Post by Jeanne d'Arc on Mar 18, 2011 2:41:40 GMT -5
Lancer
"Of the love or hatred God has for the English, I know nothing, but I do know that they will all be thrown out of France, except those who die here."
"Of the love or hatred God has for the English, I know nothing, but I do know that they will all be thrown out of France, except those who die here."
OTHER ALIAS: //[/color] Joan of Arc; Jehanne d'Arc; The Maiden of Orleans; The Maiden; Jeanne the Maiden; Saint Joan of Arc
CURRENT AGE: //[/color] 19
YEAR OF BIRTH: //[/color] 1412
GENDER: //[/color] Female
ALIGNMENT: //[/color] True Neutral
OCCUPATION: //[/color] Counter Guardian; National Heroine of France; General of French Armies; The Saint of France, Soldiers, Martyrs, Prisoners (and more...)
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Young Jeanne during a pensive moment.
Basking in the sunlight.
HEIGHT: //[/color] 5'5"
WEIGHT: //[/color] 110lbs.
EYE COLOR: //[/color] Strawberry Blonde
HAIR COLOR: //[/color] Cyan
PIERCINGS: //[/color] None
TATTOOS: //[/color] None
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: //[/color] Has a small scar on the left side of her neck.
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- Kuudere
- Having spent centuries as a Counter Guardian it has over time made her distant from others, and often coming off as more cold and deadpan than the out-going leader she was once famed for beinging. Time changes the hearts and ideals of people as it grants them new insight to look back upon, or merely changing hope and optimism into disenchantment and cynicism. Yet under the thick, dense shell that time has formed around her to shield her from what may shatter her at the core, it is there that the heart of the simplistic, earnest young peasant girl still beats. Even if the sound of that heart beat is muffled by the shell time built around her so much it cannot always be heard.
- Bold
- Audacious courses of action became a particular noted aspect of Jeanne's. She had never been one for over-thinking things in regards to warfare, or at times not thinking at all. Rather than sit and strategize, agonizing over what to do, Jeanne simply did, whether for good or ill. Always the sort seeking to do something rather than wasting time ruminating to ad nauseam about next to do. Though, to say the least, this did not always work out to her benefit.
- Insightful
- While not so much wise do to her brashness, but definitely perceptive to the issues of her surroundings and her own problems. She certainly possessed a keen clarity for them, but acting or reacting in accordance to them was another matter entirely. A Heroic Spirit she maybe, but it does not change that she is still human at her core. Not at all.
- Intense
- Even when she was not as detached as she is today, she had always been serious to a fault. It was part of what lead her into becoming what she became. When she felt something needed to be done, she immediately acted to make it, personally. Possessing such an extreme focus, that everything else matters little or not at all outside of the goal she seeks to accomplish. It is what lead to turning a war of what was believed to be an assured victory for the English and Burgundians to granting France the upper-hand, and furthermore putting a king upon a throne. When Jeanne seeks to make something happen, she relentlessly will seemingly stop at nothing to make certain it does.
- Protective
- Yet another aspect of why she became what she is, she really never had any other reason to seek to drive the English and their Burgundian allies out of France. She sought to protect her county's people, give her nation a king, give it protection and stability. Protect the nation from further harm by outsiders who had no place within her country's lands. Making a pact with world for the power to do so, only then to be charged with being one of its guardians after he death, for her at the time it was all the relative. Even though she may not have fully appreciated the gravity of what such a decision meant at the time.
- Yet another aspect of why she became what she is, she really never had any other reason to seek to drive the English and their Burgundian allies out of France. She sought to protect her county's people, give her nation a king, give it protection and stability. Protect the nation from further harm by outsiders who had no place within her country's lands. Making a pact with world for the power to do so, only then to be charged with being one of its guardians after he death, for her at the time it was all the relative. Even though she may not have fully appreciated the gravity of what such a decision meant at the time.
- Patriotism
- Because she is so outside of the norm, especially within her own era, she is often viewed as being something of a rebel, but that is largely a misnormer. For the very reason she did not seek to reform France, but rather sought to strengthen the French monarchy and placing it back into power over France. She viewed it as the best means to grant her people stability and strength, and to stave off foreign influence and invasion, just as what the English were doing - invading France. Jeanne even foresaw her death, prophecising that in a year her time will end, and a year later she was captured and later burned at the stake. Thus what it would take to reform the French kingdom and place it back into power while within a very long and bloody war (and France having suffered severely under a plague just before the war that the country was still trying to recover from during the conflict), it would have been too much to attempt to further change things. Her reasoning for doing all of this was utterly out of her loyalty and compassion to France and its people. If that is not patriotism, what is?
- Because she is so outside of the norm, especially within her own era, she is often viewed as being something of a rebel, but that is largely a misnormer. For the very reason she did not seek to reform France, but rather sought to strengthen the French monarchy and placing it back into power over France. She viewed it as the best means to grant her people stability and strength, and to stave off foreign influence and invasion, just as what the English were doing - invading France. Jeanne even foresaw her death, prophecising that in a year her time will end, and a year later she was captured and later burned at the stake. Thus what it would take to reform the French kingdom and place it back into power while within a very long and bloody war (and France having suffered severely under a plague just before the war that the country was still trying to recover from during the conflict), it would have been too much to attempt to further change things. Her reasoning for doing all of this was utterly out of her loyalty and compassion to France and its people. If that is not patriotism, what is?
LIKES: //[/color]
Crucifixes
Spirituality/Philosophical Thought
Martial Training
Rain with the sun still shining
France
Children
Sweets
DISLIKES: //[/color]
England
Burgundy
Any English product
Inquisitors
Housework (she was a peasant girl... she had to do a lot of it...)
Sheep (they smell)
Evil/Indifferent Magi
Reading and Writing (she's illiterate)
Bluebeard
Pierre Cauchon
STRENGTHS: //[/color] Swift and relentless, it was a mark of her leading style and when fighting directly in battle. She relied heavily upon her speed seeking to push her opponent(s) against the wall to the point of capitulation or granting her the opening for the coup de grace. On the more practical level, it enabled to see to what deeds she believed needed to be done were done and thoroughly.
WEAKNESSES: //[/color] Bash and bullheaded, the downside of her relentlessness as she tosses caution and strategy to the wayside. Sometimes fear is the appropriate response and ignoring it can easily be deadly; and one cannot go on for long without a plan. On the more mundane level outside of the battlefield, it makes her pigheadedly stubborn unwilling to budge even when it would be for the best; and often by the time she at last realizes this it may well be far too late.
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MY LEGEND: //[/color] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc
MY HISTORY: //[/color] There is little to say about my life before going off to fight France's invaders. I was just a peasant girl of humble farmers, and lived a provincial life no different from any others born into poverty and simplicity like my family. I did not necessarily see the world as they did, though. I could always preceive things that no one else I knew could, I do not doubt there were others like me, I just never knew of them in those days. Its difficult to describe what these preceptions were, all I can describe them is an awareness. It was like someone always there whispering into my ear what is and what can possibly be. It sounds vague, and that is because it always was, I never had a firm grasp of them, not until one fateful day... during my daily prayers out in the fields of the farm I grew up on... they were at last answered.
I think it is true: it is impossible to truly understand the world around you, for what is beyond the veil of your era -- is beyond simple human comprehension. What I thought was God, was not God at all... but rather the world itself. It is a surreal experience to reach out with all your heart and faith praying for hope to be delivered from God, but what reaches out back to you is not God at all -- God was all only pretense and belief. It is ironic that when presented with emperical truth, at first it is never believed. It was the world that answered me... and it knew my desires, and it gave me an offer... It will grant me the power to attempt to fulfill these desires of mine, but for a price... my servitude to it and humanity as a Guardian... Had I not been such a silly, innocent child I may have given the proposal more thought, but instead I agreed without any thought nor hesitation. The pact was made, and I then possessed the power and ability to alter France's fate.
That was my desire. To see France and her people suffer as war ravaged acrossed its lands by these English invaders with their Burgundian sycophants attempting to lay claim to what was not rightfully theirs to begin with disgusted me. France was still trying to cope lacking a king for the aristocracy to lead its broken monarchy, and all these English tyrants can think about is claiming French lands and homes for their own as if our lives meant nothing. The entire war was nothing more than a land dispute between two noble families, yet it was France who was made to suffer for it. To see so many suffer for it, I simply could not abide any longer. So I prayed for the power and ability to be able to something about it myself, to expect someone else to do it for me would be nothing shy of arrogant and entitled. That prayer was answered.
At first I did not know what to do so, but I let my preceptions and insight guide me. They felt so... much clearer and sharper than they ever had been before since making the pact. I understood things I never dreamed possible before, it was an awareness to the world -- it was an awareness of what I had to do for France. But I also understood these perceptions could only get me so far. Alone I understood that would only lead me to failure, I needed aid... I need an army... No... I needed the backing of a kingdom. The answer was even clearer in that moment: France needed a ruler. Dauphin Charles was the rightful heir for the King of France, so it is he that I sought to be made France's sovereign.
But where to start, I needed a noble's support to grant me an audience with Charles, but as a peasant that was an impossibility. I needed a medium to enable me to have an audience with a nobleman wh would in turn enable me to speak with him. The only person left for me to turn to was my uncle, Durand Lassosis, who was a respected soldier. As a little girl, he indulged my curiosity for swinging a sword and taught me a couple things, but only enough for a child to not hurt herself and learn minimal skill. However, with the pact I made... that minimal ability turned into mastery in wielding such arms... But I digress... Durand enabled me to petition for an audience with the garrison commander, Count Robert de Baudricourt.
The first time I met with Baudricourt, out of my naivete I told him that with my skill and abilities I could save France if he let me join the French army ranks. He merely laughed at me and sent me on my way before I could ever say more. Still, though, I presisted, and told him of something I foresaw... it is here I begun to bite off more than I could chew by igniting something through my childishness without knowing the full gravity of it. As I mentioned those preceptions of mine had become far more acute since being granted power with the pact to Gaia. I told him that Orleans will soon be sieged by the English and Burgundians, but that France would be victorious turning the tide of the war. An outlandish claim, but when I told him my source was God through the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret -- France in desperation and looking to God more and more to save her, this lie of mine took root.
Baudricourt with a soldier escort took me to have an audience with Dauphin Charles in Chinon, precisely whom I needed to help save France. Perhaps, I could have merely posed as a boy and join the military, but too much attention would be drawn to me with the power I was given with the pact that was made; and still I do not believe I could have ever been subtle with what I think needed to be done to save France. Besides, often being subtle is just another method of procrastination, hesitation, and wasting time or all of the above. In any case, I needed a leadership position, one where I could command an army.
Much like Baudricourt, the desperation of the time gripped Dauphin Charles, and the prediction of what I could foresee vaguly on the horizon, and with the lie that it was by God's divine guidance while I spoke it from conviction... The conviction was genuine, for I was speaking the truth, I suppose, from a certain of view and metaphor. Besides, if the lie has enough weight and belief in it, it can be more real than any truth.
But I could not evade the times, it was a time of great fear and where belief was stronger than any reality. His advisers to make certain that he could not be finger pointed for siding with witchcraft or a sorceress, had me investigated. Maybe it was arrogance, maybe it was naivete, maybe it was an equal measure of both, but that did not concern me. I had only ever lived a simple, quiet life as a farm girl as one of many France's peasants as a devout catholic, and that is all they found of me. It was the only story to tell Dauphin Charles, and it was then my foresight abilities were given credence within Poitiers by several theologians, inquisitors, cardinals, and even an archbishop.
Caution and doubt plagued France in that era, so they believed one final test was needed to be done. My foretelling of Orleans needed to come true, and they believed a greater chance of this would occur by sending me there with an army. It was exactly what I wanted, sent to Orleans to give relief as it was being assaulted by the English and Burgundians. My arrival was not a very welcome one, and I did not expect it to be. Jean d'Orleans often attempted to keep me out of war councils, he had a low opinion of the royal court indulging a peasant girl whom he believed had no place within the conflict. I begrudged him then, but after so long now that it no longer matters, not any longer.
Truth be told, I was frustrated by our strategists, it was a trend within French military tactics at the time to be cautious. I think decades of defeat and being on the verge of losing our nation made them vastly more weary than they needed to be. I could see the outcome, I could see the problems, and I understood what needed to be done. Hesitation never seems to cease my aggrevation. Why wait? Why plague oneself with fear? Why stand around watching and waiting for something to happen? Make something happen! Carpe diem.
So, against every cautionary advisement of our strategists and war veterans, and more so against Jean d'Orleans' complaints and invectives... I gathered my army, told them God was with them, and charged the English and Burgundian camps and fortresses one after the other. I would not give those invading despots a chance or a moments reprieve. Eight days of one assault after another, both the English and Burgundians were driven away from Orleans, our casualties were relatively low, while theirs were immense. I had impressions and understandings as to how it would turn out, but little else, I felt victory was there and possible, and so I acted upon it.
The results were more than I expected. During those battles I was struck in the neck by a longbowman's arrow, there was a momentary retreat because of it, but my being wounded alone should not stop an entire army from assaulting. So, after being bandaged, I went back out into the battlefield and lead the army into further advancement. The entire victory was seen as improbable. It was believed with the sacking of Orleans, then the rest of French held lands would be next. But, the nature of those kinds of beliefs are only defeatist opinions without gravity, only fear. It would be a lie if I said too see so many of the English's camps and fortresses brought ruin, and their blood upon my spear as it served as my battle standard as well... that the sight was not incredibly satisfying.
This was only the first step though, before anything more can be done, France needed its sovereign. With a kingdom, France had something to fight for even more, and further weaken the English and Burgundians position therein. Because it only solidified their position as outsiders who did not belong in our land attempting to claim what was never theirs, regardless of how entitled they may have felt to it. Though, with Orleans, now more responsibility fell upon me, generals looked to me, and I did not nor never did answer to them, but now they looked for greater leadership and hope for victory and they saw me as the best chance of that. As arrogant as it sounds, even they did not look to me, I would have never looked to them. The only one I answered to was Charles VII, and the only one I ever told of my visions and impressions I would foresee was those closes to me, and no other.
When I told the royal court the next move was to have Charles VII crowned in Reims, their reaction was not a well received one. While I can understand that their concern as Reims was northeast of Paris, which places Reims further into enemy territory than Paris itself. They wanted to strike at Paris next, but as things stood, France needed its kingdom back in power and that meant having a sovereign.
I grew increasingly irritated and even begun to loathe the royal court and its advisers, especially those in Charles VII's personal service. They only perpetuated the fear and vacillation that has mired France for too long because of its defeats. We needed to forge a new era for France of renewed strength, and to continuously weaken ourselves with indecision ruled by fear it would never happen. I knew I only had a year left before my own crusade would end, and even told Charles VII this before I had marched to Orleans.
In the end, I gathered my army with as many generals who would follow me, and told the royal court and Charles VII that I would carve a path to Reims for them to reach there safely. The march to Reims I find to be our greatest achievement in the entire war. It was called the "Bloodless March", for not one drop of blood was spilled as we marched deep into enemy territory. Villages, towns, camps, and fortresses surrendered and capitulated to us without resistance. It was the perfect prelude to the Gates of Reims opening to us, and thus conducting the coronation of King Charles VII... France at last had her sovereign returned to her... and it was the most beautiful day of my life to experience... To see everything I have dreamed and foresaw come to fruitition with all that we had collectively suffered and sacrificed in this war.
It was a time to strike at Paris, it was ripe while everything was within our favor, I could see it clearly. But with the indecision mired within the royal court, they cautioned against it. Peace talks were made, but even without precognitive abilities it could be foreseen that the treachous English and Burgundians would not be honoring them. Those in King Charles VII's service managed to form a peace agreement with the English, and rather than be a descenter I chose to be proactive and attempted to appeal to the Burgundians via the duke of Burgundy. But, even though these truces were agreed upon, I knew they would not be honored. It was the English who betrayed them first, and did so by using the time of peace to refortify themselves and Paris in preparation to attack us once again fueling the war even more. It was then our King allowed us to strike at Paris, but while I saw it as a doomed effort, still I tried not to give up hope that it was possible for victory, and we all fought as hard as we could.
It was all for naught though, the English and Burgundians had fortified themselves far too powerfully for the siege to succeed. No matter how often we pressed we could not weaken the fortifications of Paris enough, eventually the manpower and resources were spent, and it was advised to retreat -- it was the first time in the conflict my pride had to swallow its first major defeat. I didn't take kindly to it, and when I still dwell on it my mind is plagued by 'if onlys'. I was shot in the leg in this assault by crossbowman's bolt. It had to be cut out of my leg, and it took me some time to recover from it, and during the seige it prevented me from fighting at full capacity. Sometimes to lose a battle all it takes is fatigue.
Times fell hard then as the royal court was no longer supporting the army as a whole, and my own forces I was relying upon the donations from my fellow countrymen and women of France. The battles at that point were primarily border skirmishes. It was just as well, we did not have the strength to take on a full assault by the English as we lacked the royal court's funding and supplies. The armies of France were on their own, for the royal court had become complacent now that we at last had a sovereign. King Charles VII was kind as he remitted the taxes on Domremy my home-village. But he also made the d'Arc lineage nobility giving us the surname 'du Lys'. Thoughtful of him, but at the same time needless... gaining such acollades meant relatively little to me. I was only grateful for that it helped my family in a time of such turmoil, life would at least be easier for them.
It is strange to have visions... flashes... of your own death... I knew it was coming and soon, I could feel it... as the year grew closer, I could feel an impending doom falling over me. It was stifling, at times it felt like I could hardly breathe... And as I could feel my own death approaching me, it lead me to having many pensive and thoughtful moments... what it meant to die... and my own faith. Doing so gave me some measure of comfort and solace to soothe my fears and anxieties.
I was and still am Catholic... my understanding of what it meant to follow Catholicism had changed since... forming the pact that I did... As I begun to look at it, God essentially is a metaphor for that which is of the world we cannot explain or our limited human thought cannot express. It refers to the mystery of being, and the mystery of our being as well as of the world. God is a thought. God is an idea. Within every mythology every god is true, whether it be literal or metaphorical within the view and context of the human and cosmic mystery. All of the symbols within every mythology in one form or another refer to us. Too often it is easy to get lost by thinking it is all beyond our reach, when it is all there within ourselves and in front of our faces everywhere we look without ever knowing it -- it is all here in the natural world, of nature.
To die to the human animal nature, and come to life as a human incarnation... This is what it means when speaking of a virgin birth... The birth of spiritual life what started as an animal. And humanity is marked by its beastly nature throughout its history. Spiritual life is the praising of natural life, not a supernatural thing forced upon it. It was always there, I felt it -- perceived it -- experienced it as a child reaching out to touch it and eventually it reached back. A dimension of mystery that is not readily available to the common senses of the human animal. I don't have to have faith, I have experience. If it is not experienced it will never be understood.
Ritual and circumstance are never easily undone, but the perception of it can be given new understanding. But spirituality I always promoted, even if I did not see it the same way as I once did or the same way as anyone else. But it is what so many die for with their gods... Dying for their symbolism and metaphors of the mythological being that people believe in, often needlessly when the source is the same -- preventing them from understanding. Your god is your ultimate barrier. Be they real or something presumed to be real. For me, God is this world and it is us -- the representation of all that we are... and the collective consciousness of it... also known as Gaia... or Alaya... but the reference is a metaphor to it... in my eyes... It is that to which I place my faith in... and to which I have been bound to serve.
Looking back on it... within the criteria of what met for being a heretic within my time... I fit it quite well... though I never voiced how I viewed God or what it means to believe in God to me... I merely utilized the inquisitors own teachings and faith to argue my own...
What I accomplished... the things I did... from what I foresaw and the power I then had, no doubt it all seemed miraculous to them. Like the newborn I 'saved'... to this day I do not even know why I did it, maybe to ease the parents minds from the anxiety of what Catholicism deemed would happen to the child at that time... But even that does not seem like an adequate explanation to me. All I remember is just... acting... like I always have... not thinking... just perceiving... and acting.
The momentum I had going a year ago seemed to slow to a crawl by way of inaction and indecision. The royal court was willing to get swept up in the current I could generate a year ago, but it was only until they found themselves in a place of comfort they were willing to settle rather than continue the hard task of further pushing the English out of France. At Compeigne I went to pray more to comfort myself than anything, as I could feel my end was very near. By that point King Charles VII finally ordered more assaults and had the royal court supply the armies and fund them. But, it was too late, my time had reached its end. As we prepped to leave... we were ambushed by English and Burgundian forces... they overwhelmed us entirely. It did not matter how well we fought and how much strength I had to fight, they had the numbers.
I ordered the retreat, and as the leading commander and a knight, I choose to continue to fight on and be the last to leave the field until the rest could retreat. But, eventually my strength was spent so much all it took was for an archer to pull me off my horse. They demanded my surrender, and while I refused, the choice had already been made for me, and I was captured.
At Beaurevoir I was imprisoned for many months, but there was no ransom for my release. Only selling me to a man who was notorious for bribing church officials and served the English, Pierre Cauchon. During my imprisonment, before being sold, I heard rumor of English soldiers seeking to burn down Compiegne... so I tried to escape... several times, but it was all for naught each time... Thankfully... the rumor proved only to be just that.
They took me to Rouen where the inquisitorial trials begun to attempt to condemn me for heresy. They originally wanted to have me burned as a witch. But, with my abilities and powers given credence by the several reputable theologians, inquisitors, cardinals, and an archbishop and then later the Vatican, as well as my pretrial examinations by the duchess of Burgundy, the regent of England's wife, vouching for my virginity... The English inquisitors could not put me on trial for witchcraft or being a sorceress... It would be challenging the Vatican and the duchess of Burgundy at this point, thus turning the gaze of their Burgundian allies and the Holy Roman Empire on them should they challenge their ruling. So the English Inquisitors tried to undermine my faith... and then also condemn me for cross dressing and cutting my hair, both being crimes of heresy.
It did not matter how many witnesses sided with me, nor how many priests vouched for my being pardoned to wear mens clothing and cutting my hair. These accounts were all dismissed, the English inquisitors were seeking to eliminate one of France's leading figures and many of the Church officials serving as judges had been bought off by Pierre Cauchon. Nor did it matter how often they argued against my faith and the lie I continued to tell about the source of my abilities and powers, and my turning their arguments right back against them... none of it matter... They wanted me burned at the stake for everything I stood for and believed in and what I was and represented. Even my attempts to contact the Pope to end that farce of a trial were denied me. For this was an assassination.
The inquisitors even attempted to find me guilty of murdering Christians for that is what many of the English soldiers that I killed were. Therefore killing them was a mortal sin. The transcripts of my trial were either altered or doctored or misinterpretted, I am not entirely certain which, perhaps all of the above. But I never said I did not kill anyone, I simply stated I never murdered anyone; and that I preferred my battle standard to my sword for my battle standard was my spear. Because the English had spilt so much French blood upon French lands since their invasion I believed English blood should cover France instead if they wished to do battle with us. The flag of France is a representation of France, and thus I sought to soak in the blood of the English despots who thought they could rule us. Killing those invading English miscreants is not murder, it is merely eliminating ones foe in battle. That is not murder, that is justice.
In the end, it would be pen and parchment that would be my final downfall... They threatened me with immediate execution unless I signed a document they placed before me. I didn't understand anything written on it, I was still learning how to read and write... and that was in French... Foolishly, I signed the document out of my fear of death... and it was only then I discovered that I signed my death warrant... And fell for a trick that so many peasants had fallen for by inquisitors seeking only execution rather than a fair trial.
All I felt was betrayal... and defeat... I held no motivation to fight... I was too exhausted by this point. I did what I could for France and gave it many victories... at this point I realized, if France truly wants her freedom from English tyranny, she will have to continue to fight for herself. Myself while I died a violent death... I knew what I would become after it...
They say I cried out Christ's name repeatedly as I burned... Honestly I don't recall... I could have, I don't know. What I remember of that day when they paraded me out into the street, lead me into the town square, where they bound me to the stake surrounded by kindling and chopped wood stacked up to the knee... is very little. I remember screaming in pain, as I strared at the crucifix one of the clergy held up for me that I requested of him... Praying in an attempt to find even the most minute amount of comfort to soothe the agony... begging for it to end as I continued to stare at that crucifix through the flames... But all I could feel was my flesh being burned.
After my death... the centuries that passed by all seem to blur and blend together into incoherence. All time seemed to reflect within humanity was was violence. Always was there some catastrophe, atrocity... something involving humanity that always required some form of equilibrium needing to be brought back to it. The only thing I could see and foresee within humanity as time moved on was why the majority of humanity has failed or been destroyed, and its blind desire for repeated excess to make up for its inadequacies. This existence that I have now... as I view it... is nothing more than protecting humanity from themselves... as clumsy as it is feeling about blindly in the dark... And sometimes... because of its bumblings... part of it... needs to be sacrificed to save the whole.
And now this young Magus I'm looking upon... one of humanity's wayward children... summons me for yet another Holy Grail War transpiring upon this earth... Proving to be another of humanity's numbers carelessly fumbling about in the dark.
MY GOALS: //[/color] To protect my Master from harm... and bring this war to its end... Or die trying.
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NOBLE PHANTASM: //[/color]
Spear of the First Knight of the Lily
Rank: C
Type: Anti-Unit
Range: 2-10
Max Targets: 1
When King Charles VII made the d'Arc family nobility, he gave them the surname "du Lys", and Jeanne being granted the title of Knight as she lead her army and French forces against the English and Burgundians. It made her the first knight of the "du Lys" family lineage.
This Noble Phantasm of Jeanne's was actually a reenforced spear that she could utilize as a spear while on foot or lance when on horseback (though it was a bit shorter than the usual lance), which Jeanne during her campaigns had a few ringlets bore into the top end of it to bear the French war banner, thus utilizing it as a battle standard. So she could use it to defend or attack with as she waved her banner. A practical solution and not an uncommon thing to be done for the time out of practicality, hence why many battle standards possessed varying spear- or pike-heads. However, since becoming a Counter Guardian, it carries no flag or bears any banner as a Counter Guardian belongs to no nation.
It is summoned by Jeanne invoking its name. With a short burst of power at blinding speeds at her target, she can close her distance between herself and her opponent with a powerful thrust at their torso seeking to impale them. Because it is a quick burst of power and speed, the distance that is closed is limted. This ability of the Noble Phantasm can be immediately upon being invoked, which Jeanne often uses as an opening strike against her opponent the second she resorts to using the weapon in an attempt to catch them off-guard.
This Noble Phantasm of Jeanne's was actually a reenforced spear that she could utilize as a spear while on foot or lance when on horseback (though it was a bit shorter than the usual lance), which Jeanne during her campaigns had a few ringlets bore into the top end of it to bear the French war banner, thus utilizing it as a battle standard. So she could use it to defend or attack with as she waved her banner. A practical solution and not an uncommon thing to be done for the time out of practicality, hence why many battle standards possessed varying spear- or pike-heads. However, since becoming a Counter Guardian, it carries no flag or bears any banner as a Counter Guardian belongs to no nation.
It is summoned by Jeanne invoking its name. With a short burst of power at blinding speeds at her target, she can close her distance between herself and her opponent with a powerful thrust at their torso seeking to impale them. Because it is a quick burst of power and speed, the distance that is closed is limted. This ability of the Noble Phantasm can be immediately upon being invoked, which Jeanne often uses as an opening strike against her opponent the second she resorts to using the weapon in an attempt to catch them off-guard.
Blessed Touch of the Maiden
Rank: A
Type: Support
Range: 1
Max Targets: 1
With the same power that enabled her to bring a still born to life and completely heal several dying nuns from their terminal illnesses, the very miracles that lead to her being canonized as a saint. She can summon up a large amount of her prana and convert it into soothing energies that can alleviate anything from fatigue to grievous wounds for ten minutes. This can be used on another person/target or even utilized upon herself. The drawback being it costs her a significant amount of her prana. She can use it two or three times (three at most), otherwise drain herself utterly of strength and power to keep fighting and cannot use this ability to recover as she severely lacks the prana to do so at that point.
A Saint's Prayer to Alaya
Rank: B+
Type: Support
Range: Self
Max Targets: 1 (Self)
By replicating the prayer she uttered that lead to Gaia responding to her and she forming a pact with it which granted her power to save France and then became a Counter Guardian upon death, she can increase her abilities to great degrees for a limited time. However, this takes time, focus, and clarity to accomplish, and with more destractions she has as she is trying to accomplish this the longer it will take her as the focus and clarity required is not completely there.
Upon completion of the prayer her strength and agility are increased by one full level. Though, once the effect ends it depletes her power significantly from the strain of maintaining her abilities and powers beyond their norm.
Note: The prayer itself takes her a several minutes to utter and demands her focus. While it is possible for her to accomplish while distracted it merely takes more time, averaging about 10 minutes do to her focus not entirely being on the prayer itself. When or if accomplished the effects of it lasts for 5 minutes.
Upon completion of the prayer her strength and agility are increased by one full level. Though, once the effect ends it depletes her power significantly from the strain of maintaining her abilities and powers beyond their norm.
Note: The prayer itself takes her a several minutes to utter and demands her focus. While it is possible for her to accomplish while distracted it merely takes more time, averaging about 10 minutes do to her focus not entirely being on the prayer itself. When or if accomplished the effects of it lasts for 5 minutes.
CLASS ABILITIES: //[/color]
Magic Resistance: C
With the great prevalance and potency of magic during her time, Jeanne had built up a strong resistance to it, and in many regards as a warrior she had to.
SKILLS: //[/color]
Clairvoyance: C+
Even when she was very young she possessed the ability to preceive things others never could. Her faith at the time told her one thing, despite being something completely other. When she made the pact to become a Counter Guardian, these preceptions were increased phenomenally giving her insight and visions of the future, essentially possessing true precognition. However, they were never a determiner or ensured her victory in battle as what she could see was often vague impressions, though they certainly aided her in having many victories. If nothing else, they certainly enabled her to accomplish much during her lifetime, and each of the predictions she had came true, even up to her capture and death.
Aegis of Faith: A
Quite literally one of the most popular saints in history spanning several faiths even outside of Christian mythology, more so as a Saint of Martyrs and Those Ridiculed for their Piety. Executed as a heretic, she was burned twice more after her death to reduce her completely to ash for in fear of relics remaining of her as -- not just most of Europe but even her judges that convicted her feared they had just executed a saint when she was burned at the stake. No matter how the inquisitors and judges of her trial attempted to make her waver in her beliefs and spirituality, she never once did, eventually leading to her execution and becoming a martyr and saint not just of her nation but her religious faith. With that history this skill has given her much benefit as it protects her body and mind greatly from harmful assaults.
Battle Continuation: C
Having been struck in the neck with a longbowman's arrow, a wound that has proven fatal to war veterans and fully armored knights alike; yet after being bandaged, Jeanne merely got up and continued the assault from the front lines. That being during the Siege of Orleans that had been a year long battle with the French at the severely losing end, but Jeanne bringing it to a close in merely 8 days. During the Siege of Paris she was also struck in the leg (and another time in the shoulder) by a crossbowman's bolt, but even after having it cut out which has caused many a soldier to bleed out in the process despite doing so being safer than ripping it out; nevertheless that same day she was back in the front leading the attack and even took the knight's honor of being the last to retreat the battle when no other option was left. A young peasant girl she may have been, but highly resilient and strong-willed she has always proven to be all the same willing to continue onward despite even severe injury.
Charisma: C
Despite being an illiterate peasant girl, she arose to the point of being France's national hero during her lifetime as she lead her army against English and Burgundian invaders turning the tide of war completely. But even furthermore through her actions put a king upon the throne of France giving the nation its sovereignty, where she accomplished the "Bloodless March" when fortresses, villages, towns, and camps of the enemy surrendered to her without any resistance from the simple mention of her name. It is quite a thing for a 17 year old illiterate peasant girl to arise to the point of becoming the leading commander of the military forces of an entire nation; more so considering her military career begun when she was 16 years old and ending at the age of 19 years.
STRENGTH: //[/color] D
ENDURANCE: //[/color] C
AGILITY: //[/color] C
MANA: //[/color] C
LUCK: //[/color] D
NOBLE PHANTASM: //[/color] A
[/blockquote][/size][/ul]
FACE CLAIM: //[/color] Jeanne d'Arc (Jeanne d'Arc PSP game artwork)
OTHER CHARACTERS: //[/color] None
MISC. INFORMATION: //[/color] I wish I could dance.
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