Lucien Gaspar
Avatar
Just another link in the food chain: that's what humanity is in Lucien's feverish, terrifying vision. It's a frightening illumination of the direction that mankind is heading regardless of its half-hearted efforts to rid themselves of weapons of mass destruction. When the world is decimated, the survivors will live on a hellish, primordial earth. God's mercy will be nowhere to be found, it will seem. Despair will cling to every soul. It's a future Lucien knows he will not live to see and that's why God wants him to see it now. He must know those torments to temper his heart and soul for preparation of his duties today. Each special vision of pain and denigration is another test of his faith in God's will.
And Lucien is well aware that he will die someday soon, but he's content at least with the knowledge that it shall be a knight's death. He will die protecting Camille Beauvais at a critical moment in the unfolding of Armageddon. Lucien accepts this doom, knowing his demise will serve the greater good. He also knows, however, that he cannot be complacent. This is his destiny writ, but it is not 100% certain. God's will will come to pass no matter what, that much is true, but whether it's him or some other bold knight is another question. For his own sake, Lucien strives to remain one of the greatest examples of a Templar Knight to have ever lived. His weaknesses and follies are not to be ignored in acceptance of his fate, but purified so he will ascend to the Lord's right hand when his time inevitably comes.
Paradigm & Style
Everything comes from God and everything that is good is saved, thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The path of salvation is open, and mankind must work hard to receive the ultimate Sacrament. It is only through Jesus Christ that humanity is saved. Thus, all conscientious Christians must work to convert non-believers into fellow Christians. All of this Lucien believes as whole-heartedly as any good Catholic.
But there is more to faith than acceptance of the Messiah and proselytizing for the sake of heretics. It was God's gift to man to be innovators extraordinaire, to take what was offered in the world and put to good use for all of humanity and life. And that also means putting to good use God's gift to man of invention to the defense of man and the defense of the one and only true faith.
In fact, Lucien knows that it's a truly enlightened individual who understands how to merge his faith with invention that makes one of God's greater servants. The Militia Christi were the foremost of his servants, for they took God's gifts and put them to faithful use in the name of Jesus Christ. Unlike other so-called sorcerers and technocrats, they didn't use their gifts for bloody pagan rites of human sacrifice or the development of soulless machines to worship as idols in the Lord's place. So what others call "magick" or "super science", Lucien knows is merely an extension of faith through the natural innovative abilities of humanity. Invention without faith leads to secular idolatry, as the Technocracy already proved! The Traditions are no different, Lucien feels, for they fight for the freedom to maintain their own beliefs, which would still require a secular rule.
Unfortunately, only the Holy Roman Catholic Church understands how to rule with vigorous attention to the Sacrament. What others call Paradox, Lucien feels is a moment of self-doubt in one's faith worsened by the Masses' despair and apathy due to the technocratic grip on the world -- and that's due to the undermining of papal authority. Few men now, like Lucien, are capable of hearing, understanding, and applying God's will properly. For example, most so-called mages today seek to horde Quintessence, claiming it as magical energies to fuel their own selfish agendas. Quintessence is the pure remainder, the last of divine essence, lingering in the world since God first created the universe.
A knight is just a man, of course, until he swears the oaths of the Militia Christi. Therein lies the backbone of Lucien's faith and innovative skills. By sticking to this code of honor, he keeps the rewards and authority that comes with it. His oaths are complex, and heavily tied into the Gospel and the Catholic Church. They include submission to the authority of Church, the upholding of virtues, which includes honesty, bravery, courtesy, decency, and mercy. The code includes an acceptance of the Divine and all the symbols of Jesus Christ, which includes observing holy days and partaking in the Sacrament. The code does not include complete asceticism and celibacy, but does call for moderation in all things.
Even with such righteousness backing his mantle of holy authority, Lucien is a censured knight. His ancestors' ability to innovate faith and skill in what the Traditions named Entropy caused them to suffer much misery, fulfilling their own dooms, and bringing sorrow to all those around him. Lucien must bear the cross of his forebears and not practice that Sphere. But otherwise, he is free to use invention, which includes technology but as often means both ritual reverence of the Lord and skill with combat, to exact many other means. And he has developed and even grown close to mastery to several specific Spheres.
The Sphere of Correspondence represents the omnipresence of the Divine. Lucien prays to God for illumination, to borrow just humble shards of the ubiquitous gaze. By receiving such perceptual revelations, entire new physical dimensions are opened to Lucien's comprehension. He does not "scry". The shifting of perceptions and places is all a movement of the Lord, a gift to his mortal sight. His prayers are assisted with prayer beads, and the beads also help Lucien soothe his mind and purify it of extraneous thought that would only confuse him when mixed with the visions of Correspondence. His skill with this Sphere is still wanting, and he grows easily overwhelmed without the focus of necessary prayer beads.
The power of God in nature pulses through all people, especially Light. Few recognize this power, never mind can they tap it. But as a Knight Templar and a paladin blessed in the name of the Lord, Lucien can feel it, view it, clearly. It is like a holy beacon to eyes tired from straining in the shadows of ignorance -- illumination. And while it is comforting, it is also terrifying. It's a taste of God's raw power in the world He crafted, and through it Lucien can become like the Lord's angel of wrath. Unsurprisingly, the sword of a knight is Lucien's symbol of light and the focus of his authority and responsibility. Particularly, the sword with which Lucien was knighted is linked to his ability to perceive, summon, and control these Forces. Amecle, his holy sword, is his unique focus for this Sphere, but his skill is so great that he can project the energies of nature without it when necessary.
The blessings of life grow stronger with a Templar's faith. Through severe living, an almost monasteric approach to physical purity and restraint, Lucien can reap more of those temporal physical rewards. Total asceticism is not necessary, the knight knows, but he must be willing to sacrifice all of his flesh and blood for Christ. And to help further the Lord's will, he's rewarded with bodily rewards. Like Jesus and many of the apostles, the crucifix became the symbol of their sacrifice. So it is for Lucien: his strength of limb comes first from a willingness to lose those limbs -- and everything else. The crucifix that dangles from his neck is thus his focus for Life, but its meaning is burned into his soul. It is not a necessary focus for this Templar.
The hearts and souls of men are easily confused and led astray from the right path. It is the Knight Templar's duty to bring their fellow human beings back to the road of righteousness. As a blessed paladin, Lucien knows his word carries more authority and holy truth than the average Christian (or even the average priest). Through simple homiletics and similar discourse, Lucien can persuade or dissuade others from doing or even thinking certain things. It is not required for Lucien to bring the Word to others, but his timing with silent use of the Mind Sphere must be perfect or they'll see right through whatever realities he's trying to build in their hearts.
The remaining divine energy of the world's Creation underlies all things, invisible to the unenlightened eyes. It can be moved by God, of course, but it can also be moved by an instrument of God. Sadly, those of the Militia Christi, like Lucien, are the only ones who act in accordance to God's will. The rest, even much of the Celestial Chorus, abuse the gifts God gave them for their own paltry goals or misbegotten heretical beliefs. They abuse the Sphere of Prime instead of using it responsibly. As a symbol of proof to the world and to God, Lucien wears the mantle of knighthood, delineating his faith as the worthiest sort to be borrowing such divine power. The mantle is draped over his shoulders and chest and when he wishes to employ its full authority, it must be plainly visible to all. At one point, he felt that he had to display the symbolism. But now Lucien understands he does not need to do this, for his authority is inherent by the oaths he took and upholds.
Lucien has learned that time is linear, but one's perceptions of time are not bound by a single procession. Through God's will and man's invention, Lucien is privy to a set of unique reading glasses that use prismatic crystals as lenses. The way the lenses are drawn and angled shed different lights on different times. Of course, it is only because of the holy oaths he spoke as a knight, oaths God answered with empowerment of these gifts of innovation, that he's able to perceive time -- and even manipulate the way he perceives time, which seems to hasten or slow the passage of time around him. Regardless of how he uses the Sphere of Time, the glasses are not necessary to its workings. He has figured out to divine time without this (pseudo-)scientific tool by comparative memories of experienced events. Should the glasses be broken, he must merely acquire another pair from the Order, although that can take a little time.
Resonance
Dynamic (Blinding)
Lucien's dedication to his role as a divine paladin draws from the oaths he swore and codes he upholds. And so engrained in this role, and so is God's will a part of his heart and soul, that he radiates a holy aura that is just downright blinding to the sensitive. He does not literally shed light, but all but the dim cannot help but notice this knight's pervasive celestial charge. This makes it hard to keep a low profile in public, and he suffers a +3 difficulty to all Social rolls where he must pretend to be normal and blend in. On the other hand, the same aura can be quite something when he exerts his authority, easily awing -- or terrifying -- the righteous and unrighteous alike. This grants him a -3 difficulty to relevant Intimidation rolls.
Through his faith, this blinding radiance has an effect, too, good and bad. On both accounts, this Resonance affects Forces Effects. Subtle uses of Forces are actually harder: +1 difficulty to Arete rolls. More blatant uses of Forces is easier meanwhile, granting a -1 difficulty to the rolls for such Effects. Of course, he still invokes Paradox for vulgar Forces Effects! So in spite of his inherent edge, he is reluctantly to invoke the wrath of God in too obvious a fashion.
Entropic (Cynical)
Calloused over the years of service as a soldier of Christ, Lucien has seen many terrible things. And he has shed much blood, his own and others'. Many times he's questioned his faith, he's questioned God, and he's only rarely received (or perhaps understood) answers to his questions. While he is still unquestionably loyal to the order and a devoted Christian, the original fire of his ardent faith has simmered down. His views are likewise guarded and sarcastic. He has a difficult enough time trying to convince himself there's hope; trying to persuade others of that which he barely believes is harder (+3 difficulty to related rolls). On the other hand, he can easily express his despair, and deriding others' hopes and making them feel as if he had nothing but contempt comes almost second nature (-3 difficulty to such rolls).
When his faith is employed in kind, it's tainted his views of history and destiny. The future is harder for him to perceive accurately: +1 difficulty on all such Time Effects. The past, with its many failures and miseries, is easier for the cynical old knight to understand: -1 difficulty on such Time Effects.
Static (Fanatical)
Both complementing and antagonizing his Dynamic Resonance is Lucien's fanatical devotion to his order's cause. He is, in short, an unshakable zealot. It's impressive that he sticks to his guns, remains true to his own truths despite his (dutiful) questions of the Lord. But it's also frightening, terribly frightening, that a true crusader like him still exists in the world today. This throwback to a past and darker age seems like a herald to a world-wide religious war between those of one faith and everyone else, the "infidels". Lucien suffers a +3 difficulty to any Social rolls whenever trying to hold a fair debate in any subject. But he gains a -3 difficulty to any Social rolls anytime he must impress upon others the depths of his fanaticism and the dedication to his codes and faith. No one questions Lucien's faith...they just don't invite him to teach at seminaries either.
This Resonance largely affects certain applications of the Mind Sphere. He suffers a +1 difficulty on any Effects designed to persuade others to accept and trust him or his beliefs no matter how well-written his homiletics may be. But if he just wants to frighten and perturb others through the same, a good "fire and brimstone" sermon is easier for him: -1 difficulty to relevant Arete rolls.
Talismans
Amecle
Level: 5
Arete: 5
Quintessence: 25
Origin: This sword, L'Amecle ("soulkey", pronounced "lahm-clay"), is an heirloom of the Gaspar family and a treasure horded by the Militia Christi for 500 years. Of course, it was originally forged by their erstwhile allies and future betrayers, the Artificers. Lucien knows he held this sword as did his forefathers, all of whom were bound to the same doom he foresees now: the end of the world as mankind knows it. Perhaps the sword is part of it all, or perhaps it is simply symbolic of the Templars' endless war against deviltry.
Description: This broad sword is impressive to see, but it is really a humble specimen of a blade at a skilled glance. The blade is old and blandly gray as if it were an early and poor steel alloy (this, of course, is what Primium looks like). The hilt is kept in good shape, bound over with fresh leather. The metal pommel is unadorned but the guard, which is purely horizontal in classic Templar fashion, is etched with Aramaic script. It reads "The secret of Christ lies in the heart".
Effects: 1) inflict aggravated damage, 2) provide 5 dice of automatic Primium-based countermagick, 3) "home in on" and strike nearby unmanifested spirits
Quintessence Costs: Talisman: 1, Effect #1: 0, Effect #2: 0, Effect #3: 1
Activation: To activate just the basic powers of L'Amecle, the wielder must briefly salute (hold the sword between eyes so the guard rests just under the face). To attack unmanifested spirits and ghosts, the wielder must circle the sword wildly over head and call upon Christ to guide his sword true.
Links
Character Stats
Character Profiles
The Crossroads Chantry
E-mail me!
Main Character Hub
Back to Game Hub