Moonstruck Harlequin
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
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| The Moonstruck Harlequin | |
| Player: @Shaolin-Emu | |
| Origin: | Natural |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 41 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Unknown |
| Known Aliases: | Brother, Harley, Harleykins |
| Species: | Kin'alei |
| Age: | 13 |
| Height: | 5'4" |
| Weight: | 120lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Brown |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | Unknown |
| Occupation: | Assassin |
| Place of Birth: | A'verelm |
| Base of Operations: | Unknown |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | None |
| Known Powers | |
| Superhuman reflexes and agility | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Unarmed combat, various weapons training, juggling, knife throwing, lock picking, concealment, code-breaking | |
| Equipment | |
| Requiem (sword), throwing knives, lock picks | |
| ' | |
Contents |
Star Emperium Personnel Log
File SE-863101: Moonstruck Harlequin
I don't know where my home really is. But I like it there. I have a room, with books and weapons and pictures. Sister stays with me, too. Her and the kittens. I don't have any parents. I haven't ever had anyone to talk to but Sister and Master. Master watches over us. He taught us how to fight real good. He said my sword was made from a falling star, and it's full of magic! There are some other people who come to talk to master. But they don't stay long. They talk in some stupid language I don't know and leave. After that, Master sends me or Sister away to stop somebody evil. Bad people, who "disrupt the balance." I don't know that means, though. After that, Master tells me a riddle, and then he holds up his hands. He starts talking real funny. I can never tell what he's saying, but I start to see pictures in my head. Places and people. Bad people.
That's when the sky opens its mouth and starts screaming. Everything gets real dark and the wind gets angry. I get pulled up and up and up into the sky's big, swirly mouth. It's scary in there. I shout and scream for Sister, but she can't hear me. And every time, right before I'm about to start crying, the sky spits me out, and I'm somewhere I've never been before. It's always the place Master shows me when he's talking funny. That's when I have to find the person he shows me.
I remember this one time, Master told me:
"The Pale Moon shines beneath the ground, his requiem abiding
Chains bind the souls of loved ones lost, their pain ne'er subsiding
Punition calls. The time has come, for final castigation
The Fallen yearn to hear the serenade of extrication"
It was dark where the sky spit me out. It looked like a long cave but the rocks had designs and carvings and things in them. There were people who had been sleeping for a long time all along the walls. There were some torches, too, but they weren't all lit. I heard screams that sounded like they were real far away. Some sounded real close, too. Like they were right next to me. Then I heard a stupid laugh. The bad man. He started talking, and the sleeping people woke up. They started dancing like puppets on strings. I can dance better than them, though. They were slow. They couldn't hit me with their old rusty weapons. I made them stop dancing. I could see a little tiny light ahead of me. It was far away, but I followed it cuz I could hear the bad man talking down there.
As the light kept getting bigger and bigger, I could hear more of what the bad man was saying. I didn't know what he was talking about though. Some stupid foreign language. I found him standing in front of a big well. But there wasn't any water in it. I could see little shapes moving around in side of it. Some of them looked like faces, but they were all twisted, and looked like they were screaming. The bad man wore leather armor with lots of bones and weird symbols on a long black cloak. He had long white hair, even dirtier than mine. His left arm was made of lots of different bones, but it moved normally. There was another with him, too. A little angry bald man wearing all black. His boots were covered in dirt, and he had a shovel in his hands. He said I wouldn't live long enough to regret crossing the great Sarlis Palemoon. After he said that, I knew what Master had meant. I killed the shovel man, and moved in behind the person with the bone arm. He must've been the one Master sent me to stop.
He never even saw me. He just kept chanting, and people who weren't really people started flying out of the well! I could see right through them, but they flew around for just a second before flying into Sarlis Palemoon's chest. Every time they did that, he started talking even louder. The wind started screaming, and it got so cold I could see my breath. That's when I saw him start to change. His clothes started getting all torn as the see-through people swirled around him. His hair fell right off his head, and his skin started melting! I could see inside of him, all red and ugly. Pieces started melting away, till it was just bone.I got real scared, but I struck just how Master taught me. I stabbed him in the heart with Requiem before that melted, too. He screamed real loud, and wouldn't stop. He just sat there yelling with my sword in his chest. I screamed too, and twisted Requiem around. I started pushing upwards, and the blade started crunching through the bone. He was too tall, so I kicked him in the back of the knee. He dropped, and I pulled the blade up right through the top of his stupid skull. I saw a real bright flash. I dunno what happened after that. I woke up with Sister leaning over me telling me to wake up.
I've stopped lots of other bad people, too. A big fat king who liked to eat people. He was really sweaty and noisy. I killed a crazy person with drawings all over his face who liked to put babies on spikes. He talked to himself a lot. And one time, I was s'posed to kill a smelly old man with a big white beard who lived all by himself in the woods. There was lots of dead priests under his house. But every time I finish the sky opens its mouth and eats me up. It spits me out in front of Master. Master always tells me how good a job I did. Then he tells me to rest. He tells me he'll call on me again soon.
The last bad person was s'posed to be the worst person yet. Master calls him a Tyrant. He says we can't say his name cuz it's cursed. He has hair and clothes the color of blood. He smells like it, too. Even some weird scar on his face bleeds a lot when he gets mad. Master says he and his friends were looking for a god. But he got real mad and killed them. I dunno why he killed his friends though. The bad man talked to shadows, master said. When I found him, I killed him and his shadow friend. But the sky never opened its mouth for me.
I did everything I was s'posed to do, didn't I? I killed the man with crimson hair, with the bleeding star over his eye; I struck while he talked to the shadows, just like Master told me to. I know I got him! I put Requiem through his heart! Why won't Master let me come back? I already told him I'm finished. I told him the Tyrant is dead, but Master always shakes his head, and says the same stupid thing:
"The demons dance, the shadows sing, and crimson tears still fall.
Fail in this task, E'vesryn's Veil, will soon consume us all."
But I wanna go home! I wanna go back to my room and my bed. I wanna see the kittens, and Sister. Sister most of all. She could help me if she was here. She would know what to do. But I never get to see her, anymore. Only Master, now. And he only talks in his stupid riddles and then goes away. How much longer do I have to stay here? Why won't he let me leave this place?
Powers
The Harlequin's extensive training under his enigmatic "master" have given him incredibly quick reflexes and response times in combat. He is able to deftly avoid almost any attack thrown at him, and counter-attack more swiftly than most humans could follow with their eyes. He also possesses uncanny agility, enabling him to easily travel across rooftops, or rebound off of solid surfaces for an attack.
Other Abilities
The Harlequin is an expert at throwing knives, as well as moving swiftly and silently over any surface. He his also adept at remaining concealed. Though his mind may be seem weak, he has an affinity for noticing patterns, no matter how obscure they may be. And though he is illiterate, this pattern recognition is often the first step in helping to break an encrypted code. His senses of smell and hearing are also heightened, making him an excellent tracker
Limitations
Though he appears to be in his early teens by human standards, the boy possesses the mind of a child. He fails to understand complexities in certain situations. He also fails to pick up implications and subtleties used in conversation. Due to the clandestine nature of the Harlequin's missions, he was never taught to read or write, as certain bits of knowledge may jeopardize his cause.
Personality
The Moonstruck Harlequin is typically a boy in good spirits due to his lack of comprehension. To remember his compatriots in the city, the boy refers to them by some key physical trait, or an easily remembered fragment of their names. On occasion, upon hearing a single key word or phrase, the boy will recite some cryptic message or teaching bestowed upon him by his enigmatic Master. He enjoys the sights and sounds of the oddities found on Earth, and in particular, Paragon City. He often asks foolish, yet innocent questions of those around him, and can frequently be seen wearing a simple grin on his face.
Appearance
Physical Traits: The Harlequin, by human standards, appears to be a boy of approximately 13 years of age. He is slender, though well muscled for his size, and possesses pointed ears, a trait shared by his people, the Kin'alei. His long hair is often dirty and somewhat unkempt, and his blue eyes hold little cunning. His face is covered in an encompassing tattoo, dividing the left and right halves of his head vertically with white and black coloration.
Paraphernalia: The Harlequin wears simple cloth garments, half black and half white, marked with patterns similar to that of a medieval jester
Requiem: The boy wields a feather-light, spell-forged blade crafted from a meteorite. The metal has a light blue hue, though it reflects very little light. Small distortions, similar to waves caused by intense heat, follow the blade's motions.
Affiliations
Sister: The Harlequin, being an oddball, even by Paragon City's standards, has very few friends. Though his allies are many, none mean more to him than the one he refers to as "Sister," another assassin under the Master's employ. The two underwent the same training together, and Sister has looked out for her "brother" with great care and patience.
Master: The boy's teacher has no recorded name, nor history. He is obsessed with preserving the balance in A'verelm, and uses his Harlequins to preserve it. He is magically gifted, and personally locates his targets through elaborate scrying rituals. "Master" simply serves as a title with which the assassins may refer to him, as his true identity would be at risk in any hands but his own. He is strict with the Harlequins in their training and their tasks, but he does not harm them for failure
The Mission
The Moonstruck Harlequin was sent to Earth in search of Simon Grayle, the head of a coalition from his native dimension who embarked upon a quest to find their god, E'vesryn. The Harlequin's master believes Grayle to be the single greatest threat to A'verelm, and has marked him as a target of the highest priority. Simon Grayle would eventually betray his comrades, murdering many of them, and causing the rest to flee through their dimensional portal back to A'verelm.
The Moonstruck Harlequin was sent after Grayle directly. His master opened a rift for the boy just outside of the base of operations of the Order of E'vesryn, where Grayle held council with his only remaining ally. The child assaulted Grayle, plunging his sword through his chest, thinking he had completed his task, but Grayle stood firm, and the boy fled the scene. He had believed that Grayle would die from his wounds, and began waiting for a familiar portal to open up, allowing him to return home. But the portal never came.
The Master would visit the boy in an incorporeal form, informing the Harlequin that Grayle still lived, and must be dealt with as instructed. But the boy would have more trouble finding Grayle, as he now kept his presence hidden, knowing that an assassin was on his tail. Months went by, with the boy following leads, and establishing his own connections within the city.
The Star Emperium
Frustrated with Harlequin's failure to kill Grayle, the enigmatic Master would showed the child a vision in dream. One-time allies of the Order of E'vesryn, Space-Girl and Sovereign Starlette. The Harlequin swiftly tracked down Space-Girl, asking after her affiliations with Grayle and the Order. Though she had little knowledge of what remained of the Order, Space-Girl answered the bizarre child's questions, and reluctantly, after sensing that the boy wouldn't stop pestering her, allowed him to join the ranks of The Star Emperium
The Writings of a Madman
After some time Paragon, the boy returned to the hidden base of the Order of E'vesryn, seeking clues as to Simon Grayle's whereabouts. Though the place had long been abandoned, he found his first real break in several months: A journal entry written by Grayle after the assassination attempt.
"It humors me, that despite all that has occurred, I cannot shake the nagging concern which plagues all men. My allies, as well as my powers, are borne of darkness. Yet there is a shadow darker, and more sinister than all others which looms over me. It waits for me eternally, whispering incessantly and serving as a constant reminder that true immortality is, to my everlasting ire, unobtainable. I have made pacts with gods. I have bound countless demons to my will, and I am so near to my goal that I can taste the power which I will soon hold. Yet still do I hear the whispers of oblivion. Still do I feel the taunting caress of death's fingertips.
I have come to this world, with my one time allies, in search of the father of the gods. The Patron. He who is all, yet still stands above all else. The creator of our great world, A'verelm. E'vesryn. He crafted all light, and molded the darkness to serve as it's contrast. The crystalline skies are his aura. The azure seas, a reflection of his turbulent thoughts. The limitless stars, his powers made manifest. He gave birth to the lesser gods to eliminate the chaos residing in his own awesome form. He created in his image the great and terrible Ancients. Giants who roamed the Dragonspine mountains eternally seeking combat. With a breath he sent forth the colossal Dragons, an eternal symbol of might amongst my people. And we, the Kin'alei, are his greatest creation. We are more cunning, more powerful, longer lived, and more adaptive than all other creations. We are infinitely greater and more prestigeous than the denizens of the decaying world that he has retreated to. And the one thing all of my people agree on, the singular purpose that would finally unite the five thrones of A'verelm, was the belief that he abandoned us to darkness. But that is the greatest lie ever told. It is I who united A'verelm. And It is I who will destroy A'verelm.
The Dark Gods set it all in motion. They came to me, revealing to me a destiny meant for the descendants of E'vesryn's first creations. Though my body was broken by my wretched father, my mind shattered by the narcotic state induced by my mother, my spirit burned with an intensity greater than the sun. It served as beacon to the Dark Gods. It drew them to me, and they transformed me into the avatar of ruin. They entered my form. Became one with my spirit and invaded my thoughts. It was the most horrific experience A'verelm would know. The manifestation of the raw umbral power smothered every light in the world. Every slumbering man dreamt of unspeakable terrors. Every child still in the womb became a twisted abomination, ripping and tearing at their mothers' bodies desperate for their emergence into the world. And like blood in the veins of a dying man, the winds of magic waned and stopped, as the heart of the world ceased to beat. This single night of horror, later called E'vesryn's Veil, was the herald of my rise to power. I rose as a vessel of the shadows. The Chosen of the Dark Gods. I slew my father and tore his heart from his chest. I crushed his crown in my grasp as I claimed his throne, and started my great reign in the northern kingdom of A'verelm. I tightened the vice in which my father had held his people. I elevated my own agents and chosen allies into seats of great power and influence. As the years passed, I was secure enough in my seat to set the wheels in motion. My whisperers, placed strategically throughout the continent, sewed discord and fear throughout the five kingdoms. They poured poison into the ears of those in power, and preached doom and destruction to the ever ignorant commoners. Before long, the call was sent out for a meeting of the five rulers of A'verelm. Soon after, the Order of E'vesryn was formed.
The Radem, sorcerers and sages from the west sent their seers to sense the powers emitted by our God. The Vaizard, masters of subterfuge and espionage, sent their agents to learn what they could about the world we were to reside in. The Skryred, the fallen lore-keepers and scholars from the south, sent their nobles to advise our people on He whom we sought. The Alvarr, the militaristic peoples of the central regions, served as our swords and shields. And I, Simon Grayle, the spider at the center of the web of deception, brought the ancient and brutal power of the nobles of the north. The magics of the Radem opened the portal to this wretched place called Earth. Here we would search for our God.
We would find little information about E'vesryn. He chose a place supersaturated by the powers of the Earth's most bizzare denizens. Paragon City. A cunning choice on His part, as the abilities of those around us would mask His power. My "allies" all grew impatient and irritable. So to, did the Dark Gods who guided my hand. They amplified my own powers in the futile hopes that it would somehow bring me closer to my goal. They turned me into a demigod. As it stands I am only vulnerable in the trance-like state I must enter to commune with the spirits and demons who serve as the well of my power. Eventually, I tired of the endless bickering and squabbling. Past rivalries and political intrigues between the representatives of the five thrones became too much to bear. The Order of E'vesryn became the focus of my rage. I took great pleasure in slaughtering my one-time allies. I cut them down like the pathetic vermin I knew them to be. Many of them showed their cowardice and fled back through a hastily constructed and unstable portal to A'verelm. Doubtless they have launched an assault on my own kingdom, and put my castle to the torch. But this does not matter. They will all die, soon enough.
For a time, my personal enforcers, the Hounds, stayed with me. Despite my awesome power, I am but one man. We tortured many to find answers to E'vesryn's whereabouts. We had gleaned bits of information, found reports of strange power readings alien to Earth within the city. Every drop of blood spilled brought me closer my goal. Yet my methods drew unwanted attention. To the city, I became known as a villain. The "heroes" of Paragon City began hunting me and my Hounds. They destroyed my henchmen one by one, until only I, and my most powerful hound, the Alhan, remained. It wouldn't be long before another threat to my cause would be brought to my attention.
I believe those fools back in A'verelm have sent assassins after me. I was speaking with the Alhan in my chambers in the shattered remnants of our base on Earth when a blade was thrust between my shoulder blades, piercing my heart. The Alhan wasted no time and sprung into action, diving at my assailant. His own blade descended swiftly and surely at the attacker, as the blade was ripped from my chest. I spun in time to watch my assailant deftly evade Alhan's attack, stepping to the side as though the movement were slow and clumsy. The assassin, a boy of no more than thirteen years, dressed as a jester, dispatched my greatest servant as though it were nothing. His sword flashed, a brief flicker of blue-white light, and the Alhan's head was separated from his body. Once more the rage consumed me. The shadows coalesced around me. The chamber darkened as demons began whispering and dancing around us. In a moment that perplexes me still, the boy's features twisted in fear as he screamed in terror and fled from me. Though my strength and wrath are terrible to behold, no Vaizard assassin would simply break and run in my presence.
However, my reflections on this turn of events would prove to be my greatest enemy. The assassination attempt stirred something inside of me. I know that sword the boy wields. Requiem. It is said to be only a myth. The scholars of my world believe that E'vesryn descended upon A'verelm from the heavens, as a great meteor which plummeted into the earth. The legends mention that Requiem is the spell-forged shard of a great meteor. Could it be that this sword is actually a manifestation of the raw power E'vesryn possessed before he cast the lesser gods from his form? Is it possible that this sword would have the power to end the existence of a god? Something inside of me stirs as I scratch my memories onto this parchment. There is something in the back of my mind that threatens to tear me from the path upon which I travel. I feel it is something that I have been the source of in others for so long, but had remained alien to me all my life. I think I now know what it means to feel fear.
But I cannot falter on my quest. I will find E'vesryn, and the Dark Gods will rebel against their father. His power will become my power. However...even if I should succeed, even if I should become a god, this foolish little boy and his sword, forged from the raw essence of E'vesryn in his original grandeur, may possess the power to strike me down. I must take care of this child before he finds me again."
A Familiar Face
After more time passed with little accomplished on the Moonstruck Harlequin's part, The Master sent the boy's partner, The Twilight Harlequin to aid him in his mission to kill Simon Grayle. The girl tracked down her brother quickly, and informed him of the gravity of their situation. Simon Grayle was growing in power, and ever closer to his goal of becoming a god. The Twilight Harlequin is now aiding her brother both directly and indirectly, by establishing her own connections within the city. Most notably was her induction into the All Star Teen Sentinels, a group allied with The Star Emperium.
With his sister returned to his side, The Moonstruck Harlequin continues in his pursuit of Simon Grayle, hoping to take down the tyrant before A'verelm falls under his grasp
