Raven Mist (Master)

[/color][/b][/color] Nina Lüceanu
NICKNAMES: //[/color] Raven Mist, Misty, Ravy - but don't call her that
AGE: //[/color] 5(legally, due to a computer mistake)/22(actually)
DATE OF BIRTH: //[/color] February 29, 2004
GENDER: //[/color] female
ALIGNMENT: //[/color] Chaotic Variable [Neutral]. Her demeanor is strictly Giggling Mad, though. Most of the time, anyway.
OCCUPATION: //[/color] NEET, researcher ("mad scientist" type)
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"DAT ASS!" – often said about her; often, these are their final words...

Slightly amused and just a tad insane.
With her (desired) partner.

HEIGHT: //

[/color] 166 cm
WEIGHT: //[/color] 52 kg
EYE COLOR: //[/color] brown
HAIR COLOR: //[/color] black
PIERCINGS: //[/color] -
TATTOOS: //[/color] Her Command Spells are situated around her navel and have the form of three sharp-edged petals "growing" out of her belly button. Using them makes her feel good. At least, she says so.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: //[/color] black wings on her head; dat ass!
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"She might seem weird at first bit don't let that trick you. The truth is, she's much weirder than she might seem." - those who have more than a 20 point difference in IQ with her, as in, most people here in Lucca don't know her all that well.

• Deadpan Expressionless
  
  • Her face retains the slightly bored appearance with droopy eyes in most situations. If she's really agitated, though, her expression might change drastically.
  
  
• Excitable
  
  • Though it doesn’t show on her face, Nina is easily gets excited over the most casual things. She’s lived most of her life in seclusion so many things that normal people are used to are completely new to her. Ice-cream is a fine example.
  
  
• Troll Consummate Liar
  
  • She has a penchant for telling blatant lies and often blows things out of proportion, especially about her background. Worst of all, no one can really tell whether she's lying or not, due to her usual lack of expression. Once, she was seen with her grandfather in one of the research institutions of the Sea of Estray and was mistaken for his lover due to her choice of words. It might be a false rumor. She thought it's amusing and went along with it. Maybe...
    
  
  
• Self-absorbed
  
  • She doesn't really have a care in the world and is prone to losing sight of her surroundings, especially when something (or someone) piques her interest. She's likely to space out when an idea "strikes" her, as a true researcher should. Also, she's usually unaware of how the other side feels about her actions which leads to the next point.
  
  
• Stalker
  
  • She has little experience in interpersonal relationships except for her interaction with old Raven Mist. Even then, most of their conversations were about magecraft. If she takes an interest in someone, she will end up stalking them, harassing them, and might even attack them if bored. If she’s discovered she'll turn everything into a joke and make her exit. Of course, she'll be back the next day. On the other hand, she's as likely to help them if need arises.
  
  
• Deranged Weird
  
  • It'll be safe to say that whatever experiments she's been conducting lately, they weren't safe for her mental health. Not really, but her usual demeanor makes her appear unstable. The image is further complemented by her language. She isn't used to speaking Italian. No, first of all, she isn't used to speaking. Her sentences are generally short, sometimes too short to understand her point. She often pauses mid-sentence and usually speaks disjointedly, sometimes almost incoherently. Moreover, she often forgets what part of her thoughts she's said out loud, and which she hasn't, making it even harder to follow her train of thought. She also likes to laugh. Well, at least, she tries. Most of the time, it comes out as creepy, desultory giggles. When she concentrates, she can speak intelligibly, and her sentences become overly complex instead (Slav languages make much more use of complex sentences than English... or Italian, for that matter).
  
  
• Cold-blooded and Calculating
  
  • Behind the slightly insane facade lies a cold heart. She's got her priorities set, and she won't allow morals hinder her. She'll have no qualms about involving innocents, but won't allow her Servant feed on humans as she sees this as a kind of dependency.
    
  
  

LIKES: //

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Laughing (though it makes her look even more like a raving lunatic)
"Amusing" things
Strong people
Magic duels
Magecraft in general
Cooking (as in, to cook and the process of cooking itself)
Ice-cream
Her Magic Crest
Throwing knives
Darts

DISLIKES: //[/color]
Dependencies
Weak-willed people
People who use others' strength for their own
Comments about her rear - it's her Berserk Button
Her Magic Crest ('cause it's in Romania right now, when she needs it)
Things her body "isn't meant for"

STRENGTHS: //[/color] Nina is fast and nimble, in both body and mind. She also has high stamina which makes her a good runner, which can be useful when pursuing an enemy or escaping from danger. More important is her mental discipline. She's been taught nothing but magecraft since early childhood and it turned out she likes magic duels more than experiments. So, basically, that's what she's been doing. Now, she's a practiced spellcaster with superior strategic insight on everything related to magical combat. Lastly, she doesn't fear death (she has taken precautions; scroll down to the ‘Doll’ in the equipment section for details) so she'll keep her cool in most situations, and her concentration cannot be disrupted by any mental interference or pressure created by killing intent.

WEAKNESSES: //[/color]Her high stamina and good speed are the only good points regarding her physical prowess. Nina doesn't have much experience in close combat. Basically, she will be at a disadvantage in a brawl against most opponents. Then, there's her... umm... weird personality that makes her hard to approach, so she's unlikely to make allies. Her most serious weaknesses, though, is her disregard for her own life (she has taken precautions).
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MY FAMILY LINE: //

[/color] Lüceanu aren't a well-known family, mainly because their family name often changed throughout history. Their roots go as far as the 12th century, making them well over 800 years old. Their Magic Crest was once lost in the 14th century, so the generation count is lower than you'd think, Nina being the 10th family head.

They are an odd family that often changed their field of study, making their powers seem rather inconsistent. Moreover, they never suffered from the main weakness of most old families: pride. Because of this, they were always looked down upon at the Clock Tower and generally ignored, despite their brilliance. Not that they cared much, as few of them studied there. Their main base of operations is the Sea of Estray. Here, they are widely known as a family of "mad mages", eccentrics who simply do whatever they feel like. Still, individual researchers often cooperate with them as the Lüceanu are random geniuses (as in, they're random, but generally successful at whatever they do). Their biggest problem is that none of their projects lasted more than 2 generations so they never made any groundbreaking discoveries.

The previous head of family and the original Raven Mist was best known for his research of immortality. In the span of roughly sixty years he helped two magi become vampires, though one of them was recently killed for good. Obviously enough, his own version was that "he used the results of my research to further his own". Thus, the Church left him alone, though he was still deemed "an individual to be observed", along with everyone else who had contacts with the heretic. [1] Exactly how far his own research has gone, no one knows. Except for Nina. Probably. Aside from this branch of research, he is known to have developed a rather powerful spell, "Shadow Mist" (his workshop is surrounded by a semi-permanent variation of this spell, sustained in the form of a bounded field).

Lüceanu have wonderful fledging circuits with an average quality of about 12 PrC. The average amount tends to fluctuate much but the general tendency is that at least one child in three generations will have an outstanding quantity. This peculiarity can be seen as a Sorcery Trait; it has been referred to in the family as “Meridian Arc”, though the reason for this naming has been long since forgotten (most likely, someone tried tying the appearance of “blessed” children to the positions of the stars at the time of conception; the theory fell through but the name remained). Such prodigies are the ones who usually succeed the Magic Crest. In "normal" generations the expected amount is 6-10 circuits but it's three times as much in a "blessed" generation. This family is expected to grow much stronger in the future.

As the Lüceanu often change the direction of their research they don't have a strict thaumaturgical specialization. Also, due to their eccentricity, they never concentrated on a single direction for their spells, meaning a Lüceanu could develop a means of genocide and adapt it into a mundane utility, never realizing the potential lethality of the spell.

If someone tries searching for any peculiarities in their methods, they might notice that that their research had lately been producing an unexpected amount of results in just one or two generations. It can be hand-waved by saying that Raven Mist was a genius but that wouldn't explain everything. Lüceanu have a lot of "trifling" data left over from the previous generations. They possess one of the most extensive private libraries in Eastern Europe. Much of the research was abandoned every time the next heir considered it too boring to continue. As time passed, the fields of study started overlapping with certain projects of their ancestors. As such, the apparent progress can now exceed expectations of those who don't know of these details (which is pretty much everyone outside the family).

MY HISTORY: //[/color] Normal life? I don't know what you consider "normal". My childhood was normal. As far as I can tell. I didn't know any other so... it didn't seem out of ordinary.

I lived with my grandpa. For as long as I remember. I don't remember living with my parents. But they visited. Sometimes. We have a large house in the mountains. It is always surrounded by mist. It made me feel sick so I tried to stay indoors. It was better in the rooms. There was a library, so I wasn't bored even when he wasn't there. The lady that prepared our food... still does... it seems cooking was her only... interest? No... umm... Vocabulary... dictionary... Don't have it... Seemed like she... umm... was created for cooking. And only that. We didn't talk much. I remember grandpa saying. She's a present from a friend. There was nobody but us so sometimes we talked. But it was always about cooking.

Most of the time, I read books. Grandpa had many books about... um... voca... don't have it... um... about things. There was much I didn't understand so I had to ask grandpa. He wasn't always around so sometimes I had to figure it out myself. By reading other books.

When I grew up a little and stopped asking as many questions, grandpa started teaching me... umm... things... himself. He said I had great potential. More than being with him, though, I liked doing things myself... When I couldn't understand something that I saw in a book... or just felt like doing something... I'd try it myself. Practice helped me understand. There were things I couldn't do, though. Grandpa said that my body isn't meant for these things. He gave me some books where the difference was explained. He was pleased with my enthusiasm. But then said I shouldn't do such things without him. So I stopped. Well, actually, I didn't. Grandpa was away much of the time. So after some time I returned to experimenting alone. Sometimes I had Maria... the cooking lady... help me. Grandpa got angry. When he found out. I apologized and promised not to do it again. But he said all I had to do was ask permission first.

Then he brought another man with him. And said I can play with him all I want. The man was Petre. He was boring. He would read books from grandpa's collection most of the time... I guess I was boring too, then. But books are interesting so I kind of understood him. We got along like that. Petre was weird. He wouldn't go out during the day. Said sun's bad for his skin... But he often went out at night. He seemed to enjoy walking in the mist around our house. How can you like that stuff? Well, another man was fun to have around. He was experienced and would often show me something new. With his help, I improved quite a lot. Grandpa still asked me what I learned from him, and he sometimes got angry at Petre after that. He would gather all three of us and show how the deed is done correctly. Grandpa had much more experience, and was... more gifted than Petre, in most areas. Petre had better stamina, though. He lasted longer. He recovered quickly, too. But grandpa had better technique, definitely. Petre loved these lessons. Even though grandpa often used him as punishment.

Well, that is what my childhood was like. It was normal. What do you mean, "stop joking around". A~h. This is boring. So I tried to make the story more interesting. I overdid it? He-he. That reaction. It's amusing. He-he~.

I only knew about the outside world from books. Not all of Grandpa's books were about magecraft. But those were the most interesting. When grandpa took me with him, it was boring. There was many talking. People talked about boring things. I wasn't interested in the outside back then... I think I might have changed now. Ice-cream is good. There are many amusing things to see. And feel. I don't think I'll be going back home after this.

Um... Some 5 years ago... Grandpa came back in good mood. No. That's wrong. He was... umm... ecstatic, overjoyed. He spoke incoherently. Even more so than usual. About immortality, about the Third magic... and about this land. You see, grandpa was obsessed with his research. It was cute. He. He-he. He studied the soul. And the body. He searched for immortality all his life. He had friends in the Sea. It seems he knew long before that. That the Einzberns were planning this. 10 years. Maybe more. He was often away... I already said that. But when he was at home, he would often experiment. It was interesting to watch. But at some point the experiments changed. They became... dangerous. Um... He postponed his research. He was scary at the time. This part is boring. I'll skip it.

Grandpa died. He was old. He called himself a fool. Guess he meant his obsession. He asked me to continue his research. Immorta~li~ty~. It's interesting. So I agreed. He seemed satisfied... That's why I am here now. That was... over 2 years ago, now. After grandpa died, I was sad. I started spending most of my time with Maria. She was the only one around. I learned a lot of... things... with her help. These were very unlike my lessons with grandpa... Huh? I'm doing it again? ...Whatever. Umm... Yeah.

Some time later, two men came. Petre... and I didn't know the other one. Petre was sad, just like me. The other man... ah, he introduced himself as Nicolay. He didn't look like one, though. He was another friend of grandpa's. It seems. They told me about this ritual... they called it a war. They were boring so I didn't listen much. Then Maria said it would be a chance for me. I guess she meant "a chance to study Italian cuisine firsthand". She rarely spoke about anything unrelated to cooking.

I though that now that grandpa is not here anymore, there is no point in staying. I wanted to go somewhere immediately but Nicolay proved to be interesting. He said he can make another body for me. I was amused... Well, he tried his best. I wish he'd improve some areas so that I would be able to try new... things. Hmm~. It's not that bad, though. It's satisfying. Nicolay taught me many things with this new body, as well as before that. I tried some of them on Petre later... He isn't normal. It seems he enjoys being penetrated over and over again. I'd die from something like that... What was that facepalm for? Is my English that bad? Well, I learned... A-a~h! Magecraft... That was the word. I learned some interesting magecraft, and tried some spells on Petre. He's a Dead Apostle. He wouldn't die from something like that. I still tried to go easy on him. I felt sorry for hurting him at first. But he seemed to like it. Petre had always been weird like that. Um... So that's it. I learned what I thought would be most useful. I may be slow on the attack but making this trinket *points at Wings* was the correct choice.

MY GOALS: //[/color] "I don't... have a wish... I'd want granted. Right now. I'll reach my goals with my own power. And knowledge... he-he... if I can obtain such fine study... material... Where was I? ...Ah, why should I pass... on such an opportunity? Moreover, this town is full. Of fools, but... Some are amusing. He-he~"
She doesn't want the Grail's power, thus, she won't actively search for opponents unless she gets really bored. Her priority is locating the Grand Holy Grail and studying it. She'll also take this chance to learn some orthodox magecraft, as she had only ever known the teachings of her grandfather.
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Doll.[2] The body she uses now is an artificial container. The link with the original body still exists, so if the doll is destroyed she'll wake up back in Romania. She will, however, lose her Command Spells and her link with the Servant she was contracted to. This container is a copy of her, created by one of her grandfather's friends, namely Nicolay.
The copy itself isn't on Touko's level and has slightly inferior magic circuits. Since this is a fake body, it doesn't have the Lüceanu Magic Crest. Thus, she cannot use her stronger spells to their full potential.
Lastly, this doll will expire in about a year, anyway, so she won't be troubled if it gets destroyed.

Raven Wings. A simple yet skillfully made Mystic Code that has the shape of a pair of wings. It allows Nina to streamline a single spell. She usually carries it on her head as an accessory.
(More info in the spell slot.)

Knives. A stock of throwing knives. She usually carries 6 of these with her. And don't ask where she hides them. I have no clue, either.

Romanian-Italian Dictionary. Pretty self-explanatory.

RANK: //[/color] unranked, the Clock Tower never even heard of her.

ELEMENT: //[/color] Wind

EXPERTISE: //[/color]

Magical Combat. Having years of practice and a lively mind, she can quickly come up with a strategy that guarantees a decent rate of success even in the direst situation. For example, she's able to always choose the most advantageous position in battle.

Jack of All Trades, Master of None. The Lüceanu family had often changed their field of study. As a result Nina has studied more spheres of magecraft than most other magi but her knowledge in each of these fields is not as deep as that of the families that have narrow specializations.

Thrown weapons. More specifically, knives and darts. Nina is able to reliably hit a target the size of a human torso from 10 meters away. She picked up this skill to reduce her own dependence from magecraft.

MAGIC CIRCUITS: //[/color] Nina is a gifted (though not “blessed”) magus from an old family. She has 37 magic circuits (16 inborn, 21 in her Crest) and an average overall quality of 12 PrC. Her maximum is prana 444.
Well, that's her original body. The doll has slightly inferior circuits: the number is the same as Nina’s inborn quantity but the average quality is at 10 PrC. Oh, and obviously, no crest. Her maximum in this body is prana 160.

SPELLS: //[/color]

Raven Wings (Wind, Ether)
Rank: D
Cost: 30 Pr + 3 Pr/min
Range: self
Effect: A barrier that can be activated with a single action. It manipulates the nitrogen in the air around Nina into an unnoticeable to the naked eye but concentrated layer around her body. It cannot be breached by E and D rank spells and can withstand a single C rank spell. It can also block physical objects like arrows and thrown weapons (those thrown by a normal person; a reinforced magus will have enough strength to pierce the barrier) but is helpless against bullets and the like. A rapid barrage of low-rank spells can also potentially breach her defense but honestly, it'll be easier to just shoot her (you'd have to spam Gandrs like Rin a machine gun to do this) because the shield mends itself if given a breather between the attacks. It should also be noted that the protection doesn't cancel out spells completely but only protects Nina from them. So a spell with an AoE will still have an effect on her surroundings.
The protection can be held up for an indefinite amount of time as long as enough prana is supplied.

!This is an application of the Raven Wings Mystic Code. The effect cannot be created without it.


Raven Wings - Overclock (Wind, Ether)
Rank: B
Cost: 60 Pr + 1 Pr per 5 sec
Range: self
Effect: A strong barrier that can be activated with a one-liner. It manipulates the nitrogen in the air around Nina into a unnoticeable to the naked eye but concentrated layer around her body. It cannot be breached by spells of rank C and below (except for an extremely rapid barrage of these, but honestly, it'll be easier to blow her up because the shield mends itself if given a breather between the attacks) and can withstand up to 2 B rank spells. It can also stop bullets, except for armor piercing or really high caliber rounds. However, it cannot block, or even halt, A rank spells.
At this rank the shield can only be sustained for 5 minutes. Also, activating it causes damage to the code, rendering it unusable. Nina will need 2 days to fix the item after using this variation of the shield.

!This is an application of the Raven Wings Mystic Code. The effect cannot be created without it.


Razor Gale (Wind)
Rank: D
Cost: 14-18 Pr
Range: 28m
Effect: Prana is used to manipulate the atmosphere into a vacuum that can julienne a target quite effectively in a barrage of 'sharp' gusts capable of cutting through kevlar, leather, wood, and most 'light' materials. Each barrage consists of 7 gusts, costing 2 Pr each. During the initial casting, it's possible to contribute an additional 4 Pr to the spell, which will cycle the air and allow the user to cast it again in a single action manner. The result is a quicker follow-up of barrages that can potentially end up with a target shredded to bits, assuming the caster has enough prana to keep up the attack.

A three-line spell that is taught at intermediate levels, older families with this in their Crests have stabilized it to the level of One-Liner.
Nina has to use the full incantation even in her original body as her family never bothered to include this spell into their Crest.

Razor Gale is frequently attributed to the Barthomeloi, though there are several other families who claim to be responsible for its creation. The fact that the Barthomeloi neither confirm nor deny these allegations makes the other claimants more confident in their insistence that they invented it. Unsurprisingly, however, the heads of these families tend to end up being assigned to some of the most demeaning positions in Clock Tower, such as Director for the Department of Familiar Registry, or Vice Director for the Department of Sanitation.


Basic Alteration (Ether)
Rank: E
Cost: 5 Pr
Range: Touch
Effect: Nina at least bothered to learn a way to restock her throwing knives without too much hassle.
Using alteration, a makeshift throwing knife or a dart can be created in the timeframe of 3 seconds after the chanting, given that the necessary material is available, because of Nina's familiarity with the desired object. Other shapes and well-balanced knives/darts will require marginally more time (as in, it becomes unsuitable for use during battle). Also, she can only create relatively simple objects at her level of skill.
This is a one line spell.


Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens (Wind, Lightning)
Rank: B
Cost: 77 pr
Range: 40 m line in a single direction
Effect:
Windstorm of Lightning. This spell creates a spiral torrent of wind and lightning that destroys everything (it can) in its path. It works on principles similar to Perunić but the effect is much more concentrated so the potential damage and general output are higher. The lightning component is weaker, only reaching 0,6 Megawatt but the wind is stronger and more focused, and the hit is comparable to a collision with the Shinkansen at full speed. -ahem- The result is an attack that electrocutes the enemy and blows them away (and resembles a toppled over tornado that quickly dissipates more than anything else).
Because of its "drilling" effect it is very effective against constructs, like golems and storehouses.
This spell requires the full three verse incantation because Nina doesn't have the Crest in this body.



PLAYER'S NAME: //[/color] ferian
FACE CLAIM: //[/color] original art by redjuice
OTHER CHARACTERS: //[/color] Honda Tadakatsu, Uesugi Kenshin (W2), Yang Wen Li (W2), Howard Phillips Lovegod Byakuya (W2), Cyril the Furrier (W2)
MISC. INFORMATION: //[/color] Partner of Xenophon

[1] Why wasn't he apprehended back then? The answer is simple. The heretic had contacts with several magi, including Raven Mist. I stated that he helped that guy but the same can be said about other magi who had contacted him on a regular basis. Once the Church disposed of the vampire and his research they deemed every such magus potentially dangerous, not just Raven Mist. The Sea of Estray is far more chaotic than the Clocktower and such incidents probably happen more often here. If the Church burned everyone associated with every new heretic they take down there would likely be no Sea of Estray by now.
The other one, namely Petre, hadn't had any problems hiding his nature up to now.

[2] This is more of a plot point tied in with her participation in the war. It is Nicolay's "insurance", so to say, because the Doll has a limited "lifespan" and he has Nina's real body. Oh, and the Doll works the same way as Araya's/Touko's fake bodies. I'm sorry if my crappy wording had caused some misunderstanding.
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