TEN MINUTE BACKGROUND
1-Write 5 background and concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character.
-Gabriel is native to Molthune. Being a bastard son, he had few chances other than joining a militant cult.
-Once in the cult, he opened his eyes to what his country’s goals really were, and withdrew from the military.
-During his wandering through Nirmathas, Varisia and other countries, he met a middle aged woman, Nioku, who he thought was the personification of might and power. He decided to follow her and learn from her, and in the end they both became very close.
-Gabriel has always felt a strong link with the sun. He has always enjoyed being under its light, and has felt uncomfortable underground. After Nioku’s death, Gabriel suffered an apotheosis and transformed into a half-shaped angel, growing wings and acquiring some new powers related to his ancestry.
-Gabriel started researching, and he finally came to some conclusions. When he finally discovered some bits of truth about Hyraeatan, he was addressed by some inhabitants of the city and offered a visit and later a citizenship and membership into the Lightbringers.
-Gabriel had a hard time accepting that balance was a requirement, and that he would have to work together with the Dark Parities. That didn’t last much, though, as all of a sudden Hyandil soon order all the Lawbringers to withdraw the city. Hyandil’s powerful personality and influence got Gabriel and many others enthralled, making them follow their leader without question and actually empathise with her.
-Gabriel was a profound devout of Iomedae in her Sun aspect, and later widened his mind to revere a more general concept of the Sun adopting other Gods like Sarenrae, Amaterasu, Pelor, Lathander or Apollo. Under Hyandil’s influence and the Lawbringers Exodus, though, he experimented profound changes. He believed everything he had fought for was a lie, and that the Sun had abandoned him, so he adopted a new aspect of the Sun - its absence. Gabriel, Sol Invictus became known as Gabriel, the Black Hole.
-After the defeat of the Lawbringers, Gabriel was taken prisoner. He, together with other specimens, was the object of deep studies, with most of Hyraeatan scholars and scientists fascinated by the changes experimented. Gabriel had undergone mental, physical and emotional changes, and it was clear that these changes were not finished, once Hyandil’s influence was no longer affecting him. Believing there was a chance of recovering him, he was offered a second chance.
2-List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.
-Character Goal: Gabriel wants to know what’s of his past and his future. He doesn’t know who his father was, he doesn’t know why he has experienced so much changes along his life and how many more is he going to undergo. He doesn’t know why does he feel linked to the Sun, for better or for worse, and what does all of these mean. He longs for a place to belong, and that place seems to be Hyraeatan, but through his act he’s not getting any closer to it, and that unsettles him.
-I’d like Gabriel to do something important. More than just ascending in the hierarchy, I mean starring a deed that immortalises him, so his name is remembered, be it for leading an army to an important victory, infiltrating and rescuing an important character or bringing the opportunity for an important breakthrough due to the study of his strange changing condition.
3-List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet.
-Gabriel was never much attached to his mother and her relatives, and has always thought of old Nioku as his only family. However, one night in Hyraeatan, when he was being held prisoner after Hyandil’s defeat,, he was thinking about the past with nostalgy when a vision assaulted his mind. He saw a scene which he recognised as Nioku’s funeral. The old lady’s funeral pyre was burning, but he caught a glimpse of something which could only be her soul ascending to Heaven, a figure resembling her but with powerful wings and a fiery sword in her hand, flying from his burning corpse and getting lost beyond the clouds. He never talked to anyone about that sudden insight, thinking it had only been a side effect of his own mind surrendering to fatigue and captivity.
-Gabriel doesn’t suspect that Nioku was indeed his father impersonated. The being was actually a powerful Solar, and he wanted to direct his descendant’s path to Hyraeatan, where he knew that Gabriel would play an important role in the future of the city, but had his own reasons to stay anonymous. He faked his Nioku persona’s death and sowed the seed in young Gabriel to investigate further. Whether he has anything to do with the most recent events in Gabriel’s life, it remains to be seen.
4-Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile.
-Nioku, a warrior woman near retirement who took Gabriel under tutelage when he left Molthune. Nioku died in battle, and her dying words were for Gabriel, telling him to “search for Hyraeatan”.
-Hyandil, the leader of the Lightbringers. The Blossoming Queen held much influence over Gabriel, making him follow her into exile and later into a fratricidal war. Gabriel has no idea if the Queen is still alive, much less of where she could be, but he wouldn’t mind having a word or two with her.
-Zachiel, a low ranked officer in the Eternal Dawning’s army, responsible for capturing Gabriel and, later on, sparing him. Gabriel’s feelings towards Zachiel are mixed, for he knows he owes him his life but is also aware that was not a hundred percent altruistic act. Still, there’s a spark of respect there, as Gabriel senses that Zachiel is also in the lower base of the pyramid and struggles to find his place while fulfilling orders, just like he was not so long ago.
5-Describe three memories, mannerisms, or quirks that your character has.
-Due to his “shiny” nature, Gabriel was useless when it came to subterfuge. Actively and directly lying was beyond his capabilities, and stealthy moves were something he thought he’d never be good at. After his exile and imprisonment, though, Gabriel feels a deep attraction for the dark, and some of these restrains have completely dissappeared or turned into just the opposite feelings.
-Gabriel remembers how he spent quite some time figuring out about Nioku’s last words, and how at the beginning he thought Hyraeatan was a person he had to talk to.
-Back in Molthune, life was hard. As a child, he drilled constantly, for it was mandatory, and was constantly subject to a brainwashing discipline. It amuses him how life has changed, but not as much for himself - he was still under constant drilling here in Hyraeatan and was also a victim of brainwash in more than one sense.
-Gabriel has never been with a girl. During his teens in Molthune he had no time between drilling and attending religious matters, and his life hasn’t improved afterwards. He felt something for Nioku for a while, but quickly realised she had been more a cool aunt than anything else. Sometimes he thinks what could it be like, though he knows that, given his situation, it’s not something that’s likely to happen.
Appearance
Gabriel doesn’t look too outlandish, but his eyes reflect the fire of his soul, specially when he’s fighting the good fight.They used to shine in fiery orange tones, but now these have turned into a deep dark blue, even black. His fiery red hair was usually tied in a ponytail, but it’s now pitch black and usually left loose. Only those who know, though, might use these features to put together what’s otherwise evident by the pair of angelic - though black - wings sprouting from Gabriel’s back. Other than that, he looks like a human in steroids - strong and agile, smart and cool, you know, almost an angel.
Personality
Same as the Sun, Gabriel was warm and cosy, but could quickly turn into a relentless destructive force. Luckily, he reserved the latter for his true enemies, those who threatened the wellbeing of his peers. Nowadays, Gabriel looks more like a cold, tempered warrior who knows he’s been into too much. Jaded and scarred, his past laughter is now only a small and ironic half smile, and what was solar wrath in battle is now the emptiness of the void taking down enemies relentlessly.
