EzelBackstory

Overview

Ezel is the centerpiece for one of the many games I am thinking about.

• I have a version of Ezel made for the Longest Road.

Siblings

Meta

The setting I have for Ezel has much more technology than D&D. It's closer to a 50/50 balance. Also, I'm not the DM for this run, so in the Longest Road, whatever Steph says goes.

Overview

Willard and Itessa, in their efforts to create a family, planned to create 8 children over the next few centuries. They make one, learn from its mistakes and made a new one based on that.

All the siblings fight for their parents' approval. Itessa thinks children exist to worship their parents and so gave them a compulsion to prove their worth, usually through some kind of conquest.

Reziel

• Oldest child

The oldest creation, Reziel is more of a prototype. Captured near the end of a cycle, this Pheonix was a guinea pig for their control experiments. They tested how much psychological stress Reziel could endure and killed it whenever they needed to reset. Also, any physical modifications that were too severe taught them what to expect for their later experiments.

Reziel was strong enough to regain his sanity. It is one of the few Siblings who does not want to fight Ezel; they are both hoping to either free Reziel from Itessa's control or to break the cycle of reincarnation and grant Reziel a final rest.

Reziel is extremely cordial to Ezel and offers him as much as possible before a compulsion forces him to fight Ezel. Unfortunately Reziel is easy to compel (compared to Ezel.) It is also set to self-destruct whenever Willard feels like it should for disobeying or trying to escape.

Ezel

• 2nd to 3rd oldest; Ezel and Aezma are twins
• Very, very smart
• Determines enemy weaknesses
• Able to reverse-engineer many abilities

With the experiment complete, Itessa and Willard set out on their first child. They wanted twin siblings, so they set up a powerful fighting pair. One represents vast intelligence and strategy, the other represents raw fighting potential and power. Ezel was built for data retention and analysis. After he was completed but before he was forced under their control, he was abandoned along with Aezma. He awoke 350 years later, discovered who he was and rebelled against his parents.

From his awakening 400 years ago, Ezel became an Anonymous Aide to his counterpart Aezma. He bonded to her like a mysterious older brother, choosing to help her escape her fate of becoming Itessa's pawn. He kept himself hidden from Aezma out of fear that she would reject his form. He occasionally checks up on Aezma, researches whatever she is looking for, and helps out, leaving advice under the pen name of An Anonymous Aide.

Ezel collects information out of habit. He wishes to understand why the universe works the way it does. He has a fairly balanced mix of magical and technological knowledge at the ready. More importantly he is able to devise several on-the-fly strategies for dealing with exotic power sources. He is also able to reverse-engineer processes to understand what they do, how they do it, and how to counteract it. Ezel's direct power output is relatively low, but his innate knowledge and engineering allow him to overcome many situations.

Ezel is very good at staying undercover and unknown. A mix of safety and paranoia means he never steals the spotlight and never gets noticed. He tries to find subtle ways to handle crises and if he can't, he anonymously informs someone who can.

Aezma

• 2nd to 3rd oldest; Ezel and Aezma are twins
• Skilled in all forms of direct combat
• Able to tap into all sorts of powers, good/evil, holy/profane
• A natural-born figurehead

With the experiment complete, Itessa and Willard set out on their first child. They wanted twin siblings, so they set up a powerful fighting pair. One represents vast intelligence and strategy, the other represents raw fighting potential and power. Aezma was designed for power and direct combat, backed up with sufficient intel. After she was completed but before she was forced under their control, she was abandoned along with Ezel. She awoke 400 years later, received a handwritten letter giving her limited information, and told to make the best of her life. She is now a high-ranking holy agent.

An Anonymous Aide leaves notes telling her exactly what to do to defeat her foes. It worries her that the Anonymous Aide is able to get so close to her without anyone noticing. So far this aide has been extremely helpful at finding the right tool for the right job. She has offered many rewards for the Aide's reveal, but nothing has come out of it.

Aezma keeps her desires in check and in moderation. The first 50 years were pretty rough, as Aezma came to realize how her immense power could drive her mad with power. Resisting her indulgent temptations, she felt the best way to use her power responsibly was to right wrongs and help people to the best of her ability. Most of the time Aezma is calm and reserved, but tends to go all out when she needs to relax and have fun.

Partnered with Ezel, Aezma was supposed to apply whatever force was needed to overwhelm her foes. Ezel would instruct her on exactly what she needed to win and Aezma could follow those instructions through directly. Aezma can affiliate her energies with pretty much all alignments, power sources and tools necessary to get the job done. She is able to wield many weapons she technically shouldn't know how to use, or is technically forbidden from using without penalty.

Azere

• 4th oldest
• Specializes in Hydrokinesis to make weapons/change forms
• Minor Control over Water/Ice/Wind/Steam magic
• Morphic qualities allow her to hide in any body of water
• Great swimmer

Botching Ezel and Aezma's obedience, Willard and Itessa decided to emphasize control by working their will first, and reminding the next child that she can never resist.

Azere has hated Ezel ever since her birth. She is very loyal to her parents, and would never question their ethics. She doesn't understand why Ezel would reject that and considers him a fool.

On the flip side, her parents are constantly reminding her to stay in line. They constantly compare her to Ezel and Aezma. She also secretly covets Ezel's freedom and is intensely jealous of him.

Azere prefers Itessa's cruel methods over Willard's utilitarian methods. She is much more inclined towards magic than tech. Itessa blames Ezel's rebellious attitude to a bug in Willard's code. Besides, Azere relies exclusively on magic.

Azere can manipulate water particles. At a basic level this gives her a physical form of any size and shape she wants. She relies on sharp appendages to kill her targets, supplementing it with magic to hinder and confuse her foes.

Azere is a crafty assassin, using her smallest forms to wander around sources of water and moisture to reach her targets. She is also an excellent enforcer, using large bodies of water to become large and in charge.

Baat Daculon

• Laid back musician
• Raises legions of brainwashed fans
• Vampire with Lightning-based powers
• Strikes power chords to summon lightning
• Uses diplomacy to get his way

Baat Daculon is a vampire rockstar. He wears shades at night, amplifies his hypnosis through his concerts, and invites his groupies to "Take the Plunge" to satisfy his thirst.

Baat is relatively laid back, practicing his latest tunes on his custom equipment (built by his father.) He pretty much tours the world and allows his minions to use it as a front for everything nasty. Baat Bribes/Charms any officials he comes across, apologizing for the slight increase in crime/demonic invasion/artifact smuggling that occurred. Baat doesn't engage himself in crime directly, letting one of his fans prove themselves to him. He doesn't hate Ezel; in fact he barely cares about him.

Baat is one of the most overt and visible of the siblings, due to his popularity. His status as an undead is relegated to wild rumors. Or for the more shady types they don't care.

Calamus

• Second Youngest creation (thinks it is the youngest)

Calamus thinks it is the youngest but it is actually the second youngest. Willard took it offline while he worked on Isis.

Calamus is a very simple minded individual, childlike. It is huge, heavy, armored and strong. Willard tells him to "play a game" with his victims and Calamus goes off to have some fun. He is quite sad when his toys finally break and goes on temper-tantrum-fueled rampages as a result.

Isis

• Youngest Sibling
• Deeply analytical mind allows her to see why things work
• Increased reactions and perception
• Wishes to reunite the family
• Thinks Ezel is a trigger-happy nut

With their last child, Willard and Itessa decided on a new approach. Isis was granted exceptional freedom, a keen analytic mind, and easy infiltration into the human world. She had a simple task: reunite the family.

She is the only Sibling who is allowed to call her parents "Itessa" and "Willard." She does not have to lead an army, nor does she have to follow orders. In fact, Isis is able to freely live among the outside world.

Isis has a keen mind they is able to analyze anything she observes down to its core fundamentals. As long as she focuses on it she knows exactly what to expect from it. Her reactions are fast enough that she can basically enter Bullet Time. Compared to Ezel's intelligence, Isis understands how things work but not why they work. High Wis vs High Int.

Isis reincarnates when killed, stronger than her previous body. Initially she was pretty weak but after her first few deaths she was slightly above a normal human's strength. At this point she is quite acrobatic, strong and healthy. She prefers to fight unarmed at this point, preferring lethal grapples and holds to quickly subdue her opponents. She recently developed Dark Energy Strands and can fire them for precision hits.

Normally, she is a "security specialist," able to help others disarm/ignore death traps, find the treasure and come out alive. Isis is very good at telling what people want to say or are lying around, as she analyzes them very closely. It is also a threat to her humanity, as she will sometimes ignore the speech and call her opponent out. Or she will analyze so deeply she notices all of their trends without paying attention to their needs in conversation.

Willard and Itessa's plan is starting to pay off. Worried over losing her sanity and humanity, Isis needs to reuinite her family. Everyone has to get together and work well so she won't go nuts. The linchpin? Ezel. He tends to shoot his siblings first and ask questions later. Or he stays out of their way. Isis wants to find Ezel and force him to meet the family. She is doing this out of pure love and concern for him, and refuses to believe he will be brainwashed if he is brought to their parents.

Professionally, she is a "security specialist," able to help others enter death traps, disarm the treasure and come out alive.

Bligon

• Naturally born Goblin
• Adopted by Dr. Willard as his protege
• Constructs Robot Riders
• Leads a Mecha-enabled Goblin Army
• Lots of fire and incendiary weapons

For a lowly Goblin, this critter was adept at creating traps and primitive armor to protect her clan. Dr. Willard noted her ingenuity and offered to adopt her as his protege. Besides, Willard always wanted to adopt.

Bligon is a prodigy among Goblins. Cool headed, brilliant and a natural leader, she managed to quickly rise through the ranks of her clan. Also, not getting killed like the other bretheren helped out a lot. After cleaning up her clan and killing the challengers, she tried to legitimately approach nearby human towns for supplies, food and recognition.

That didn't work out at all. Most assumed this was a trick by an evil sorcerer to lower their guard. Others assumed it was a stupid goblin lie. And the rest saw a quick kill. So they routed Bligon and assaulted her village. Willard wound up rescuing her. He wanted to take a little longer to decide on her skill level, but it was now or never.

Unlike Willard, who uses autonomous robots, Bligon uses robotic mounts and mecha that goblins can use. Fire impresses goblins, so most of the mechs use flamethrowers, blazing swords and explosive rounds to burn and smash whatever they want. Bligon is a good tactician and her swarm of mecha-enabled goblins make excellent raiders.

Bligon has no personal beef with Ezel. If he doesn't interrupt her raid she doesn't attack him. She has better things to do than get caught up in a pointless family feud. He is one of the few people out there who does not underestimate her for being a goblin, and she appreciates that.

Past Times

Emberberry Castle

It isn't always like this. I'm sure of it. Normally Siblings go down quickly, a few shots at most.

She's taken several fireballs, a few lightning bolts and...damn it I even fired a magic missle. No, Serrah's still charging down the hallway, screaming "LOVE ME BROTHER!" at the top of her lungs. Hasn't even flinched. And off I go.

sigh I really enjoyed not being pursued. A week ago Virton's Seekers found me again. Must have saved up for a very potent oracle. Or maybe they just got lucky. Luckily Urlan is about as subtle as a- pardon, I just fell down a flight of stairs.

Serrah's way of hugging me involves bludgeoning me into a pile of paste. To prove she loves mom and dad more than I. Ugh, Siblings never think straight. Yes Serrah you may love them but not as much as this handy distraction I just made to stall for time. Good, she's confused. good, the Seekers noticed. I'll just slip in here and-

A closet... Not what I expected. Barri wants to sell me a teleportation scroll, only double the normal price! How does she keep finding me? Nevermind, give her the money it sounds like Urlan is making his "Justice succeeds once again!" speech. Alright, going home.

This tome on Emberberry enchantments had better be worth it. The sooner I give that Break Enchantment Pendant to Aezma the sooner she can dethrone that imposter. The sooner she does that the sooner I can route her to the Alderran mountain range. Maybe I can shut down another Sibling home that way.