Application for synodiporia

[ambitionburns]

P L A Y E R;
NAME: Lampdevil
AGE: 35
PLAYER JOURNAL: lampdevil
TIMEZONE: AST (1 hour ahead of EST)
CONTACT: PMs to journal or contact at lampdevil preferred
OTHER CHARACTERS PLAYED: Kazuma Kenzaki, Dakki Sigal

C H A R A C T E R;
NAME: Nero tol Scaeva
CANON: Final Fantasy XIV
POINT IN CANON: Post Patch 3.5 Main Story Quest (The Far Edge of Fate), pre 4.0 (Stormblood)
AGE: 34
APPEARANCE: In his armor and in his traveling clothes. Nero is on the higher end of 6-foot-something, with light blond hair and pale grey-blue eyes. Long of limb and lean, he tends to stroll around everywhere like he owns the place, whatever the 'place' in question might be. Set in his forehead is the 'eye' that stands as proof of his pureblooded Garlean heritage, a sensory organ that grants a vaguely-defined enhanced spatial awareness, and somewhat resembles a decorative jewel or pearl. He is quite frequently sporting a 5 o'clock shadow.

CANON HISTORY: The wiki link to Nero's role in the story covers matters briefly. To go into further detail of his time prior to his first appearance in the main story:

Born to a poor family in Garlemald, Nero was a bright and clever boy who worked his way up from nothing to a placement at the prestigious Magitek Academy. He was a brilliant student, but always second-best when compared to Cid Garlond. This both frustrated him, and drove him on to greater heights of achievement. He showed a particular talent for reverse-engineering ancient Allagan relics, and it became the main focus of his studies. Upon graduating from the academy, Nero chose to proceed onward to a position in the military rather than take a safer post as a researcher. Military rank and prestige would grant him first-hand access to new relics and discoveries.

Nero's drive to succeed and thirst for knowledge brought him up to the rank of Tribunus Laticalvius, second in command of the XIVth Legion. Prior to the Legion's arrival in Eorzea, he was responsible for unearthing, repairing, and reactivating the Ultima Weapon, an ancient Allagan war machine.

CANON PERSONALITY: Nero is a man driven by a thirst for knowledge and glory. Garlean culture prizes competitiveness and constant self-improvement, and he has embraced this wholeheartedly. His life has been one long climb higher and higher, regardless of setbacks or competition. He views those around him as tools to be used or obstacles to be eliminated, and is not afraid to change allegances when it is to his benefit. He is capable of coldblooded murder, and not one to let such things weigh on his mind.

Knowledge slightly edges out glory as his motivating priority. He is absolutely obsessed with Allagan technology, and his actions after the dissolving of the XIVth Legion have been entirely focused around unearthing Allagan ruins and locating Allagan creations. He is a brilliant engineer and scientist, and has a genuine passion for his work. It's a subject that's likely to get him holding forth at length, less to educate others and more to show off his own brilliance. It is, however, not out of the question for him to collaborate with others towards some greater goal. Additionally, being offered the chance to learn something new or to be given some new technology, he will jump at it. He is quick-thinking and adaptable, and when presented with something outside the realm of his experience, he will be eager to learn as much as possible.

Large as his ego is, it does not take well to being challenged. Though he considers few others to be his equal in intellect, if someone does come to present themselves as being superior to him, he will desperately strive to outpace them. Cid Garlond has been his life-long rival, and while it is unlikely that he would come to despise anyone else to the same degree, it is not out of the question for him to develop a similar-but-lesser antagonistic and competitive relationship with another knowledgeable scientist or engineer.

That said, it takes quite a lot to make him visibly angry. He generally carries himself with a confident calm, and when not required to be a coldly professional military man, he is sharp-tongued and sarcastic. Even in the face of death threats or imminent doom, he can manage something biting. He speaks with confidence and without hesitation, and is rarely left stunned speechless. Only when pushed to his limits, either physically or mentally, does he become genuinely snappish and short-tempered.

The most important person in Nero's life is Nero, and his behavior generally reflects it. He does not have friends, he has allies and rivals. While he has been shown to act in ways that appear selfless, he will loudly proclaim that it was all in self-interest and that no one should get any ideas about the sort of man that he is. Having spent his entire life striving to get ahead at any cost, he may well have lost sight of how to genuinely and transparently demonstrate kindness and vulnerability.

VETERAN?: I would like to app Nero as a veteran of Moebius, who wandered off into an odyssey just after The Spark and is only now wandering back out.

ABILITIES: Nero is trained as a soldier, and has show proficiency with both a gunblade and with a "gunhammer", a heavy warhammer enhanced with magitek. He fights in the style of FFXIV's tank classes, the Gladiator and Marauder, using heavy blows and taunts to draw attacks to himself while letting his companions finish his opponents off.

He is a brilliant engineer, capable of reverse-engineering and potentially improving on designs. Having been second in command of a military legion, he has a solid knowledge of tactics, troop deployment, and leadership.

INVENTORY: Ceramic mask, gunblade, ammunition, traveling clothes, a small purse full of gil.

ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW? As a pureblooded Garlean, Nero has next to no ability to manipulate aether, the force from his world that allows beings to use magic. If he were to eventually obtain any magical skills, he would first need to obtain an alternate form better suited to it.

The "tol" in his name is a title, reflecting his rank in the Garlean military. His proper name is simply Nero Scaeva, but being the egotistical man that he is, he is unwilling to entirely abandon that hard-won sign of rank.

M A R K S;
JUSTIFICATION: Magician - Nero is in possession of a scientific mind, ever-hungry for knowledge and with his eyes always fixed firmly on some greater prize. He also operates with an almost obscene amount of confidence in his own actions, and can seldom be convinced that the path his has chosen is the wrong one.

Chariot - Much the same as above, Nero is a man who is going places and does not care if he runs a few people down in the process. He is proud of his accomplishments, and all of them are hard-won and much-prized. Even in losing, he often finds a way to come out ahead.

Judgment - If we're fine with stretching things a little, Judgment could work for Nero given that he has toppled from the lofty height of high military rank to being considered a deserter. He has been making something of a new start for himself in Eorzea... but not too new, given that he's still chasing after Allagan tech and still trying to best his rival. Perhaps because he's doing it for its own sake rather than for more concrete glory means something...

VETO: Justice might work for him in the aspects of cleverness and intellect, but as I already have a Justice-marked character, I would like to pass. The same for Strength (although he's very poorly suited to that one).

S A M P L E S;
ACTIONSPAM SAMPLE: Some messing around at dear_player

PROSE SAMPLE: Here are several test drive threads.