Nick Myrddin
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
 |
| |
| Nick Myrddin | |
| Player: @cyphre | |
| Origin: | Magic |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Ill/Rad Controller (present) Nrg/Nrg Blaster (future) |
| Security Level: | 27 (present) 50 (future) |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Nicholas Charles Myrddin (legally changed from Mirden) |
| Known Aliases: | The Magnificent Mirden, Nicholas Charles Mirden |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 42 / 67 |
| Height: | 6' 1" |
| Weight: | 197 lbs. |
| Eye Color: | Grey |
| Hair Color: | Grey |
| Biographical Data | |
| Citizenship: | Confidential |
| Occupation: | Former: Stage Magician/Illusionist. Current: Sorcerer (in training). Future: Combat Mage |
| Place of Birth: | New York City, NY |
| Current Residence: | Confidential |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Charles Mirden (father), Jane Mirden (mother, deceased), James Mirden (uncle) |
| Known Powers | |
| Current: Magick-based Illusion control and particle manipulation. Future: Magick-based energy blasts + force fields, etc. | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Professional level stage magician skills, escape artist skills, computer skills (expert). | |
| Equipment | |
| Wrist comm unit, HUD, hospital transporter, Blackwand, various arcane objects. | |
| Footnotes | |
Misc.
| |
Until December of 2005, Nick was associated with the International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M.)... the world's largest organization for professional and amateur stage magicians. For a time, he even served as president of his local Ring (local IBM clubs) in NYC.
He has recently been considered for membership in The Council of Nine, taking his great-grandfather's place. The Council of Nine is a secret society of Mystics (separate and set apart from the magic community's governing Elders) set up to watch over and keep track of this world's mystic arts... and whose original objective seems to be the restoration of Magic to a time when sorcery was not yet a corrupt art.
Nick also recently joined the newly formed supergroup, "StormForce", in an attempt to protect himself from the dark forces by hiding in plain sight, surrounded by meta-beings.
Nick has been for most of his life extremely well-spoken, extroverted, funny and confident... perhaps even to the point of arrogance. He was consumate professional and a ladies' man of some repute with a taste for all the finer things in life. Very well-liked among his peers, he was respected by the majority of Stage Magicians and Mystics alike.
Since his discovery of the truth behind his lineage, the loss of his eye at the hands of the Circle of Thorns and the total destruction of all be believed, Nick is now humbled... focused and serious... determined to find his rightful place in the mystical world and unravel the conspiracy behind his stolen heritage.
Nicholas Charles Mirden was born on Manhattan's cultured Upper West Side in New York City, February 23, 1965. His father, Charles James Mirden, and grandfather, Manford Charles Mirden, were famously skilled and popular stage magicians, and were known to audiences across the U.S. and Europe as "The Amazing Mirdini" and "The Mysterious Mirden", respectively. His lovely mother, Jane, had at one time been a semi-famous reporter for the New York Times' Arts and Leisure section but soon decided to instead join her husband's act as his onstage assistant. The couple were immensely well-liked in Manhattan's social circles due not only to their wealth and celebrity, but also to their spirited wit, philanthropic efforts and devotion to their friends.
So it was that Nick grew up a happy, well-adjusted child, wanting nothing more than to follow in the footsteps of his famous father and grandfather, and the two men were only too delighted to begin his training at the early age of four, often as part of their act.
Nick's life since he found out the truth about his lineage.
Travel! Mystic/Martial Arts training! Monsters!
- Nick's true family name, Myrddin, is taken from Myrddin Wyllt, the ancient sorcerer upon whom the legend of Merlin was based. Nick is of no relation to the famed mystic, though. The surname is actually indicative of those who served as Myrddin's disciples in the ways of the Mystic Arts... practitioners of pure, primal, essential Magicks... protectors of the Earth, it's peoples, and of righteousness.
- Nick's grandfather was friends with famed Hungarian-American magician and escapologist Harry Houdini...a Sorcerer masquerading as a stage performer.
- Nick's familiar, a red Dwarf Daemon named Grimm, is several hundred years old and served Nick's grandfather as well.
In the world of Magic, there are two types of Magicians...
- The first, most common and well-known type is the Stage Magician. This magician is an expert in the art of entertaining an audience by performing illusions that baffle and amaze, often by giving the impression that something impossible has been achieved, almost as if the performer had magic or supernatural powers. Yet, this illusion of magic is created entirely by natural means. The practitioners of this mystery art regard their magical techniques as of secondary importance to the goal of creating a complex cultural performance. They are known as Illusionists, Escape Artists, or as simply as Magicians.
- The second type is the Paranormal Magician, or "Mystic". This is a person skilled in the mysterious and hidden art of magic, the ability to attain objectives, acquire knowledge, or perform works of wonder using supernatural or nonrational means.
- Some modern magicians, such as Aleister Crowley and those who follow the traditions of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Ordo Templi Orientis, describe magic in rational terms, using definitions, postulates and theorems.
- Mystics can also be referred to as an enchanter, sorcerer, wizard, mage, magus, necromancer, warlock, witch or thaumaturgist. These overlapping terms are distinguished by traditions of magic being practiced. When such distinctions are made there may be variations on level and type of power associated with each name. Some names, distinctions, or aspects may have more of a negative connotation than others, depending on the setting and the context.
In the greater community of Magic, the two types intermingle freely, the Stage Magicians often serving as apprentices to the Mystics in hopes of becoming Wizards (practitioners of learned, spell magic). Many Mystics prefer this arrangement, as the Stage Performers earn money for them to live on and do not have to find employment, devoting their time entirely to their craft.
However, there are those who believe in a traditional, hereditary systems of social restriction and social stratification based on not only the economic status of a magic family, but also by whether or not the magic tradition of the family in question is of the real, supernatural kind or the practiced illusion of magic.
To this effect, in some circles Stage Magicians are called "Wannabees" or "Fakers" and are looked upon with disdain by those practicing real magic. This display of elitism has become somewhat common, unfortunately, and is especially true of the practitioners of the darker magicks (necromancers, demon summoners/diabolists, etc.), as they tend to be more irritable and intolerant than most.
This energy has a variety of applications, as seen via the disciplines of psionics (telepathy, astral projection, telekinesis, aerokinesis, clairvoyance, cryokinesis, ESP, pyrokinesis, psychokinesis, hydrokinesis, and teleportation) and magic (necromancy, voodoo, illusion magic, psychological magic, summoning, enchantment, rune magic, tattoo magic, shamanism, invocation magic, temporal magic, diabolism, technowizardry, etc.). These applications of living energies range from the pure and unselfish to the tainted and selfish, depending largely upon the user's intent. Upon a sentient's 'true' death (as we know, some of these beings are extremely robust and can rise from normal death), the energy is doubled for a few moments, and then released into the surrounding environment.
"Ley lines"... lines of life/magic/psychic energy, criss-cross the earth and can form supernatural geographic areas such as the Bermuda Triangle or Croatoa. A point where ley lines intersect, called a "nexus", is a place of power. Examples of nexuses are the Pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge, Easter Island and Moth Cemetery in Dark Astoria. If a ley line nexus grows abnormally strong, the very fabric of time and space can be torn thus creating a "rift"... a hole in space-time leading to another place, time or a new or parallel dimension. Ley lines are invisible to most people, but to animals, high-level magic users and psychics, they can be clearly seen as massive bands of blue-white energy a quarter mile wide, at least 150 feet above the ground, and stretching for many miles. It is near these concentrations of energy that psychics and practitioners of the mystic arts are imbibed with the greatest strength and power.
