Abilities:
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His primary weapon for such confrontations is a rapier that he himself enchanted. The weapon is pointlessly flashy, with a lattice guard of brilliant gold, arranged in a pattern of his coat of arms, inlaid with an excessive amount of gems. The blade itself is rather long and thick, actually capable of slashing effectively as well as stabbing, but tapered to an exceptionally sharp edge. The blade is enchanted in two ways. The first grants it incredible durability, allowing it to effectively ignore any source of damage up to a point that is practically unreachable in battle. The second is more offensive, a disruption enchantment that lines the blade, causing it to give off a golden hued light that on contact with most magic or technology will directly attack it, scrambling enchantments or ai, breaking circuits or ripping apart portions of a spell. It isn’t omnipotent; more durable spells or machines will only be hindered rather than broken, but it makes the thing problematic to defend against for those who rely on anything but very basic equipment. The enchantment actively seeks out the weaknesses in what it attacks, using a basic, magical intellect to do this.
Gairovald also carries a shield, which many - including Gairovald - would consider his primary weapon. The shield itself is small and circular, only about two feet in diameter, made of ordinary but high quality steel, but painted pitch black. The shield is likewise enchanted, much more so than the rapier, and glows a soft white when in use intercepting a blow - for which it has the same durability enchantment as the rapier - or casting a spell, for which it is the primary catalyst of Gairovald’s abilities, the medium by which most of his magic is used and focused in battle.
Gairovald is, first and foremost, a mage in combat, relying on spellcraft as his primary means of offense especially. Gairovald uses a style of magic that is unique to the nobility of his nation, and is thus nigh extinct, called fountain magic.
Mechanically, it is very simple: the spell is generated over time passively and cast through a catalyst, where it appears as a floating ball of bright, iridescent light. It then travels in the direction he wills it, where it essentially fuses with whatever it touches. This cannot form on anything that is part of an organism (of any type) with intelligence without great difficulty and consent, or even on any ‘important possessions’ of those things. Fountain magic requires a metaphysical claim of ownership to work, and anything claimed by another party is thus invulnerable to bearing the spell. In practice, the spells almost always fuses with the ground or a wall, since proper ownership can’t be attached to large tracts of land or a building in the vast majority of cases.
When the spell does fuse with a surface, it becomes a sort of self sustaining reservoir of arcane power, producing one specific spell indefinitely and independently of Gairovald, or until Gairovald banishes it, which he can do instantly with a mere thought. This isn’t true for anyone else, however: the fountains are incredibly resistant to being dispelled by outside means. It is possible, of course, but it demands a substantial amount of effort and is unlikely to be worth the energy in most situations.
Fountain spells are, however, individually difficult to master, meaning there is only a limited number of them that Gairovald actually knows. That said, they are powerful, and the potentially massive number that can build up over time mean they can still pose a significant threat. There are a few specific ones that Gairovald knows and uses frequently in battle.
Fons Sententiae: Arguably the primary weapon in Gairovald’s repertoire, along with many other fountain mages, Fons Sententiae takes the form of a brilliant golden ball of light, which when fused releases a forward ray of light that dissolves over a meter, humming softly with power. Every ten seconds, the fountain will hum loudly, and a very narrow beam of pure white light will shine in the center of the wider golden beam, growing thicker every ten seconds. For every time this happens, the Fons Sententiae gains a ‘charge’ of sorts. The fountain can, at Gairovald’s mental command, release these charges. The result is an orb of golden light, travelling at roughly the speed of an arrow fired from a bow yet in a perfectly straight line, originating from the midway point of the ray of light it generated from and releasing a completely random and irritatingly loud string of chords as if some slightly off key harp was strummed from within the fountain. Upon collision, they will detonate, creating a very small but dangerous magical explosion of kinetic force that is unusually painful. The blows will not easily kill in a single shot, and it takes a number to kill a target even with blows to the head, although maintaining consciousness after a barrage can be exceedingly difficult. In short, they are a bit slow and rather weak, but make up for this by sheer volume, their ability to come from numerous angles, and their moderate ability to pierce conventional armor as well as some more unconventional types to a degree.
They also have an interesting property in that, while they will harm Gairovald if they hit him, upon hitting his shield or Fons Paritate they will not detonate immediately, but will be reflected as light would be by a mirror.
Fons Edax: Although not quite so versatile as the Fons Senteniae, the Fons Edax is in some situations an incredibly powerful tool, particularly in fights against a slow opponent or where space is an issue.
The Fons Edax takes the form of a pitch black ball, which upon fusing will briefly emit useless sputters of white light, lasting around five seconds. Once those five seconds elapse it releases a cacophonous hiss, emitting a black orb two meters across. The orb continues to hiss and grows slowly, gaining a meter in diameter every five seconds. The orb’s nature is inherently obvious to most - all that enters it is subject to the hunger of the void, being ripped apart with overwhelming force and horrifying brutality that can eventually even devour the terrain, leaving the fountain's source floating within the orb. Its devouring ability is not quite instantaneous, but placing a limb within the sphere will rather quickly result in the very painful loss of said limb. The Fons Edax is, by nature, extremely powerful and possesses more brute force than most any spell, especially once it has grown to a vast size. However, its focus on raw power is also its greatest flaw, as it poses an equal threat to Gairovald who can be devoured by it just as easily, and is hindered by its inability to harm anyone outside of its devoured region. However, even if it never touches anyone, its continually growth makes it a powerful, if passive threat on the battlefield that cannot be ignored, and presents perhaps unparalleled effectiveness at area denial.
Fons Paritate: The Fons Paritate is a simple, yet effective spell that is instrumental in providing defense against highly aggressive enemies or maneuverable ones who need some degree of containment. The Fons Paritate releases a turquoise orb of light that, upon fusing, will create a circular arc of light in a chosen, but fixed, direction. The result is a mostly transparent turquoise barrier two meters in radius that serves as a fixed, inert wall. The barrier is not hugely strong: it can be pierced effectively by sharp objects, especially points, or very significant force. However, while stabbing a blade through is possible, sending your hand through with it, let alone your body, is very difficult, allowing it to effectively stop movement and most attacks through it. The shield is effective at stopping people, blunt weapons, magic, and energy weapons to a significant degree. Blades and small, fast projectiles, conversely are capable of punching through the shield. The shield also regenerate rather quickly, meaning the holes once made are patched up in seconds. The shield can be considered, for most purposes, a sort of magical, durable, immobile, repairing membrane or fabric for most purposes.
The shield is strategic, capable of stopping movement through it and thus serves as a potentially powerful defense, while its weakness to being pierced makes it vulnerable to projectiles but also allows Gairovald’s rapier to stab through it, allowing some strategic options and surprise attacks.
The shield is not capable of even slowing down the Fons Edax, however, but has the same effect as Gairovald’s shield on the Fons Sententiae.
Other additional fountains exist, but are not directly combat focused. Most notable is Fons Sanitis, which serves as a healing spell that acts over a few hours, and is thus too slow for battle. Gairovald, as attested to by his rapier and shield, is also highly adept in the art of enchanting objects, but by its nature this is rarely practical in the middle of battle.
In the end, Gairovald’s style of combat is all about control. Offense and defense are mixed together, keeping pressure on his opponent while defending thoroughly against their attacks, while using cunning, the environment, magic, and anything he can make work to accumulate advantage after advantage and pile them up until they reach a critical mass, and victory is inevitable.[/spoiler]
Weaknesses:
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Gairovald’s chosen style of magic also has one major weakness: it is slow. While Gairovald can potentially devour an entire region with his fountains given enough time, becoming effectively unbeatable, he has no means of starting a fight with fountains already present typically, and thus must hold on against opponents who are, without his fountains, potentially much stronger than him. As a result, early portions of battle against some enemies are very dangerous until he has managed to set up a couple fountains.
Gairovald’s Third major weakness is related, in that he has limited ability for direct offense except at the expense of his defense. Since much of his offensive power is dependent on Fons Sententiae, which when made always incurs the opportunity cost of either other fountain, he can either choose to take an offensive or defensive route. This decision, with the nature of fountain magic, will have consequences lasting the entire fight. As such, if he chooses an offensive spell he is vulnerable to attack, while failing to do so forces him to rely almost exclusively on traps and cunning in order to successfully kill an opponent with much more offensive capacity immediately available, which is much easier said than done.[/spoiler]
Personality:
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Gairovald loves to think of himself as stoic and cunning, someone whose words carry weight. This is more or less true - I’ve barely ever seen anything other than that impassive glare of his, not even anger. And his exploits in the military prove him to be the clever, devious man he adores to think himself as. Back when I still worked with him, he was the kind of general who refused to lead his army into a straight up fight. There was always some trap, a complex gambit, some strategic string of pre-battle assassinations, some bold and shocking maneuver at the last minute. Even against an enemy with inferior numbers, resources, training, and position. They often worked, sure, but they didn’t always even add anything.
He was never loved by his men - my sentiments were common among all of us. Nor was he a general who struck terror into his enemies with simple brutality. He nothing more than an effective tactician, and we were happy to serve under him only because we knew we were going to win under him, and winning meant much less likely to die.
He also liked to think himself a bit of a poet and an intellectual at times, and when he does speak expect whatever he says to be painfully pretentious. Often a reference to some classical writer or philosopher. It was annoying enough working for him, but I understand he often made such quotes in the thick of battle. Not just while leading, mind you, but to the face of an enemy he is in the midst of melee combat with. Really.
He was also loyal to a fault. It’s bizarre, coming from him, but no one could ever say he was even exaggerating when he made his oath to live and die for the emperor. And he almost did die for him, too. He would have if he could, but the Revolution happened while he was on some campaign against some of the southern kingdoms. He wasn’t just like that to the emperor, though. His spouse, his kids, his blacksmith even... From someone as manipulative and self adoring as he was, it seemed out of place, it still does to me. But he did not betray those close to him for anything, not that there were too many that were. It’s a good trait, I guess. He sure needs some.
In short? He’s overly serious, dangerous, conniving, maybe a bit psychotic, and ungodly pretentious. He’s not the kind of person you want to ever be lined up against or even be around, and to be honest I wish the Revolution had managed to put his head on a pike.
~anonymous ex-soldier, claiming to have served under general Gairovald. Records of the First Continental Republic.[/spoiler]
Appearance:
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