Post by The Green Flame on Apr 5, 2023 22:42:03 GMT
Servants
Class: Rider
Alias: The Hessian
True Name: The Headless Horseman
History: There is little known about the man who would become the spectral rider that roamed about the town and Forest of Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman. The most common story is that he was one of many Hessian mercenaries to have been hired by the British Empire and sent to America during its Revolutionary War. In the midst of the Battle of White Plains, the Hessian mercenary was decapitated by a cannonball, his body hurriedly carried off the battlefield where the shattered remains of his head remained. He would go on to be one of the many dead to be buried within the town’s cemetery, forever nameless.
However, what should’ve ended there and then on that battlefield persisted. The Hessian would supposedly rise from his grave, now a headless rider, and roam the roads and surrounding countryside of Sleepy Hollow as a malevolent ghost bringing death to any who wandered into his path. It did not matter whether they were men or women, children or the old, the strongest soldier or the most cowardly teacher, he would come for them regardless. The only thing that mattered was whether or not the head he took was his own…
Personality: At first glance, the Horseman appears to be as dour as he appears, hardly uttering a word and seemingly unwilling to unless required of him. By his own admission, it’s an accurate assessment. The Horseman cares little for those around him, often responding with sarcasm to inquiries to his circumstances and apparent disinterest regarding the wellbeing of his own Master, instead driven by the insatiable desire to become whole once more. By all accounts, he would’ve been considered the very image of Hessian soldiers that Americans feared during the Revolution.
Make no mistake, the Horseman is merciless to those who would wander into his path within his domain and delivered death no matter their identity. But being merciless is different than wanton cruelness and destruction, the Servant finding them a waste of time and energy. Additionally, despite his barbs and displeasure with his Master’s naivety, he will offer praise should it truly be earned and cut down any who would stand in her way.
Weapon of choice: A single axe is the Headless Horseman's choice of weaponry.
Noble Phantasm:
The Forest of Sleepy Hollow: Harrowed Graves – Anti-Army, Rank C+ - A bounded-field type Noble Phantasm, the Forest of Sleepy Hollow is a recreation of the very same forest and cemetery that from the Horseman’s legend. Upon activation, it transforms its surroundings into a deceptively maze-like and unnaturally dense forest. Due to the repeated slayings said to have taken place in the forest as well as its vicinity to the town cemetery, the forest holds an atmosphere that is steeped in death, actively draining and dissipating the mana of those trapped within.
Despite its size, the Bounded-Field is both escapable as it is destructible though the latter is especially time consuming upon its activation. Much like the short-story it became so known for, crossing the bridge to the Old Dutch Burial Ground (the supposed resting place of the Horseman) at the forest’s center, forcing the entire field to collapse and need be reestablished anew. The Forest of Sleepy Hollow must be prepared well in advance, making it unsuitable outside of defensive applications.
Flight of the Damned: Galloping Through Hell – Anti-Unit, Rank A – An Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm stemming from the climax of the original light story written by Washington Irving. It is the very race for the Forest’s border that Ichabod Crane and so many others found themselves in upon encountering the Horseman. Once invoked, the chosen target(s) have until sunrise to be the first to reach the Burial Ground where the Horseman is buried. Should the Horseman reach it first or sunrise come, the targets will join the many dead that haunt the forest near instantaneously.
Despite its lethality, there are multiple caveats to Phantasm as The Flight of the Damned can only be invoked within the Forest of Sleepy Hollow. Additionally, though the Horseman has instinctual knowledge of the Burial Ground’s location, he is unable to beeline to it and must hound his opponent the entire way, compelled to always be within the immediate area and are only allowed to truly sprint for the finish near the race’s end or as sunrise approaches. Notably, when this Phantasm is invoked, the Horseman is always upon his preferred mount, an unnamed black and red-eyed horse that returns no matter what fate may befall it.
Skills:
Class Skills:
Magic Resistance – Rank D – Cancels Single-Action spells. Magic Resistance of the same degree of an amulet that rejects magical energy.
Riding – Rank A – A skill denoting the ability to ride mounts and vehicles. At this rank, all vehicles and beasts short of Phantasmal, Divine and Dragon can be used as mounts.
At the Boundary – Normally Rank D+, Conditional B - A skill for those who walk within the Valley of Death, are as one with Death and are familiar with its ways. As an undead whose sole purpose became delivering death to wanderers and transforming the Forest itself into a land of the dead, the Horseman has a resistance to instant death and mental attacks. Within the confines of the Forest of Sleepy Hollow, wounds caused by the Horseman can become debilitating as regeneration and healing are impaired.
Personal Skills:
Battle Continuation – Rank A+ - A skill that allows for the continuation of combat after sustaining fatal wounds and reduces the mortality rate from injury. Even after their head was obliterated by a cannonball, the Headless Horseman rose from the grave and brought terror to Sleepy Hollow as they sought their missing head. Only the total destruction of their spirit core will stop the Horseman from continuing combat.
Executioner’s Visage – Rank C – A composite Self-Modification and Mystic Face skill. Though his senses are uncompromised, the Headless Horseman is unable to hide his nature as a Servant due to his past decapitation. To account for this deficiency, the Headless Horseman is able to utilize the severed heads of others in place of his own by temporarily merging them with his cauterized neck. Due to the inhuman nature of the act, the guise passes as human at a distance but loses its effectiveness upon closer inspection. As the Horseman is essentially an undead, the pilfered head will continuously degrade until only a rotting skull remains.
Mana Burst (Flame) – Rank C – A flame variant of the Mana Burst skill which increases one’s performance by infusing one’s weapons and body with Magical Energy and instantly expelling it. Though believed to have been a Jack-o-Lantern, the Headless Horseman did in fact hurl a severed and flaming head at those attempting to flee his wrath, leaving a fiery explosion on impact. In absence of a head to throw, the Horseman gives his axe a cauterizing effect with each swing.
Monstrous Strength – Rank B – A skill that temporarily increases the user’s strength. As a being derived from the Dullahan, the Headless Horseman can temporarily display strength rivaling their counterpart from Irish myth.
Physical appearance:
An able-modied man seemingly in his 30s, the Horseman is a towering figure with a physique befitting one who fought as a mercenary during the Revolutionary War. As befitting his name, the Horseman lacks one of the more important parts of the human body, a head, his own having been obliterated by a cannonball during the war. Though a cauterized stump of a neck is all that remains, the Horseman’s cognitive and visionary faculties are unhindered.
However, through the use of the Executioner’s Visage skill, the Horseman is able to fuse a procured head as his own, if for a time. This does little to mask his own influence as, though the voice may be similar to its former owner, the influence of the Horseman’s own make it an unnatural fusion. As does the head’s steady decay to that of a rotting corpse…
Clothing and Armor : A mere traveler’s outfit suited for riding through the countryside. Despite its frayed appearance, it’s fairly resistant to harm and plays well into the guise of a mere wanderer in the woods. Outside of combat, there is little to hide the Horseman’s nature as a Servant unless he utilizes the head of another as his own which is, unfortunately, a temporary measure at best. In such an event, full-body garments are preferred to mask the steady decay of his ‘disguise’.
Master[
Name: Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillenia
Age: 19
Gender: Female
History: The older of the Forvedge siblings, Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillenia is the sort of mage that is the lifeblood of both of the Mage Association and vital to Yggdmillenia’s future success. Originally a minor family with few achievements to their name, the Forvedge nonetheless proved to have a future with the birth of Fiore, her circuits possessing an exceptional quality that only appeared every hundred years or so. It was all they could hope for but there was one caveat: Their promising heir was born with defective magic circuits within her legs, effectively crippling her. Not for lack of trying, the Forvedge attempted to have a replacement heir in the form of Caules but when his own circuits proved to be of inferior quality, they were left with no recourse but for Fiore to become the heir.
In time, Fiore would inherit the position of family head and, with her own personal talent, reach a high position within Yggdmillenia as well despite her young age. It would be shortly after her acceptance that this new Holy Grail War began and, like others within Yggdmillenia, she too received a set of Command Spells on her hand. Already indebted to the head of Yggdmillenia for accepting the Forvedge family into its ranks, Fiore withheld her concerns over Darnic’s planned declaration of war against Clock Tower and has chosen to support him however she can, not simply for the sake of the family but for her true wish of healing the defects within her legs.
Personality: A kind girl with a gentle smile, Fiore is hardly the type one would expect to side with Yggdmillenia or even be a magus at all. Rather than a mindset focused on outperforming her peers or achieving progress at any cost, Fiore often fosters cooperation amongst her peers and lacks the stomach for the more grisly intricacies of magecraft despite her calm demeanor. At times, it may appear she struggles with her place as a magus but given her place as the heir of Forvedge, she has little option but to stay the course.
Fiore also holds an aversion to conflict and holds a particular distaste for potential combat with Clock Tower due to her time spent studying there. However, because the possibility of achieving victory exists, Fiore is more than willing to push mere sentimentality aside for the sake of healing her legs.
Magical preference: Considered to be one of the few first-rate mages among Yggdmillenia, Fiore possesses an immense talent within the field of spiritual evocation and human engineering at the cost of being mediocre in most other fields. It would be considered unfortunate in some circles but considering her talent rivals, some would say surpasses, some of Clock Tower’s top instructors, Fiore is quite the diamond in the rough for Yggdmillenia.
However, due to a defect in the magic circuits within her legs, Fiore is effectively disabled, leading her to foster her talents as a way of substituting the functions of her legs. Additionally, Fiore has developed her own personal Mystic Codes, the Bronze-Link Manipulators, a series of magic-powered spider-like limbs that evoke images of a an exoskeletal power armor. Her self-promotion of the manipulators being able to allow a third-rate magus to bring down a first-rate magus aside, it has been likened to an offensive-minded Volumen Hydragyrum.
Visual Appearance:
