Post by davian on Jun 23, 2011 23:27:52 GMT -5
MAIN USERNAME: Mod Nascent
TYPE: Active
STRENGTH: Average
KEYWORDS: wavelength, melee
DESCRIPTION:
The standard Soul Purge, as taught to Meisters by Shibusen, relies on a Meister's ability to "weaponize" their own soul wavelength as a momentary surge of energy. At this level Soul Purge becomes a capable attack in-and-of itself, able to drive home the pain verses foes with hardened physical defenses. Soul Purge requires physical contact in order to do damage.
ABILITY NAME: Ground Surge
TYPE: Active
STRENGTH: Average
KEYWORDS: soul purge, melee, ground burst
DESCRIPTION:
Like many proficient Meisters, Davian was taught to utilize the Soul Purge technique of self-resonance for attack purposes. Unlike other Meisters, however, he developed a variation of the attack that can be used at medium range or even as an area-of-effect attack.
When he uses the "Ground Surge" variation of Soul Purge Davian plants his hand firmly against the ground and forces his soul wavelength into it in a concentrated burst. Utilizing the principle of positive ground charge Davian's wavelength discharge triggers a small momentary electrical storm at the location of his target; the effect is weaker than a direct-contact Soul Purge and has a maximum distance of thirty-five feet on most surfaces, yet the "shock value" of the Ground Surge can stun most opponents for a second or two, allowing other combatants an opportunity to cut them down.
Using Ground Surge defensively is much the same with slightly different effects. Maintaining ground contact, Davian electrifies the ground around him in a four foot radius -- anyone to enter that zone, even without touching the ground, will "trip the circuit" and end up with a fierce jolt of electricity flowing through them. Davian can maintain this for up to five minutes before a breather, shocking the target the whole time.
It's worth noting that, as an electricity-based attack, the usefulness and range of Ground Surge varies based on terrain.
ABILITY NAME: Skilled Soul Perception
TYPE: Passive / Active
STRENGTH: Strong
KEYWORDS: sense souls, wavelength
DESCRIPTION:
With a further increased radius and heightened sensitivity, Soul Perception at this level is an invaluable tool for Meisters and other characters looking to track down or keep tabs on certain kinds of individuals. At this level Soul Perception requires virtually no effort and will, in fact, often trigger the moment that a strong soul or a threatening wavelength enters the perceptive area. It can also be focused on a single soul through an effort of will; at close proximity, focused Soul Perception can yield a fair deal of information about the personality of an unguarded soul. Soul Perception at this level cannot yet penetrate the Soul Protect spell or similar "soul camouflage" Abilities.
ABILITY NAME: Soul Tracker
TYPE: Passive
STRENGTH: Strong
KEYWORDS: sense souls
DESCRIPTION:
In addition to standard Soul Perception, Davian has developed a technique for "tagging" souls via his own wavelength, vastly increasing the range and accuracy with which he and other Soul Perception users can track them. To "tag" a soul Davian needs to successfully hit the target's body with a wavelength attack; for up to a day afterwards the tagged soul will be easy to discern, like a torch lit up in the dead of night. Others with Soul Perception can also track the soul by focusing their Soul Perception on Davian. This technique is not yet at such a level that it can foil Soul Protect or similar techniques, however.
ABILITY NAME: Chain Resonance
TYPE: Active
STRENGTH: Chain Resonance
KEYWORDS: wavelength, resonance, combat amplification
DESCRIPTION:
Chain Resonance is arguably the most potent force multiplier in Shibusen's arsenal, a high-level technique whereby two or more Meister-Weapon teams resonate their souls with one another to achieve feats of strength, speed, and power that would otherwise be impossible for them independently. Chain Resonance is at its most effective when the overall power gain is focused on a single person/team at a time, the resonant power of the other(s) flowing into them as a result. With sufficient coordination and synchronization a Chain Resonance group can effectively trade off attack and support roles and control the entire flow of battle. This Ability becomes more powerful with each character that is added to the group; every character in the group MUST have this Ability to benefit from it.
ABILITY NAME: Advanced Physical Conditioning
TYPE: Passive
STRENGTH: Average
KEYWORDS:improved strength, improved speed
DESCRIPTION:
This character has undergone special training and conditioning to improve themselves physically, surpassing what are generally considered the limits of the human body in terms ofstrength, speed, agility, reflexes, and reaction time. However, this is really just the tip of the iceberg; on the scale of super-human attributes this character's abilities rank at 2, maybe 3, out of 10. Examples from Soul Eater include Maka Albarn, Soul Eater Evans, and the Thompson Sisters.
Davian's particular characteristics lean towards the skills of a trained gunman -- high visual acuity, reflexes, and reaction time. His physical strength is fairly average for a man his age, nothing special, and although Shibusen's rigorous training has toughened him up some it's nowhere near enough to put him on par with Stein, Kid, or BlackStar.
ABILITY NAME: Uncanny Machinist
TYPE: Passive
STRENGTH: Strong
KEYWORDS: extreme technical / mechanical knowledge, skilled craftsmanship
DESCRIPTION:
It's often been said that Davian understands machines better than he understands people... and there is truth to this. With a few minutes of examining any mechanical problem Davian can offer a solution if not outright fix the device himself, no matter how complicated, and typically suggest a few upgrades to boot. Give him an hour, a pile of scrap, a can of oil, and a few burritos (workin' man's gotta eat, after all) and he'll build you anything from an MP3 player to a pistol, a snow mobile, or a set of DJ equipment. He does, however, charge for his work... and don't be surprised if he tags on a few experimental bits as well. He can disassemble and reassemble most military-grade weapons in half the time soldiers are trained to and work out the functions of an unfamiliar machine with the greatest of ease -- unless it's a witch-crafted magic tool, in which case he's gonna need some time and a proper workshop, his workshop preferably.
[/ul]
EQUIPMENT:
TYPE: Clothing
STRENGTH: Strong
DESCRIPTION:
Far from "doing nothing", Davian's golden-hued lab goggles are a marvel of advanced technology. Equipped with an array of digital filters and micro-sensors, when worn the goggles allow Davian's sight to become a potent equalizing force in and out of combat. When paired with his Golden Gun the combat settings of the goggles allow high-precision targeting adjustment that factor in elements like wind sheer, distance, and atmospheric density. Besides night vision and varying degrees of magnification the goggles also have an experimental setting for "seeing" soul wavelengths in much the same manner as radar blips, using the "bounce back" of Davian's own wavelength as the sensory method. This is greatly enhanced if the target is effected by Soul Tracker. The goggles are adjusted by a small control box worn on Davian's belt.
EQUIPMENT NAME: Gold-Sound Headphones
TYPE: Clothing
STRENGTH: Average
DESCRIPTION:
This set of high-tech headphones are more than just a stylish accessory -- they're a potent audio filtering system that Davian originally created to shield his ears from the firing sounds of the Golden Gun but, as is his style, continued tinkering with. They can be adjusted for all manner of purposes, from isolating and range-estimating distant sounds to filtering out the chaos of a battlefield. The smallest sounds can be amplified and the greatest cacophony brought down to a dull rumble. With this Davian takes total control over what reaches his ears; the headphones, by default, render sonic (sound wave) attacks harmless up to Resonance level strength.
EQUIPMENT NAME: Golden Gun
TYPE: Weapon
STRENGTH: Resonance
DESCRIPTION:
The prime test model for Davian's weaponized soul battery technology, the golden gun is disarmingly simple-looking astride the living Weapons of Shibusen. Yet as a force multiplier it has the ability to change the very nature of the battlefield.
The Golden Gun can accept six (6) standard .44 calibur rounds via manual chamber loading, but it's REAL power comes into play when loaded with the custom Soulfire and Vortex rounds, described below.
The potent Soulfire rounds are the heart of the Golden Gun's true potential. Each shot must be charged up with Soul Purge before firing; the gun is designed to tolerate the stresses of a direct Soul Purge being applied to it and channels the energy via high-yield micro circuitry directly into the firing chamber. Once a round is charged a small light on the back of the gun will go green and the Soulfire round can be shot. On impact the shot will deliver a concentrated burst of volatile soul wavelength, as if the Soul Purge were concentrated into a single five-inch area with the penetration power of an armor-piercing round. On a normal human the effect is like getting struck by lightning, almost certainly fatal; verses Kishin Eggs and witches the Soulfire round is almost as devastating.
Since it draws power directly from the gunner's soul, firing Soulfire rounds can be exhausting, especially if the gunner attempts to fire an entire chamber of six rounds in quick succession. Over-use of this technology can cause the gunner to pass out or worse, potentially doing permanent damage to their own soul. For this reason Davian has limited himself to never fire more than six shots within an hour. The more potent the soul energy being poured into each round the more devastating the shot, but equally devastating is the drain on the user. This can be somewhat mitigated by using Soul Resonance or Chain Resonance.
VORTEX ROUNDS
Risky prototype rounds that Davian has only constructed three of currently, the Vortex is an aptly-named alternate application of the principles behind the soul battery taken to extreme measures. Each round is tipped with a "Reaper warhead", a device that literally "harvests" any and every soul wavelength in its path and dumps it into the bullet's wavelength scrambling battery. Quite literally, it will "eat" any wavelength it comes into contact with, twist it around on itself, and release the accumulated power explosively on contact with any solid object. This is not only meant to be, in Davian's estimation, a "Kishin-killer", but also an answer to wavelength-based defenses like Stein's Experimental Ectoplasm.
Not only are Vortex rounds incredibly expensive to create, but just to fire one can easily drain the gunner of most of their strength and risk doing instant damage to their soul. It doesn't have the charge-up time of a Soulfire round; rather, simply pulling the trigger causes the Reaper warhead to begin suctioning off wavelengths within the immediate area... starting with whoever's holding the gun. If a normal human or a novice Shibusen student tried to fire a Vortex round it would unquestionably kill them outright to do so.
Even on Missions Davian only ever keeps one Vortex round on his person, "just in case".[/ul][/size]
[/ul]
MINIONS:
VEHICLES:
LOYALTY: Shibusen, Exorcists
KEY ATTRIBUTES:
Weaknesses: Inferior in close-range combat, low strength / durability, low social IQ, reliant on soul wavelength & Golden Gun for all meaningful attacks
Likes: Mexican food, peace and quiet, machinery, respect
Dislikes: Stein, "mad men", being dismissed or overshadowed, complicated social situations
Hobbies: Tinkering, inventing, star gazing, hobby gardening
[/ul]
PERSONALITY:
Prof. Davian is, as most Shibusen teachers are, a little quirky. His personality can shift from distant and detached to fully engaged and astute in a heartbeat, and back again just as quick. Unlike Stein whose background in the lab paints everything as either part of an experiment or a specimen to be studied, Davian takes a slightly more... mystical outlook. His personal philosophy is that all things are connected -- that every force and factor, no matter how strong or weak, acts upon or with every other in the universe, creating a vast interconnected web of cause and effect far deeper and broader than the human mind can take in. Furthermore, by understanding the forces acting upon a single object of study Davian believes it possible to understand that object of study completely. Shinigami, gravity, madness, witches, Einstein, tuna casserole -- to Davian's sideways-thinking mind, all these and more are inextricably connected.
When not fussing about the universe's vast web of connections or tinkering with some new gizmo Davian Boyle can most often be found on the roof of his small house, tending to his zen rock garden or stargazing. He's an avid student of the classics and likes to quote Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, amongst others. He is a skilled marksman and has developed a handful of unique soul wavelength techniques that support his own combat style, relying on weaving feints, attacks, and traps together in such a way as to back enemies into an unwinnable situation.[/ul]
HISTORY:
As mentioned, Davian is the direct descendant of the chemist Robert Boyle. From an early age he was raised in a tradition rich with scientific inquiry, sitting in on his father's university labs and lectures and his mother's work at a local observatory as soon as he was old enough. Though his parents considered a number of traditional routes for his education Davian had his heart set upon Shibusen, eager as he was to learn everything he could about the vast, fascinating world around him. And so, when he was of age, his parents sent him to Death City with a junior chemistry set, an Applied Physics textbook, and their best wishes for success.
And on his first day... he met Stein.
Davian had long ago become used to being the "rising star", the budding child protege that all his peers looked upon with mixed envy and respect, the boy whom all the adults doted on as being "the next Edison or Tesla". He hadn't expected that aspect of his world to get turned upside-down upon coming to the school. Franken Stein not only surpassed Davian intellectually and as a Meister, but -- much to the boy's chagrin -- Stein's bouts with madness earned him even more attention, leaving young Davian often alone and forgotten. A deep root of bitterness slowly set in; he was a capable young scientist, a fair student and decent Meister, good looking for his age and doing his best to be social... and yet Stein, prone to psychotic breakouts and threatening fellow students and even teachers with dissection, was the sun (or black hole, as Davian preferred to think) around which everyone's attentions orbited.
His spotlight had been stolen... by a mad man!
For a time Davian tried to compete, doing his best to outshine his self-determined "rival"... but to no avail. Stein was smarter and less constrained by scientific presuppositions; he was far stronger, faster, and quickly developing a versatility with his soul that Davian couldn't even approach. In the end, there was just no competition. Dejected at his sweeping array of stinging defeats the young scientist withdrew almost entirely, cloistering himself in his lab for one last great attempt. He'd long postulated that, although technology could never take the place of a living soul or equal its raw potential, the two could be made compatible. And so his research drove him deep into sleepless nights and sunless days as he toiled in a basement workshop, hand-machining components and soldering wires, testing fall-backs and aligning components too delicate to be touched by human hands. And, in an effort of true genius, Davian Boyle created the world's first "soul battery", just in time for the yearly Shibusen Special Projects Showcase.
Yumi demonstrated her now-famous ability to use Soul Resonance via radio and telephone, confirming Davian's earlier theories.
Tezca proved that it was possible to harmonize wavelengths with a non-human primate.
Marie tried, and failed, to make a potato battery.
And Spirit, somehow, got drunk.
Finally, after a few dozen other demonstrations, it was Davian's turn. With nothing but his own soul wavelength he charged the battery, which then released the wavelength as a concentrated pulse into a cement block, breaking it in half. The judges were clearly impressed and a heavy round of applause greeted him as he bowed.
But all that was forgotten when Stein, next taking the stage, revealed his Experimental Ectoplasm technique for the first time in public. The mad man took first place; Yumi and Davian had to share second.
It was intolerable. The rest of Davian's time at Shibusen went by in an apathetic blur and upon graduation he couldn't wait to leave. The next several years came and went without much of interest; while he oversaw new corporate technologies and some military R&D he worked hard on perfecting his soul battery, fashioning it into various forms and functions, doing his best to forget about Stein all the while. Yet the memories never quite went away, even as the hatred cooled and the outrage dissipated.
And then the Kishin Crisis hit, the war with Arachnophobia and its aftermath spinning the world into a mass of fear, panic, and hysteria. Davian did some minor fighting on the peripheries but was never called on for the major battles. When everything finally died down he returned to his research like nothing had happened... except that someone was waiting for him: General-Major Clarke Godwynn, the man who would go on to form the Exorcists. The general was in the process of getting the UN to review his ideas for a "madness investigations and intervention" force and had read about Davian's work while researching his premise. The two men talked for hours and eventually came to an arrangement: Davian would work with the General-Major to weaponize his soul battery technology and in return Godwynn would pull some political strings and get Davian a teaching position at Shibusen. That turned out to be far easier than he'd expected; within a few years the school's enrollment had been doubled and new teachers were being interviewed left and right. Getting Davian's name to the top of the list was child's play for someone with Godwynn's connections. Meanwhile the Exorcists were beginning to take shape as an independent organization and Davian's technology, reinvented as the potent Soulfire rounds for the Exodus rifle, was moving into the final testing stages.
Davian Boyle was at last in a position of respect, both for himself and for his creation. It was as though he'd been given a second chance at life.
A chance he didn't intend to waste.
MORE INFO:
Davian has an extensive workshop and testing lab in a second-level basement of his house in Death City, along with various and sundry machines and equipment of his own creation in practically every room of said house. The roof of the house features a sheltered telescope and zen rock garden where he spends much of his "out of the lab" time.[/blockquote]
[/i]: Standard Soul Purge--------------
CHARACTER NAME: Davian Boyle
NICKNAME(S): "The Alchemist"
DIALOGUE COLOR CODE: 887200
OCCUPATION(S):
Professor of Interconnected Disciplines at Shibusen;
Technology Consultant for the Exorcists
RACE: Human
CLASS: Meister
ADVANCED CLASS: 3-Star Meister
AGE: 42
GENDER: Male
APPEARANCE:
Prof. Boyle comes off as a man born into the wrong era. Everything from his overly formal style of dress to his ornate (and subtly steampunk) headphones and goggles -- to say nothing of his openly displayed golden dueling pistol -- suggests some odd combination of cowboy and scientist. His unruly brown hair is kept in a short ponytail that falls to between his shoulder blades and his green eyes gleam with a keen, quiet intelligence. His typical outfit is a white dress shirt, black vest and tie, dark leather gun harness and matching belt, black slacks and steel-toed black dress shoes. When going out in public beyond the walls of Shibusen he normally dons a brown leather trench coat as well, mostly to keep people from freaking out at the sight of his gun. The headphones and goggles are part of an integrated set with a wire trailing down behind him to a small control box attached to his belt.- - -
CURRENT PARTNER(S): none
MADNESS THEME: - - -- - -
ABILITIES:
T H E M E _ M U S I C TYPE: Active
STRENGTH: Average
KEYWORDS: wavelength, melee
DESCRIPTION:
The standard Soul Purge, as taught to Meisters by Shibusen, relies on a Meister's ability to "weaponize" their own soul wavelength as a momentary surge of energy. At this level Soul Purge becomes a capable attack in-and-of itself, able to drive home the pain verses foes with hardened physical defenses. Soul Purge requires physical contact in order to do damage.
ABILITY NAME: Ground Surge
TYPE: Active
STRENGTH: Average
KEYWORDS: soul purge, melee, ground burst
DESCRIPTION:
Like many proficient Meisters, Davian was taught to utilize the Soul Purge technique of self-resonance for attack purposes. Unlike other Meisters, however, he developed a variation of the attack that can be used at medium range or even as an area-of-effect attack.
When he uses the "Ground Surge" variation of Soul Purge Davian plants his hand firmly against the ground and forces his soul wavelength into it in a concentrated burst. Utilizing the principle of positive ground charge Davian's wavelength discharge triggers a small momentary electrical storm at the location of his target; the effect is weaker than a direct-contact Soul Purge and has a maximum distance of thirty-five feet on most surfaces, yet the "shock value" of the Ground Surge can stun most opponents for a second or two, allowing other combatants an opportunity to cut them down.
Using Ground Surge defensively is much the same with slightly different effects. Maintaining ground contact, Davian electrifies the ground around him in a four foot radius -- anyone to enter that zone, even without touching the ground, will "trip the circuit" and end up with a fierce jolt of electricity flowing through them. Davian can maintain this for up to five minutes before a breather, shocking the target the whole time.
It's worth noting that, as an electricity-based attack, the usefulness and range of Ground Surge varies based on terrain.
ABILITY NAME: Skilled Soul Perception
TYPE: Passive / Active
STRENGTH: Strong
KEYWORDS: sense souls, wavelength
DESCRIPTION:
With a further increased radius and heightened sensitivity, Soul Perception at this level is an invaluable tool for Meisters and other characters looking to track down or keep tabs on certain kinds of individuals. At this level Soul Perception requires virtually no effort and will, in fact, often trigger the moment that a strong soul or a threatening wavelength enters the perceptive area. It can also be focused on a single soul through an effort of will; at close proximity, focused Soul Perception can yield a fair deal of information about the personality of an unguarded soul. Soul Perception at this level cannot yet penetrate the Soul Protect spell or similar "soul camouflage" Abilities.
ABILITY NAME: Soul Tracker
TYPE: Passive
STRENGTH: Strong
KEYWORDS: sense souls
DESCRIPTION:
In addition to standard Soul Perception, Davian has developed a technique for "tagging" souls via his own wavelength, vastly increasing the range and accuracy with which he and other Soul Perception users can track them. To "tag" a soul Davian needs to successfully hit the target's body with a wavelength attack; for up to a day afterwards the tagged soul will be easy to discern, like a torch lit up in the dead of night. Others with Soul Perception can also track the soul by focusing their Soul Perception on Davian. This technique is not yet at such a level that it can foil Soul Protect or similar techniques, however.
ABILITY NAME: Chain Resonance
TYPE: Active
STRENGTH: Chain Resonance
KEYWORDS: wavelength, resonance, combat amplification
DESCRIPTION:
Chain Resonance is arguably the most potent force multiplier in Shibusen's arsenal, a high-level technique whereby two or more Meister-Weapon teams resonate their souls with one another to achieve feats of strength, speed, and power that would otherwise be impossible for them independently. Chain Resonance is at its most effective when the overall power gain is focused on a single person/team at a time, the resonant power of the other(s) flowing into them as a result. With sufficient coordination and synchronization a Chain Resonance group can effectively trade off attack and support roles and control the entire flow of battle. This Ability becomes more powerful with each character that is added to the group; every character in the group MUST have this Ability to benefit from it.
ABILITY NAME: Advanced Physical Conditioning
TYPE: Passive
STRENGTH: Average
KEYWORDS:
DESCRIPTION:
This character has undergone special training and conditioning to improve themselves physically, surpassing what are generally considered the limits of the human body in terms of
Davian's particular characteristics lean towards the skills of a trained gunman -- high visual acuity, reflexes, and reaction time. His physical strength is fairly average for a man his age, nothing special, and although Shibusen's rigorous training has toughened him up some it's nowhere near enough to put him on par with Stein, Kid, or BlackStar.
ABILITY NAME: Uncanny Machinist
TYPE: Passive
STRENGTH: Strong
KEYWORDS: extreme technical / mechanical knowledge, skilled craftsmanship
DESCRIPTION:
It's often been said that Davian understands machines better than he understands people... and there is truth to this. With a few minutes of examining any mechanical problem Davian can offer a solution if not outright fix the device himself, no matter how complicated, and typically suggest a few upgrades to boot. Give him an hour, a pile of scrap, a can of oil, and a few burritos (workin' man's gotta eat, after all) and he'll build you anything from an MP3 player to a pistol, a snow mobile, or a set of DJ equipment. He does, however, charge for his work... and don't be surprised if he tags on a few experimental bits as well. He can disassemble and reassemble most military-grade weapons in half the time soldiers are trained to and work out the functions of an unfamiliar machine with the greatest of ease -- unless it's a witch-crafted magic tool, in which case he's gonna need some time and a proper workshop, his workshop preferably.
[/ul]
EQUIPMENT:
TYPE: Clothing
STRENGTH: Strong
DESCRIPTION:
Far from "doing nothing", Davian's golden-hued lab goggles are a marvel of advanced technology. Equipped with an array of digital filters and micro-sensors, when worn the goggles allow Davian's sight to become a potent equalizing force in and out of combat. When paired with his Golden Gun the combat settings of the goggles allow high-precision targeting adjustment that factor in elements like wind sheer, distance, and atmospheric density. Besides night vision and varying degrees of magnification the goggles also have an experimental setting for "seeing" soul wavelengths in much the same manner as radar blips, using the "bounce back" of Davian's own wavelength as the sensory method. This is greatly enhanced if the target is effected by Soul Tracker. The goggles are adjusted by a small control box worn on Davian's belt.
EQUIPMENT NAME: Gold-Sound Headphones
TYPE: Clothing
STRENGTH: Average
DESCRIPTION:
This set of high-tech headphones are more than just a stylish accessory -- they're a potent audio filtering system that Davian originally created to shield his ears from the firing sounds of the Golden Gun but, as is his style, continued tinkering with. They can be adjusted for all manner of purposes, from isolating and range-estimating distant sounds to filtering out the chaos of a battlefield. The smallest sounds can be amplified and the greatest cacophony brought down to a dull rumble. With this Davian takes total control over what reaches his ears; the headphones, by default, render sonic (sound wave) attacks harmless up to Resonance level strength.
EQUIPMENT NAME: Golden Gun
TYPE: Weapon
STRENGTH: Resonance
DESCRIPTION:
The prime test model for Davian's weaponized soul battery technology, the golden gun is disarmingly simple-looking astride the living Weapons of Shibusen. Yet as a force multiplier it has the ability to change the very nature of the battlefield.
The Golden Gun can accept six (6) standard .44 calibur rounds via manual chamber loading, but it's REAL power comes into play when loaded with the custom Soulfire and Vortex rounds, described below.
The potent Soulfire rounds are the heart of the Golden Gun's true potential. Each shot must be charged up with Soul Purge before firing; the gun is designed to tolerate the stresses of a direct Soul Purge being applied to it and channels the energy via high-yield micro circuitry directly into the firing chamber. Once a round is charged a small light on the back of the gun will go green and the Soulfire round can be shot. On impact the shot will deliver a concentrated burst of volatile soul wavelength, as if the Soul Purge were concentrated into a single five-inch area with the penetration power of an armor-piercing round. On a normal human the effect is like getting struck by lightning, almost certainly fatal; verses Kishin Eggs and witches the Soulfire round is almost as devastating.
Since it draws power directly from the gunner's soul, firing Soulfire rounds can be exhausting, especially if the gunner attempts to fire an entire chamber of six rounds in quick succession. Over-use of this technology can cause the gunner to pass out or worse, potentially doing permanent damage to their own soul. For this reason Davian has limited himself to never fire more than six shots within an hour. The more potent the soul energy being poured into each round the more devastating the shot, but equally devastating is the drain on the user. This can be somewhat mitigated by using Soul Resonance or Chain Resonance.
VORTEX ROUNDS
Risky prototype rounds that Davian has only constructed three of currently, the Vortex is an aptly-named alternate application of the principles behind the soul battery taken to extreme measures. Each round is tipped with a "Reaper warhead", a device that literally "harvests" any and every soul wavelength in its path and dumps it into the bullet's wavelength scrambling battery. Quite literally, it will "eat" any wavelength it comes into contact with, twist it around on itself, and release the accumulated power explosively on contact with any solid object. This is not only meant to be, in Davian's estimation, a "Kishin-killer", but also an answer to wavelength-based defenses like Stein's Experimental Ectoplasm.
Not only are Vortex rounds incredibly expensive to create, but just to fire one can easily drain the gunner of most of their strength and risk doing instant damage to their soul. It doesn't have the charge-up time of a Soulfire round; rather, simply pulling the trigger causes the Reaper warhead to begin suctioning off wavelengths within the immediate area... starting with whoever's holding the gun. If a normal human or a novice Shibusen student tried to fire a Vortex round it would unquestionably kill them outright to do so.
Even on Missions Davian only ever keeps one Vortex round on his person, "just in case".[/ul][/size]
[/ul]
MINIONS:
VEHICLES:
- - -
LOYALTY: Shibusen, Exorcists
KEY ATTRIBUTES:
Weaknesses: Inferior in close-range combat, low strength / durability, low social IQ, reliant on soul wavelength & Golden Gun for all meaningful attacks
Likes: Mexican food, peace and quiet, machinery, respect
Dislikes: Stein, "mad men", being dismissed or overshadowed, complicated social situations
Hobbies: Tinkering, inventing, star gazing, hobby gardening
[/ul]
PERSONALITY:
Prof. Davian is, as most Shibusen teachers are, a little quirky. His personality can shift from distant and detached to fully engaged and astute in a heartbeat, and back again just as quick. Unlike Stein whose background in the lab paints everything as either part of an experiment or a specimen to be studied, Davian takes a slightly more... mystical outlook. His personal philosophy is that all things are connected -- that every force and factor, no matter how strong or weak, acts upon or with every other in the universe, creating a vast interconnected web of cause and effect far deeper and broader than the human mind can take in. Furthermore, by understanding the forces acting upon a single object of study Davian believes it possible to understand that object of study completely. Shinigami, gravity, madness, witches, Einstein, tuna casserole -- to Davian's sideways-thinking mind, all these and more are inextricably connected.
When not fussing about the universe's vast web of connections or tinkering with some new gizmo Davian Boyle can most often be found on the roof of his small house, tending to his zen rock garden or stargazing. He's an avid student of the classics and likes to quote Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, amongst others. He is a skilled marksman and has developed a handful of unique soul wavelength techniques that support his own combat style, relying on weaving feints, attacks, and traps together in such a way as to back enemies into an unwinnable situation.[/ul]
HISTORY:
As mentioned, Davian is the direct descendant of the chemist Robert Boyle. From an early age he was raised in a tradition rich with scientific inquiry, sitting in on his father's university labs and lectures and his mother's work at a local observatory as soon as he was old enough. Though his parents considered a number of traditional routes for his education Davian had his heart set upon Shibusen, eager as he was to learn everything he could about the vast, fascinating world around him. And so, when he was of age, his parents sent him to Death City with a junior chemistry set, an Applied Physics textbook, and their best wishes for success.
And on his first day... he met Stein.
Davian had long ago become used to being the "rising star", the budding child protege that all his peers looked upon with mixed envy and respect, the boy whom all the adults doted on as being "the next Edison or Tesla". He hadn't expected that aspect of his world to get turned upside-down upon coming to the school. Franken Stein not only surpassed Davian intellectually and as a Meister, but -- much to the boy's chagrin -- Stein's bouts with madness earned him even more attention, leaving young Davian often alone and forgotten. A deep root of bitterness slowly set in; he was a capable young scientist, a fair student and decent Meister, good looking for his age and doing his best to be social... and yet Stein, prone to psychotic breakouts and threatening fellow students and even teachers with dissection, was the sun (or black hole, as Davian preferred to think) around which everyone's attentions orbited.
His spotlight had been stolen... by a mad man!
For a time Davian tried to compete, doing his best to outshine his self-determined "rival"... but to no avail. Stein was smarter and less constrained by scientific presuppositions; he was far stronger, faster, and quickly developing a versatility with his soul that Davian couldn't even approach. In the end, there was just no competition. Dejected at his sweeping array of stinging defeats the young scientist withdrew almost entirely, cloistering himself in his lab for one last great attempt. He'd long postulated that, although technology could never take the place of a living soul or equal its raw potential, the two could be made compatible. And so his research drove him deep into sleepless nights and sunless days as he toiled in a basement workshop, hand-machining components and soldering wires, testing fall-backs and aligning components too delicate to be touched by human hands. And, in an effort of true genius, Davian Boyle created the world's first "soul battery", just in time for the yearly Shibusen Special Projects Showcase.
Yumi demonstrated her now-famous ability to use Soul Resonance via radio and telephone, confirming Davian's earlier theories.
Tezca proved that it was possible to harmonize wavelengths with a non-human primate.
Marie tried, and failed, to make a potato battery.
And Spirit, somehow, got drunk.
Finally, after a few dozen other demonstrations, it was Davian's turn. With nothing but his own soul wavelength he charged the battery, which then released the wavelength as a concentrated pulse into a cement block, breaking it in half. The judges were clearly impressed and a heavy round of applause greeted him as he bowed.
But all that was forgotten when Stein, next taking the stage, revealed his Experimental Ectoplasm technique for the first time in public. The mad man took first place; Yumi and Davian had to share second.
It was intolerable. The rest of Davian's time at Shibusen went by in an apathetic blur and upon graduation he couldn't wait to leave. The next several years came and went without much of interest; while he oversaw new corporate technologies and some military R&D he worked hard on perfecting his soul battery, fashioning it into various forms and functions, doing his best to forget about Stein all the while. Yet the memories never quite went away, even as the hatred cooled and the outrage dissipated.
And then the Kishin Crisis hit, the war with Arachnophobia and its aftermath spinning the world into a mass of fear, panic, and hysteria. Davian did some minor fighting on the peripheries but was never called on for the major battles. When everything finally died down he returned to his research like nothing had happened... except that someone was waiting for him: General-Major Clarke Godwynn, the man who would go on to form the Exorcists. The general was in the process of getting the UN to review his ideas for a "madness investigations and intervention" force and had read about Davian's work while researching his premise. The two men talked for hours and eventually came to an arrangement: Davian would work with the General-Major to weaponize his soul battery technology and in return Godwynn would pull some political strings and get Davian a teaching position at Shibusen. That turned out to be far easier than he'd expected; within a few years the school's enrollment had been doubled and new teachers were being interviewed left and right. Getting Davian's name to the top of the list was child's play for someone with Godwynn's connections. Meanwhile the Exorcists were beginning to take shape as an independent organization and Davian's technology, reinvented as the potent Soulfire rounds for the Exodus rifle, was moving into the final testing stages.
Davian Boyle was at last in a position of respect, both for himself and for his creation. It was as though he'd been given a second chance at life.
A chance he didn't intend to waste.
MORE INFO:
Davian has an extensive workshop and testing lab in a second-level basement of his house in Death City, along with various and sundry machines and equipment of his own creation in practically every room of said house. The roof of the house features a sheltered telescope and zen rock garden where he spends much of his "out of the lab" time.[/blockquote]
