The Matriarch

The Matriarch
Player: @ZydrateAnatomy
Biographical Data
Real Name:	Livia
Known Aliases:	None
Gender:	Female
Species:	Humanoid
Ethnicity:	Alien
Place of Birth:	Germany
Base of Operations:	Extensive
Relatives:	None
Characteristics
Age:
Height:
Weight:
Eyes:	Orange
Hair:
Complexion:
Physical Build:
Physical Features:
Status
Fame:	██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ State
Alignment:	LG LN LE NG TN NE CG CN CE
Identity:
Years Active:
Citizenship:
Occupation:	Bloodmage
Education:
Marital Status:
Known Powers and Abilities
Equipment and Paraphernalia

Physical Attributes
	Strength			Weapon
	Durability			Armor
	Speed			Reflexes
	Resistance			Stamina
	Dexterity			Agility
	Combat			Regen

Non-Physical Attributes
	Energy			Psionics
	Telepathy			Willpower
	Sorcery			Tech.
	Intel.			Knowledge
	Charisma			Bravery
MaekadaBoxSlim created by @Maekada

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.

Arrival

Her efforts to explore the newly located Millenium City, The Matriarch had found herself at a local coffee shop. She was pleased to see that her garb did not warrant various odd looks from the local populace, though her darkly demeanor did give citizens cause for some alarm. This came in the form of averted gazes, women shuffling their children away in hushed tones, and dealing with the general assumption of her villainy.

She sighed in contempt for those who surrounded her as she casually strolled in the aforementioned shop to order herself an sweetened and iced coffee, presumably mocha in flavor however it could have been another blend. The removal of her mask did not reveal much to those who braved looking upon her, as her hood continued to veil her upper face. For those who bothered to look, the lower portion of her face revealed that her veins had been blackened and led down through her neck and cowl, only cementing the assumptions that the patrons of the Shoppe had already given her.

This made her casual presence and uncaring demeanor all the more jarring, for people who dress as she does are usually in the process of pestering heroes and Champions, screaming about stolen weapons, this, that, and the other thing. However The Matriarch remained eerily silent, only offering a slow nod to anyone who gave her a greeting. She stepped outside, located a table specifically designed for coffee-buyers to drink their beverage and enjoy the weather. The weather, of which, was brisk but pleasant.

She had been in the city for only a week, but her problems continued to haunt her as an old acquaintance silently stepped into her visual range and claimed a seat, uninvited. Beneath her hood, her eyes narrowed, giving another sigh of contempt at her visitor.

"And so, you find me," she says slowly, as is her way.
"I never lost you, Matriarch," the man answered. She groaned in annoyance, expecting such a response.
"It would be in both our interest, and in the interest of your health - If you leaved me alone," an ultimatum given by the Matriarch to her visitor.
"You know I cannot do that, Matriarch," the man spoke her title as if recognizing her authority, yet speaking as an equal. She gave an incomprehensible grumble and he continued, "You are far too dangerous."
"And you are far too annoying, Headmaster," she insulted. Her voice leaked with condescension.
The man, identified as The Headmaster stood from his seat. It seemed he planned on keeping the interaction brief, merely announcing his presence. "Our paths end when one of us does."
To which, she nodded in agreement. This is a fact she has resigned to live with. "Until that happens."
"Until indeed." With that, the man identified as The Headmaster casually strolled across the street and into the unknown.

The Matriarch remained with her beverage, relieved in the once-again silence of the early morning.

A Viper in the Grass

The Headmaster had arranged a meet in a Library that was, more or less, bought out by Viper operatives. The tunnels below served as a useful entry point into Millennium City and was a very low profile location for precisely this reason.
While he did not meet the Supreme Serpent himself, he met with a highly ranked operative. He expected this as The Headmaster is not a terribly known name as of yet, though he expected the funds he was waving around would have been enough to catch the grand leader’s attention. This was not so, in his stead were a dozen or so masked men.
This, too, made a level of sense to him. These masked operatives usually had normal lives of their own in their off-time. Perhaps many of them were normal citizens throughout the hours of the day, and perhaps this is just a job to them rather than adhere to their overall philosophies.

Or perhaps The Headmaster was thinking too much and the VIPER are as disgusting as the world thinks they are.

All the same, they were well connected and had resources that he needed access to. Specifically, a weapon that he plans to both aim at Ravenrooke, since he is currently unaware of his enemy’s current haunt.

He brought his own entourage of vampire associates, and the VIPER probably outnumbered them by a 3 to 1 ratio. This didn't matter, he could bring them all to their knees single handed if it came to such. As it was, he remained unoffended and respected their caution.

The lead operative in question was a woman, garbed similarly to general Nest Leaders so he deduced that she led this particular group. She introduced herself as “Mira”, and was a bit gruff in demeanor. For the moment, she only respected his currency. Not him.

She had ordered a few other operatives to bring in an over-sized case that when opened, revealed a complex series of screens and buttons.

The Headmaster sighed, and Mira caught onto this and stated, “My operative will brief you on its use. Used correctly, it could destroy a large portion of Millennium City, which would impress my superiors.”
He asked, “How many uses does this one give?”
Mira mentioned, “It comes with four in total, you’ll have to pay for extra shots.”
"That should be more than enough. For now, it’s not going to be aimed at the city. Not yet, anyway."
"Any estimation on when you will?"
The Headmaster raised a brow upon this, “I don’t rightly know. I have a very specific enemy I am aiming to hurt. She has a base elsewhere at the moment but she’s here, in Millennium City. Once I find out where… THEN maybe we’ll talk.”
"Good to know," Mira said. It was at that moment a couple of the Infiltrator types came fleeing down the hall and through the double doors.
He yelped, “We have someone busting through our guards! Creepy chick with a mask!”

Mira was confused for a moment but The Headmaster immediately identified the intruder. “Use your infiltrators against her. If she can’t see her enemy, we’ll be able to retreat properly.”
She nodded at her acquaintance and ordered precisely that, not wanting to get in the way of a feud between a couple of Blood Mages. They retreated towards the upper level of the Library, where a back door was waiting for them.

The Matriarch was swift however, and was able to kick down the doors and gaze at her enemy. He looked back, light reflecting off his glasses like a soulless void. He said nothing, the exchange was over. The VIPER had their payment and his vampire hirelings carried his super-weapon away. He followed closely behind.

The Matriarch yelled an expletive at him, she was prepared to advance but she suddenly felt a force across her body, propelling her into a table. She saw a shimmer, a distortion in the air. Several of them. She quickly deduced she had cloaked enemies and adjusted her strategy accordingly. She maintained a stance, fighting the invisible foes.

They proved to be… adequate. When she blocked one attack, her leg was kicked out from another. When she repelled an attack against her other leg, she received a swift knee to the mask. While the mask is tempered with magic and science, the force is still unpleasant and she fell backward into the floor.

She had to take several moments to reassess the situation, she finally detected a kick to her abdomen and was able to grasp the assailant’s leg and throw him into some glass bookcases, where his cloak glitched out of existence. She promptly crushed his throat, and heard an audible “Urgh!” from one of the others. Another one fled up the stairs, not wanting to face her. She tried to advance but she had a few infiltrators left, impeding her progress.

The battle went on for several minutes which annoyed The Matriarch. Her martial arts served her well but her enemies were just as trained, and continuously cloaked. She held them off moderately unscathed and defeated one or two more, until a certain point caused the final few to retreat. She presumed that simply meant their leader was now at a safe distance, which only meant that The Headmaster, the greatest threat of them all, was now out of her reach.

This wouldn't do. She shuddered at the thought of the weapon she attained, and figured there was nothing for it. She had to contact one of the Champions.

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 cult related subplots..
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 advancements 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.

• 

  As seen in Skyrim.

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.
  • To add, she would remove it to eat or drink, giving people a good view of her face if positioned properly.
  • 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.
• 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.