Soulfyre
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Man in Black | |
| Soulfyre | |
| Player: User:@Locksbane | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Dominator |
| Threat Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Miklos Dante |
| Known Aliases: | none known |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | complicated |
| Height: | 6'1" |
| Weight: | 198 |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | unknown |
| Occupation: | entrepreneur, criminal |
| Place of Birth: | the mind of Dreamkatcher |
| Base of Operations: | St. Martial, Rogue Isles |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Micheal Drake ("brother") |
| Known Powers | |
| Pyrokinesis and magical ability | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Confidential | |
| Equipment | |
| various magical paraphernalia and weapons | |
| No additional information available. | |
.
Soulfyre was the product of a storyline involving the mental breakdown of the hero Dreamkatcher. He also provided me a good springboard into being a villain.
Contents |
Affiliations
Supergroup: Dark Moon
Personality
Soulfyre is basically the mirror image of Dreamkatcher, with none of the hero's scruples or inhibitions. He sees his "brother" as weak for not using his power to make life easy for himself, and has no compunctions about using his abilities for his own benefit. Soulfyre is arrogant, vain, hedonistic, and ruthless in the pursuit of anything he wants. He has a compassionate side, though, and has been known to do the odd good deed when no one was watching. People who get on his good side are held in high regard, but he is ever watchful for treachery; the Rogue Isles have taught him caution. He enjoys the finer things in life, and likes to surround himself with beautiful people and things. He holds a grudge against Dreamkatcher, for keeping him confined, the houngan Kadao Kestrel, who aided the hero, and the Thorn mage Akarist, who provided the means of his confinement.
Powers
Soulfyre is a pyrokinetic who is also a gifted mage. This combination of abilities makes him a very dangerous individual.
Pyrokinesis
Soulfyre possesses the ability to burn almost any substance. The more flame-resistant the substance, the more effort and concentration is required to ignite it. He can produce effects from a smoky, cinder filled explosion of heated air to a blast of superheated air and flame capable of blinding and disorienting a large group of foes. He can mold his flame into walls or rings to contain foes, and toss balls of fire that explode on impact. He has learned to concentrate his flame into a thin beam of intense heat which can melt through several inches of metal. By raising the temperature around himself, he can create a field of enervating heat that slows anyone who gets too close. Soulfyre has also learned to drain heat energy from his foes and use it to replace his own strength. Coupled with his magic, he can summon small flame elementals, which he normally uses as his shock troops in combat. His powers can be affected by his emotional state, and things have been known to burst into flame around him when he is angered or upset.
Magical Might
Soulfyre is a capable mage, but not in the class of his counterpart. He can perform various feats, such as creating spatial warps to bring people to his location, locate people and objects from a distance, disguise himself, hypnotise people, and various other feats. With the right materials, preparation, and time, he can erect protective wards that can endure quite a bit of damage before falling. He is working to recover much of the knowledge lost in his separation from Dreamkatcher.
Dark Magic
While undergoing his initiation into Arachnos, Soulfyre was accepted as a student by the undead mage, Ghost Widow. Through her, he gained access to a new form of magic, that which called upon the power of darkness. He has become somewhat skilled in this art, and can now shield himself from harm by cloaking himself in a shifting cloud of dark energy, as well as disorient oppenents with chilling blasts of pure darkness. His allegiance to Ghost Widow also earned him the right to call on her forces for aid, and he carries a signalling device which will summon one of the Fortunata to him in times of great need.
Flight
By heating the air around himself to create lift, and expelling it behind himself, Soulfyre is able to fly. Through practise, he has become proficient at this mode of travel, and possesses good maneuverability. He can fly at speeds up to 80 mph, and can carry an unknown amount of weight aloft with him.
Character History
Most people begin life as a twinkle in their mother's eye. Soulfyre began his existence as a headache. Literally. When the hero known as Dreamkatcher first attempted to use ancient spells of great power to return a woman from an unjust death, the incredible forces released had a deleterious affect on his already fractured psyche. One of his "splinter selves" somehow gained self-awareness and broke apart as an independent being. The shard, who came to be known as the Other, bided it's time, slowly growing in power until it could begin subtly attempting to take over Dreamkatcher's body. The problem was exacerbated when Dreamkatcher came into contact with a mask worn by a member of the Carnival of Shadows. The psychic artifact further eroded his mental control, and the Other began to grow more assertive, causing the hero to become more reckless and free with his powers. Finally, Dreamkatcher became fully aware of the Other, and a battle of wills and magic ensued. With the help of Kadao Kestrel and the renegade Thorn mage Akarist, Dreakatcher succeeded in containing the Other's influence on his mind. The Other had by now discovered that he could not destroy Dreamkatcher, as they were in truth each an aspect of the other personality. The Other hatched a plot to take over Dreamkatcher's body long enough to re-enact the resurrection spell that had created him, as that ritual could create a new body for him to inhabit. With the aid of a Circle of Thorns ritual, he could split himself from Dreamkatcher and transfer to the new body. He got his chance when Dreamkatcher was knocked unsconscious during a scuffle with one of his team mates while they searching for a killer in King"s Row. Seizing the moment, the Other took over their body and fled. The ritual was prepared, and the body created, but Dreamkatcher's friends managed to prevent the Other from transferring himself to the new body, instead capturing him in a Thorn soul crystal. This, they believed, was the end of the matter.
The Crystal Cracks
Dreamkatcher, not wanting to chance the crystal being vulnerable and not having a foolproof method of safeguarding it, did the best he could. He turned the crystal over to his friends at MAGI, where it was kept in the vault under the utmost security. The reputation of MAGI notwithstanding, this worked for a while. However, Burntheart, an Outcast masquerading as a hero, overheard Dreamkatcher and Azuria discussing the crystal one day. Not understanding what it was, but thinking only that it was a powerful magical artifact, she convinced her more powerful companion, Karnage, to help her steal it. They succeeded, and the Other was overjoyed to be among easily influenced people. Through subtle suggestion, he manipulated the duo into taking the crystal with them to a Crey facility, intending to have them find a cloned body of Dreamkatcher that Crey was reputed to have created. The break-in went awry, and though they made it to the clone lab, in the scuffle Burntheart lost her grip on the crystal, throwing it against a random stasis tube. The tube and the crystal shattered, and although it wasn't the one he was after, the Other finally had his own body.
Soulfyre Unleashed
Karnage and Burntheart welcomed the new villain, and the three battled their way out of the facility. Getting acquainted, he explained to them most of his story, keeping parts of it secret. Needing a name, the Other decided to call himself Miklos Dante, similar to, but distinctive from, his former identity. Discovering the body he had taken over had pyrokinetic abilities, and finding that he still possessed the magical ability shared with Dreamkatcher, he took the street name of Soulfyre, and began to work on controlling his new powers. During this time, the three villains, as well as several others, joined the guardian Angels in repelling a Rikti invasion centered around a portal in Perez Park. Burntheart persuaded a group of the Outcasts to help, and during the battle, Soulfyre, unable to control his flames at such intense levels, killed several of the gangsters, thereby making himself an enemy of the mutant street gang. Shortly after this event, Soulfyre decided to leave Paragon City for the Rogue Isles, both to learn more of the world and to build his power without coming into conflict with Dreamkatcher until he was fully prepared.
The Rogue Isles
In the Isles, Soulfyre quickly made a name for himself in the underworld. He worked for many of the crime bosses and villains, pulling robberies, acting as intimidation, and gathering information on warring factions. He was for a time the pupil of the mysterious Peter Themari, but found Themari too depraved to stay with for long. Mr Bocor, a voodoo master who worked out of Port Oakes, was a more fitting teacher, his sophistication striking a familiar chord in Soulfyre. While working with these and others, Soulfyre was also investing his ill-gotten gains heavily, and with inside information obtained through favors and threats, soon had a tidy nest egg. By the time he met the Archmage Tarixus, the ghostly Thorn wizard found him to be a powerful and eager pupil. Tarixus gave him his chance at revenge on Akarist for the old mage's help in imprisoning Soulfyre originally, and although Soulfyre did deliver Akarist to a demon in payment for a deal made by Tarixus, the canny old mage managed to bargain his way back to the material world once more.
The Spider's Web
As he made more of a name for himself, and began amassing a small fortune from his investments, Soulfyre was contacted by agents of Arachnos. All who showed the promise of power and villainy in the Rogue Isles eventually drew the attention of Lord Recluse, and Soulfyre felt that he had earned the place offered in the criminal organization. Approaching the ethereal sorceress Ghost Widow, he was accepted by her as a pupil, and learned a great deal from her of the ways of dark magic, as well as the inner workings of Arachnos. The two came to become almost friends, when fate struck a cruel blow.
Betrayal
While attempting to help his mentor return to her living form, Soulfyre was contacted by the Arbiters, the keepers of absolute law in the Isles. Ghost Widow would not be allowed to achieve her goal, he was told, and he would be required to aid them in interfering with her attempt, as well as in punishing her. Soulfyre rebelled, but in the end, the Arbiters produced certain information that would be quite damaging if given to the wrong people, and this, coupled with other threats, forced him to cooperate. The deception and betrayal was complete, and Ghost Widow remained bound in her tenuous form. The friendship they had formed was shattered, and Soulfyre knew he had lost more than a teacher.
Burning Bright
After a few more distasteful missions pitted him against the cream of Paragon City's heros, Soulfyre finally decided that the risk outwieghed the gain, and, by means undisclosed, somehow won his freedom from Arachnos. Once more a free agent, he has made plans to return to Paragon City, to discover how the city has changed in his absence. For now, he intends to enjoy the fruits of his labors and present the appearance of a simple entrepreneur, but time will tell if the urge to again walk the path of excitement and adventure will call him.
