Post by Nico Vanzetti on Oct 24, 2010 9:59:05 GMT -5
Niccolò Vanzetti
"Mortals are what we are, it’s up to us to make the most of it."
"Mortals are what we are, it’s up to us to make the most of it."
NICKNAMES: //[/color] Nico
AGE: //[/color] 43
DATE OF BIRTH: //[/color] 12th of October
GENDER: //[/color] Male
ALIGNMENT: //[/color] Lawful Neutral/Lawful Evil
OCCUPATION: //[/color] ‘Businessman’ (dabbles sometimes on…legally questionable activities)
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With Ambrogino and Santino
With Ambrogino, Santino and Giorno
HEIGHT: //[/color] 1.79 m
WEIGHT: //[/color] 75 kg
EYE COLOR: //[/color] Gold
HAIR COLOR: //[/color] Brown
PIERCINGS: //[/color] N/A
TATTOOS: //[/color] Command Spell on the back of his left arm, usually concealed with gloves
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: //[/color] none that strikes people as odd, he always dresses impeccably though.
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- Persuasive
- Nico knows the right amount of flattery and coercion needed to get his way without getting his hands dirty. The combination of charisma, well-dressed personae, and his impeccable manners makes dealing with upper-class individuals smooth. On the flipside, he knows how to be intimidating and gruff when he wants to when dealing with less savory individuals.
- Friendly
- Whether a fake front or a genuine expression, Nico always maintain a friendly façade when interacting with other human being. This trait has become infamous in the criminal world and tales have been circulating about how Niccolò Vanzetti always keeps a smile in his face, even when ordering a ‘disposal’. When asked about this by one of his associate, Nico merely smiles and said ‘What do you think?’ the associate decides that it’s better not to push the issue further.
- Inapproachable
- In direct contrast to the trait above, Nico really could seem inapproachable to people who do not know him very well. While on the surface he seem mostly friendly, he often does things like ending conversation prematurely or actively trying to evade people who gets too close to him. Why he does this is unknown, though some of his underlings suggest that he’s just covering for his illegal operations
- Workaholic
- He might deny this for all its worth, but it’s pretty clear to some that Nico suffers from this. His usual daily sleeping time is less than 4 hours, and he can spend days working in an experiment or planning the next smuggling operation without resting. Curiously he doesn’t really exhibit traits of fatigue or exhaustion related to his irregular sleeping and resting pattern. His family had given up trying to prevent this habit and mostly let him do whatever he wants when he’s in his one of these ‘moods’.
LIKES: //[/color]
• Civil discussion
• Chess (and other strategy games, basically)
• Pasta (He even dedicates a section of his private library to Pasta recipes)
• Writing (Have tons of unpublished materials laying around, magical or otherwise)
• His Fiat 500
DISLIKES: //[/color]
• Unreasonable people
• Money-wasting
• His smuggling operation (can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em)
STRENGTHS: //[/color]
Living up to the businessman image he’s trying to cultivate, Nico have excellent man management and leadership skills. He knows the right amount of combination of facial expression and tone of voice for people to stop asking question and just do what he told them to do. In addition, everyone who has met Nico Vanzetti all agreed that he’s a decent, harmless, rational human being, at least as a first impression. Whether they decide to hate him or like him for it, it doesn’t really matter to Nico. The fact is that people tend to underestimate him because of their first impression, and he will use every bit of the impression to his advantage.
In combat, his biggest asset is his ability to analyze his opponent in advance or on the fly. Often he will not try to engage an opponent at all until he knows their strength and prefer to retreat and regroup if it means the chance to strike back at his opponent. Even if pressed directly into combat unprepared, he’s by no means a pushover. Moreover, if push comes to shove, he’s not afraid to play dirty. Hostages, blackmails, sneak attacks, are some of his bread and butter tactics when dealing with opponents with superior firepower.
WEAKNESSES: //[/color]
Even though some of it is just an act on the surface, deep down Nico is in fact a nice person, perhaps even too nice. His tendency to give people second or even third chances might come later to bite him in the ass when he least expect it. Years of living as a smuggler hardened him somewhat, but people dealing with him in a regular basis have remarked that he’s ‘too nice to be a gangster’.
In combat, while his tendency to analyze his opponent before engaging them is a useful trait to have, it is less useful when confronting the opponent. In fact, he tends to unconsciously over-analyze his opponent, leaving him open to sneak attacks or other underhanded methods.
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MY FAMILY LINE: //[/color]
An ancient family, the Vanzetti are said to have originated in the Etruscan Civilization, though they were known by a different name back then. This bloodline is unusual in a sense that while it is prestigious and powerful enough to claim the title of Lords, the never do so. In fact this bloodline is largely apolitical, preferring to remain neutral throughout the majority of its existence and seek to interact with all Mage’s Association equally. The bloodline promotes the single heir system, though curiously all of their members are encouraged to at least learn the rudimentary theory of magecraft. Untalented members are usually relegated to managing the family’s estate, while talented members not chosen for succession often find themselves as the family’s private enforcers. The consequence of this policy of course, is that the Vanzetti has an unusually higher than normal amount of magus in their members, which the Clock Tower have expressed their concern of in a number of occasion. The Vanzetti retorts that they can not possibly turn away members of their own family, and they assure the Clock Tower that rogue family members will answer directly to the head. While breeding with non-mages have often lead to the dilution of a bloodline and the destruction of their magic circuit, it’s so far haven’t affected the Vanzetti at all, though the progression of the quality of their magic circuit quality have remain slow. Because of this fact, rumors abound among mages about some kind of ritual that allows the Vanzetti to preserve the quality of magic circuits in their main family line by using the corpse of deceased family members. The Vanzetti remains silent in surface of these rumors, though curious mages often note that there’s no denial on the family’s part.
The Vanzetti have a reputation as ‘Merchants’, making deals that benefits them more while remaining fair on the surface. Consequently none of the Mage’s Association really trusts them. The Vanzetti family value the weight of their words however and rarely backs down from deals when they have been finalized. True to their stance, many of the bloodline is a freelancer, though the heads of the family traditionally holds a (minor) membership at the Clock Tower.
Aside from their dealings with numerous Mage’s Association, they also have a portion of the pie in the business and organized crime world. Though they have no corporation they can call their own, the Vanzetti family has a slice of the pie in numerous Italy-based corporations, and among them are Assicurazioni Generali, Eni, and Fiat. Though they often act by proxy in their business dealings, the family often designated members (usually the ones with the lowest magical potential, though exception exists) to oversee their business ventures. Their crime dealings mostly have to do with the various smuggling operations, particularly weapons.
Though the details of their founder have been lost in time, the family still refers to him as ‘The Ancestor’ and one of their greatest members. It is said that he was an apprentice of a Magus from the Age of the Gods and was able to command the elements of nature, he and his Master were hailed as Shaman by their tribe. As the Age of Gods draws close, The Apprentice realized that their time almost came to a close as the Age of Gods is nearing its ends, and proposed to his Master about preparing to give up most of their own magecraft in exchange to better serve their tribe and devise alternate methods of magecraft. The Magus however, will not accept that their time is nearing an end and seeks out to sacrifice his whole tribe in order to become a Transcendent Kind. The Magus and the Apprentice fought a long and hard battle in which the Apprentice became victorious. After holding a funeral for his former master, the nameless apprentice took the reins of the tribe and became its chieftain, eventually starting a noble family when society is building from trade wealth. Some in the family even believed that their founder went on to become a Heroic Spirit, though lack of a name, artifact, or even a belonging from him greatly hinders the chance to prove this theory.
Supposedly when the ‘Ancestor’ passes on, he left behind some notes in order to become a Transcendent Kind. Though the notes are lost, members of the family have misinterpreted this fact and seeks transcendent from vampirism. This becomes so prevalent over the Middle Ages that the Church seeks to interfere with the family’s affair and seek to destroy their rogue members. The head of the family at that time, Lodovico Vanzetti denies the Church’s interference and takes the matter into his own hands. Within a month, all of the rogue family members have been destroyed by the family’s own enforcers, gaining the Church’s grudging respect. Since then, research into vampirism has been outlawed within the family, though their research for Transcendence continues into this day.
Though their founder is an Average One, the elemental affinity of the family is Water. While dual-elemental and average ones have been born throughout the history of the bloodline, all of the dual-elementals born always have Water as one of their elemental affinity. The Vanzetti specializes on thaumaturgy using Water’s well known sub-element Ice. This fact is further reinforced by their Mystic Code, which doubles as their Sorcery Trait, the ‘Arma di Ghiaccio’ (literally, Weapon of Ice). This spell can manifest itself as any melee weapon of the caster choice, as long it’s supplied by prana it can act as an E rank Noble Phantasm tied directly to the caster. As a side effect, it can also interfere with the target’s prana regulation, freezing a set amount and rendering them useless unless a large amount of thawing agent is also present to thaw the limb or other body parts affected. The Weapon, combined with the fact that many Ice spells are long-range, make the Vanzetti enforcers formidable in both long and short range.
Owing much to their long history and their apparent ability to preserve their circuit quality, the Vanzetti have enjoyed above average quality circuits. The average heir candidate has around 8PrC, while other members have less and prodigies in the family usually have around 10PrC. The amount of magic circuits vary wildly though, with documented case as low as 4 and as high as 40. Nevertheless, the average amount of magic circuits in the family usually ranges around 20-25.
MY HISTORY: //[/color]
Niccolò Vanzetti was born as the second last child of four siblings of the main line of the Vanzetti family, which automatically put them as rivals for the succession of the family head. They all have their own merits too; Ambrogino the oldest is the calmest and most rational of them all, Santino the second eldest have the intelligence and a good posture to intimidate, while the youngest Giorno have the most gifted physical ability of them all. Niccolò meanwhile have everything the other siblings have, physical ability to withstand training as an enforcer, intelligence mind to comprehend the theory, a knack for diplomacy, and higher magic circuit total than all of his brothers save Giorno (who is abnormally talented even for a noble house member). Everyone in the family (including his siblings) thought that the succession of the family almost certainly will fall to Niccolò’s hands. It comes as a big surprise for everyone when at the succession party and Giorno’s 12th birthday, Niccolò willingly concede his succession rights to his eldest brother. Why Nico did what he did is still a mystery to this day, but Ambrogino believes that he wanted more time for his experiments to seek transcendence. Relationships between the siblings have remained friendly over the years, despite what the rumors said, and they usually meet with each other in the family's estate if their schedule allows them.
Years passed and the brothers begin to branch off and pursue their own path in life. Ambrogino as the head, begin to supervise the family business fronts, whether it’s the organized crime ties or the relationship with the various Mage’s Association. Santino begun to take charge of the family’s legal business front in Florence and dabbles with occasional odd smuggling operation. Giorno disappears shortly following his 14th birthday and has a knack on appearing whether he’s needed with whatever odd skills he learned in his wandering. He seems to have developed a taste for killing as well, a fact that worries his brothers, though he assures them that he will not kill them unless he had a very, very good reason for doing so. Niccolò meanwhile often withdraws from public notice and conduct experiments according to his Ancestor’s vague message of transcending mortality. While he has been given charge of the family’s smuggling operation, he didn’t really spend much time pondering the future of the business, preferring to write (well researched and often excellent) instruction for his underlings.
Wondering whether the books on the family library are incomplete copies of other ways of transcendence, Nico sets to seek other rare copies of information scattered around the world. In one of his search for one of these copies, he stumbles upon the information about the Grail War, how it can serve as a gateway for Akasha, and that one will soon be held in the Far East. Curious about the precedent, he proposes to his eldest brother about gaining a membership in the Clock Tower himself. Ambrogino was surprised to see the sudden interest in his brother’s part, but recommends him to the Association anyway. Once he obtained a membership, Nico blitzes through the rank with surprising speed, gaining the 5th rank for the better part of a year. However, realizing that he’s too late to participate as Master in the Grail War, he opted to remain in contact with whoever had stake in this Grail War and in Lord El-Melloi II he found that person. Throughout the war, Nico would keep asking Lord El-Melloi about the progress of the war, citing curiosity as his main reason for his questions (not too far from the truth). When the 5th Grail War had come to its unfortunate end, Nico was one of the Magus dispatched in the ‘cleaning operation’. He had remained silent since when someone asked him about the cause of the accident, but ever since that occasion he has kept a close eye on the rumor concerning the Grail.
For the better part of the next 18 years, Nico have been all over the place. He had been doing the rudimentary duties of maintaining his membership in the Clock Tower while furthering his research to refine his family’s thaumaturgy AND balancing them with his smuggling business. From becoming an enforcer for a few years to instructor the year after, Nico somehow manages to devote enough time to track the rumors about the matters concerning the Grail. Sure enough, five years ago the Einzbern announces the sixth Grail War; which is going to be assembled…in Lucca, Tuscany, his homeland.
Feeling a bit suspicious about the motives of this Grail War, Nico nevertheless prepares for the next five years, and this time he came to participate. For three years Nico gradually withdraws from Clock Tower limelight and manages his smuggling operation via proxies in order to prepare for this coming war. Two years ago, Nico finishes his preparation to move in back to Italy, citing personal reason as his excuse. He’s here incognito in Lucca and intends to wait for the commotion to start before making his first move. Nico decided to lay low for a while until the signs of the war have been sounded; all he needs now is to summon his servant in secret…
MY GOALS: //[/color] to access Akasha and find out the secrets to Transcendence.
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Networking: Nico have an entire smuggling ring and those of the numerous Mage’s association that have a debt to his family to call. While he can’t mobilize his smuggling ring due to the scattered nature of the organization, he can rely on their extensive information network to find out about information he might need. Numerous methods of information exchange can be used to maintain secrecy, including old-fashioned human and animal courier.
Cell Phone: While he’s well aware of the dangers information leakage, he prefers his cell phone to communicate because precisely of that danger. The more people hear his conversation, the more predictable their move become. He has two lines, one private and one for business, and just to confuse the listener more, he prefers to speak in codes in the business line.
Beretta 9000: Legally the only handgun that he can own, the Beretta nevertheless is a useful tool for self-defense and for blowing someone’s skullcap off both. It is also useful in a sense that it needed no concealment from the authorities and is no magnet for unwanted attention, as long as he’s reasonable in using it, of course. Nico isn't very proficient in its use, but at least can aim decently with it.
RANK: //[/color] 5th
ELEMENT: //[/color] Water
EXPERTISE: //[/color]
Swordsmanship: Nico has been trained from his childhood in the weapon of his choice to complement his Mystic Code, in his case the sword. Over the years, he has refined this technique to include assortments of kicks from Savate to better protect his swordsmanship's weak spot (i.e. below the kneecaps).
Versatile Magecraft: Years of research and trading lore with fellow Magus have expanded his horizons. He now wields an assortment of rune magic to complement his mastery of ice, mainly for defensive purposes.
High-Speed Aria: The ability to chant incantations at a faster pace, Nico learned and mastered this ability during his time as an Enforcer for the Clock Tower. The one who teaches him this ability is unknown, though Nico seamlessly added this ability to his repertoire once he acquired it.
MAGIC CIRCUITS: //[/color] 28 circuits with a quality of 10PrC with a total of 280
SPELLS: //[/color]
Ice Daggers (Pugnali di Ghiaccio) (Ice)
Rank: C
Cost: 12 Pr (first wave) x 1.2 for each successive wave but with extra speed
Range: 160 degree frontal arc, Short Range spell
Effect: A short ranged multi target spell mostly used for self-defense. It condenses the air surrounding the user and propels it forward at high speed multiple times. Weak but effective at self-defense and short ranged combat. Each dagger is typically weak but as multiple waves can be fired, this is of little consequence. Initially developed as need to stammer more close range opponents, it was quickly discovered that the spell possessed great innate offensive potential for its ability to multiply into waves of daggers. Far more lethal than its spiritual predecessor, the Freezing Lance, few Magi use this spell with such effectiveness. For those who have mastered high speed chanting, it is an incredibly powerful weapon that increases its speed with each wave, guaranteeing more penetration and damage as daggers multiply along the prana cost. Absolutely deadly against non-magic armour, it remains a staple and an example of water derived offensive magic and its hidden potentials.
Weapon of Ice (Arma di Ghiaccio) (Ice)
Rank: C
Cost: 25 Pr to materialize + 10 Pr to disrupt prana circulation
Range: Melee weapon
Effect: The Mystic Code and Sorcery Trait of the Vanzetti family, this spell materializes a melee weapon made of ice in the Magus’ hand. This weapon can be whatever type of melee weapon the caster so choose (the most common type is sword). Once materializes the weapon by all means and purpose an E rank Noble Phantasm and last for two hours, after which the caster must spend additional 25 Pr in order to maintain the physical form. In addition the weapon also have a side effect, for every time the weapon touches the skin in a direct contact and the caster spend an additional 10 prana, 10 % of the other combatant’s magic circuit be rendered frozen and useless for the purpose of casting spells. The effect of the spell is cumulative with each subsequent use of this effect until five of these strikes with a total of 50% of the body’s prana frozen. Magus can try to stabilize their prana reserve by willing their prana flow to move by concentrating, though this can prove disastrous in the middle of a battle. They can also try to thaw the ice by wielding a heat source near the affected limb, though again this might prove to be a distraction in the middle of a battle.
This spell is a two-line spell, and is available only to those possessing the Vanzetti bloodline.
Speed Reinforcement (Runic, Reinforcement)
Rank: B
Cost: 10 Pr
Range: Self
Effect: This spell reinforce the speed, reaction time, and heightens the perception of the caster, offering them enhanced combat ability. However, this spell do not raise the stamina of the caster, untrained user will no doubt collapse long before the time limit has been fulfilled. This spell is a three-line spell, and lasts for 15 minutes. Nico can last the whole 15 minutes of this spell, though he will need to rest afterwards.
Wall of Ice (Mura di Ghiaccio) (Ice)
Rank: A
Cost: 270 Pr
Range: Line of 10m - expands 2m for each two min on the field
Effect: Creates a mural of prana infused ice. The ice gradually encroaches on an opponent and traps him into its walls. As they are infused with prana, the water molecules composing the ice are incredibly resistant to all elements. Its effect creates a sub-zero fatal temperature after a few seconds of entrapment and saps vitality and prana every few seconds from all opponents in the vicinity. An incredibly complex and huge costing spell that is incredibly deadlier the better magus an opponent is. The chill effect it creates homes into its target's prana and will continuously sap it until the target leaves the area. If a target has no prana it will simply suffer the effects of the cold barrage. It is a cruel and absolutely almighty spell that saps the living will of anyone in the vicinity but the caster.
As most Magi do not dabble in offensive water magic due to its prejudiced nature as the magic for healers and weaker beings, it came as a shock when it was accidentally discovered during an experiment to test the effects of wind on ice and water during battle. Everyone involved in the experiment has been encased in ice for the better part of forty years as the ice does melt until all prana in the victims has been sapped and fed on. Over a hundred magi were involved in the project, one apparently sure to give positive results in the acceleration of offensive potential although its primary purpose was indeed to create a defensive barrier. None of them had known how disastrous the results would be.
An example of something simply gone horribly right, this spell has single-handedly ensured a revived interest in water magic and strange properties in various circles. The Clock Tower now boasts several groups and workshops dedicated to replicating its power although only a handful of Magi have managed to do so at the same scale. As far as the management is aware, not even a handful of such individuals exist in Europe.
Frostbite (Congelamento) (Ice)
Rank: A
Cost: 135 Pr
Range: Touch-5m
Effect: A more refined form of the Wall of Ice, Frostbite works just like Wall of Ice but affects just one person instead a group of them. It works by touch, or it can be fired as a ray with a 5m maximum range. Once it connects, it continues to absorb vitality and prana from that person and that one person only. The only known immediate counter to this spell is to counter cast a similarly powerful fire spell to the victim, effectively incinerating them unless the victim is fire resistant. The Vanzetti uses this spell as an assassination technique or to remove one person from a large battle instantaneously.
The spell is an 8 line spell.
PLAYER'S NAME: //[/color] Pogo
FACE CLAIM: //[/color] Luck Gandor from Baccano!
OTHER CHARACTERS: //[/color] None, I have two servants at the disposal however.
MISC. INFORMATION: //[/color] Changed the RM to Wall of Ice because it's thematically better, I guess. Also added a shoddy Italian translation because
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