be all but laudable, considering the other entity valiantly took back a portion of the vessel's stolen life energy to piece together a safe space for Terith's problem. Effectively, this gave the vessel a few more years worth, and a strong ally that, with Matildis' evaluation, seemingly opened a entirely different plane of power at their disposal.
While the Origin's body wasn't entirely humane, it was nevertheless durable. Some experimental dabbling made them aware that he could dissolve in and out of existence by completely returning to Terith's person (a very disturbing process, or so the blonde thinks of it). Apparently the two aren't as separated as they'd been once before, perhaps even bound together at a more intimate level (this, again, brought the vessel much disgust), proving at least some usefulness. Matildis compared the two to an example of a symbiotic relationship known as mutualism, pointing out that their collective strength were to be shared and therefor creating benefit that should not be ignored.
A sage's wisdom would've been hard to discredit in their time of apprehension (to be frank) and thusly, the pair agree on a stalemate for their differences in order to harness and polish this greater power that Matildis oh-so thrust upon them.
Come a few weeks, the pair realize abilities previously beyond their comprehension - opportunities such as fighting in tandem, elemental enhancements, and better survivability all working in greater effort to change the vessel for the better. Of course, Terith likely suspects that the Origin is yet to disclose the entire story of the events leading up to this, but he'd let the questions fester until much later, in due time.
Plot Abilities
●KEIHATSU:
Much like Matildis, the Origin appears to be equipped with some form of wisdom that can be consulted every now and then. The simpler inquiries such as the proper direction or the location of a non-magical object needs little effort to be answered, conversely however, the more intricate a question becomes, the accuracy runs a risk of decreasing (as well as a 2 post duration between asks). Nevertheless, the spirit remains a very good consultant for the vessel in the event of any worldly problems at the most convenient times. When used to ask questions related to a player character (and anything related to them therefor), OOC permission would be highly required, and cannot be used while the Origin is engaged in combat. Queries directly involving time itself (events within the past, present, and future) are currently restricted, and may only be asked every three posts outside of battle.
●YUUGEN:
Existing within Ishgar is a feat itself, however becoming one with its current plane of reality isn't entirely limited to being seen by those that inhabit the land. Rather, it appears to be more of that. The spirit, however tangible he currently is, isn't wholesomely integrated into humanity as one would wish. For a lack of a better word, the Origin unsteadily balances atop the edge of both reality and something else - effectively heightening his bodily senses to levels far more intense than normal. He perceives things relatively different; every sight is multi-faceted, every sound is clear even if it's barely above a whisper, every touch an overwhelming experience. Even something as vapid as someone else's thoughts and emotions gravitate towards the spirit as if they were directly spoken to him. Should Terith desire to do so, he may also partake in these heightened senses through sheer will. OOC permission must be granted when used on player characters.
●MIYABI:
Whatever the Etherblade spirit intended isn't taken without doubt, however there is a likelihood that the Origin's physical body had been modeled after the swordsman to some degree. The spirit's new silhouette was still, at best, bipedal; nevermind that neither his mask nor his armor could be peeled off, he'd still been crafted to look and function as a normal human would. But perhaps the most curious feature of the spirit's figure is the questionably long sword that latched unto his person with persistence. Past its menacing appearance (and exemplary abilities to boot), the blade adapts the likeness of a paint brush when idle. Drawing anything remotely resembling a coherent image would render it with a short breath of sentience, allowing the scribbles to act as their real-life counterparts...albeit in a cartoonish, two-dimensional form. Words, in contrast, could be written without a surface for them to latch unto and may float around unbidden. This ability is more or less used for amusement purposes, as expected due to lack of damage properties.
●IKI:
Dealing with dead men as often as Terith did was likely to influence the swordsman's opinions on the afterlife. Perhaps more so than the average human, the swordsman considers his terms with death a sound agreement; the Origin finds that while its healthy to be bound to your humanity, it can't fully evict you from succumbing to death whenever it came knocking. At the very least, the swordsman deserved a fighting chance for that elusive fulfilling life. Upon being cornered by a life-threatening situation (when his HP reaches 0), the Origin may extend his divinity to consume the vessel's body, literally ripping his existence from his current location so that it may safely reside inside the Gate of the Revenant. Here, Terith would undergo heavy reconstruction so that his body's 'time' could be reversed to a point before the battle. In his place, the Origin would temporarily take the charge of filling the hole in reality left by Terith's absence up until the vessel has completely recovered the next day (rp-wise, the next thread). Whilst taking his place, the Origin will remain imperceptible to the public, unable to influence and/or communicate with other people and his environment.
Combat Abilities
●DATSUZOKU:
By virtue of circumstance, the Origin now holds a dominion both outside and within the Chronicle for having retained his hold over the Gate of the Revenant and attaining a 'tangible' body. While this arguably complicates their situation already, there's been some benefit to warrant an applause at the very least. As it is currently, the spirit's existence is on par with that of a summon, further being integrated into the Etherblade's magic through this ability that allows the vessel one extra rank-up signature spell. The new spell slot is bound to the Origin and cannot be used for anything but for the sole process of summoning the spirit. Much unlike other signature summons, the Origin, in return for having no active or passive ability as per the spell slot, will remain on the battlefield until his maximum HP hits zero, which will then trigger a CD equivalent to the number of posts that the summon remained active plus one. In this case, the Origin's stats comply to an Immaculate Summon, whose rank is dependent on Terith's current rank up to S.
●FUKINSEI:
Extracting the spirit from Chronicle consequently didn't just resume the functions of the lesser imprints and his memories, but it also effectively fortified the Gate of the Revenant's influence over both. The current known extent of the increase is seen in their durabilities against particular attacks - the vessel is 25% more resistant to magical damage, but also 25% weaker to melee damage. Conversely, the Origin is 25% more resistant to melee damage, but 25% weaker to magical damage.
●KANSO:
Dubbed the Sculpting Blade for its unorthodox form, the Origin's sword is one that cuts not without direction. Each move has purpose, is calculated, and most of all efficient; as expected from the sword technique that commands them both. The Sculpting Blade cannot be used as freely as the spirit desires, however, considering how even a single downward slash wares out his essence far quicker than normal melee attacks. As it was intended, each strike is 60% more powerful than the damage of a summon of the Origin's rank, but the weapon may only be drawn once within a given time (more accurately, it has a 3 post CD). Each attack may only comprise of a single strike, and not multiple. Although the Sculpting Blade largely makes up for its ineptitude to make successive hits with attack size: one slash measuring over ten meters (this increases by an extra ten meters every time Terith ranks up from B, but maxes out at S) that travels at a speed dependent on typical AoE measurements according to Terith's rank (max S). One strike takes the form of a travelling line of blue light that veers off the sword upon the Origin's prompting. In theory however, the Sculpting Blade is a weapon that split from Kushinada in a way, and thusly utilizes an MP amount equivalent to twice the Origin's rank converted into spell MP for every attack made.
●SHIZEN:
Engaging an enemy with far more of an elemental advantage than you has proven to Terith many a time that he too has limits. That said, it's not wrong for both him and the Origin Spirit to devise a means to curb the brunt of the damage they'd receive against elements. Through the use of several oriental runes, the vessel is able to temporarily adapt one element represented by a selected rune. This temporary element wouldn't enable the feats of a wizard specializing in that element by any means, but it'd simply override his melee damage with a replacement 'magical' damage accordingly. This ability may only ever apply to the vessel, and not towards the Origin. Amusingly, the currently active element can be toggled off and back on again depending on Terith's whimsies, but he cannot do so mid-attack.
Shizen is primarily composed of five elements that find basis in Buddhist beliefs: Earth (地), Water (水), Fire (火), Wind (風) and Void/Aether (空). All the elements (sans the last one which is currently locked until further notice) will turn the Etherblade's melee attacks into magical ones, each hit being slightly akin to fighting with a weapon of that element. Damage-wise, the elements follow the usual spell schematic with their ranks relying on Terith's personal rank up to S. Finally, there is a two-post CD to be minded every time a switch is made between them, with each switch costing the vessel's rank converted into spell MP.
●SEIJAKU:
One of the paramount oaths for every decent swordsman is the unspoken one they share with their blades outside of combat, whetstone on the ready. To care for one's blade is a practice that is arguably more ritualistic in essence, if not for the diligence and time it takes to handle the weapons this way. The amount of effort to hone a blade is often worth as much as the swordsman's technique - and both, unsurprisingly, are entirely dependent on the other. Much like it, the Origin and his vessel might think of themselves as the technique and the sword edge respectively, and before they argue over who's who for the umpteenth time, the pair at least acknowledge the extent of their weapons' sharpness at their most critical - even if it the point is sorely aimed at themselves.
In the event that the vessel becomes troubled with any manner of debuff or ailment of any rank, the Origin need only brandish the Sculpting Blade against him, where the action of stabbing him (or any damage infliction really) effectively 'cuts' the affliction, dispersing it completely. The process could also be applied if the case had been reversed and it'd been the Origin who'd been debuffed. While it may appear painful, neither the Etherblade or the Sculpting Blade could deal harm to both their masters even if either party wanted to. In light of multiple debuffs, then only one may removed, where other active debuffs/ailments are decreased by 1 post in their duration, and passive debuffs/ailments are rendered 50% less effective. Seijaku cannot be used consecutively and has a two-post CD accordingly, as well as costing an equivalent of the vessel's rank converted to spell MP.
![Senior [500]](https://i.imgur.com/Nmfn8cD.png)
![](https://i.imgur.com/wVlfvHL.jpg")
![Novice [250]](https://i.imgur.com/lrYlde6.png)
