The Vagabond
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| (Image Coming) | |
| The Vagabond | |
| Player: TheVagabond | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster, Controller, Corruptor (deleted), Defender, Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50, 40, 14*, 24, 47 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | None |
| Known Aliases: | Mage, Nameless, Wanderer, others too numerous to mention |
| Species: | Presumed Human |
| Age: | Difficult to Determine |
| Height: | 6'2" |
| Weight: | 180 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Gray |
| Hair Color: | "Dirty" Blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | None |
| Occupation: | Planeswalker |
| Place of Birth: | Oerth |
| Base of Operations: | currently just outside of Paragon City (dimensionally, not geographically) |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | None |
| Known Powers | |
| Spellcasting, Swordsmanship | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Immortality, Planeswalking | |
| Equipment | |
| Peacemaker's Amulet, his father's Holy Avenger sword, his own Defender sword, a dagger called Raven's Claw, magical black platemail armor, "bottomless" pouches, notebooks, writing implements, spell components, numerous other items and trinkets | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents |
Description
The Vagabond is my longest-running, most-played character. He has been converted into almost a dozen different RPG systems, and he has been "free-form" role-played in a dozen more.
Powers
In all of his incarnations, the vagabond has a few consistent powers and abilities.
Adaptation
As a side-effect of his innate ability to planeswalk (see below), whenever Vagabond enters a new plane, his body automatically adapts to it for survival. The basic rule of thumb is that he comes to resemble the most dominant form of intelligent life on that plane, most often while still remaining humanoid. If changes are needed in respiration, digestion, or communication, these changes are usually part of the package as well.
As an occasionally unwelcome side-effect, this means that Vagabond's form usually cannot be altered, either by himself or by external forces. On the rare instance where such a change has succeeded, Vagabond's body has rejected the change, slowly and painfully forcing him back into his Adapted form.
Immortality
The Vagabond cannot die. Any time when he normally would, his spirit/soul simply does not leave his body. His body will regenerate, sometimes slowly, often painfully. Eventually, he will heal completely, leaving no scars and looking just as he did before.
The Vagabond also does not age. Somewhere in his mid-20s, he simply stopped growing older. Physically, he appears to still be in his mid-20s, although the way he speaks and acts will often have people estimating mid-30s as well. Because time passes differently on different planes, there is not really an accurate objective method to determine just how old he really is, but best estimates place his age well above two thousand years.
No one seems to know why he is immortal and ageless. When lesser agents of death have been asked, all they can say is that he does not appear on their lists. When greater agents have been asked, they simply refuse to answer.
Planeswalking
Even on planes, worlds, and dimensions where there is no magic and often even on worlds from which there is "no escape", the one power Vagabond always has is the ability to walk the planes. He reaches out and "feels" what planes are nearby. If he is familiar with them, he will recognize the "feel". He chooses one, grabs a hold, and pulls himself through the dimensional barriers, stepping into the new plane and Adapting in the transition (see above). The process takes a minute or two, and while he is "feeling around", there are visible distortions around his fingers, like heat radiating from a highway.
Normally, he can only 'walk by himself. There have been occasions where he has needed or wanted to take someone with him, however. It is a much more difficult process and sometimes fails. The Vagabond has to "feel around" as normal, but once he has a hold of the plane he needs, he must tear the dimensional fabric open. While he holds the tear open, one-way travel into the new plane is possible, but he can typically only hold the tear for a minute or two. This take an enormous amount of effort and usually "burns out" his ability to planeswalk for at least 24 hours.
Vagabond describes the planes as being like soap bubbles drifting in an infinite void. They sometimes touch, sometimes cross over, sometimes separate, and sometimes come back together again. Where the planes "touch" is where he can 'walk between them. This means that sometimes he can 'walk between a few planes without effort, but sometimes he will find himself unable to reach a desired plane.
Spellcasting
If the world the Vagabond is on has magic (or a rough equivalent), he is able to manipulate it. He usually has to learn exactly how to manipulate the new magic, getting used to the "rules" of it. Mechanically, therefore, he almost always starts out as anyone else new to that world's magic. Examples: City of Heroes (blaster powersets), Dungeons & Dragons (Wizard spells), Star Wars (the Force).
Origin
The Beginning
A long time ago on a plane far removed from Paragon City, a handsome and dedicated paladin married a beautiful and exotic sorceress. Shortly after their wedding, she conceived a child. While she was with child, he was called to duty and went off to battle a dragon that was savaging a small town. Although he managed to drive off the beast, he never returned from the battle. Only his sword and armor were found, the armor blackened by dragonfire. His bride, crushed by grief, began to waste away. In spite of the best efforts of the Order to care for their brother's widow, she grew nearer to death every day. When the baby was ready to be born, it was only through miracles of both medicine and magic that the Order managed to save the child. His mother was not so lucky, her last reserves of energy and life spent in the effort. The child was orphaned before his first breath.
His father's paladin Order made the child their own, however. They saw to his needs, physical, mental, and spiritual. The child was a voracious learner, taking to all of his lessons with unmatched enthusiasm. He excelled with the longsword, studied hard, and prayed to the god of the Order. Even still, there was always a kind of melancholy around the boy, a longing for the things he could never have.
When the boy reached his majority and became a man, he had to choose between joining the Order or going out into the world to make his way. His heart did not belong to the god of the Order, though, and he elected to leave. His worldly possessions were limited, but he took with him his father's sword and armor even though only a holy warrior could ever wield the paladin's sword. He wandered from the fortified monastery and soon became lost.
Deep in the woods, he came across a small, cozy hut and a wild-haired old man. The man took the boy in, fed him, and offered to teach him the ways of spellcraft. Eager to learn, the boy accepted and became the old man's apprentice. He learned practical skills like cooking, sewing, and basic survival. At the same time, he learned magic, both the theory and the practice. He was a natural, ably learning difficult spells and even finding new applications for them.
Soon, the old man took to disappearing for hours at a time. Then he was gone for days. Eventually, the old man just stopped appearing at all, leaving the young man alone with all the books and other materials of arcane research and study. He did not wonder about the old man's absence for long, however, as he was caught up in his experimentation.
One day, while researching a new spell, the young man stumbled. His arms flailed wildly, grasping for purchase in mid-air. Strangely, they found something. He pulled himself back to his feet, groping and trying to figure out what unseen thing he had a hold of. He noticed a distortion about his fingertips, like waves of heat from bare rock. When he pulled, there was a thunderous pop, and he found himself yanked through what felt like thick curtains. On the other side lay a gray, formless landscape full of thick fog and roiling mist. He had arrived on the Ethereal Plane.
Gathering up the items that had come through with him, he stuffed them into a large rucksack. Then he began to experiment. After a few tries, he grabbed a hold of something again. With a pull, he popped through to another plane. Then another. He tried over and over, exulting in this new ability. Planes flashed past in rapid succession until he stopped, breathless with discovery. Only then did he look around and realize he had no notion of where he was or how to return.
He has tried on many occasions, but he has never yet found the world of his birth. He fears the world is destroyed. Or even if he stumbled across it, would he recognize it? Thus he remains, forever lost and eternally homeless. This is the first curse of the Vagabond.
Nameless
When the planeswalker was still fairly young to his powers, he became acquainted with a warlock...
Stops on an Endless Road
So you may ask: "Where has the vagabond been?" "My character comes from another world, too. Has he been there?" "I'm a planeswalker, too. Could we have met/known each other?" The simple yet complicated answer to these questions is what I like to call the "Vagabond Rule of Thumb".
Any story I've read, game I've played, movie or television show I've watched... the vagabond has been there.
Now, the majority of the time, it is simply as an observer. He comes across an interesting plane with interesting people on it. He stays in a neighboring plane or hidden within the plane and just... watches. This means he has seen a great many great events he did not participate in. Kind of the planeswalker version of watching T.V.
On the other hand, if my interest is especially strong, if I get drawn into the story so much I feel a part of it, or if I actually role-play in the world, then the vagabond has been there. Scattered around, I have 12 different character sheets for structured games, and I have "free-form" role-played the character in at least twice that many.
If you want to know specific answers to the above questions, send me a /tell in game or go over to the Dauntless Reverie's website and leave me a private message. I'm happy to be a plot device.
See also Vagabond Mage, Vagabond Blade, Vagabond Magus, Vagabond Wizard
