Post by Catherine Trandor on Nov 4, 2010 17:08:15 GMT -5
Catherine Trandor
"Shall I fix you up?"
"Shall I fix you up?"
NICKNAMES: //[/color] Erin
AGE: //[/color] She's not telling. (Looks around 44 ye-*shot*)
DATE OF BIRTH: //[/color] Classified Information (At least 28 years a-*gurk*)
GENDER: //[/color] Female
ALIGNMENT: //[/color] Lawful Neutral
OCCUPATION: //[/color] Magus, Physician,
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HEIGHT: //[/color] 1.75 m
WEIGHT: //[/color] 60 kg
EYE COLOR: //[/color] Black
HAIR COLOR: //[/color] White/Silver
PIERCINGS: //[/color] One in each ear
TATTOOS: //[/color] N/A
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: //[/color] Nothing that stands out
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- Reliable
- Infamous as the ‘problem solver’ of the Clock Tower, her acquaintances knew that if you ask something of Erin, she will do it unless she refuses or something went horribly, horribly wrong. She hates letting people down, and it shows itself in her work. As an instructor, you can count that her classes will go on with little hitch (of which she will solve before the end of the year); as ‘field worker’, you can expect her to be a professional about it. For the past 15 years or so, she had become somewhat of a fall back for the Clock Tower, a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed by her.
- Calm under pressure
- The trait that make her such an effective combat medic in ‘field works’, Erin can be eerily calm when doing her job. Part requirement for her specialized thaumaturgy and part unnerving devotion for her job, there are few forces that can break her calm. There’s a saying among some Clock Tower students that the day Erin breaks her cool is the day that the world is ending. The fact that she has never been seen breaking her calmness in public only further reinforce this idea.
- Motherly
- While Erin rarely showed this trait in public, she can be a caring and motherly woman in private. This is the direct opposite of the front that she usually devises in public, that of a calm, matter-of-fact spewing professional. Those that had been treated by Erin may notice a fragment of this personality resurfacing now and then. Further reinforcing this trait is the fact that she has a 4 year old daughter, whom she raised in her private residence in the city of Norwich.
- Curious
- Erin knows about the proverb “Curiosity killed the cat”, she also doesn’t care about its implication. She’s publicly known to take an interest in unusual bloodline and sorcery trait, often causing uncomfortable expressions among the questioned. And while magus in particular are curious about the workings of Magic, Erin takes it one step further in that she prefers first hand account of Magic, which is why she volunteers for the job in Lucca in the first place. On the flip side, this makes here a veritable walking encyclopedia on the workings and the unusual of thaumaturgy.
LIKES: //[/color]
• Human Body
• Medicine (in extension, the herbs and plants used to make said medicines. She also finds poisons ‘fascinating’)
• Learning new things
• Behaving Students (goes for patients as well)
• Her daughter
DISLIKES: //[/color]
• Unruly patients
• Wounds
• Stagnation
• People asking her age
• Letting people down
STRENGTHS: //[/color]
Though she’s not a doctor in the right use of the term in the modern nights, Erin has as much knowledge of the human body as one. This knowledge along with her special brand of thaumaturgy has made her invaluable as a combat medic. She can also hold her own in long range combat thanks to her spells and expertise with a bow. Outside combat, she can perform general check-up like a normal doctor, and usually can tell of what substance you’ve been destroying your body with for the last month or so.
She’s also got quite a bit of knowledge for obscure thaumaturgy, and a knack for trivia, magical or otherwise.
WEAKNESSES: //[/color]
She’s got quite a weakness for close combat, due to a lack of skill for it (though she knows a bit of techniques for escaping joint locks and such) and for her general dislike of it. She usually partners up with magus, other people, or even one of her water constructs who is much more proficient in close combat with her acting as a support. Also, her sorcery trait requires a great amount of concentration, which is difficult to maintain in the middle of a combat. She (and her patients, usually) have to disengage from combat in order to begin the treatment, else she risk further injuries.
She also has a tendency to cause bodily harm upon unsuspecting people who brought the subject of her actual age (all the while maintaining calmness); though whether this is an actual social weakness is up for debate.
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MY FAMILY LINE: //[/color]
The Trandors originates from the kingdom of Northumbria around 800 AD. The Thranddottir (the family’s early name) was once a line of Scandinavian magus directly descended from one woman named Karla. Karla, as her people believed her, was a druidess that communicates with the force of nature and understood their whims. In reality, even Karla did not understand the elementals’ mood, but she is adept at reading signs of their wrath and acts accordingly. She’s also adept at the healing arts, often lending her services to the Viking Jarls around her.
One such Jarl was Thrand, a renowned warrior who’s very grateful for her healing arts that he decided to marry Karla (whose beauty had been stated as ‘average’). At first Karla wanted nothing to do with marriage and intended to leave Thrand after one night. After spending the night with Thrand however, Karla noticed the potential in Thrand’s blood and relented, thinking about reserving her talent in her bloodline. Thus begin the lineage of the Thranddottir, one that still survives into the modern nights.
The Tranddottir served as a vassal for Eric Bloodaxe up until his ill-fated rule as the last King of Northumbria before the kingdom was absorbed by King Eadred of England. It is said that the Thranddottir signed a pact of non-aggression like Eric’s entire vassals and then disappear into obscurity. In truth, realizing the ever growing influence of the Church, they decide to limit their activities. Romanising their name into Trandor to feign obedience, the lineage establish a front for their activities, that of medicine. It is also around this time that they’ve discovered the Clock Tower and thus absorbed by it. The Trandors have become a part of the organization since, with varied involvements depending on the whims of the current heir.
In their 15th generation in the modern nights, the Trandors have focused on the understanding of the human body and soul, rationalizing that perhaps there are something in the human structure that allows them to unlock wonders such as Magic. Their sorcery trait allows them to perform psychic surgery on anything that posses a soul. There are similar sorcery traits possessed by multiple magi not of the bloodline, but the Trandors’ focus on the trait borders on obsession. Unlike other magus who has the trait, the Trandors bloodline also specializes on healing spells that focuses on closing wounds and mending flesh. The reason members of the Trandors are valued within the Clock Tower is hugely because of the trait and their specialization on healing spells, making them ideal healers.
The Trandors have another quirky trait; they always have one heir born every generation after the decision to give away the Thranddottir name. The actual family line is very thin because of this fact, and the actual heir never really stays with their partner after the next heir has been born. Some heirs in the past had never even bothered with marriage, preferring to choose their mate out of necessity rather than love. Other Magus said that this is a practice to ensure the development of their magic circuits, and they are right. The Trandors never even bother hiding that fact, making their intention known whether a magus (or occasionally even ordinary people) suits their fancy. What the other magus can’t say is that the process has been ineffective; the family line boasts high amounts of prana, averaging at 25 prana per circuit.
MY HISTORY: //[/color]
The previous heir of Trandor, Lillian Trandor, was an influential member of Clock Tower. That’s why the organization was shocked when Lillian withdraws from the Clock Tower limelight at the relatively young age of 42. Though the association was suitably upset with the withdrawal of the bloodline, the incident was quickly shored up and Lillian’s position was quickly being replaced by someone influential. Thus life goes on and the Clock Tower would be free of the Trandors’ presence for quite some time.
That is until 28 years ago, a young(er) Catherine Trandor showed up at the headquarters of the Clock Tower carrying a letter of recommendation from Lillian Trandor herself. She explained that her mother Lillian had passed away recently and in her will there were instructions to take this recommendation letter to the Clock Tower. Realizing that they are looking at a potential replacement for Lillian, the administration allowed Catherine to undergo tutelage at the academy. To her credit, Catherine breezed through the lessons and obtained the rank of 6th within just a few months. This, and the fact she have an unnaturally high (though reasonable within her family) amount of prana, prompts the Clock Tower to label her with the term ‘prodigy’.
Catherine however, feels that she did not advance fast enough. Initially she wanted to skip tutelage and went straight into field work, continuing her mother’s research. She relents after she overheard one of her fellow students said that advancement through the rank will be easier if you finished the formal tutelage. She gritted her teeth and undergoes the ‘education’, which basically amounts to repeating what her mother taught her in her childhood.
The reason why she wanted promotion that fast is because of Lillian’s notes. Her mother have researched the known Magic and have come up with several procedures in order to determine the ‘abnormalities’ associated with Magicians. She hoped that researching this ‘abnormalities’ will allow the Trandors to achieve something akin to Magic itself, perhaps founding a separate branch of Magic. Lillian didn’t go through with her research because she felt she’s too weak to confront the Magicians directly. She then decided to withdraw from her responsibilities in the Clock Tower in order to raise the perfect heir to continue her research, Catherine. With the burden of continuing the research thrown to her shoulders, Catherine feels she’s letting her mother down every time she spent time relearning what she had known.
After finishing her ‘education’, Catherine aimed for the position of Grand. She rationalizes, correctly, that if she would climb to the top, fewer people would question her behavior. Years passed while Catherine did the necessary legwork in order to advance through the rank. She did everything from instructing to actual field tasks in order to secure her rank. Unfortunately for naïve Catherine, rapid rank advancement requires significant political alliance. A recommendation letter from your dead mother, however influential she was, is not going to cut it. Catherine realized this after reaching the 5th rank and felt that the upper level intended to keep her from advancing, preferring to keep useful tools like Catherine in the lower rung. Realizing her mistake, Catherine begin to make alliances, it doesn’t matter if it’s with people she genuinely like or people she hated with a passion, it was the political clout she’s after and the political clout she’s going to get. She continues to play the political game unaware that one of her more certain way to examine Magic was slipping out of her grasp.
Initially, realizing that it’s essentially a luck-based mission trying to track most of the Magic User, she bet on tracking the most consistent, the Third Magic. She spent time gathering information for the next Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City, and she intends to participate as a Master. However, because of her insistence on playing the political game, she misses her chance. By the time she realized this, she was one rank higher and one opportunity shorter. All she heard initially about the outcome was Lord El-Melloi II’s rather blunt statement of “Be glad you weren’t there.”
Upset that she loses her biggest chance, Catherine uncharacteristically (at the time, anyway) mellows out. She realizes that she had played her card a bit hasty and lose her biggest chance in the process, that’s why she’s going to use the resources available to her now to the best of her ability. She begins to build a reputation in the Clock Tower as a reliable magus, improving her stance in the eyes of both the upper and lower level of the organization. She also accepts any mission suitable for her to perform, and collects various skills that allow her to perform better in her job, such as her archery skills and her mind conditioning while in combat. Time passes as she slowly but surely advances to the rank of Grand while in the meantime she gathers information about Magic Users with little success. While her information network manages to gain information about Magic, she will always be one step behind and lost her chance. But she did not falter; she has failed before because she was too hasty, now she intends to bid her time for the perfect chance.
Five years ago, Erin founds out from her contacts and rumors within the board of directors within Clock Tower about another Holy Grail War in the completely out of the left field city of Lucca. Initially, Erin wanted to participate as Master to make up for her lack of participation in the Fifth War, but she realizes that her goals doesn’t require her to win, she just need to operate under everyone’s radar. Furthermore, she heard that the Einzbern have declared that the new war will be a “Controlled Free-For-All” which promises for more chaos than the Clock Tower and the Church alike would like to handle. She began the preparation of her infiltration in the War, even siring a new heir in secret for the purpose of replacing her in case she perished in this War. Her daughter was conceived specifically to provide even more prana capacity than her; even her father (who Erin has selected carefully) did not know of her existence, he simply know that he had a one night stand with an attractive woman. Though she is essentially a tool, Erin loves her little Susan, and secretly wishes to survive the Grail War in order to give her daughter a happy childhood. Furthermore, she wanted to give her daughter the family crest, which she ‘borrowed’ for the last time just for this last job.
With her backup plan in motion, she begins to seek the most advantageous position in order to observe the War in Lucca. Luckily for her, the job isn’t exactly a popular one, with only a handful of non-Master magus going to Lucca because of ‘favors’ or even ‘it looks fun’. She accepted the job for supervisor, hands her daughter to her servants for safekeeping (hiring a few bodyguards just in case), and set off for Lucca.
MY GOALS: //[/color]
To supervise the war, and for a chance to examine the Third Magic prototype (The Grail)
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Doctor’s Bag:
Erin carries a doctor’s bag with her most of the time to keep up the image of a dutiful doctor. She also carries medical equipment in case of emergency or when her spells failed her. Since her spiritual surgery only affects damage caused by curse and the like, or when she feels that she need to heal other ailments than wounds, this scenario happens more often than she would like. The equipment in the inside ranges from formalities like stethoscope and thermometers, to wackier things like scalpels (with antiseptics, of course). She also carries anesthetics and tranquilizers in her bag to deal with ‘unruly patients’.
Composite Bow & Arrows:
Modern composite bow made from fiberglass and arrows made from wood and steel tips. Erin will not carry them everywhere, but will usually tuck them in somewhere accessible from her current location. If she expects battles ahead of her however, she will keep it beside her at all times. Occasionally, she will use one of her arrows as makeshift daggers in combat (or use her Crystal Shrapnel spell below.)
RANK: //[/color] Grand
ELEMENT: //[/color] Water
EXPERTISE: //[/color]
Modern Medicine and Technology:
Because of the family’s traditional focus on medicines and the human body, all of the Trandors before Erin at least have a rudimentary knowledge of medicine. Erin is one of the ones who decided to focus in the field while studying magecraft as well. The result is a magus who has an expertise of knowledge of spiritual as well as mundane surgery.
The Trandors haven’t been keeping up with the advance of technology, except medicinal technology that is. The bloodline have stayed in the background for much of the development of modern medicinal science, chuckling quietly while medieval ‘doctors’ performs surgery without knowing the source of the patients’ illness to the development of modern anesthetic, which they realize is an invaluable tool to keep struggling patient from obstructing their spiritual surgery. Erin herself have higher than average (of magus anyway) understanding of modern medicinal technology such as x-ray machines and the like. However, she has little to no aptitude with other objects of modern technology. Hand her an iPod and she will not know what to do with the little white box.
Archery:
An uncommon combat skill in the modern times, some magus otherwise still practice this skill as a compliment to their thaumaturgical skills, blending the ancient combat art with spells. After her crash course on using a bow and arrow in one of her earlier ‘field work’, Erin became one of these magus. She even developed a spell in conjunction of her archery expertise based on an existing spell.
Spiritual and Water Magecraft:
Spiritual Magecraft is the category of the sorcery trait of the Trandors bloodline; it can perform spiritual healing through the soul of the patients. It’s an expertise that can heal damages associated with curses and concepts. The Trandors used this sorcery trait and their signature flesh mending spells to focus entirely on healing and differentiate themselves from the Church’s spiritual doctors who also posses this trait. This procedure requires the patient to stay calm, as sudden movement can startle the surgeon and risk damaging the patient’s body and soul. For emergency healing within combat, Catherine uses a variety of flesh-mending spells she knows for a quick patch-up. Other than healing, she also specializes in Water magecraft, she even developed her own versions of commonly used water spells.
MAGIC CIRCUITS: //[/color] 27 circuits with 25 prana each, to the total of 675 prana.
SPELLS: //[/color]
Spiritual Surgery (Spirit)
Rank: E-A
Cost: 20 Pr initial costs; additional 50 Pr for low-level effect, 150 Pr for intermediate effect, 250 Pr for advanced effect
Range: Close enough for skin contact; can be applied to self
Effect: Sorcery trait of the Trandor bloodline, the ability to heal abnormalities and perform modifications to the soul rather than the body. Similar sorcery traits have appeared among magus of other bloodline and even among the ranks of the Church; however the Trandors are one of the oldest lineages of Spiritual Doctors and have centuries under their belt to hone their craft. The Spiritual Surgery process itself is risky, as the soul itself have a built in mechanism to resist attempts of alteration from the outside. That’s why the process requires intense concentration for the part of the performer and relaxation for the part of the patient. Any interruption from outside factors such as distractions, combat, and the like risk the spiritual surgery to become incomplete or even cause side effects to surface.
Spiritual Surgery’s effect is as varied as modern medicine, with variation depending on the amount of prana spent to power the spell. In practice, the surgeon has to spend an initial 20 prana cost in order to stabilize the soul for further effect. The second part involves a second prana spending to fix or alter effects on the soul, such as curses and mystic eye effects. Low effect only cures or transfer effects with a rank of E-D, while intermediate effect cures rank C-B and advanced effect for A-rank curses.
Because of the intense concentration required to perform the surgery, the surgery itself is best performed on a clear room without any sort of distraction, like an actual medical operation room. Skilled practitioners like Erin can drown a variety of minor distractions so the operation can be carried in more unfavorable environments. Skilled practitioners can also perform surgery on their own body, such as transferring effects from another body to the surgeon’s own body. Of course, transferring effects between two bodies are also possible, such as the transfer of command spells between a defeated Master to a new Master. Some effect transfer vary in cost, Command Seal transfer for example requires as much prana as an intermediate effect.
Patching (Life)
Rank: D-B
Cost: 45 Pr for the low effect, 65 Pr for intermediate effect, 100 Pr for advanced effect
Range: Close enough for skin contact; can be applied to self.
Effect: To compliment the spiritual healing of their sorcery trait, The Trandor bloodline developed another spell that can be used to cure injuries of the flesh. Patching, a rather simple and uncreative name, is the name that was used to indicate the variable spell used to cure wounds that the Trandor family specializes in. It is divided into three effects based on the amount of prana spent on the spell, just like Spiritual Surgery.
The low effect is suitable for curing surface wound made from knives or bruises made from blunt attacks such as a fist. Intermediate effect is suitable to heal deeper wounds, such as from deep stab wounds or even gunshot (as long as the bullets have been extracted, of course). The advanced effect is the most potent of the three, capable of closing wounds as deadly as open gashes or even stumps resulted from a removal of limb. All three effects are also capable of curing internal wounds of the same effect of grievousness. Keep in mind that these effects are just wound closing and flesh mending, it will not replace the blood loss caused by wounds or infection made from weapons, that will need further treatment using medicines. The spell works not by replacing the damaged cells with a new one, but by reversing the effect of the wound to ease the wound’s effect.
This spell is a two-line spell for the first two effects, which changes into a three-line spell for the most powerful effect. The Trandor crest has cut the spell incantation into one line for all the effects, which is a great boon. Also, the spell’s effect will not take hold immediately, and will gradually mend the flesh for about 4 hours (low effect), 8 hours (intermediate effect) and 12 hours (advanced effect). However, Erin doesn’t need to hold her hand upon the afflicted place after the three-line incantation has been fulfilled, as the wound will close by itself. Because of that fact, this spell is essentially ‘fire-and-forget’, making it very valuable in case of a quick emergency situation in the middle of a combat, even if the patient will be incapacitated and unable to rejoin the battle while in the middle of treatment.
Lifesblood (Water, Life)
Rank: E
Cost: See Below
Range: -
Effect: A spell that absorbs water molecules in the air to create a more cohesive form to use as raw spell fodder. With enough time and raw matter it is possible to create large bodies of water.
Originally created as a spell for filtration of water and raw material finding, it has recently been found to have the ability to increase its power and efficiency tenfold with merely half the prana that would be required for ten individual spells. If one liter of water would cost two prana, two liters would cost three and so on. The required prana expended thus greatly decreases, making it and incredbly efficient ability while being cheap.
As many water spells require a catalyst in the form of a body of water, it has become an essential ability in guaranteeing the new found offensive capabilities of water magi. It can also be used to purify common water by decomposing the molecules and then reforming them. The spell can also be used to manipulate small bodies of water into various shapes and easily store the production results. A skilled Magus can also decompose already established shapes such as ice and create new water out of it, thus recycling materials nearly endlessly.
Crystal Shrapnel (Water)
Rank: C
Cost: 25 Pr to create, additional 10 Pr to 'detonate' it to shrapnel
Range: As long as the bow allows it, in theory it can reach 70 m but in practice 50 m is more appropriate
Effect: A modification of the popular Ice Dagger spell, this spell is essentially a more powerful long range Ice Dagger with a twist. Developed by Erin herself to complement her fighting style, it is an arrow created by magecraft and was designed to be delivered by a bow. However, it can also be used as a dagger, making it available as an emergency melee weapon if the need arises.
The spell is an ice arrow capable of crossing a large distance via firing from the bow. Once created, it will resemble a stalagmite/stalactite and can fit within a bow string. The real trick happens after it has been fired, with a second thaumaturgical commands, Erin can ‘detonate’ the fired arrow and spread shrapnel upon the immediate area. Erin have limited control over the direction in which the shrapnel spreads (she can determine which way they can go, but will not be able to direct them mid-flight) and each shrapnel is roughly as powerful as an ice dagger, perhaps slightly stronger. It is still deadly against non-magical armor and can quickly incapacitate a room full of opponents.
This spell is a three-line spell; in addition the second ‘explosion’ requires another one-line incantation.
Liquid Arsenal (Water)
Rank: A
Cost: 180 Pr, with an additional 30Pr/10 minutes to maintain. An additional 50 Pr required to control the water pressure inside the manipulated body of water.
Range: Can reach up to 100 m limit on the control.
Effect: A spell that manipulates a body of water with the same principle as Rushing Tide, but this spell refines the manipulation of water into such a degree that fine control of the body of water is possible. Like Rushing Tide, it requires the caster to access a large body of water in order for the spell to be activated. This can also be achieved by activating the Lifesblood spell above to convert water from the atmosphere. An old familial specialty of the Trandor bloodline, this spell’s rarely seen because it takes a long time to prepare and magi of the Trandor bloodline prefers to act as a support, not as a frontline battle magi.
Once the body of water’s obtained, the caster can prepare the spell by chanting a ten-count aria similar to a simple ritual. Once the simple ritual’s completed, the caster can reshape the water in the body into shapes that can be used to attack the opponent. It can be something like water bullets, knives, or traditionally, water vines that can be used to immobilize the opponent. Water projectiles and immobilizers created by this spell are as deadly or as tough as their mundane counterpart. The caster can even manipulate the waters to defend her from attacks such as bullets from a handgun or a sub-machinegun. Certain attacks such as armor-piercing rounds, lightning magecraft, or any direct attack spells with power beyond that of a rank C spell will go through the reinforced shield with little problem. The maximum total of water body that can be converted into this spell is 1000 m3. Essentially, this spell can allow the caster to weaponize an entire water body of a swimming pool if she so choose. The caster can control the weapons or other shapes made by the water as easily as she can control her own limb, though weapons fired like water knives or water bullets can’t be controlled mid-flight. The caster can even control the water pressure inside the body of water that can cause crushing death or accelerated drowning, though this will require an additional prana cost, making it horribly expensive.
If an opponent fell to the manipulated water body, escape will be a very difficult task indeed. Though the caster can’t manipulate water inside the victim’s lung if the victim is a magus (a mortal is fair game), she can nevertheless still manipulate the surrounding waters into weapons, making even navigation inside of the manipulated waters a very difficult task. The effect must be maintained with a gradual spending of prana per minute; else the effect will end immediately and another simple ritual will be required to convert the body of water again. Also, while maintaining the effect, the caster can't do anything that may strain the body because of the delicate control required for the spells. Physical activities like walking or simple sidestepping are fine, but more physical stuff like actual fighting or tumbling around are out of the questions. Should the activity is attempted the spell will end prematurely and another simple ritual would be required. That’s another reason why the Trandors are reluctant to use this spell, it’s powerful and versatile, but it also requires an enormous upkeep, limited area of operation and delicate concentration.
As mentioned above, the spell requires a ten-count aria. Because it’s one of the family’s specialties though, the Trandor crest reduces the casting time of the spell by half. However, because of the nature of her job in Lucca, Erin will rarely use this spell at all, though she might use it as a last resort when attacked.
PLAYER'S NAME: //[/color] Pogo
FACE CLAIM: //[/color] Yagokoro Eirin from Touhou Project
OTHER CHARACTERS: //[/color] Nico Vanzetti and Gaius Julius Caesar
MISC. INFORMATION: //[/color] Supervisor #2. She's not going to be a master because she know that probably going to do her goal more harm than good.
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