Jyr Ornallus d'Tir

[Jyre]

Player Name: steve
Name: Jyr Ornallus d'Tir, Esq.
age: 27
Race: Human
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 145 lbs
Physical
description:

Jyr Ornallus d'Tir is a tall, lean man with a developing paunch that tentatively speaks to his inactive lifestyle. His dark brown—so dark as to be nearly black, in fact—hair is medium length, dreaded with curls, and unkempt, as one who thinks little enough of his own appearance that he rarely enough thinks to dress it up, let alone get it cut. And his eyes are a brown so dark as to be indistinguishable from the deepest dark of emptiest of nights. But what is really striking about this dark man's appearance is his dark complexion, his skin almost as dark as his hair.

His facial features, not always easy to distinguish or interpret considering his foreign origins—a fact which escapes not even the most daft of creatures who chance to hear his molasses-thick accent—are most readily likened to a law of nature: existent, irrefutably so, and unchangeably determined. Aside from this trait which his personality has long ago learned to bestow upon his face, there is only one other particularly remarkable feature that none can look upon him without noticing. His strong, jutting nose bears the heaviest burden of a scar that tears his face in two from his lower left cheekbone up to his right temple, the line narrowly missing his right eye. The scarring flesh is a green-veined pink, a most unnatural color even for the darker-skinned races. Indeed, this scar seems to be like a matter-of-fact statement; a statement that says, without a doubt, that the face upon which it rests has been tested and found to be just as is claims to be—irrefutable.

The clothing style that Jyr adopts is that of a businessman, which denotes his recent origins as being that of one of the few industrial towns on Pal Tahrenor. His presence is marked by the quietly erratic ticking noise emanating from the left breast pocket hidden inside his jacket. Though environmental noises easily drown out this ticking, he often unsheathes the beastly apparatus from which it finds its source to quietly observe some instrumentation or other that must be hidden behind its locket-lidded face. It can only be imagined that what he sees has been a matter of great speculation in the past; as to the future, there is no doubt.

Posessions:

2 Golems, one rather large, the other rather small; one rather dull, the other rather witted; one rather useful, the other more so.

One personal pocket watch-like device of outwardly indiscernible function. Really, it's a pocket watch. It makes such loud, erratic noises because its mechanical nature actually comes quite frequently into conflict with its magical nature. Of course, it can be disabled at will by its owner in order to silence its incessant whine and tick, rattlerattle, whine and tickrattle, whinetick and ticktick... However, when activated once more, it magically divines the time where Jyr is through some mixture of mechanical and magical mechanisms involving tidal gravi-magical forces between the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun. To date, Jyr considers it to be his greatest invention yet, though we must remember that he considers it to be solely a mechanical contraption.

A handheld looking glass that reflects the viewer's desires back to him. It appears to be a mechanical contraption of sorts, though in reality it is a magic purely of illusion. At the time Jyr built it, he had intended to create a way of viewing the most likely outcome of certain events, though really his magic reflected a truer desire for the future to exist as he wished it. With this foolish purpose in mind, Jyr's magic deceives him daily into believe that events unfold as he wishes and that he is actually working for the greater good of the world. What it actually shows him, however, is pure nonsense, always promising good results in the future but never something immediately able to be proven.


Powers or
Strengths:

Jyr is a man of intelligence. He tries to avoid involving himself in physical combat, preferring to stand at the sidelines and let his “minions” carry out such tasks. These minions have, in the past, ranged from hired mercenaries to victims of his indominitable blackmail to his own personal creations, the golems. By far the most loyal of these, not to mention the most permeanant, are the golems, bastard creations of technology and magic.

His primary power, always subconsciously implemented, is what is known as Teleological Magic: the ability to endow inanimate objects with purpose and the magical drive to accomplish that purpose. This power is subject to certain limitations, one of which being that the object so-endowed must be hand crafted or modified in some way by Jyr. In addition, the object cannot have any magically-ordained purpose or an owner whose will dominates the object in such a way that the it already has a sense of purpose imposed upon it (so he could not sabotage an exceptional warrior's weapons to kill the warrior, although if the man is weak-willed enough or lacks the resolve to fight for some cause, it would be possible). Finally, the power is limited by the very nature of the modification or purpose being supplied to the object and by the size of the object itself; for example, a mountain could not be endowed with the will to move of its own accord and neither could an inanimate object be made intelligent--at least, not without a considerable amount of time and effort put into the creation of such a thing. It would take years of dedicated work to produce a "golem" with the intellectual capabilities of a humanoid, however, a mindless servant that does what it asks may take no more than a couple weeks to a few months--depending, of course, on what its expected capabilities are.

In order to better understand this power and the limitations upon it, it is important to understand Jyr from a psychological vantage point. Jyr, as previously stated, is a man of intelligence. He has spent a decade of his life studying the natural world and the sometimes incorrect physical theories behind its workings; however, it is not important that his understanding of physical processes may be altogether incorrect, rather it is important that he believes without a doubt that his understanding is correct. This is what enables him to magically endow his inventions with the "ability" to accomplish their purposes. His overbearing pride and confidence in his own skills as an engineer opens the way for him to subconsciously access pure magical energy and give it a purpose. It is actually a self-perpetuating scheme; the more successful attempts he has at giving an object purpose, the more confident and ably he will be in applying his abilities, hence leading to more successful creations, and so on. This actually paves the way for a progressive increase in his abilities as he gains more experience working with them.

One particular strength of this power is that its use of magic is very minute, giving his inventions the appearance of actually being based on physical principles—at least, that is how it appears to those who do not have a very in-depth knowledge of such principles. Still, under the influence of anti-magic fields or anything with a similar effect, his inventions will be unable to operate as “instructed”; however, once the anti-magic field is removed, they will continue carrying out their purpose. For those who deal with magic quite frequently, it would not be difficult, upon close inspection, to determine that these inventions are indeed magical in nature.

Golems

Jyr can create golems that are powered by a master gem capable of directing energy. The more rare the gem, the better capabilities it will have to serve Jyr's purposes.

N.I.A.B. (Non-Intelligent Autonomous Brute)

Jyr's primary heavy-labor machine, Niaab-yeh (phonetical spelling) is an 8-foot tall, lumbering machine made primarily of high-grade carbon steel. It has a small (1-inch diameter) red gem encased in a protective steel case on its forehead. The protective case defends against everything save for precisely-directed damage; it's primary purpose is to protect against accidental damage, yet the nature of the magical energy sustaining the robot's autonomous motion requires that it not be covered completely hence the vulnerability. The gem itself is strong enough to withstand the impact of a normal arrow shot from a normal bow, but it is not able to handle the impact of a piercing attack (rapier, spear, etc) with much more force than this.

The body of Niaab-yeh is not so bulky as it is tall and elongated. It is best likened to the skeleton of a tall human with servos and steel-cable protected pneumatic tubings extending down from the "skull," wrapping around what appears to be a steel spinal column and extending out to the various moving body parts like the analogous nerves in a human body. The skull itself is featureless save for the abovementioned gem protruding from what would be the forehead on a human skull and the lettering "N.I.A.B." written upon it's forehead. It makes an almost-annoying whirring sound with every movement which gets louder the longer it has gone without being oiled; for a couple hours after being oiled, the whirring is significantly more silent, though still audible.

Each of its appendiages ends in a disproportionately large four-"fingered" gripping mechanism (the hands and feet are identical). The fingers are really actually crude gripping mechanisms that are unable to effectively grip anything smaller than a door handle (though the fingers can "pinch" together with a crushing force).

Niaab-yeh is not a for-battle configuration, but it can perform brute-force actions such as slamming against, grabbing/holding, stepping on, and punching an opponent. Commands requiring attacks any more complicated than these will generate confusion in the golem which may lead to unexpected actions or sequences of actions, or no action at all. The primary purpose of the Niaab-yeh configuration is to perform heavy lifting and destruction of objects or buildings. It's movements are generally slow, though it may spend all of its power reserves for the next few hours to accomplish a particularly difficult task or move significantly faster for a few moments. Being able to move significantly faster is the only real consideration as to its potential as a defensive golem; Jyr prepared it to be able to take a particularly nasty physical or directed magical attack if such a situation ever arised. Barring the destruction of the golem, it will be operable once again within several hours after expending this energy and will continue to carry out the last directive issued to it.

The Modular

After a run-in with a particularly nasty group of thugs who robbed Jyr for all he was worth at the time and probably would have killed him had it not been for Niaab-yeh, he decided that it was imperative that he construct a golem better capable of protecting him from danger and killing his enemies. To this end, he dedicated four years of his studies to creating a method for constructing an golem that takes advantage of modularity in form and function, allowing him to trade out parts and objectives to create golems with an assortment of functions, with the only downside being that he can only have one operable golem based on this design per "master" gem. Due to the extreme rarity and high value of the gem used (72-karat diamond), he currently only has one of these golems. It takes one full day of intense work demanding of Jyr's full concentration to fully "transform" the Modular from one configuration to another.

M.I.B.C.A. (Modular: Intelligent Battle-Configuration Automoton)
M.I.S.A. (Modular: Intelligent Stealth-Configuration Automoton)

Mibs-yeh (phonetic pronounciation) is a model of golem which he has laid all the groundwork for, but which yet needs to be completed. It may be surmised that his purpose in Thar Shaddin is to seek out the necessary components to finish it.



Weaknesses:
Immutable beliefs concerning the fate of the world, the mechanisms driving that fate, and his refusal to acknowledge his own magical prowess. He believes that the universe at large is a well-oiled machine whose workings are purely mechanistic in nature and that even “magic” has roots deep in some immutable Laws of physics. It is this belief that allows the subconscious part of him that is aware of his magical abilities to cope with them and which allows the conscious part of him to cope with the magical abilities of others around him. However, any intelligent opponent whose abilities deal with mind-altering effects should easily be able to disarm him entirely of his belief structure simply by showing him the true, unpredictable and worse yet, for Jyr, unreliable nature of magic. Such a revelation could have one of two effects on Jyr: It could open him up to his abilities at large, enabling him a finer degree of control (after some time spend studying and accustoming himself to the idea, of course). Or, he could have a complete mental breakdown which could ultimately only lead him to a defenseless state in which his enemy would be free to do as he pleased. The latter is by far the more likely of the two.

In addition, Jyr is not a combat fighter. He fights with words, with ideas, and with the manipulation of those weaker-willed mortals willing to do his dirty work. This is a two-fold disadvantage for Jyr: Firstly, he could never defend himself if the situation demanded it; secondly, money and promises can only buy so much loyalty and even that is never guaranteed. Hired help can just as easily be paid off by the other side, though he does have his ways of...”influencing” the loyalty of certain types of mercenary; namely, he excels in matters of blackmail.

Finally, though Jyr has rock-steady beliefs in the laws of nature and his engineering capabilities, he does not always believe in the righteousness of his own cause so that, when push comes to shove, he will back down to find a better route to his goals. It may be considered a weakness by those who are willing to do whatever it takes to be burdened by a man who refuses to lie in word or in deed. At the end of the day, a man who can convince Jyr that he is wrong is a man who has the power to defeat him.

History:

Jyr Ornallus d'Tir was born in a land just south of the Great Scar. He was born to a peasant farmer whose ordinariness was the only trait upon which any had ever thought to comment. The farmer and his wife grew wheat in a communal farm setting, though sadly Jyr was never to learn of the wonders of this simple life. At the all-too-young age of three years old, his village was set upon by a nasty tribe of marauders who killed all those who resisted, raped the women, and captured all the survivors to be sold into slavery. Jyr's earlist intact memory is that of his father valiantly defending his wife and child only to be slaughtered by the more experienced and battle-hardened warrior. The sight was travesty become a tragedy, a true horror in every sense of the word as his mother was summarily raped and beaten to death by these battle-fattened pigs of war; indeed, these visions haunt Jyr nightly to this very day, though his stoic manner would never betray the fears he hides inside.

Jyr, being too young to walk run, let alone fight, was captured easily and tossed into a cart with other children, to be sold as slaves. He spent several months in this condition, most of which is a blur of the plague death stench which surrounded him and the screams and cries of people from other villagers as the slavers made their rounds of the countryside. The next distinct memory he can truly recall is being bartered over by a dwarven blacksmith who cited his scrawny body as being nigh worthless in a smithy and demanded a lower asking price.

The slaver, with the solliptic tongue of a scoundrel, “Well of course, Master Varten, but observe that the lad is no more than four or five years old...why, feed him well and work him hard and he'll be stronger than you within a year! On my honor as a tradesman! Ten silver marks and no less!”

“Har har har!” The dwarf's hearty laugh rumbled around him like a quake, “Yer tongue oughtta be shaved, ye rapscallion! This ain't the ferst time I've dealt on this side'o'the slave market! You'll be wise to lower yer price ter three silver marks and no more, or I'll tell all me brothars about yer flimsy dealin', ye hear?”

The slaver frowned at such a low asking price but apparantly decided to call the dwarf's bluff. “Master Dwarf, you had better take this last asking price or I'll find myself a noble's son who won't think twice. Five silver marks!”

Almost without a second's hesitation, the dwarf released the handful of silver coins into the outstretched palm of the slave trader: Five in total. With a nasty grin at having gotten his desired price, the dwarf grabbed the leash attached to Jyr's collar and yanked the boy down from the table upon which he had been standing. “Nice doin' business with ya, chump! Har har har!”

The slaver grimaced and looked ready to grab for the falchion sheathed at his side, but a quick glance at the nearby market guard told him that to do so would be unwise to say the least; he'd agreed to a price and there was no way to know what the guard had heard.

The next seven years would see Jyr sold and bartered between various owners, all of whom were disgruntled with his physically inept body. Some occasioned to take an interest in his mind, for he was taught the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic by he age of ten. At this point, he found himself working for a bank clerk as a scribe, dutifully copying down figures and numbers but all the while learning the secrets of business as he snatched up tidbits here and there about the way money should and should not be handled. He quietly stored this information away until the day he knew he would need it. And that day was not nearly as far off as he had at on point thought.

One day, a normal day like any other, a kindly old nobleman entered the shop. Jyr knew this old gentleman by sight and by reputation, but not by acquaintance. He had long been a customer of the bank and had been the man from whom Jyr had garnered most of his financial wisdom, through snatches of conversation between him and the banker which Jyr had been ideally placed to listen in upon. On this particular day, the old man looked saddened as he walked into the dimly-lit bank. He paused in the doorway for a moment, to look at the boy behind the desk—the first time he'd actually deigned to make direct eye contact. Nodding to himself, he continued into the banker's private office at the back of the building.

About and hour later, the banker and the old man walked out of the office shaking hands. “I'm sorry for your loss, I am sure Jyr will make an excellent replacement scribe,” the banker said with a sad smile, sad for the necessity of letting go his best clerk for the sake of keeping his favorite client happy.

“Thank ye again for your understandin,” came the old man's reply, his northern accent showing through for a moment. He turned to the boy and nodded, indicating that he knew the boy had heard the last bit of conversation. “Come to my manor when you've packed up and finished your business here.”

“That won't be necessary, the boy doesn't have any belongings. Go on, boy, you heard the man.”



With that, Jyr was sold for the last time to an aging but still sharp-minded inventor and historian. He was taken in as the old man's apprentice and heir, though he didn't learn of this until his fifteenth birthday, when the old man revealed that he intended for his vast estates on the southern tip of this southern continent. Shortly after this, the old man passed away and Jyr spent a year in mourning, missing the man who had taught him so much and treated him like his own son.
Jyr spent the next twelve years studying privately and with like-minded scholars all the aspects of engineering and eventually began to come up with his own creations. To his initial surprise, and that of those around him, his inventions far exceeded anyone's expectations. He began to be interested in a darker side of science in the last few years, seeking the secret to human life as a way of extending his own beyond the natural limits. His progress has been stop-and-go in this field, as he has managed to create a mechanical “golem” that is capable of following the simplest of commands, but is otherwise incapable of imitating human life. However, he has all the groundwork laid for a new kind of mechanical golem that will be the next step in achieving his ultimate goal, but his need for a particular resource has halted progress on this project.
Which brings him to Thar Shaddin...

[Frug]

Approved.