Maladi

[Mandaz]

Crude Sketch for now, it'll probably be updated millions of times before I'm finally happy with his designs.

::Who I am::

Birth Name: Maladi
Just Call Me: Maladi
Some Call Me: The effeminate gypsy boy
Race: Human
Age by Looks: 18 - 19
Age by Facts: 20
Birthday: February 22
Career: Fortune Teller
Marital Status: Broken Heart
Sexuality: Homosexual
Status: Regretfully Alive

::How I appear::

Height: 6’1’’
Weight: 98lbs Maladi’s health has drastically decreased since The End
Blood Type: Type A
Natural Marks: Dark circles under his eyes from irregular sleeping habits
Inflicted Marks: Crudely carved wing tattoos on his shoulder blades and a corset piercing on his lower back
Dress: Maladi’s attire is mostly flowing skirts and gypsy chic. At one time in his life he loved to accessorize with jewelry, hair ties, and wear fun and colorful clothes. Now though, he is uninspired to dress how he used to, wearing only the bandages and scars he received after The End along with a plain skirt and stockings.
-Toes: nothing, usually varied
-Feet: stockings, usually varied
-Legs: stockings, usually varied
-Chest: loose bandages, usually varied
-Arms: loose bandages, usually varied
-Hands: loose bandages, usually varied
-Fingers: nothing, usually varied
-Neck: loose bandages and ribbon, usually varied
-Face: slight make-up, smeared and unattended
-Head: nothing, occasionally ties in dark feathers for unknown reasons
-Other: A ribbon tying the corset rings together on his back
-Items: All of Maladi’s jewelry, trinkets, and sentimental accessories now line the floor by his bed

::Where I came from::

Birthplace: A traveling caravan
Current Residence: The traveling caravan
Mother: Estella Luna (Adoptive/Missing/Presumably Deceased)
Father: Tyr-(The rest of this has been smudged to an illegible degree)
Siblings: None known
Children: No birth children, just a small group of shades that he takes care of.
Other Relatives: Every member of his caravan is considered a part of a family community
Lovers: Edii Terkins (presumed dead)
Friends: Cyril Shariph
Enemies: Daliam

::What I can do::

Major Abilities: Fortune Telling, Tarot Reading, Palmistry, Shadow Control
Natural Abilities: Clairvoyance
Hobbies: Reading, Reciting Poetry
Interests: Mythology and Lore, Fortune Telling
Goals: None at the moment, Maladi is waiting for Death.
Flaws: Physically weak and useless for combat.
Illnesses: Extreme Narcolepsy and depression. When he isn’t sleeping, Maladi is weeping.
Handicaps: Bad back due to the corset

::What I’ve done::

Old Utopia:

Who we were then
While still under the watchful eye of his mother, a young Maladi delivers a rather grim future to three children, only to be robbed later

Divine Intervention?
After suffering a bout of bullying from his gypsy brothers, Maladi returns to his home to meet a very strange man, weighed down by the metal in his flesh. Instantly entranced, he deeply considers the stranger’s suggestion that he meet him in Xexoria.

Idle Hiding
Maladi makes his way across the ocean to Xexoria, but finds that fortune telling isn’t in very high demand. He takes up a part-time job as a waiter in a diner, where he and the pierced man Edii meet again, this time with a newcomer: Cyril. Meanwhile, a dark storm brews outside, threatening to take the city with it. Ducking into the wine cellar last minute, the trio may be the only ones left alive.
When the storm passes, and the trio investigate, they’re met by a troupe of nasty creatures that crawl through the shadows: the shades. Finding that debris only does so much damage against them, they hide inside their building, waiting for the monsters to overlook them while they regroup. A stray fox joins the boys, offering a bit of companionship to the otherwise lost survivors. The trio forms a plan to fight their way out of the city, and Edii volunteers to be bait.
Maladi and Cyril are outmatched by the sheer number of shades attacking. In the midst of the battle, a shade attaches itself to Cyril, threatening to take his life. In desperation and stupidity, Maladi fights with the beast hand to hand, eventually biting on its neck to try and get it to release his friend. The shade instead dissolved into a mist and entered the gypsy’s body: poisoning him. In a hallucinogenic dream, Maladi is visited by a person who seems to be made entirely of darkness, and a person who seems to be made of light. The light being claims to be Edii’s long murdered brother, Levis, and offers Maladi a chance to save the fallen angel. In awe of Levis, Maladi accepts, and awakes to find his body transforming into something much darker. He insists that they return to Edii, finding now that the shades will not attack as long as Maladi is around.
After confronting strange white creatures, the trio is reunited and forced to wander until they find safety. The two men that had visited Maladi in his dream now appeared before the three of them, speaking of a grand journey they had to complete. The two left the travelers with a cottage and supplies, promising them ‘twilight’ when they awoke. When morning finally did arrive, they found themselves hundreds of miles away in Cizok.

No Place to Hide
The Cizok the trio found themselves in proved to be much different than they had remembered it. Deciding that they were in an entirely different realm altogether, the trio attempt to take advantage of this slightly peaceful time to comprehend all that has happened so far. Maladi attempts to comfort Cyril through the fact that his once evil brother is a saint in this realm, his former love interest mourns the loss of her husband while caring for her child who bares his name, and the trio is currently staying in the former home of a woman who wants him dead. However, Maladi is just grateful to be able to take a bath and sleep in a bed (which he has to share with Edii). He’s also starting to see the fallen in a strange new light after receiving precious gifts of tarot cards and a Utopian Mythology Anthology.

Illustrious Illusion
Maladi encounters a gorgeous being that makes him feel happier than he ever imagined. But it was only a dream. Wasn’t it?

No War for Cyril
Determined to pull his own weight while they rested in this alternate Cizok, Maladi once again procures a job in a bar, as a waitress this time. The gypsy boy finds the barmaid life rough, yet the pay is almost enough to withstand the constant harassment. While serving his friends drinks, a bar fight breaks out for mysterious reasons, and the gypsy is caught in the fray. Maladi’s back leg is hit by a broken bottle, causing Edii to show off his real talents on the crowd. No longer fit to work because of his injury, Maladi sits restlessly in the bed of the home, dealing with his rising emotions about his companions, and a strong sense of jealousy when he finds them with other women.

On the Left Track
Joined by a boyish shade creature that acts more like a puppy than a monster, the trio is once again met by the man of darkness and the man of light. They reveal their true intentions as messengers of Gaia, bound by fate to deliver Edii and his companions to the proper place in time to bring on the destruction of the world. The news weighs heavy on all of their hearts, especially Edii’s, who dives into depression despite Maladi’s best efforts to cheer him up. That night he curls in bed with Edii, sleeping with the angel’s hand held in his.

Descent into Nothing
The trio finds themselves in a stifling world of darkness, they decide to face whatever challenges are ahead but construct their own path, refusing to be slaves to fate. Their resolved is tested when they are separated in the never-ending nothingness. Maladi is haunted by the shade that still swims through his blood, apparently thriving all this time. It seems as if that part of him is growing a personality of its own, and the gypsy catches himself speaking to himself more than once. The company proves to be both frightening and helpful in navigating the darkness. Maladi is gaining a better grasp of his powers. He discovers that the limitless shadows are made of millions of living shades, all swimming about in a fluid motion, blocking all light from view. The gypsy uses his new understanding of his power to embrace the darkness and befriend three small shades. Baht, Notte, and Voght, as he calls them, forever tag around with Maladi, and he sees them more and more like his children with each moment they spend together.
Now, reunited with Cyril (who is less than enthused with Maladi’s new company) The two traverse through a shadow town, searching for their lost friend. They are clueless as to where to go now, and it seems none of the shade inhabitants of the town are interested in giving them directions anywhere but out. Maladi’s powers proved useful in opposing the wrath of the shade woman Achren, but they did not escape the battle without their scars. Cyril is weakened, and Maladi is loosing more and more of his human side every moment he stays in this darkness. However he is determined to find Edii to confess his true feelings for him before he no longer has a voice to confess with.

Dystopia:

After the end
They failed, and yet they didn’t. The world is dead, but rebuilding. Cyril and Maladi no longer have a reason to travel together. Retreating back to his hovel in the caravan, accompanied by his beloved shades, Maladi’s body, heart, and spirit are broken. Each day he swims through his sheets and tears, seeing nothing but the last few glimpses of his lover’s face. The shades bring him just enough comfort to put him to sleep, where he will stop crying for an hour or so before shaking from some violent dream, reliving the horror of the Harbinger. He will no longer accept customers or tell fortunes, read palms or deal tarot cards. He wastes away to a thin nothing on his bed, crying ‘Edii’.

[Nayt]

Art by Amanda C.

.:. Personal Information .:.

-- Names (from left to right): Baht, Voght, Notte
-- Species: Shade
-- Sex (from left to right): Female, male, male
-- Height (from left to right): 1'9, 1'3, 1'7
-- Weight (from left to right): 7 lbs, 5 lbs, 9 lbs
-- Nationality: Oblivion ?
-- Age: ?
-- Status: Alive

-- Demeanor: Baht is both affectionate and compassionate, but habitually does so in excessive quantities--to the point of making others uncomfortable. She has no qualms clinging to a member of the opposite sex (regardless of race) that she views as powerful and friendly, usually by coercing the unsuspecting man to cradle her in his arms or allow her to sit upon his shoulder (at which point, she reserves the right to nuzzle or hug the individual's head). She is the antithesis of Voght, who is generally unfriendly and reserved. Although Voght hates to be touched or socialize, he is extremely protective of those whom he is fond of (such as Maladi, Baht, and Notte). He is the most similar to an animal of the trio, and even walks on all fours. Voght acts more like a wolf--and a lone one, at that--than a human. Despite his size, Voght physically protects his companions when the opportunity is available. Notte acts very much like a human, similar to Baht, but on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum. He is reserved--like Voght--but not out of disdain for socializing: rather, he is shy. Ridiculously shy. Coincidentally, Notte is the most physically capable of the three, but he is easily frightened--to the point of being useless in a combat situation. Socially, Notte keeps to himself, and sometimes even hides in awkward places to avoid confrontation.

.:. History .:.

Very little can be inferred concerning the shade children. They share the bonds of species--much more than shades usually do--and act with conscious, thinking minds of their own, but are not at a particularly advanced evolutionary stage in a shade's existence. Logically, they should be incapable of thinking or feeling, only mindlessly devouring to survive. However, they feel no urge to ingest spiritual energy from even the non-living. Baht, Voght, and Notte act on their own will and feelings, which they possess even without an evolutionary advantage. Their origins, however, are a mystery even to themselves. None amongst the trio can recall a single memory prior to meeting Maladi.

.:. Species Information .:.

-- Species: Shade
-- Sub-type: Verashad
-- Threat level: zero.
-- Bodies Assimilated:

[li]Baht: 0[/li]
[li]Voght: 0[/li]
[li]Notte: 0[/li]

.:. Contacts .:.

-- Maladi: Close companion. Gypsy. The shade children are dependent upon Maladi for survival, and are willing to fight for him if need be.

.:. Battle Information .:.

-- Nightmare Eclipse: This is Baht's innate ability. She is capable of altering what a target sees, hears, feels, and etc, mirroring telepathy in several manners. She is incapable of actually "entering" a target's mind (reading thoughts, for example) or transferring her psyche into different bodies, however. In general, this technique is used to dull, destroy, or heighten a target's senses. This technique is ineffective and null when Baht is in the light.

-- Crescent Moon: Voght's natural technique. Due to the makeup of his body, Voght cannot utilize any support techniques, nor fight as anything different than a wolf. This technique both makes up for this and adds to it. When within shadows, Voght's physical speed is dramatically increased. This technique is ineffective and null when Voght is in the light.

-- Crimson Midnight: Although Notte is notably cowardly, he has a different side of him that takes control when the situation is especially bleak. Notte's physical strength will skyrocket when this technique is activated and he'll attack the enemy with wild abandon, using his clawed hands and feet to damage his opponent(s). This technique is ineffective and null when Baht and Voght are still capable of fighting. This is one of the extremely rare few shade abilities that do not depend on the user being within a shadow.

.:. Flaws .:.

-- Shadow Dependency: They are dependent upon Maladi in order to survive; if Maladi dies, they would inevitably die, as well. This dependency also attaches to physical growth. As Maladi's ability to manipulate shadows grows stronger, their own physical abilities grow.

N.K.