The Matriarch

The Matriarch
Player: ZydrateAnatomy
Dangerous knowledge is still knowledge and therefore useful.
Character Build
Class Focus:	Devastator
Power Level:	40
Research & Development:	Mysticism
Biographical Data
Real Name:	Livia
Known Aliases:	The Matriarch
Gender:	Female
Species:	Humanoid/Infused
Ethnicity:	German
Place of Birth:	Germany
Base of Operations:	Ravenrooke
Relatives:	N/A
Characteristics
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Eyes:	Orange
Hair:	Dark
Complexion:	Tanned, European
Physical Build:	Athletic
Physical Features:
Status
Alignment:	██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ Lawful Evil
Reputation:	██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ Reputable
Identity:	Real name known, but unused.
Years Active:
Citizenship:	German
Occupation:	Bloodmage
Education:	K12+
Marital Status:	Single
Known Powers and Abilities
Blood Magic
Equipment and Paraphernalia
Lightly armored, Ritual dagger.

Attributes
	Strength	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Endurance	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Agility	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Speed	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Fighting	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Projectiles	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Durability	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Resistance	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Intelligence	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Psyche	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
	Intuition	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █		Charisma	█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █
ReldinBox Template

Appearance

The Matriarch is clad head to toe in stylized robes with light armor lacing the cloth. She dons a hood but even when that's down, her face is hidden behind a mask wherein only her glowing orange eyes can be seen.
Beyond that, her skin can only be sighted in a couple of places. Her neck, the back of her head when her hood is down, and her gloves have two slots on her palms, presumably to facilitate blood magic.

She is sometimes seen with a decorative cape with bloody designs upon them, but sometimes she is seen without it. Strapped to one of her arms are several Phylacteries that shimmer green energy.
Sheathed on both of her hips are a basic fencing blade and a Ritual Dagger. The first for general combat and defense, the second to cut into her palms and use blood magic upon her enemies.

Personality and Lifestyle

The Matriarch is not a social person and being the leader of a cult usually means her actions are in an administrative capacity. She hears complaints, and has the final word on various situations. She speaks in a slow, low tone, and utilized the English language to its fullest capacity.
Some may find this intimidating, but her mental processes work differently and she doesn't quite understand why her version of "small talk" seems condescending to others. Her compliments are often (accidentally) underlined with veiled insults, when in truth she really is trying to be sociable. This "effect" fades once she gets to know someone after a length of time, but this is rare as she keeps people at arm's length.
Most people that meet her often find her sitting, reading, and sipping at the occasional wineglass. Very few see her depths, which involves a surprisingly lovely singing voice and a very poetic mind.

Powers / Abilities

The Matriarch's powers are extensive due to living well beyond millenia. She has touched on just about every forbidden magic she has been able to get her hands on. From the dangerous study of Vitae to the madness of Qlipothic energies, she's studied and used it all at some point.

However, her primary focus (As it always has been), is Blood Magic. She is able to manipulate most organic lifeforms and can otherwise use blood to fuel various combative magics. To this end, she usually has some on hand in various containers.

Her absolute control over blood magic allows her to heal at an almost insane level - to the point of restructuring bones and returning lost limbs.

Powered Armor

(( To Be Written))

Weaknesses

As her statistics represent, her primary focus is that of magic. While she might be able to pierce the usual fare of anti-magical fields, there are still places where her usefulness is diminished.

Firstly, she has limited range. Her primary form of combat is Blood, which relies heavily on line of sight. If she cannot see her enemy, chances are she is not currently using a spell against them.

Secondly, she doesn't have much in the way of technological superiority. Her blades are usually simple, though her Ritual Dagger is ornate and specially crafted (But is not used for general combat). She wears light armor at best because of her ability to regenerate rapidly.

Also, while she can use most organic blood as fuel for her magic, she is often tripped up by finding a creature or species whose blood she is unfamiliar with. This is detrimental for general control so instead she attempts to retrieve some blood and flee, for further study so that she may later be able to face the enemy.

She may have the dexterity, endurance (etc) of an Athlete, most of her general body conditioning is not specially superhuman.

The usual strategy of killing someone with rapid healing is decapitation. This does work to a certain extent, however her soul is split across the world (and even the universe), so her soul would simply be recycled after an incalculable amount of time. She tries to avoid this however, as it's not a comfortable process and it would take her out of whatever she's doing, from days to months.

She operates under different thought processes than most, uses large words, and doesn't think much of anyone around her. As a result, she is typically not well liked upon a first impression and it is not ideal for her to be in heavily social situations.

Nemesis

The Headmaster is an extremely powerful Blood Mage that took The Matriarch under his wing, back when she was still known as "Livia". He had been leader of the cult for around a hundred and fifty years before Livia came around. He had suffered through all the political and public issues that still affect the cult today.

He was very kind to Livia, reminding him of himself. She looked at the forbidden arts as another puzzle to uncover, not a means of power and control. He had the same philosophy, which was the reason the cult was so renowned as being "one of the only good ones".

Under his patronage, Livia spent the next century or so within the vast halls of the underground. Her interest in the forbidden arts caught the attention of local Magisters, but The Headmaster was always there to cover her side, in an almost lawyer-like capacity.

When the mid to late 1900's rolled around, the Gnosis cult was undergoing one of its greatest golden ages (There weren't many). Under The Headmaster's patronage, Gnosis Genealogia was a respected mystical organization until a series of two events slingshot them back down into the "Murder Incorporated" type stereotype.

It began with their Patron, a blood God named ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦. The cult had begun having issues with an unnamed splinter group. It was a powerful student and several of his closest confidants. They began a ritual to exploit it, their initial plans was to tap into its power directly. After a time they decided to attempt to absorb it directly.
The head of this group took a large portion of the cult under the guise of an "Experiment", a common term at the time. It was there that their ritual mostly succeeded - just not into the intended target. Instead, Livia was present and she then absorbed the entity, giving her several millenia worth of information.

The Headmaster arrived with several of his top Professors and the student who led this Ritual was executed within minutes. They turned to Livia, and brought her to the highest of magical hierarchy at the time. This was an attempt at diplomacy, a sign of good will that they still bow to the laws.

She was held in a castle for a few weeks while The Headmaster, as usual, continued to be on her side with the higher ups. She defended herself well, showing everyone that she had no plans to meltdown into a power trip that the original group had planned. Eventually the castle came under attack by enemy necromancers and thanks to the present Blood Mage's aid, repelled the attack.

Livia, having been instrumental in the defense of a few of the world's greatest Magisters, was then rewarded her Mask and title of "The Matriarch". She then began teaching within the cult, as her expertise was near The Headmaster's himself.

The reputation of Blood Mages in general was never better - but this age of respect did not last long.

Several months had past and The Matriarch met with The Headmaster. Between the lines of the conversion, she had deduced that he was behind most of what had happened to her - starting with the Ritual.
It was he, whom arranged his top student to attempt it.
It was he, whom gave necromancers the intel needed to attack.
It was he, whom arranged Livia specifically to be the greatest defense of the attack. He ordered the students present to back off while Livia took the brunt of the necromancer's hostility, coming out on top. Looking like a hero, and improving the reputation of his cult and Blood Mages in general.

He betrayed his top student and betrayed Livia, pushing her up beyond her station.

She did not immediately mention how hurt she was by this, that she should have earned her own way with the Magisters.
She continued this by going to the Magisters themselves and informing them of all she had learned. They respected her trust and The Headmaster was made an enemy of all who use magic.

The Matriarch was then promoted by the Magisters to lead Gnosis Genealogia, though their numbers had diminished after the public reveal of The Headmaster's treachery.

He continues to respect The Matriarch and her power, but their methods and philosophy became too different and are now enemies. It is a very polite rivalry, and one that is a bit too evenly matched for The Matriarch's comfort. However they both plan to execute each other, whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Extra

Tropes

Above Good and Evil Academy of Adventure / This is actually a plotpoint in the above "redacted" sections. Anti Villain / A whole cult of them.

Sliding Scale of Anti Villains / Type III usually.
Badass Normal / Strangely enough, she mostly resorts to martial arts and absolutely wrecks people. Blood Magic comes into play against tougher enemies, or if a fight has gone on too long.
Bad Powers, Good People / Due to the strict screening process, 99% of Gnosis cultists are pleasant people. It's the other 1% that's the problem.
Blood Magic
Combat Pragmatist
Creepy Monotone / She is capable of some inflection but mostly played straight.
Dangerous Forbidden Technique / Everything The Matriarch strives to learn.
Dark Action Girl / The Matriarch, natch.
Friendly Neighborhood Vampires
From Nobody to Nightmare
Gratuitous Latin / Subverted! The cult name is actually Greek.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic / Averted. Her mask is bulletproof.
Human Sacrifice / See below.
Hunter Of His Own Kind / The cult usually solves any problems with rogue bloodmages in-house. Execution is a common verdict.
Lawful Evil / Most of the cult operates under this, though they don't call themselves "evil".
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown / Her martial art style is usually ends in such a way that not only can her enemy not get back up, but they don't even want to.
Not Good With People / Type 2.
Serial Killer Killer / How the cult usually farms "resources" to study.
Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness
The Call Knows Where You Live / The Matriarch turned down several advancments and effectively doubled the amount of time it took normal Acolytes to advance.
The Dark Arts
Took A Level In Badass / Went from your standard-fare Acolyte to one of the most feared Blood Mages.
With Great Power Comes Great Insanity / A risk the cult takes.
Wizarding School / One of the least reputable out there, on the rise thanks to The Matriarch's guidance.

RP Hooks

• Wizards high up in the hierarchy of their chosen organization might have heard or read about Gnosis Genealogia or the Matriarch at some point. Spellcasters and mystics of lesser rank could happen upon a Tome or something that mentions one or both of them as well.
  • By extension, higher ranked Mystics would probably be privvy to the information blacked out above. If you wish to interact with her and think your character would know about it, then it can be discussed prior to the interaction.
• Random walk-ups might be a bit tricky so I would recommend sending a /tell with your intentions.

Gallery

• 

  A closer view of her upper body.

• 

  Looking more relaxed than she usually is.

• 

  Matriarch fighting against her greatest enemy.

Trivia

• I like to imagine her with the Jack of Blades mask, or a very close equivalent.
  • She doesn't actually "Hide" her face. She wears the mask because she likes it (And would say just this to anyone who inquires). It also has some cult relevance, see that section for details.
  • By extension, her name isn't that much of a secret either and would share it if directly asked, however she prefers her title.
• She is only "Lawful Evil" in the sense of order and scale. She's more of an Anti-Villain and doesn't harbor antagonistic plans against any populace.
• Despite her IC-weaponry and choice of magic, she's actually a Devastator class in-game.
• A lot of my lore works under a Multiverse concept and as a result, Livia is actually one of many "Duplicates" of Kyna. They look about the same, though Livia has a few mutations so someone would only be able to point out the similarities if they were literally standing next to each other.
• She shares a similar origin story and motivation as Kiur.
• This character is inspired by the Bloodbending Concept from The Last Airbender mythos, however I also borrow the "mechanics" of blood magic from Dragon Age II.