Snaerr

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Snaerr
Player: @Tramontane
Origin: Magic
Archetype: Blaster
Security Level: Confidential
Personal Data
Real Name: Gabriel Chiaro
Known Aliases: Tramontane, Jack
Species: Human
Age: 27
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 175
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Biographical Data
Nationality: Italian-American
Occupation: Professor of Mythology and World Religion
Place of Birth: Bolzano, Italy
Base of Operations: Paragon City
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Confidential
Known Powers
Second Sight, enhanced ice evocation, minor mystical capability
Known Abilities
Expert on the history of the occult, and on history in general. Adept linguist. Keeps a very tidy library.
Equipment
Various mystical tomes, highly temperature-resistant suit, various accumulated trinkets, charms, amulets, and gadgets. Manifested ice-weaponry.
Shows signs of alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder related to the Second Sight.


"Gabriel Chiaro. Call me Jack."

Snaerr is just a rather ordinary magic-hero, the main character of @Tramontane. I specifically wanted him to be rather archetypal in his superhero qualities, which is why I gave him the spandex, the typical "Arcane Tome of Mystical Magical Sparklyness" as his background, and the... less-than-inspired heroic motives. I've always wished that ice powers would get a more interesting storyline, so it annoys me that ice heroes in other media are always sort of dull, lacklustre, secondary characters. [1]

Contents

Affiliations

Paragon City University. Incidentally, they're not aware of his off-hours activities, so it's not much of an 'affiliation'.

Appearance

"The tights. Are. ICONIC."

Jack's appearance, age, and features appear almost completely unchanged since the events that gave him his ice powers. He has a height of about 5'10", making him average height for most people but short by the standards of Paragon City. He has untrimmed but neatly-combed hair down to the back of his neck, dark brown in color. His features are lean and gaunt, and his skin is pale. His eyes have a pale greyish color. He is typically found in his costume, an outfit consisting of grey tights with a blue starshot pattern along the legs, arms, and back, and a matching cape. [2] He usually wears glasses or sunglasses to hide his unusual eyes, as people tend to find them disturbing. He also wears black leather boots and gloves. Lately, he has taken to wearing a sigil resembling a curving, stylized pentagram on his outfits, typically as the fastener on his cape.

Personality

"I never said that having morals and a sense of justice was fun, just that I happen to have them."

Snaerr initially seems like a rather ordinary sarcastic deadpan sort of person, albeit with a more... obscure vocabulary than most. However, prolonged exchanges quickly reveal an altruistic, caring, and occasionally even overly sensitive[3] aspect of his personality. He acts out of a sort of cynical chivalry. He also has a slightly off-kilter sense of whimsy, though often his humor is missed because his delivery is so muted and underplayed.[4] Snaerr also occasionally displays a distaste for technology- not true technophobia[5], merely a belief that technology is overrated and not really worth all the fuss, and so tends to scoff at those who "Worship the Great Religion of Science."

Powers

Sight

"You try having supernatural truth seared into your brain every time you open your eyes. Tell me how that goes for you."

Snaerr's most potent innate ability is a form of mystical sight- He can see the auras of people around him. [6] This sight has become quite powerful, and he is unable to turn it off, which is a significant motivator of his alcoholic tendencies. [7] He now believes that the growing power of the Sight and his consistent inability to alter or control it is an indication that it can't be controlled at all, and he will rather bleakly attest that within the next ten years he will either "Die a horrible death due to the mental trauma, or else go stark frothing mad and then die a horrible death due to the mental trauma."

Jack, preparing to do his hero thing.

Ice Evocation

Snaerr's primary combat ability is his Ice Evocation, a residual side effect of a summoning gone wrong, allows him to channel the forces of ice and winter. Typically, this takes two forms. The first is in ice blasts, which are mystical bursts of pure cold energy, used as a quick means of disabling opponents. The second is in ice manipulation, the ability to summon ice to serve his will, though this requires a degree of mystical control that Snaerr lacks, so this ability is not as potent as his pure energy evocation.

Mystical Capabilities

Snaerr has a number of minor mystical abilities. Few are any good in his battle against evil,[8] but they do allow a number of other useful abilities, including flight, minor enchantments, and glamours[9]

Abilities

Jack's arcane research.

Occult Expertise

Jack's greatest strength, far beyond his rather insignificant mystical ability, was the sheer body of knowledge at his disposal. Ever since he discovered the existence of supernatural literature, he has consumed it with a passion, learning all he can about every sort of mystical, supernatural, paranormal, or otherwise arcane lore. He has a meticulously organized, highly secure, and very extensive library of occult literature at his disposal, and not the sort of occult literature one finds in the New Age section of a bookstore. His texts range from the personal diaries of Circle of Thorns cultists to journals purporting to be written by various philosophers, practitioners, and other mystically significant figures, including Aleister Crowley and even one tome claiming to be by Merlin himself. Few have any truly dangerous arcane ability, and only one has any level of powerful spellwork described within, but all are certainly an engaging read.[10]

Historical and Linguistic Knowledge

In addition, Jack has always been a keen student of history, and has learned even more through his occult studies. Because of this, his chosen vocation, outside of the superhero business, is as a professor of Mythology and World Religion in the Paragon City University.[11] Additionally, Jack has always loved language, and in addition to his formidable mastery of the English language, he is also quite fluent in Italian and Latin, as well as well-schooled in Irish Gaelic, Ancient Egyptian, and Old Norse. He even has a bit of Etruscan under his belt. Though his friends occasionally joke about it, however, he doesn't know Esperanto, nor does he know any fictional languages.[12]

Weaknesses and Limitations

"Well, either I'll die horribly, or I'll go frothing stark-raving nutters. And then die horribly."

As mentioned before, Jack's rather staunchly anti-technology. He's only submitted to the use of the Medicorp teleporter reluctantly, he refuses to use the Architect Entertainment system, and he has even gone to the point of alienating technological and scientific heroes who might potentially be allies in the past. Also, he has alienated the Winter Horde, by accidentally summoning and then narrowly defeating an aspect of the Winter Lord, which is how he gained his powers. The powers have limited effectiveness against the Winter Horde, and the Horde's minions hate him rabidly, attacking him on sight even if they were already engaged or when doing so would expose them to risk. Finally, his biological processes have been somewhat affected by his icy encounters; his hormone levels slow or drop at random, his body, though no longer discomforted or pained by temperature extremes, occasionally develops mild frostbite near his extremities, and every so often he is prone to a brainfreeze. Additionally, many beings and villains have abilities which cancel his magical powers, resist his elemental abilities, or are simply strong enough to break his ice. [13] Lately, his Sight has grown beyond his control. If mentally unprepared, the psychic trauma of viewing even moderately powerful auras can be debilitating, so now he even spends his spare time around beings likely to have powerful auras just to keep his tolerance high. This has caused him to descend into distressing alcoholic tendencies, and he firmly believes that the Sight will only get worse.

Character History

Gabriele Chiaro, nicknamed "Jack" in childhood, was always fairly sweet, growing up, but always cared more about reading his stories than about socializing with other kids, and as a result, he was always a bit close to the archetypal 'Gifted Loner' than anything else. He didn't much care for technology, but aside from that, he always topped the geek charts, from participating in RPGs (Pen-and-paper only, of course) to watching his favorite Science Fiction shows, and, of course, his ever-increasing desire for something to read. A bit of a trivia hound and amateur linguist from an early age, his passion was caught in particular by reading about the religions and mythos of ancient cultures, and he quickly switched from fiction to non-fiction.

Then, at the age of fifteen, his minor mystical ability manifested, specifically his power of True Sight, though not very powerfully. Fascinated by his powers, and by the increasing influence of superhumans in the world, he began to focus his study on the occult, the metaphysical, and where he could find it, the truly magical. He changed his name to a more generic Anglicization, 'Gabriel Sharpe,' and began attending college Though his magical abilities progressed during this time, it wouldn't be until shortly after he finally achieved his Doctorate in Anthropology that he finally decided to try some more daring magic- a ritual to summon a spirit, the complement of your own personality, to aid you and teach you to unleash your mystical potential. However, he didn't expect the ritual to summon a hostile or powerful spirit, particularly the Lord of Winter himself.

Though only appearing in a weak, incorporeal spectre of a form, he was potent, and in his rage, he assaulted Jack and attempted to destroy his mind. Though Jack had prepared many mystical defenses in case something went wrong in the summoning, he still was nearly overpowered by the vast power of the Lord of Winter, and only barely managed to expel the spirit through sheer force of will. The effort left him exhausted and drained, and he immediately fell unconscious for nearly three days, and was weak for nearly two months thereafter.

As his strength returned, however, he began to notice strange aftereffects of Winter's touch. Rooms randomly became colder when he entered. Drinks froze solid in his hand. He no longer felt the effects of hot or cool weather- though the rain did form an irritating shell of ice on contact with his skin. Finally, he secluded himself in his apartment and spent many more months forcing himself to understand- and, more importantly, to control- this strange lingering effect. Finally, he discovered that his own innate magical ability had been heavily boosted by the spectral remains of the Lord of Winter, as it seeped into his system, and as a result, he now had the ability to effect incredibly powerful evocations- but only, he noted, when working with ice and cold. This revelation came with another: His abilities would be incredibly effective in the sorts of fights and battles he used to love to read about as a child, and in fact, made him quite suited to the role of Superhero.

He decided to come to Paragon City and become a licensed superhero, and has since been an active force for good in the city. For the most part, his actions have been small-scale, stop an evil ritual here, end a gang war there, thwart a few plots to destroy the city, but over time, he has come to realize far grander and more important tasks, and has even made a bit of a name for himself in Paragon City.

However, several years ago his Sight became more traumatic. Its power has grown substantially, and his research has led him to believe that, barring the ability to control or give up his Sight, the damage to his psyche will make him more mentally unstable, eventually becoming utterly incoherent, assuming the mental trauma doesn't kill him first. Either way he believes that he won't live past forty if he's likely, his early thirties more likely. Having given up on curing the Sight, he now uses it in his free time, making careful notes of his supernatural analysis of various forms of metahuman being as a sort of final academic project.

Enemies

While he, like many altruistically-inclined practitioners, finds the work of the Circle of Thorns to be highly repulsive, they are not his most hated foes. He despises individuals such as the Vazhilok and the Freakshow, considering them prime examples of what happens to those who rely on or entrust themselves to technology and science. On the other hand, he has a particular loathing for the Winter Horde, and while he fears the Lord of Winter himself on a deep, primal, and personal level, he flies into battle with his minions without hesitation. Lately, through conversations with his friend Erica, he has discovered the existence of a level of existence she refers to as The Mythos. The eldritch horrors of Mythos, he has decided, are his ultimate task, and he now considers their study via the Sight to be of paramount importance. She attempted to dissuade him of this purpose, but he was unwilling to see reason on this point.

Allies

Earthdark: Jack met Erica in Pocket D one night, and her aura promptly attracted his attention, resembling nothing so much as, as he put it, a "Lovecraftian Dragon." The two remain friends, and Jack has looked to her for information on something she refers to as "The Mythos."

Xashara: Jack found Xashara to be a subject of extraordinary fascination, owing to her unique circumstances and her professed desire for a soul. He currently believes she may be on the way toward developing a fully articulated soul, and has taken a vested interest in her development.

Elivagar: If you want to call him an ally. For a vaguely amoral demon and a boy-scout-level hero, the two get on fairly well, when they're not bickering or bordering on violence.

Inhabited: When Jack and Sidney first met, the intensity of her aura was rather explicitly painful to him. However, he quickly found himself empathizing with her struggle to contain the constant agony, and finds himself quite attached to her, attempting to care for her when she was in pain and even intervening in an attempt on her life. She seems to view it as some sort of White Knight complex, and takes no small amount of amusement in telling him so.[14]

Arctisia: Susan's an... interesting case for Jack. On the one hand, she's mostly a pleasant and fun individual to know, and clearly has his best interests at heart. On the other hand, he finds her concern for his alcoholic tendencies to be... a touch preachy at best, and outright irritating at worst. Nevertheless, he considers her a friend and an ally.

Ariel Project: Ariel and Jack aren't precisely close, but the two have a generally amiable relationship, and seem to have a point of commonality in their inability to control the sensory input inherent to their powers. Additionally, Jack is convinced that Ariel's on a quest to give people diabetes, as a result of her tendency to constantly distribute sugary sweets, which he invariably can't resist.

Equipment

Snaerr's primary equipment is his outfit. It's been specially enchanted to allow him some small protection against the elements, which arose out of the alarming discovery that he was getting frostbite and not noticing as a result of his powers. Though his skills are far too weak to defend against active weaponry utilizing fire or cold, he can do such interesting stunts as walk through fires unscathed [15] or endure a blizzard unscathed. He also wears sunglasses, which have no particular properties other than being stylish, but which serve to disguise his eyes, which occasionally turn blue when he's feeling particularly strong emotions, and which tend to glow when he's using his powers actively or for a prolonged period. He also has a myriad of various mystical accoutrements, including his Architect Entertainment remote interface, the amulet with which he can contact the temporally-locked subdimension of Ouroboros, and an enchanted axe which has particularly strong effect against the undead. [16] Finally, he has his assortment of mystical and arcane tomes. While they rarely provide any real advantage in combat, they do sometimes allow him to research a foe before he faces them or provide methods of focusing his abilities through meditations and exercises.[17]

Trivia

Rumors

(In-character thoughts? Comments? Mockery of the costume? Post it here, folks.)

"Fucking white knight." - Inhabited

"I am not a goddamned white knight!" --Gabriel "Jack" Chiaro.

Fuck that guy, damn magic-nerd -Mobilise

Notes

  1. ↑ I'm not looking at any specific examples, mind you. Particularly not from an incredibly well-known CGI family film. Or a popular comic book series-turned-cartoon-turned-video-game-turned-movie-series. Nope. Not at all.
  2. ↑ He is frequently harassed and mocked for his choice of attire, as few men are ever found in tights anymore. He vehemently insists that tights are "Iconic" and that if they're good enough for the Freedom Phalanx, they're good enough for him.
  3. ↑ His temper tends to vary from 'You could slap him in the face with a halibut and he wouldn't much care' to 'You could look at him wrong and he'd burst into tears.'
  4. ↑ And so obscure as to border on pathetic.
  5. ↑ Okay, maybe it's technophobia. He will not interact with Architect Entertainment's interface, insisting that it's all simply 'a Crey plot to enslave humanity in a digital fantasy world.'
  6. ↑ For some reason, he tends to run into a lot of half-demons among his fellow superhumans and metahumans. He has yet to discern the precise reason for this, as none of the demons he talks to claim any knowledge of them, so he tends to take this as an ominous portent.
  7. ↑ Oddly, running into demons and the like has been among the least disturbing of the auras he's perceived, simply because he's used to them. It's all the chaotic auras, centers of power, Lovecraftian Dragons, and futanari catgirls that have really been driving him to drink.
  8. ↑ his most powerful spell, without the aid of his ice affinity, does little more than fling a glob of ectoplasm in somebody's face
  9. ↑ These have been increasing in complexity and skill lately, though they're still of little use outside of amusing people in Pocket D.
  10. ↑ If one doesn't mind the potentially distressing mental effects.
  11. ↑ The Steel Canyon campus, of course. He isn't wholly insane.
  12. ↑ Aside from Elvish, but he maintains that's not as fictional as it's made out to be anyway.
  13. ↑ He is also irritated that the Lord of Winter has a larger ice sword than him, but we suspect that might simply be Freudian psychology at work.
  14. ↑ But let's face it. The man's got an epic White Knight complex.
  15. ↑ Typically reserved for rescuing citizens from fires, but also occasionally used as a party trick
  16. ↑ A bit of research has shown that axes identical to this one frequently appears among the possessions of metahumans who crusade in Paragon City for any period of time, though their source remains an utter mystery.
  17. ↑ They can also float in front of him and turn their own pages to the one he wants, which he finds pleasing both personally and aesthetically.
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