Azure Freeze
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| Azure Freeze | |
| Player: @Meagen | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Corruptor |
| Threat Level: | 39 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | None |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Magical construct |
| Age: | 2 (apparent age 20) |
| Height: | 5'10" (180 cm) |
| Weight: | 11 lb (5 kg) |
| Eye Color: | dark blue |
| Hair Color: | varies (usually shades of blue) |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | N/A |
| Occupation: | N/A |
| Place of Birth: | Perez Park? |
| Base of Operations: | Rogue Isles |
| Marital Status: | N/A |
| Known Relatives: | Silver Gale, creator |
| Known Powers | |
| sensing and manipulation of emotion in others | |
| Known Abilities | |
| ideal poker face | |
| Equipment | |
| No possessions whatsoever. | |
| Sustains herself entirely on human emotions. | |
"They are no more evil than a virus."
"A really *evil* virus."
Azure Freeze is a magical construct made from the thoughts and feelings that Silver Gale wanted to remove from her mind.
Contents |
Personality
All the traits that Silver Gale dislikes having are magnified in this twisted copy of her. An overblown sense of entitlement, contempt for those perceived as worse or weaker than herself, hatred of anyone perceived as stronger or better, a viciously cruel streak and a completely egocentric worldview.
Most recently, her personality has softened noticeably. She has far more empathy, and displays genuine regret of some of the things she's done in the past. She is still struggling to balance out her newfound conscience with her need for negative emotions in the people around her.
Powers
Azure can sense the same kinds of negative feelings that she was made of - fear, anger and doubt - and absorb them to grow stronger. Although she can subside on the uneasy tension that all citizens in the Rogue Islands live in, she finds more dramatic feelings of fear or anger far more satisfying to absorb. Sometimes she is able to guess what affects a person the most, and will steer a conversation to make them dwell on it.
She can expend energy to use her ability offensively, overwhelming her enemies with fear and doubt. The victims often feel a sudden chill, or see tendrils of darkness reaching for them. They are frozen in indecision, their attacks fly wide. Eventually they fall into a long, nightmare-filled coma.
Azure has also learned to use her power in slightly beneficial ways. By blasting an allies with a short bust of apathy, she lets them them shrug off some damage for a short while. She can also draw a person across great distances by plunging them in their worse nightmares for a brief instant.
Her face is actually a magical projection over which she has full control. Every expression she has is carefully tailored, not a single twitch betraying her true emotions. When she is surprised or caught unaware, her expression becomes a blank look until she decides what reaction she wants to show.
Weaknesses and Limitations
One thing that Gale was never ashamed of was being *smart*. Azure severely lacks the kind of cunning and manipulative mind that she really wishes she had. She will often try to use her powers on people she has no hope of affecting, and be frustrated when her attempts fail.
Her feelings towards her creator can be very easily manipulated, and she is easily persuaded to do things in the name of "revenge".
Any person with a stronger will can force their own feelings into Azure, causing her great pain.
Equipment
The human-shaped bubble of material that contains Azure's essence is her only real possession. It has two large weights in the "feet" for stability, small weights in the "fingers" to help her interact with objects around her, and a hole in the "head" for Azure to project her face through.
Affiliations
Azure claims - often, and loudly - to be working alone and for nobody besides herself, although in reality there are quite a number of people who are important to her to some degree.
Foxtrot Company
Whatever valuables and equipment Azure finds are usually turned over to the child mercenary group. As she has no physical needs, this is all the same to her, or so Azure claims.
Ms. Exquisite Agony
Azure has developed an interest in the demon's progress, perhaps seeing parallels to her own situation. The situation in the Isles being what it is, she can't afford to be open about her sympathy, but she has tried to give as much help as she could under the guise of mercenary work.
Blazing Angel Akiko
The architect of Azure's rebirth, Azure holds the angelic servant in a sort of reverence and occasionally asks her for guidance.
Silver Gale
Azure's feelings towards her creator are complex, a mixture of gratitude for being given life, resentment at being abandoned, envy of anyone else getting Gale's attention, the full understanding of Gale's nature that comes from being a part of her, and the frustration of seeing exactly where she makes mistakes but being unable to do anything about it. Since her ensouling, she seems to have gained a measure of Akiko's slightly patronizing amusement towards Gale as well.
Character History
Creation
Silver Gale's desire to get rid of the fear and doubt growing in her heart was interpreted literally by her hidden power. Gale's feelings were projected outwards, and a half-faded Oranbegan soul (possibly a Nerva demon) somehow got caught in the focus of it. The spirit's previous memories were overwritten with those of Megan Knight, and the construct gained sentience. At first, it was content to siphon Gale's unwanted thoughts and memories, but it soon felt the need for more victims, and began prowling Perez Park. At the request of Azuria of MAGI, a small team of junior heroes was sent to rescue the citizens from what was assumed to be a Circle of Thorns hideout.
When the team entered the tiny cave, they were surprised to find only a single enemy - a young girl in a black bodysuit, with chains wrapped around her ankles and wrists. She attacked the heroes' minds, making them question their purpose and fear for their future. The young heroes managed to break out of her control and subdue her, sending her to the Zig. The proceeded to free the hostages, who were all very frightened but otherwise unharmed.
While in prison, the construct received frequent visits from Azuria, who gave her a name: Azure Freeze. Azuria tried to establish a rapport with the creature. Her eventual goal was probably to use Azure to gain control of Silver Gale, but before that could happen, Arachnos struck.
Azure jumped at the chance to regain her freedom, and was sped away to the Rogue Islands.
The Way of Villainy
Finally, Azure had a chance to shine. In the shadow of Lord Recluse, fear, doubt and anger were everywhere. Arachnos encouraged her to attack whoever she liked and use whatever means were available to expand her power. She quickly grew in notoriety and developed new abilities, reveling in her cruelty. She ran into members of Foxtrot Company, but dismissed them as stupid kids playing an idiotic game (and was in turn dismissed as a bully, and a rather stupid one, but ultimately harmless).
With everything going so well for her, it was only a matter of time until she stuck her hand somewhere she shouldn't have, and got burned for it.
Curiosity drove her to investigate the tower on Mercy Island, where she was caught by Ghost Widow. The powerful spirit forced Azure to share her final memories, torturing her with the sensations of fire, pain, and impending death. Driven halfway to non-existence, she was discarded and left for dead.
Azure managed to crawl back to the Foxtrot camp. To her greatest surprise, she received help and support there, and eventually recovered her strength. This incident cemented her loyalty to Foxtrot Company, but also left her with a lingering fear of fire.
Dangerous Liasions
On Shakhead Isle, the Circle mystic known as Diviner Maros revealed to Azure that her construction was fatally flawed: she continued to exist only thanks to a steady supply of energy from her creator. Once Silver Gale's power reached apotheosis, the link would be severed and Azure would fade away. According to Maros, her only salvation lay with Archmage Tarixus.
Tarixus taught Azure to absorb the energy of demons she killed, but this was only a temporary measure. She needed to construct an elaborate energy source, using divine and infernal energies and leeching off the power radiating from the resulting struggle. Through the connection, Azure stole some divine fire from Gale, who had been exposed to it several times. The infernal fire was acquired from Bat'Zuul, the demon imprisoned under Cap au Diable.
Unfortunately, the demonic energy she ingested influenced Azure's mind, bringing back her old thoughts of revenge. At first, she tried to manipulate Gale's friends and destroy their trust in her, but she failed miserably. Azure received a stern warning from Blazing Angel Akiko: stop trying to harm Gale, or be destroyed.
In a desperate bid to both destroy Silver Gale and ensure her own safety, Azure forcefully reopened the connection and yanked Gale's soul through it, effectively killing her.
Fire and Rebirth
Gale's friends quickly discovered who was responsible for her sudden collapse, and showed up to demand the soul's return. Azure happily tormented them with her insistence that they would never see Gale again... until Akiko quietly went up to her and hugged her. The angelic servant infused Azure with part of her own soul, burning away the demonic taint, and leaving Azure, for the first time in her 'life', a complete person.
Gaining a conscience was possibly the most traumatic event in Azure's life. For many weeks, she was wracked by horrible guilt, as she remembered all the pain she had caused, and regretted all of it at once. Eventually, she emerged from that state, and held several conversations with Akiko and Gale that gave her some idea for a new path.
Then, the Rikti dropships appeared over the Isles.
(to be continued)
Trivia
- Azure has narrowly avoided RP death (and deletion) about four or five times so far.
- Without her bodysuit, she would look similar to a Dark Servant, but smaller.
