Post by Denarius on Sept 15, 2012 14:52:19 GMT -6
"When you're in a town like this all covered with smoke, you forget that there's a world outside. Nothing amazing happens here. And you get used to that, used to a world where everything is ordinary. Every day we spend here is like a whole lifetime of dying slowly. But now [she's] here. That's how I know there really is a world outside."
Name: Patchouli Knowledge. Her true name, as hard as it is to believe.
Aliases: "Saffron Viole", a new identity she took on when she left Gensokyo.
Saffron's name is used when she encounters strangers, or people she doesn't expect to work with that often. She'll never give a name, and dodge the question when asked, but once she knows whether she'll be working with them more often or if they're just a "friendly acquaintance", she'll either give the name Saffron, or Patchouli.
Age: ~100, though this is entirely unknown. Patchouli will never give a name, and will only state that she's in her 20's.
Gender: Female
Species: Unknown, assumed to be human, demon, or half of both.
Alignment: Neutral, holding properties of both chaos and law.
Canon or Original: Canon, from Touhou 6: Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil
Date of Birth: August 13th
Place of Birth: Germany
Physical Appearance:
This is her standard appearance, and is only usually used when she's indoors, and as her pajamas. Because her previous lifestyle didn't require her to travel outside, she is accustomed to using her pajamas as regular clothes. Depending on the situation, she'll probably be forced to travel outside on a daily basis, and would therefore change her wardrobe.
Special Abilities:
Danmaku: Translates to "Curtain of Bullets", "Curtain of Fire", or just straight up "Bullet Hell". Although the physics of the world prevent her from using danmaku based off creative thought, she can still summon the attack using mana. Patchouli can charge elemental magic into a single orb and then fire it. She can charge the orb for up to 2 posts, and then fire it. The orb does very high damage and moves rather quickly, but has no homing or piercing capabilities, exploding and vanishing after any contact without causing fire, just non-elemental damage and pain. The property of the orb can change depending on how long it's charged.
Level 1: Cast instantly, the orb can be shot out on its own, or split into 3 smaller orbs that shoot outwards in a fan direction.
Level 2: Charged for one post, the orb can be shot, split into 6 orbs that can then be projected in any direction, or shot out as a laser beam, fairly thin.
Level 3: Charged for 2 posts, the orb can be shot, split into 10 orbs that can then be projected in any direction, or shot as a large beam.
However, a cast danmaku orb can be shattered to activate Elemental Magic or Summon Book. (Note: smaller orbs split from the original orb cannot be used for this purpose. Same with any laser of any sort). After casting a danmaku attack, there is a 1 post cooldown before Patchouli can cast Danmaku again.
Elemental Magic: Using danmaku as the energy source, Patchouli can cast any spell of the element of Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth, Sun, or Moon. This style follows the ideas of classic belief of elements, which means that the definition of certain elements may be different from the "Fire Water Wind Air" elements seen in classic alchemy and magic.
Fire - Fire represents passion, raw passion and energy. In alchemy, it is the highest sphere of energy, and is entirely untouchable by human life. Fire spells are very powerful and can spread a wide distance, but cannot be controlled as well as any other element. They move on their own accord, be it homing in another person, or just moving straight onto a single target area. Fire spells are also dangerous in the sense that they WILL damage both allies and enemies without discrimination, unlike most other elements.
Water - Water is not the opposite of fire. Rather, it is the element of destruction. Rust, rot, and decay are all caused by water, and water is a symbol of returning what has been built to ground zero. Water spells are fast, and can cover long distances without losing power, unlike fire. Although they are far from powerful, water spells are used very aggressively, and can be controlled without much difficulty.
Wood - As always, Wood means growth. It expands and covers any location that is stagnant, and builds upon it. Because of this, wood element cannot be used too offensively in most cases. It is meant to clutter locations with growth and add to what has already been placed and created.
Earth - Earth is the beginning, the ground zero that Water aims to attain. Although Earth can be used to alter the environment, most of the time, Earth is also the one that restores the environment back to its original place. When matched with Earth, Wood is forced to shrink back to its place in the ground.
Metal - Metal, cold and silent. The most stable of the group, yet the hardest to make and move. Metal is more synonymous with the "Earth" people think of. It is, at base level, neutral, though it can be used for both defensive and offensive purposes. Although Metal is used to create shields or blades, it cannot react with the other elements of Fire, Water, Wood, and Earth.
Sun - Sun and Moon are Celestial bodies, which only affect the world from afar. Sun and Moon do not act like the other elements, and have set-in-stone attacks, while the others can be manipulated for the situation given. As a level 1 post, the Sun spell will project a slow moving fireball that explodes upon contact. At level 2-3, the Sun shows its true properties. The Sun is loud, brash, prideful, and attention-hogging. Its radiance clouds the presence of Space, Stars, and Moon. In the same way, the Sun spell releases a sphere of plasma that absorbs and nullifies all projectiles around it, sucking it in with an odd sort of gravity. This mini-sun only lasts as long as it was charged. (Level 2 - one post, level 3 - two posts).
Moon - Moon is the other Celestial body, and is unlike all the others, even the Sun itself. The Moon is interpreted like how its tarot card is. Changes quickly like the phases, and thus is read as indecisive at times. It is not a leader. Instead, it follows. A Level 1 spell will release a moonstone at a fast speed, which will then home in on a target for a certain distance, losing power as it travels until it crumbles into dust. At levels 2-3, the Moon becomes a passive spell, giving an overall power boost to the affect target for a limited amount of time (Level 2 - one post, level 3 - two posts). Anything can be targetted, including Patchouli herself and any books she has summoned.
Summon Book: Using the energy from a Danmaku Orb, Patchouli can summon additional tomes to assist her in battle. The tome acts as a second Patchouli, and can shoot danmaku and turn it into Elemental Magic as commanded by Patchouli. However, the summoned tome can only shoot spells equal to level as the danmaku used to create it (Level 1 tomes can only shoot and use level 1 danmaku/magic, and so on). Up to 4 tomes can be created. Patchouli, in the event of losing her original grimoire, can re-summon it to her hands using a level 1 Summon Book spell.
Weapons: Bohemian Archive in Scarlet Red:
A book that's been fashioned to behave like a computer, using magic energy rather than electric to process functions. The pages of the book are nothing extraordinary. At first, the pages are filled with nothing but what seems to be spellcards and other memorabilia. However, using specific passcodes spoken by Patchouli (And Patchouli ONLY, I might add), the pages can alter to pull up saved texts from before. Patchouli's greatest book. She can summon it with ease using Level 1 Summon Book if it's removed from her hands.
History:
Patchouli Knowledge, since she was a child, was able to read any and all books, regardless of their condition and language. This also translates to also give her the ability to speak and comprehend languages, to a certain extent. Unless she fluently practiced, it would probably simply be slightly broken, book-language without any accent or use of proper expressions. Her family's original was actually something else, but Patchouli had taken the middle name "Knowledge", due to her incredible literacy. Many had expected her to go to a prestigious school to become one of the leading figures in science, and would maybe even serve royalty and foreign worlds. At least, that's what her mother expected. Instead, Patchouli took more concern towards her grandmother, the one who had amassed the large book collection in the first place. Turns out, this old lady is also responsible for Patchouli's ability, as she was secretly a witch who had blessed Patchouli in the odd way witches work. While "Granny Knowledge" never taught Patchouli the ways of Wiccan, she was the one who allowed Patchouli access to her secret book storage, where the more forbidden books on foreign philosophies and magic were located. Patchouli didn't understand most of the material, and she certainly was too young to pull off any intricate magic, considering how she lacked the proper ingredients and oddly placed buddha statues to do so.
At a certain point, though, she would unintentionally summon a demon familiar, an aged demon by the name of "Akuma". Okay, not really. Patchouli just named the demon Akuma after one of the stories she read from her books. Well after that, news wouldn't stay still for too long. Although Akuma stayed within Granny Knowledge's home, it didn't take long for stories of Granny Knowledge holding demons at her home and of witchcraft to spread around the town. Oh Lord, you can expect the rest, if you know enough of people's opinions of witchhunting back then. 14 year old Patchouli and god know how old Akuma were forced to run into the woods by the advice of Granny Knowledge, who would stay and take the full blame for Patchouli's actions. Looking back, Patchouli considered it the only act of "love" anyone would consider giving the girl. She would eventually be caught, not by the same crowd, but another group who would think she was a witch... which she basically was. Of course, this is cliched. Patchouli is a cliche witch, and therefore, her past must have a few cliches.
But the group of adventurers that found her would never lay hands on the girl. She would be saved quite violently by a vampire known as Remilia Scarlet. Remilia was known to be a vampire lord, called by villagers as "The Scarlet Devil". Not because she was an incredibly violent demon, though. Yes she was powerful and... maybe in her younger years she was violent. But really, most of the deaths by her hand were quick and with relatively less pain than most others. Really, the title was given because whenever she ate human or livestock... she kinda tore their chests open, drank the blood, and then ate whatever seemed to have blood on it. Needless to say, Patchouli was rather scarred when Remilia "saved" her. After the meal, Patchouli was captured by Remilia as a slave of the lowest kind. It is at this point that Patchouli learns of manners, "proper behaviors", and the demon hierarchy. Turns out, by successfully summoning a demon familiar, Patchouli herself is considered as holding one rank higher than the familiar. If she was to climb the notorious ladder of demon killing and court horrors, Patchouli would eventually outrank Remilia, and would then be able to break the bond of slavery on herself. Of course, demon politics is not exactly the kindest thing, and one demon whose rank was taken from Patchouli decided to snitch out on her secret political scandal to Remilia, who did not take the news well. But rather than killing Patchouli, Remilia took a more unusual route and forced Patchouli into marriage, and the two were wed. However, it wasn't a marriage of equal rights, and was more of a poetically crafted soul contract. Patchouli was no longer Remilia's slave, but was now considered her concubine, a pet to be considered as property. Ironically enough, the marriage actually RAISED Patchouli's rank in the demon world to match Remilia's. Although as a concubine, she probably lost all rights to continue her work in the demon hierarchy.
After this fiasco, and another that involved an attempt to kill the Scarlet Devil in her sleep (turns out, it's harder to pierce a vampire in the chest with a wooden stake than one would imagine), Remilia got the idea that Patchouli hated her, and took the problem as how she did with all others. Remilia simply killed Akuma and banished Patchouli to the library for all eternity. Standard stuff. Actually, Remilia had done this to her own younger sister. Killed the father (her father as well, but that was mostly to take his rank), and locked the little girl in the basement for all eternity. Though, that little nightmare's a different story we can touch upon another day.
Of course, Patchouli had never actually told Remilia her ability about her omni-literacy. Just told her about summoning a demon at 14. So she took the opporitunity to pull up every book on magic and to study until she had mastered everything. She had THOUGHT she produced a Philosopher's stone using the abilities of what seemed to be powerful elemental magic, Taoist alchemy, and newt studies because there's a bit of newt in everything magical. Well, it mattered not. With the magic gathered over the lonely years, Patchouli broke the seal on the library, stormed to the throne room of Remilia Scarlet, and challenged her to a duel for the title of Scarlet Devil. Remilia took it as a game or a joke of some sorts as all people of her kind seem to do, and Patchouli responded by nuking Remilia with everything she had.
It... eh. It didn't turn out well at all.
It was notable that Patchouli had managed to master so much magic within a period of what was a decade, which is basically a minute compared to the lifespans of some demons. Also notable how she managed to use this magic efficiently enough so that it managed to wound Remilia... even if she healed it shortly after it was dealt. What it DID do was force Remilia to realize that Patchouli was more of an ally... and probably the closest to a "friend", silly enough, for the vampire. Patchouli on the other hand, was wearily recovering from the wounds of barely surviving a vampire and the mental strain of 10 years of study. After this, she simply returned the library, not for magic precisely, but rather just to live her everyday life and... reflect on what's happened. So far, it's amounted to:
Remilia's changed and become a bit more sociable. Patchouli stays relatively the same. Eventually, Remi DID admit the whole slavery, marriage, and almost killing Patchouli was wrong, which was probably the only thing that could be considered to be an apology from Remilia. Though it really wasn't.
Patchouli is still Remilia's concubine, by all means. In the end, though, it was only a title. In reality, it gives Patchouli certain privileges. First thing is that since her body belongs to Remilia as a concubine, she can't be mind/body controlled, nor can her soul be stolen/sealed. She also has Remilia's high demon rank, which means that, although she can't raise her own rank, she can use Remilia's when in demon law. Which means in any auction, contract, or court incident involving demons, she'll have a natural advantage just by mentioning the name Remilia. Patchouli makes use of this when she summoned a second demon familiar, who she named "Koakuma". Of course, it's more of a plot thing. Third of all, and this goes along with the second point, when Patchouli dies, she can skip the entire judging process and respawn in Hell with her own demon rank, skipping any nasty spirit issues.
Personality:
Patchouli certainly isn't cold or mean, though she pulls herself up as that kind of person. Her stance on things is that everything can be done properly, should be done properly, and will be very harsh when such is not achieved. She wants things to be run the right way in her small world, and does what she knows is a proper way of control. She isn't a dictator to say, but she pushes people around her to do what they can do, and expects excellence in the universe around her. This is what forged her analytical way of looking at things, reading information from the world around her as if it was another page from her books. When all is said and done, she analyzes the information and grades what is seen, from a scale of 1-108, sometimes followed by a letter grade based of a second scale system of 1-100, which is mean to show that the event has exceeded her expectations and her standard method to grading.
Though this is mostly seen when Patchouli is around those of lower or equal status. After her life under Remilia, Patchouli knows not to anger people, even if she must change her manner of action and words around them. Those who she serve she addresses with honor, and humbles herself, obeying any order given with the same drive for perfection she puts into everything else. She certainly won't say anything outloud, and keeps most everything of her thoughts within herself, appearing as a reclusive person to mostly everyone.
She does have a leisure life, as she enjoys a wide variety of music beyond classical, and reads and engages in various different hobbies often. Her favorite tea is black tea with plenty of sugar. Patchouli, outside of her work or most anything she does, is usually relaxed and introspective, constantly analyzing herself, and who she has become. She's still recovering from the fight from long ago, and continues thinking about her past life, which had seemingly whizzed past so quickly, and what it has done to her.
After being sealed in the library, even after she came to good terms with Remilia, Patchouli remained in the library, as she had fully adapted to such a life of solitude and control. Because of this, her physical stature is weaker than most, and she's believed to still be trying to find a way to cure her asthma. It's safe to say that her life in the library has given her agoraphobia, a fear of unknown and uncontrollable environments. While she does admit that going outside certainly is unfavorable condition, and that it does make her anxious, that Patchouli is more concerned about her physical wellbeing, and states that as the reason why she doesn't like going outside, and avoids going outside as best as she can.
