Altansar
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Altansar is one of Paragon's more recognizable Heroes and a Captain in the Super Group The Legionnaires. Altansar is a very powerful Sorcerer and mainly uses the elements of fire and ice in combat. His official title is a guardian of the Realm of Earth, but he thinks that is way too fancy and sees himself as just another of Paragon's Magical Superheroes. He also recently opened a Private Investigation business, mainly dealing with the Supernatural side of things in Paragon but is not above taking other jobs.
| |
| Altansar | |
| Player: @Tony510 | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster/Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Desmond Stiles |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 24 |
| Height: | 6' 2" |
| Weight: | 145 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Brown |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | African American |
| Occupation: | Adventurer, Private Investigator |
| Place of Birth: | Brooklyn, New York |
| Base of Operations: | Founder's Falls |
| Marital Status: | Dating Headhunter Hattie |
| Known Relatives: | Sharon Stiles(Mother), Steve Stiles(Father), Justin Stiles(Brother) |
| Known Powers | |
| While he has knowledge of thousands of different spells in combat Desmond prefers to use mostly Fire and Ice spells as those are his strong suit. For travel he tends to fly or teleport but prefers flight. | |
| Known Abilities | |
| *Martial combat knowledge with dual swords borrowing many movements from Kenjutsu | |
| Equipment | |
Legionnaire comm link
| |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
Ongoing Character History
Origin
Desmond Jaeden Stiles was born on July 10th, 1985 in Brooklyn, New York. Both his father Steven Stiles and Grandfather George Stiles worked for the NYPD and their stories about their cases when Desmond was younger set him up for what he wanted his life to be. Desmond was set to follow them in their footsteps, having a strong sense of justice instilled by the two of them. Desmond spent his first two college semesters at NYU studying criminology, but soon transfered to a University in Paragon City for the excitement of what Paragon City would bring figuring being an Officer of the Paragon Police department would be far more interesting than an NYPD Officer. A year and some months later Desmond whole life would change(in his mind for the better) after attending a Party just outside the city Desmond was on his way home on his motorcycle when a drunk driver slammed into him.
Desmond was sent over the railing and plunged head first into a river below. Desmond was either dead or close to dead when the immortal sage of fire, Naestyra felt him out. She breathed life back into him and took him to a nearby cave and watched over him until he woke up. Inside the cave were two stone statues of two men facing one another one was covered in flame and the other ice. Naestyra explained to Desmond when he awoke that the two statues in front of him were of Altanius and Sarnir two former Earth Realm mystics that commanded the elements of Fire and Frost.
Naestyra informed Desmond that dark forces were gathering in this realm and that for the first time in millenia a guardian for Earth Realm was needed. In turn for saving his life she asked Desmond to be that guardian. Desmond had little hesitation seeing as he owed her his life and since she was hot he agreed to become the guardian. Naestyra kissed Desmond's left eye placing her mark on him, with this mark came all the powers and spell knowledge shared between Altanius and Sarnir, from that day forward Desmond began calling himself Altansar and use his new found abilities to combat that many criminals of Paragon City.
The Sage council & Voriel
The Sage Council resides in the city of Ro'Jan in a separate Plane from Earths. The council houses 8 seats(though at this time their are only 7) each Sage representing an element and each with their own guardian though not all are from the Realm of Earth. They are Fire, Water(Frost), Earth, Wind, Wood, Metal, Light and Darkness. Not long after Desmond gained his powers he was summoned before the Council due to his special circumstances, there has never been a guardian given the power over two elements as it breaks the balance between the elements. They also noticed that in their view Desmond abused his new magical abilities(since getting his abilities Desmond uses his powers for pretty much anything even entertaining himself.) in their mind they see Desmond as a bit reckless and slacking in his ability as a guardian. Desmond argued that he's not abusing his powers and uses his frequent power use to practice and hone his abilities.
Unconvinced the Council appoints Voriel, a servant of Naestyra's house as Desmond's spiritual guide. However Desmond views Voriel as something of a parole officer who frequently bothers him. While Voriel doesn't keep as close an eye on Desmond as he think he does have the uncanny knack of appearing at usually the worst possible times fortunately for Desmond, Voriel can only be seen and heard by him.
Joining the Legionnaires
While Desmond did plenty of hero work on his own he found that with more difficult cases he could use help. Recalling various members of the Legionnaires from news reports, Desmond went to find a member hoping to join however he screwed up a teleportation spell and accidentally teleported into their base. After straightening out the situation(i.e. proving he's not some villain attacking them directly.) he was accepted into the Legionnaires. Desmond loves being in the Legionnaires and gets along well with several members there is no where he would rather be.
Desmond's initiation
Desmond's second council summoning was in regards to him shirking his responsibilities in fighting against the unnatural. Some members of the Council felt that him using his powers to fix mortal problems was not part of the deal. Naestyra defended Desmond's actions saying that there were 6 other capable Guardians, One Sage argued that that may be true but Desmond has yet to prove his prowess against the greater forces of evil. When a council servant informed that a dangerous prisoner had escaped into Earth Realm, Desmond immediately agreed to bring him back on one condition. That if he did the council would leave him alone to do as he wishes without watching him every waking moment and do things his way.
Because of the danger of the task the council agreed, given that is Desmond failed he would likely end up dead. Desmond was teleported to a small town in Montana where the last known location of the criminal was known. His name was King Atma, a former guardian of fire that Preceded both Desmond, Altanius and a handful of other Guardians of flame. Atma had tricked a man in the town into stealing enough souls to power his escape from his prison and began rampaging through the town. Desmond barely defeated Atma and put him back in his prison, pleased with his work Desmond decided to keep Atma's prison for himself. The council disagreed with Desmond keeping Atma's Prison crystal but Desmond didn't care and instead questioned how it ended up on Earth in the first place, he also raised the point that there was nothing the council could do about it because of their deal. The council grudgingly agreed and allowed him to do as he wished.
The Hero Hunt
Not long after his battle with King Atma, Desmond's identity became compromised which lead to what's now referred to as the Hero Hunt Scandal. Late one night Des received a call from a friend telling him that his roommate got into an altercation with The Family, Des went to rescue him but walked into a trap which he was attacked by three villains he had not seen or heard of before the three would turn out to be Teenaged robotics genius and psychopath Scrap-yard, The deadly clawed Assassin Rose Weaver and the introvert Bruiser, Godhand. He was savagely beaten by the three of them and barely escaped with his life, afterwards he got a phone call from a mystery woman telling him that they were going to play a game where he would be hunted and attacked by villains when he least expected it and if he told anyone his non-powered friends and family would be killed. Desmond learned a light healing spell to help hide his wounds and kept things a secret from his fellow Legionnaires while he attempted to solve who was behind all this himself. The healing spell was only temporarily and his injuries were prone to reappearing after only a few hours or if he over exerted himself breaking his concentration.
Unknown to Des a fellow Legionnaire, Ri'Netara had found out and began to look into things from the shadows on his behalf. The second attack occurred when Desmond was lured to his university and the three villains attacked him mercilessly again this time a new villain joining their ranks Lily Weaver, Rose's sister who had the mutant power of being able to manipulate people minds and senses with her pheromones. Lily turned everyone in the university into raving lunatics bent on killing Desmond, unable to use his spells at full strength and unwilling to harm civilians Desmond was again beaten to near death and in a desperate act was able to escape. While fleeing Desmond fought off Scrap-Yard(which was actually a life model automaton) who for his own amusement told Desmond that he was reigning champion of the game since he had killed the two heroes that "Played" before him and sent two others before them to an Asylum driving them insane from paranoia. After Desmond passed out from his injuries Ri'netara found him hours later and took him back to base in the evening hours and began her own search which ended in her finding the mastermind behind the games was British born ruthless business woman Vanessa Hammond. Hammond had constructed these games as a way for her and some of Paragon's richest to entertain themselves by betting if the hero being hunted would escape or on which villain would get the killing blow.
Ri found that Vanessa had data which she had paid someone working in the Superhero Registration office for on Desmond and the 4 others heroes before him as well as potential future players and a list of all the people betting on the games which she kept for blackmail later. Ri paid a visit to one of the betters a man named Kyle Thorton who was being blackmailed into playing. While she wasn't able to learn much she bugged his phone so she would know when the next round of the hunt would start, meanwhile Desmond spent his nights checking into Scrap-yards claims and shockingly found he was telling to truth. He decided he would visit the two committed heroes from the very first game hoping to get some answers. Unfortunately Dynamo had killed himself shortly after being committed, the following evening Desmond went to see the now only hero who had lived through these games, Katie Banks who used to be known as the Queen of Hearts.
Unknown to Desmond the Asylum would be the site of round three as Vanessa Hammond predicted he would head that way. Katie was deeply traumatized from what her and Dynamo was put through and said that Dynamo had figured out who was behind it and told her but she couldn't remember. Round three began when Lily knocked out the entire staff of the Asylum and riled up the patients trapping Desmond, Katie and unknown to the both of them Ri inside. Lily released all of the criminally insane patients from their cells along with two super-powered serial killers named Blackout and Boneshaper as additional players in round 3, however Ri stepped in to fight the two of them and Lily while Desmond tried to escape with Katie. Desmond and Katie were caught by Rose Weaver who cornered them and to make matters worse Scrap-Yard had modified a Nemesis Warhulk to attack Desmond and take him outside separating he and Katie.
The Asylum became a battlefield as Ri fought against Boneshaper, Lily, Blackout and the criminally insane patients. While Desmond who was back at full strength fought off Scrap-Yard Warhulk, Rose stalked Katie and stabbed her and had planned to kill her but was interrupted by Godhand who refused to participate in Round 2 since he wanted to fight Desmond at his peak. Godhand knocked Rose out and saved Katie to use her as bait to goad Desmond into fighting him and not running away. Desmond for the first time in his crime fighting career didn't hold back and attacked the Warhulk with his full abilities and soundly defeated it sending Scrap-Yard in an insane rage, Godhand then ordered Desmond to fight him then and there as he was the only one standing between he and Katie. The two fought and battered one another until Scrap-Yard interrupted the fight intent on letting no one get in his way of killing Desmond, the fight then turned into a three way battle between the three in which Desmond and Godhand briefly put aside their differences to fight off Scrap-yard and his army of drones. Afterwards Desmond melted Godhand into the ground and escaped with Katie taking her to a hospital just as Longbow and PPD showed up.
Katie from the shock of the attack and her stab wound was left in a coma and Desmond had run into a dead end when Ri confronted him about him keeping the Hero Hunt situation a secret from everyone. She gave Desmond everything she knew about Hammond, The Villains and the gamblers. overjoyed Desmond shared the information with the Paragon Police Commissioner and the two came up with a plan to simultaneously arrest all the gamblers and Hammond herself. Gathering members of the Legionnaires with him, Desmond and crew struck directly at her headquarters and arrested Scrap-yard, Godhand and Hammond, however Rose and Lily escaped. Desmond pushed to the brink was tempted to kill Vanessa Hammond for all she's done to him and the others heroes before him but he was talked down by his teammates. It was one of the most trying points in his career but Desmond came out of it a better person, with Vanessa Hammond serving consecutive life sentences for her involvement and the other villains apprehended Desmond returned to his normal(well as normal as it got for him) life.
Days later he received a letter of apology from Kyle Thorton and check for two million dollars which was a large portion of the money he had won. Since then Desmond has invested the money and plans to use it to open his own Private Investigation Agency.
The Blades of Azurmin & Astral Training
Getting back into his Guardian duties, the Immortal of Wind Taea came to Earth to give Desmond a task to complete for her. Desmond questioned why she would give him a task when she had her own guardian, but in the end agreed to do what she asked. The Blades of Azurmin belonged to a legendary prince from a different Realm from Earth where everyone and every sentient thing was born with inherent magical ability except for Azurmin himself. Azurmin to make up for his lack of magic forged himself two blades which would in turn become the most powerful weapons in his world, since Azurmin possessed no magic but a strong spirit a portion of it was imbued into his very swords that instead fed on magic. When Azurmin died of old age his swords were buried on Earth to prevent them from getting back to his home world and potentially causing it's destruction, the Blade however had now been found and were coming to Paragon City purchased by a reclusive artifact collector. The Blades fell into the hands of the Warriors which Desmond easily reclaimed them from, but upon touching the swords Desmond nearly blacked out from pain and had a strange feeling come over him. Shrugging it off Desmond brought the swords back to Taea but she told him that she could not take them as they had chosen him to become their new master.
Desmond didn't want them as he already had magical abilities and no need for martial training, but Taea refused and said they were a gift. Later that night while asleep Desmond was met in his dreams by Azurmin himself who told him that that tiny portion of his spirit in his blades was now connected to Desmond, Azurmin told Desmond that he would train him to use the swords but while he used them he would be unable to cast his spells. Desmond scoffed and refused to accept the training since he had no need for hand to hand combat given his abilities, Azurmin wise in his years told Desmond what he would do if one day his magical abilities were to leave him or if they did not work on his opponent. This made Desmond think of the hero hunt incident where several times such training might've helped him, Desmond agreed to take Azurmin up on his offer and the Prince instructed him that he would train him in his dream world(or Astral Plane) as time differed there than in the moral plane and also he wouldn't be held back by his physical limitations. For every hour that passed in the mortal plane was equal to two weeks in the Astral Plane Desmond would learn at an incredibly fast rate in mind and spirit but he would have to also train in the real world so his body would catch up so to speak.
As they trained Desmond discovered that even though he wasn't supposed to be able to use Spells while wielding the blades somehow he was able to retain the ability to use his most basic spells, some of his fire spells and his ability to Teleport which confused and stunned both he and Azurmin. Desmond instead chose not to dwell on it and used it to his advantage. Unknown to Desmond, Taea's gift had an ulterior motive which the immortal of Fire called her out on Taea was testing Desmond to see if he was who she thought he was which Naestyra had known all along. She warned Taea not to interfere anymore and not to mention anything to Desmond or plant any seeds of doubt in his mind as it was too soon. Taea put it together in her mind and figured out what and who Desmond really was and warned Naestyra that someday she had better reveal the truth to Desmond or she would. Since then Des continues to train himself with Blades having become quite good at it but still having a lot to learn.
Graduation
Desmond's family and friends finally came to visit him in Paragon City since he was graduating from Paragon U soon, Desmond had neglected to tell them about his new found abilities or that he was a superhero. During the Graduation Ceremony however a gang of Outcasts attacked and demanded that everyone give them all of their money. Desmond having no choice quickly told them who he really was and what he had been doing since he got his powers before racing off to fight the Outcasts. After easily defeating them his parents became furious at him for what he had been doing without telling them, Desmond quickly tried to explain that not telling them and not keeping in touch since he got his powers were for the best and didn't mean to hurt them, however they did not listen. Desmond's father made a bold choice of telling him that it was either his Superhero Life or his Family it couldn't be both and although it pained Desmond he couldn't just give up his responsibilities to both himself, the Immortals and the people that have put trust in him.
Unfortunately from then on Desmond's Parents refuse to talk to or acknowledge him until he passes on his Superhero life, disowning him until he hangs it up.
The misadventure of Desiree Stiles
One investigation Desmond took up on behalf of a museum curator saw Desmond create a giant magical mishap. A powerful magical artifact was stolen from a Paragon museum by a gang of Rogue Isle female villains, they then fled to Cimerora and held themselves up in a cave bribing female Cimeroroan traitors as guards. Desmond severely outnumbered thought to use different tactics and used a spell called the Trickster's Kiss to change himself into a woman. Desmond infiltrated the hideout posing as a serving girl and then as a guard, Desmond successfully apprehended the villains and got the artifact back and everything worked perfectly.......except he couldn't change back. Desmond tried as hard as he could but poured too much of his own magic into the spell and couldn't match the power necessary to change back, freaked out Desmond first ran into his good friend and teammate Julie who was the first to see him in his new form an unfortunate side effect of having his power halved by the spell was the fact he couldn't summon his swords from the pocket plane or use the pocket plane at all as well as other spells. Desmond consulted with every mage, mystic, witch and sorcerer he knew and they all said the same things, "I can't believe you did this to yourself" and "The spell name Trickster's Kiss didn't tip you off?" they told Desmond that messing with the spell was ill advised and to just let it wear off.
For an entire week Desmond posed as a woman telling people instead that he himself was sick and that SHE was Desiree Stiles his cousin who was visiting him and inherited his powers to fight crime while he was on the mend. Very few people bought it and people close to Desmond knew the actual truth, the entire week was a trial for Desmond having to put up, learn and experience things from the opposite genders perspective and while their were a few embarrassingly hilarious moments to the ordeal towards the end of the week Desmond began to forget what he looked like originally and even began to settle into his new body thinking he was stuck like this for a long time. However since then he has changed back as the spell as worn off and while overjoyed he is back to normal he has forgot what he's learned during his time changed and as cliche as it sounds has a greater appreciation for women now. This ordeal also in his mind brought him closer to his friend Julie who helped him a lot during his time as Desiree.
Since then Desmond has folded the page in his spell tome that contains the tricksters kiss. Even though he has better knowledge of how to control it, he doesn't want to even so much as look at it again, let alone have someone else stumble onto to it and even though he is back to normal he has been warned that the Trickster' Kiss spell, once cast on a purpose takes on a mind of it's own and he could change back anytime in the future against his will unexpectedly.
Personality
While his father and grandfather were cops, Desmond does not display a cop like attitude far from it even after gaining his powers. He still acts like your average college student even after becoming a Superhero, Desmond is something of a joker and routinely would fill the role of class clown in his classes. He often makes light of situations no matter how serious and some may say he is too mellow or relaxed especially given his responsibility as a Guardian of Earth. Because of this, some may see Desmond as something of a slacker or possibly stupid, Desmond is deceptively clever and is fine with people underestimating him as he feels it gives him the upper hand when he applies himself. One thing he certainly does not lack is confidence, he is often seen as cocky or arrogant however he is fine with this and cares very little about what others think of him as he is happy the way he is.
Desmond is a detective at heart and goes over whatever case he's working on much like a Detective and while he doesn't act like it he takes his job as a Superhero seriously. There are moments where he drops his upbeat Demeanor for a more serious tone, but these are few and far between and don't last very long.
Powers & Abilities
Desmond controls fire and Ice completely. He is able to shape the two elements to whatever his imagination can concentration allows and guide it with simple gestures. Often times Desmond prefers to shape blunt or sharp objects out of ice, while using his fire to make constructs from animals to tornadoes to his favorite a giant pair of flaming hands. However he usually doesn't do this because of the dangers it presents and he does not prefer to kill whoever he is after. Desmond can conjure up pretty much any object he wants to, so long as he knowns is alchemical make up and what it's made of.
Like most magic users, Desmond can lucidly walk the Astral Plane or Dream State, which is modeled after a tropical island where currently Azurmin resides and trains him on.
Love Life
Though it might not seem like it due to his nature, Desmond is pretty picky when it comes to women. First and foremost personality is everything, Desmond can't stand to be around depressing people or people that mope all the time and would rather be with someone who knows how to have fun. Secondly they can't be stupid, if the person makes them sigh with disappointment whenever they speak he'll quick lose interest no matter how good they look. That said Desmond greatest weakness when it comes to women is redheads he is powerless to them.
Prior to his Superhero life Desmond did well for himself when it came to women, however after he got his powers and joined the Legionnaires he began to devote a lot of his time to fighting crime and mastering his abilities leaving his love life in a rut. His good friend and Legionnaire Patience Lee took it upon herself to look for someone for Desmond since there was more to life than just being a superhero. Patience gave him the number of the Superheroine and Justice Girl, Headhunter Hattie, after working up the nerve to finally call her Desmond and Hattie met in Atlas Park to get to know one another. Afterwards Desmond and Hattie got together several times in the Legionnaire Lounge and at the annual Justice Girl beach party as well as going on the Superhero equivalent of a date by beating up Rikti in the Rikti Warzone Zone. On that same day, Desmond took the first step in moving forward from just being friends and kissed Hattie.
Even though she seemed to like it nothing was still official at that point and Desmond even thought in the back of his mind he had screwed things up. However his fears were put to rest when they met again a few days later and kissed again. What attracts Desmond to Hattie the most is her character, Hattie has that strong fun personality that he likes and also being a Superhero he doesn't have to worry about her. In fact having fought alongside her on several occasions, Desmond strongly believes that Hattie is more than capable of beating him powers or no powers(which also might play a part in the attraction) since beginning to date her Des' flirtatious nature has calmed itself.
Major Enemies
God Hand
See God Hand
Vanessa Hammond
Vanessa Hammond is a cold cruel woman who doesn't care about anyone else but herself. She will use whatever methods she sees necessary to get what she wants and was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth. Given she is a very successful she has everything she could ever want, unfortunately this made her very very bored and so she began to put together games where a gang of Super Villains hand picked by her would hunt heroes with intent on killing them for cash and bragging rights. Vanessa involved several powerful people that she knew personally on these games and put together a secret gambling ring for their entertainment, Desmond was her latest and last victim which he and the Legionnaires personally took her down. Vanessa is currently in a maximum security prison serving a life sentence for the murder of four of Paragons Heroes, Vanessa closely guards Desmond's secret Identity as she believes she will one day get up and wants him to know it was her and no one else that gets her vengeance on he, his friends and his family.
King Atma
King Atma was once Naestyra's Guardian of Fire from a different Realm long long ago. However he became corrupted by his power and used it to enslave his people and raise an army to conquer other realms. It took Naestyra herself to finally defeat him and imprison him for thousands of years. When Atma recently escaped into Earth Realm he had planned to re raise his army and begin his death march all over again, until Altansar got in the way. Though King Atma was once a very powerful guardian his time imprisoned and the fact that he was stripped of his control over fire left him in a weakened state when he an Altansar fought.
Even through this Desmond was just barely able to put Atma back in his binding crystal and never wishes to face Atma at full strength(or even at the strength he was at for a very very long time.) Atma is now rotting away in his binding crystal once more with the crystal kept in the Legionnaires base for safe keeping.
Other information
- Both of Desmond's ears have been pierced and he wear Diamond studded earrings in both.
- Desmond also has a Tattoo on his right shoulder of a Wolf's Paw with the initials of his child friends in each toe, the 5 of them all have the same tattoo which they got shortly after high school with the symbolism of it being no matter where they all go just like they were when growing up the pack would be together.
- When not in Costume Desmond often can be seen with a pair of leather bracelets on his forearms, these were given to him when he was young to originally hide a bad scar on one of his forearms, but now he wears them becomes he likes them and they were a gift from a close friend.
- For a hilariously embarrassing story ask Desmond about his ex-girlfriend, Ashley.
- Recently Desmond has been mentoring the teenage Super Speedster Fastbreak after the two solved a case together. Desmond sees a lot of his little brother in him and thinks of him as an unofficial sidekick.
- His favorite Alcoholic drink is in his own words "anything with Rum in it" but he cannot stand Vodka
- Although Desmond was born and raised in New York he doesn't care for any of it's sports teams and oddly enough is a Raider fan.
- Teleporting used to make him nauseous, though having started to practice with it it doesn't upset his stomach anymore.......much.
- Desmond was and still is often teased about not fitting his stereotype since he is secretly a huge geek.
