Cnidarico
A mysterious looking figure that hails from Central America. Though his appearance is foreign to all conventional human forms, he is not fearsome. His admiration for justice, magic, and kindness makes him a good friend to humanity. The powers under his command are both esoteric and efficent.
Cnidarico was born on March 21, 1985 in the Sierra Madre mountain range of the Chihuahua Desert. Within the Chihuahua Desert there are many mountain ranges where a specific race of bird humanoids makes their home. Their existence is not the fault of some twisted scientific cause, but rather a mythological one. Though the history is not completely known it is common knowledge that these animals were given sentience and human like forms by a power greater than their understanding. It is this culture and group of people that Cnidarico grows up in.
Known as the Avias to the locals of the region, this organization of birds acted like a sophisticated Native American culture. They had established customs, personalized clothing, and magical rituals. Learning an appreciation and curiosity for this magical side of his race, Cnidarico explored it further as he became the apprentice of an experienced and old shaman.
Treating this man as a second father Cnidarico learned a plethora of incantations, ritualistic writings, and cosmic projection. This old shaman also shared his deepest secrets with Cnidarico, who he considered the most eager and adaptable student he ever took under his wing. During his life, the shaman faced tribulations pushed upon him by extra-dimensional creatures. From these hardships, he was able to figure out tough and complicated spells such as encasing an entire valley side in ice, or covering a whole mountain side in fire.
With these techniques and abilities under his control, Cnidarico proved to be a formidable mystic not just from his local region, but the entire scope of the continent he stood on. This kind of power does not come without notice, however, and a special pantheon of gods sensed his power across the planet. These gods considered themselves free, and without attachment to any people or worshipers, which means their power was free to use on their own. Every generation these gods would search the planet for a champion, somebody of strength and resolve. This time around Cnidarico as well as some other individuals on the planet were chosen for admittance to become the pantheon's champion.
Taken up into the clouds by glowing beacons of red light, each of the contestants found themselves in an arena made of clouds, laced with gold and silver. In this place they would face three tests, and whoever surpassed them and made it to the end would achieve champion status. These were no ordinary tests, as they stressed the mind, body, and soul of each participant.
As time went on only Cnidarico and one other man faced the final test. This man would become Cnidarico's nemesis, Ormod, in the future. For now, however, they stood on an altar before Vir-Na, and were tasked with the final trial. They were to face in other in combat, using whatever magics at their side to help sway the battle in their favor. Both men were conflicted at this, as during their time on the cloud kingdom they had become slight friends with each other. Regardless they pursued the objective, and what progressed was a cataclysmic battle.
Long hours passed of combat, and eventually Cnidarico was the victor. Ormod's loss at his hands would fuel his rage, upset that he had come so far and lost what chance at great power he had.
Having passed all the tests Cnidarico was now deemed the pantheon's champion, and given his current name. Armored plates laid waiting for him on marble pillars, and training was ahead of him. Soon he learned how to control the devastating power of Vir-Na's flame, Behri's ice, and Jaes' electricity. He also was taught in the art of creating his own personal cloud to fly on, wherever he went. Wielding the power of gods, Cnidarico strives for justice and order using the abilities he loves most.
His physical appearance resembles a dark blue eagle like bird. He has a large bronze beak with a tail that sticks out from the lower part of his costume.
A main feature of him is the fact he lacks pupils. This is the result of the final test by the gods. When the magic flowed through his body and soul, it took his world controlled perceptions away for a moment.
After he passed the trial he now had complete control of visual awareness. Cnidarico can see regularly of course, but he can also see on a higher plane. If desired he can change his eye's perception of what is around him. This is refered to as his 'higher sight'. In this sight Cnidarico can see the streams of existance and life that surrounds all creatures, and determine the nature of it. Whether it be sadness, joy, or anger.
His costume is a combination of a tunic and armor. A golden plate decorates his shoulders and neck, while protecting his collar. This serves as a basic unit of armor from which the other pieces are based. His gauntlets are silver with a red flame design that enhance his grip and protect his wrists from any strike or element. On his feet are armored cloth sandals that protect his shins and feet.
The tunic portion of the outfit consists of four parts. His chest garb, his light armored leggings, his arm bands, and his belt. The chest garb serves as a decoration to hide his tiny chest feathers, and to signify that he is of magical rank within the Avias society. The armored leggings help protect his lower half from any damage, and is a combination of both cloth and gold. The arm bands and belt are both decorative and bring the outfit full circle. His arm bands represent his strength and courage, while the belt holds a pouch and keeps the armor and cloth of the leggings attached.
The Avias have a confusing biological make up at first glance, but are no stranger than a normal human. As a race of birds, something that seems contradictory is that they lack wings. This fact is due to their denser skeletal structure. With this, flight is impossible by the use of wings, so they lack them entirely. Their body is upright and has as much muscle on it as a human. They have two arms and legs, hands and feet.
The attributes they possess that are bird like in origin are their heads, beaks, eyes, and tail feathers. Their brain is as sophisticated as a human being's, but is slightly smaller due to the shape of their skull. Their beaks are usually stout, and their eyes are large and round. The tail feathers are something that has stuck with the Avias since their beginning. It is the best way of courtship between the race of bird people. If a male or a female has long and impressive feathers, they have a better chance of finding another Avias with which to create offspring. Besides the tail feathers they have lost most of their other feathers though, and what remains are only tiny feathers on a male's chest, which looks like chest hair.
The abilities at Cnidarico's disposal are numerous and dynamic. Up front he has an intellectual mind that combines with his understanding of mystical items and practices. He still has his most basic and advanced training from when he was a student of the old shaman. Along with this training and techniques he also commands the power of the gods he has come to be a champion for.
One of the three main aspects of Cnidarico's elemental magic. The electricity of Jaes is a green energy that sparks and forks in dozens of directions when released. It acts like normal electricity but packs the punch of a lightning bolt no matter the size.
The origin of this energy is from the lesser god Jaes. He along with his brothers formed the forgotten pantheon in order to make sure their power was used on Earth in a respectful way, but without calling attention to their existence. He is the most chaotic out of the gods.
Vir-Na's fire is the core from which the other powers Cnidarico has stems off of. Its purple light represents truth, and reflects its creator well. Vir-Na himself is the most honest and respectful of the gods. He is considered the leader and takes his position seriously.
The flame that Cnidarico now weilds because of him is one of his most damaging attacks. He can cause fire to rain down, and breathe it directly out of his beak in order to ward off or defeat enemies that surround him.
A confused god if there ever was one, Behri is unsure of his place within the pantheon. He is a shy and nervous entity that creates shards of orange ice. Almost on par with Vir-Na's purple flame in terms of power, Behri has given Cnidarico a great tool with which to fight his foes.
Behri was unsure at first about forming the pantheon with his brothers, but after convincing from Vir-Na he accepted. It is speculated that Behri considers leaving the pantheon to this day, wondering what adventures he could have on the land and out of the sky.
The rojosmaje is a basic and uniform style of arcane magic learned by all shamans and mystics of Avias society. It is flexible in use and can be used for any number of things. Cnidarico personally uses it to form a protective shield and layer of resistant energy around his body.
On occassion Cnidarico will wield a pair of two sharp edged scimitars. These are blessed weapons of Avias society that only true warriors may carry. Both blades are enchanted with sacred spring water from the dwelling of the Avias oracle. The ends on the blades are edged and designed like teeth so that when the blade cuts it tears like a saw, but slices like a sword. Cnidarico is very adept at using both these blades, and in an instant can become a storm of metal.
Like most of his race Cnidarico enjoys peace and stability as a core belief. Nature and balance are essential to his healthy mind. He focuses more on keeping things preserved and admired rather than destroyed. Unlike other civilizations the one Cnidarico hails from treats the world with the highest regard and focuses their energy on living with it, not just on it.
Being the champion of a pantheon of gods has not given him an ego either. He acts as he always has, very relaxed and level headed. He seems to be able to conquer the feelings of any situation by standing back and seeing the larger picture. Not a victim to quick emotional changes, Cnidarico is one of the more understandable and gentler heroes.
As a hero he advocates for freedom and choice. Without that nobody would ever truely live in harmony, which is the goal the Avias strive for. He is unconventional in other respects though. Rather than just being another hero in the crowd, Cnidarico steps back and observes others as well. Not because he feels it makes him more important, but that it helps keep the quantity of heroes from being arrogant or hot headed. Should Cnidarico notice a specific hero going out of their way to act unlike their job description, he will call them on it.
When it comes to being a hero and champion, Cnidarico is precise with his interpretation. He feels that force should be avoided, and that dicussion and understanding will stop crime better than just fighting it. Despite this, he finds that in some circumstances it is required that an action take place. For without any action nothing is ever truely made clear or valued. From action people learn and discover their mistakes.
Cnidarico is a complicated individual that combines ways of thoughts and ideas from many cultures. He treats everyone he meets as family, regardless of their meaning to him. He feels that every stranger is just another member of your family you have not met yet. This ties in with his ideal that everyone is connected through the greater forces surrounding them. It is not just an ideal though, as he can truely see the energy that is around everyone. He refers to this energy as "the winds."
After losing the contest of the pantheon, the other man who faced it with Cnidarico was sent back to the land he came from. As he placed both his feet on the same land he had been whisked up from, anger fueled his thoughts. He was the son of a family in rural China, and didn't have many luxuries growing up. The only form of entertainment he ever had was his innate talent of slight magical feats. His most powerful was that he could make himself invisible. As he worked constantly on his parent's land he always desired a life greater than the one he was living.
Having lost, however, he felt like his chance at a new existence with magic was gone. Now an older man he quickly threw away all his desires to keep and understand his magical talents. Instead he moved to Europe and started exploring technology and science. With both of these at his side he was able to invent a personal sword, made out of a foreign metal he found off a meteorite that crashed in England. Naming this metal Ormod, he adopted it as his new persona. He became a thief and used the sword to cut his way through walls, vaults, and doors. Every night was another robbery and soon he was able to make as much money as he ever needed. He sensed that better things awaited him in the United States, and so he bought a plane ticket and flew there.
Once in America he found it harder to be a thief on his own, there always seemed to be more forces than he could handle, or more people in the area he was looting. Using the knowledge of a scientist he had abducted from England he used an underground lab to manufacture protein and genetic formulas to change anybody he desired into a lizard man. Once they became lizard men he would be able to mind control them into service since their mental awareness in that state is minimal. After many nights of kidnapping and abduction he had a small personal army of these creatures. He trained them in the ways of sword play and martial arts, and within no time they were committing crimes. Robbing large banks and museums were among these. It was at one of these targets in Millennium City that Cnidarico saw him again.
After a long altercation between the two Ormod was on the brink of defeat, but escaped. Cnidarico quickly realized that Ormod posed not only a threat to himself, but to others as well.
With Ormod locked up in the big house Cnidarico thought his troubles over, but he was wrong. On the horizon stood another man waiting to test him at every turn. He was at first a lacky of Ormod, just a simple henchmen. Yet he proved himself beyond measure and became Ormod's private scientist and inventor, working side by side to the man. While Ormod sat in jail, Satyros began to prepare for his eventual escape.
Satyros was once a scientist who worked in England as a robotics and biology expert. He was praised in newspapers and magazines alike for his brilliance in both fields, which earned him many honors to his name. Noticing this while in England, Ormod found out where Satyros worked and decided to stalk him daily. After some time of figuring out his habits, Ormod was able to abduct the scientist and hold him hostage. Ormod planned on controlling the scientist and forcing him to help him make his lizard men army, as well as the weapons he would ever need. At first Satyros didn't budge and remained unyielding, however, one night would force him into submission.
Ormod took Satyros to the top of the Big Ben tower using one of the many jetpacks from Satyros' lab, tore off a piece of metal from one of the clock hands, and super heated it to a molten state by using one of the jetpack flames. After this, he cut Satyros' right side with the now burning hot metal, and scarred him for life. For this reason Satyros lacks a right eye, and an operational right half of his body. Instead he has to wear a large arm brace and had to have his leg replaced with a robotic one. After this torture Satyros gave in and pledged loyalty to Ormod. That night the lizard men were designed.
Now in the present Satyros stands on his own with a personal stash of robots that he uses to build and manhandle anybody he finds irksome. After the torture he suffered Satyros has gone insane, and cannot tell the difference between what is ethical and what is not. The only thing that keeps Satyros stable is the knowledge that he serves Ormod.
Upon construction of the fortress Ormod discovered something in the ground on the land they were digging around. Inside the dirt was a rune wheel that displayed all the animals of the chinese zodiac. When Ormod picked it up in his hands the carving of the dragon began to glow green, signifying that he is the manifestation of the dragon zodiac. When Ormod realized this, he brought it to Satyros and shared with him his newest plan. Ormod would travel the world and find these other zodiac manifestations, and recruit them into his legion. Satyros reminded Ormod, however, that Cnidarico was still around and may attempt to steal the wheel from him. Ormod took this to heart, and decided that he would find these zodiacs, but at the same time send them after Cnidarico in an attempt to defeat him.
A supergroup made by the hero Preemptive, Hero Watch is technically a police force for the super powered world. It watches over the heroes of the world and makes sure they do not turn into tommorow's villains. Preemptive is a strange character, and keeps to himself mostly. Surrounded by super technology and possessing a paranoia of future events, he uses two guns holstered by his side to carry out his work. Though he may not have any noticible super powers, his ability to never truely be surprised has lead him into positive avenues both in Millenium City and around the United States.
Cnidarico was approached by Preemptive and asked to join Hero Watch, as Cnidarico can sense auras and determine the motive of the person standing before him. Accepting his invitation Cnidarico found a comfortable home in the group, meeting new heroes he had never heard of before. His time in the group has been peaceful, but the work never ends. For all who reside within Hero Watch constantly scour the super heroic scene, cleaning up the grime that sometimes sneaks in by way of a hero's heart twisted by fear.
- "Let not your heart be troubled."
- "I have seen both paradise and the abyss. Nothing in this world could ever frighten me."
- "When did what other people think matter?"
- "Every moment hangs on the thread of the changing zephyr."
- "The Earth speaks to me. She tells me of laughter, and people."
- "I am the hundreth champion to be called Cnidarico."
- "This life is temporary, what awaits is much greater. Don't be afraid to lose attachment to the physical world."
- "Look toward the future, it will always be there for you to reach for."
- "When danger appears we will always adapt to conquer it. We only need to not be afraid of it."
- "You must expand your sight beyond your assumed role."
"He really seems like a smart guy. Much of what he says is a bit cryptic, but it all sounds right. He even knows magic, even though he doesn't flaunt it like magicians! It's amazing!" - Scrapper
"He is magnificent in every respect. He's powerful, but his power alone pales in comparison to his nobility and compassion. When I work alongside him, it gives me hope that we can make this world a better place." - Thundrax
"Just more reason for me to believe this planet is worth fighting with everything we've got, and to the last man or woman." - Snowtalon
"A true friend, he is. What Ol' Cnid taught me changed my life. There's a debt there that I can never repay." - Sparx
"Some say his beak is made out of the shinbones of virgins and that his feathers collect the dew of gods. All we know is... he's called Cnidarico."
