Lahabrea (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
abyssalflames) wrote2023-07-07 04:14 pm
abyssalflames) wrote2023-07-07 04:14 pm
(no subject)
User Name/Nick: Sceadu
User DW:amphibologies
E-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
draconic
Other Characters Currently In-Game: Xigbar
Character Name: Lahabrea (originally Hephaistos)
Series: Final Fantasy XIV
Age: unknown, but has a fully adult son (interviews suggest that Lahabrea is at least the equivalent of somewhere in the 50-60 range, if not more)
From When?: After the conclusion of events in Pandaemonium
Warden Justification: At first glance, one might assume that Lahabrea is about the furthest thing from suited for the position of warden - the society from which he hails has neither meaningful amounts of violence nor (as far as we can tell) any real crime to speak of. However despite this fact, he is nonetheless possessed of not only qualities that make him suited to the role of warden but also a surprising amount of experience that could easily be translated to wardening.
First and foremost is the fact that he is man who takes his sworn duty as the utmost priority, and will do everything in his power to see that duty done, whether it be stewardship of the planet he lives on (as in canon), or as will be the case on the Barge, seeing an inmate through to graduation. Beyond this, he has literal centuries of experience in both leadership positions - one loosely governmental and one associated with academia - and simply working to improve things, even if that has not always been on a personal level. And yet, for all that it is not, he is noted to be someone who often inspires loyalty in others (some of whom he has directly mentored, during his work in academia), which is mentioned has being highly unusual in a society where strong emotions are not terribly common at least on the surface. The exact reasoning behind this is something we never see or hear much about, but it is noted by one of his colleagues that his actions, while unorthodox, do seem to be guided by a sense of what is just. This is further emphasized by Lahabrea himself admitting that he is not near so petty as to deny the achievements of someone just because he might disagree with them, and indeed we do see him willing to listen even despite his own feelings on a given matter.
And then there's the matter of Pandaemonium. The closest thing to a prison that Amaurot has, Lahabrea himself built it and serves as chief overseer. True, Pandaemonium is not so much a prison in modern terms as a place to research more violent creations, but it does mean he understands the idea of either needing or wanting to keep a given entity separate from society at large, and that is at least enough to give him a solid foundation to start on. And from there, his own native stubbornness and unwillingness to give up will be more than enough to help he see matters through to their completion.
Item: a small red crystal marked with the constellation Pisces
Abilities/Powers: Where applicable, nerfs will be noted in bold
Sorcerer
Like many others from the society in which he comes, Lahabrea is possessed of no small amount of magical ability. While he is noted to be particularly talented at creation magic (see below), he is also a mage of no small skill, to the point that even later on in the game and canonically diminished in skill he still poses a fierce foe to the player character. When it comes to offensive magic, he has a strong preference to fire-based spells, and uses them nearly exclusively in the fights we see him in, though it would not be unreasonable to assume that he would be equally capable of using magic aligned with the other elements besides (namely: earth, wind, ice, water, and lightning) as well as possibly those aligned to darkness. (In his later years he does use darkness-aligned spells but it's unclear if this would also be true as of his current canon point.)
In additional to this, he would be familiar with - and almost certainly capable of casting - a variety of non-combat spells, ranging from an assortment of warding spells to illusions. He is also fully capable of using magic to, essentially, draw someone up into the air and hold them immobile as well as using it as a form of teleportation, by means of what appear to be something similar to portals. He will be unable to teleport into locked cabins, or anywhere else a warden would be unable get to, and will similarly be unable to actually leave the Barge.
Beyond the range of pure spell-casting, Lahabrea is also capable of seeing both magical workings that might otherwise be invisible (wards, etc.) as well as the aether of an individual, as well as being able to identify malign influences acting on that individual, though the few instances of this we see are cases where he would know what to look for. For the purposes of the Barge, his ability to sense/recognize aether will only work on those who have magic or similar abilities and will only work at a range equivalent to his natural sight.
Creation magic
As the name might suggest, creation magic is the act of literally creating something out of nothing more than willpower and magic, and is a form of magic that Lahabrea is uncommonly good at, noted to be "a master of every recognized creation magick." His particular specialty - or perhaps simply that which he enjoys most - appears to be phantomology which... is never specifically explained in game but is either creation focused specifically on spirits and animated objects that lack a solid body (suits of armor, etc) or a study of unknown creations. Either way, there are regardless several restrictions to what creation magic. First and foremost, it cannot be used to create anything with a soul. It also requires both that the individual casting the spell have a full and complete understanding of that they wish to create and no small amount of focus besides - there are several occasions where even a stray thought has been noted to dramatically alter a creation.
On the Barge, Lahabrea will be limited by his own natural aether reserves when creating new objects in addition to the restrictions inherent to canon and thus will need to take some care with what he should choose to create/how often he should choose to do so, with creations proving more taxing the more complex they are.
Interment magic
A form of magic whose foundation was established by Lahabrea, this is used within Pandaemonium in order to keep the often-dangerous creations studied there comparatively docile and comes in two forms. Aetherial shackles, which temporarily bind the target, and interment, which freezes the space around a subject for as long as the caster wills it. Both of these will only be used with direct player permission, and interment will be only sustainable as long as his aether reserves hold out.
Transformation
Like many other Amaurotines, Lahabrea is presumably also capable of assuming a transformation (read: boss form) that is implied to be something like the truest expression of their selves and serves as a general power boost, though it's also somewhat frowned on to do so willy-nilly in Amaurotine culture. Since we never actually see Lahabrea's, we have no way of knowing what it looks like, but for the sake of thoroughness, I'm putting this here anyway.
The Echo
"The Echo" is something catch-all term the game uses to cover a variety of effects, the most immediately noticeable of which - the ability to understand all spoken language - is rendered largely moot by the presence of the Barge's universal translator, but it is none the less an ability Lahabrea possesses. Beyond this, the Echo allows him (and most Amaurotines) the ability to see the past through either someone's memories or the imprints left behind in the ambient aether of a location. Both, however, require specific and deliberate intention, and are best focused by memories of strong emotions. Like interment, both iterations of this manifestation of the Echo will only be used with player permission.
Scholar
While we have fewer direct mentions of Lahabrea's scholarly accomplishments as compared to his magical prowess, he is nonetheless directly mentioned to be a renowned orator, and it is further implied that all the members of the Convocation are "sages of surpassing intellect." And indeed, what reports we do have suggest that Lahabrea is exceedingly knowledgeable when it comes to creation specifically and he is unlikely to have let that be the whole of his knowledge. We do, additionally, know that he worked very closely with the Words of Lahabrea - a branch of Akadaemia Anyder, which serves as at least one of the larger centers of education of Amaurot - and served as mentor to at least some of the individuals studying there.
He also has enough of a solid understanding of the inner workings of magic to help establish a whole new branch of magic, so there's that.
Wardening Strategies and Philosophies: Life on the Barge will be a significant change for Lahabrea, for a number of reasons. However, he has never much been one to let uncertainty sway him from his course, once he has decided on it, and though it may take him some time to feel like he properly has his feet under him, he will absolutely stubborn his way through regardless. This overall stubbornness and conviction will also leave him very hard to sway from his course, which will likely prove beneficial for more stubborn inmates. Nor is he likely to be violent himself, partly as a result of the societal norms of his own time and place and partly because he genuinely will not see a particular need to turn to violence to prove his point. He will instead favor more reasoned discussions about any given behavior, though he is more than capable of being stern should it be required of him. (He will also tend to come across as stern just in general, given that he is about the furthest thing from emotionally open.)
As far as he is concerned, his role on the Barge will be something loosely similarly to a mentorship role - his goal as he understands it will be to take something that is not working (an inmate, with assorted unresolved issues) and turn that into something that is (an individual who at least no longer requires being removed from the society they had come from). Finding the right path to get there might be a little tricky, but he is no stranger to failure, nor to simply trying again. A stubborn persistence that has served him will before and will no doubt do so again here, even despite the fact that the vast majority of his cultural touchstones - especially as related to social behavior and what is expected of people - stand distinctly at odds to many that other people aboard will have.
He will not, however, be particularly useful to inmates who need gentler approaches or who otherwise react poorly to stern hands. Likewise, he is not going to be particularly great with anything do to with emotions. This is partly due to the fact that the concept of mental health doesn't seem to exist in Amaurot, or is at least not anything that has significant social structures in place and also partly do to the fact that he is still coming to terms with having essentially reinstalled the greater portion of his emotions just recently. Additionally he does have something of a temper underneath his stern exterior and is not above making somewhat impulsive judgments. And speaking of his stern exterior, that selfsame sternness also has something of tendency to make him come off as a little cold, especially given his general lack of emotional openness.
Deal: To have Athena's corruption removed from his soul
History:
Much of Lahabrea's past prior to him rising to the seat of Lahabrea - one of the fourteen seats on the ruling body of Amaurot, referred to as the Convocation of Fourteen - is unknown. What we do know is that at some point he was raised to that seat, most likely for his skill in creation magic though he may also have been a skilled orator as while by that time. At some point up to and including 'at the same time as taking on the role of Lahabrea' he also became involved with the branch of Akadaemia Anyder that focused largely on creation magics - the Words of Lahabrea. It was through this latter that he met the woman who would have a lasting impact on his life: Athena.
At first, their meetings were - as described by Lahabrea - nothing more than a meeting of two brilliant minds, developing theories about things no one else might have dared to explore. But over time what had begun as a sort of mutual respect developed into something more, and it's at this point we have to briefly take a segue somewhere else. You see, at some point after she and Lahabrea became known to each other, Athena came across an unusual crystal; one unlike anything else and of unknown origin. Dubbing the crystal 'auracite', she spent countless hours researching it feverishly - enough so as to be unusual even for her - before the auracite became the ultimate fruit of her labors: a black crystal she dubbed "the Heart of Sabik".
Regardless of when, exactly, the Heart of Sabik was created, Lahabrea and Athena did still fall in love and eventually had a kid together, a son they named Ericthonios.
Unfortunately for (almost) everyone involved, things were not to stay idyllic forever. You see, there's a slight problem with auracite: namely, that it is prone to enhancing and magnifying a person's greatest ambitions - and very frequently in a way that is not great. And given the amount of time she had spent studying it, Athena fell victim to auracite's influence. Lahabrea, in turn, likely noticing the effect it had on her but also possibly looking for ways to keep the corruption away from the population at large, put her in charge of the newly created Pandaemonium - a prison/research center for more dangerous creations that he had built - at her direct request that she be so. (Which was possibly not the best idea in hindsight but did at least serve to keep Athena somewhat isolated from the larger populace.)
At some point subsequent to this - and presumably once he was at least reasonably on his way to full-grown - Erichthonios also takes up a position in Pandaemonium; what implications we get are that it was possibly at Athena's invitation. This is about the point where things start to go really pear-shaped. While Athena was always more than willing to explore branches of science that other people might have considered anathema at best, the auracite only ramped up that same desire to experiment as far as possible, to the point that she came to the decision to reach for godhood itself. And with Erichthonios now firmly within her sphere of influence she proceeded to do exactly that, using Erichthonios himself as the vessel through which she would attain that which she longed for. What exactly this would have entailed is not clear, however, not least of all for the fact that Lahabrea caught wind of what she was up to and came to Pandaemonium to confront Athena himself. Needless to say, he was more than a little appalled at the full scope of her ambitions, not least of all for the fact that she seemed perfectly willing to sacrifice their son to fuel them.
Knowing, however, that Lahabrea was a man with a deep and abiding desire to know, Athena offers her final proposal: that the two of them join their souls as one, that he might know the whole of her and see her memories - her thoughts - as his own. And Lahabrea, driven by one single question, agrees. Had she ever truly loved him? Thus, did two (briefly) become one, and though Lahabrea saw into Athena's very heart - understood, in that one moment, all that drove her as if it had been his own - the answer to his question was a resounding "no". Athena cared not a whit for an other, be it himself, any other, or the very star itself. Worse still, his direct contact with her soul had also brought him into very direct contact with the auracite's corruption, and though he broke the soul merge as soon as he came to the realization that she had not, in fact, loved him in return it was already too late. The corruption was there already, a seed of desire that one day might take root and drive him along the same path - something Athena seemed all too enthusiastic about.
In desperation, and with no other options available, Lahabrea turned to the extreme; tearing out half of his very soul to dispense with the corruption and the memories of what he had seen, storing both in a crystal. And with that done, he personally saw to Athena's end and - he believed - the end of her twisted machinations, quite entirely unaware that her memories fled instead to the very crystal she had created: the Heart of Sabik. Lahabrea did not, however, see fit to mention the details of Athena's death to Erichthonios, likely out of desire to allow Erichthonios to recall his mother as he had known her. And if that should mean that he should come to hate Lahabrea for his nebulous involvement in regards to the "accident" that had resulted in her death, than so be it.
And thus it is that time passes. Erichthonios himself becomes one Pandaemonium's warders, but aside from that things are largely business in Pandaemonium. Until one day all communication from Pandaemonium abruptly ceases following what is described as "an unnatural shift" in the flow of aether surrounding it. Interestingly, perhaps, despite being the chief keywarden at this time and thus in charge of the whole of its workings, Lahabrea does not personally involve himself at this time. Instead, a young man by the name of Themis, acting as something like an emissary to the Convocation makes his way to Pandaemonium, crossing paths - and joining forces - with the player character along the way.
As soon as they cross the threshold of Pandaemonium, it becomes immediately clear that things are not going well. For one, something is eating away at the very wards keeping Pandaemonium safe - from the inside. For another, there are almost no warders to be seen, until the pair stumble across Erichthonios... who promptly proceeds to attack them instead. One fight to bring him back to his senses later, Erichthonios explains what he knows of what's going on. While he doesn't know who or what, something - or someone - has released the subjects interred in at least the upper circle of Pandaemonium. More worryingly, most of the other warders seem to be nowhere to be found, be they dead or simply hiding somewhere safe. Erichthonios is also emphatically insistent that the Convocation not hear of what has been happening; while he and Lahabrea are somewhat (and understandably!) estranged he knows well enough that Lahabrea's first action would be to propose that Pandaemonium be simply unmade, in order to swiftly and conclusively eliminate the potential threat to the star. As things don't seem terribly dire, Themis agrees to this, and so they set about the dual task of returning the wayward creations to their confinement. And to find out just who, exactly, is behind the mayhem.
They partially succeed. Their path leads them to the Keyward of Asphodelos (the outermost circle of Pandaemonium) himself: Hesperos. A man Erichthonios, at least, knows to be a kind man, who has compassion for all under his care, be they warder or creation. The Hesperos they find... is not that. Instead, he has become cruel and aloof - and also appears to have been turned into something similar to a vampire. Or as he seems to prefer to style himself: a hemitheos; for he claims to stand on the precipice of godhood. Unsurprisingly, a fight swiftly ensues. However, for all that Hesperos is ultimately defeated, he chooses death by his own hand rather than reveal any further information. Be it of how he came to be a hemitheos or the truth of his deceptions.
And still something lurks in Pandaemonium; deeper in the lower circles, the passage to which is blocked a warding sigil even Themis and Erichthonios are not easily able to unravel.
Of course, video games being video games, Themis does eventually manage to unravel the warding sigil standing in their way. But not before Erichthonios - left temporarily alone while Themis follows up on some idle curiosity elsewhere - has a visit from a strange familiar. One that knows a surprising amount about both Erichthonios and his father, including details he'd spoken to no one else. And which seems - or rather, the person speaking through it seems - to be more than willing to drag Erichthonios into some manner of experiment. To the point that it's only the timely arrival of both Themis and the player character that sees the familar chased away. With the group thus reformed, they press on into Abyssos.
Which is to say, they walk pretty much directly into the trap set by their unknown adversary. One impromptu fight with yet another of the creations held in Pandaemonium later, Erichthonios and the others find themselves face-to-face with said adversary: Lahabrea himself. Worse still, perhaps, Lahabrea appears to have fallen sway to Athena's desires - or at least, seems willing to help Erichthonios fulfill his wish to see his mother again, something Erichthonios seems to neither expect nor trust. Before any further conversation can be had on this point however, a second Lahabrea makes his entrance, announcing his presence by striking the first with a fireball. In the ensuing conversation, two things are revealed. First and foremost, the second Lahabrea to arrive on the scene is the real one. The other "Lahabrea" is nothing less than the memories that Lahabrea had previously excised, now taking on a corporeal form and going by the name Hephaistos. Additionally, Themis is actually Elidibus, another member of the Convocation of Fourteen and Lahabrea's coworker. However, for all that questions are raised as to the true nature of Hephaistos plans, he refuses to allow himself to be goaded into such revelations and instead takes his leave. Lahabrea, in turn, suggests that he and the others return to safer locations both for further discussions and some much needed explanations. Much of the ensuing conversation centers on Hephaistos, who Lahabrea implies is more of a darker echo of himself rather than literally part of his soul and memories, but he does also touch on why he has only just now chosen to arrive. Per his own explanation, he had been aware of the anomalies occurring within Pandaemonium, but had also been aware that Themis had been looking into the matter, and had thus not seen it as necessary to become personally involved. However, he had grown suspicious upon receiving a report from one of the keywardens that all was well rather than a formal report from Elidibus and had taken matters into his own hands.
In more ways than one. No sooner has he finished his explanations of the hows and whys of his arrival then he states that should Hephaistos manage to tear down Pandaemonium's protective wards it will invite disaster unto their very star. Naturally, he immediately proposes that Pandaemonium be summarily destroyed and all research to be abandoned. Erichthonios, however, is unwilling to simply leave the other warders to their doom and raises a protest - not least of all because the plan of "fight the monsters" has been working well enough so far. Still, Lahabrea will not be swayed, and in the end it takes Elidibus acting as an impartial observer (part of his official role within the Convocation) before Lahabrea grudgingly agrees to at least see if there's merit in Erichthonios' plan. And even then implies that he is not above the immediate destruction of Pandaemonium should he find the strength of the others to be insufficient for their chosen course.
Needless to say, this does not do much to improve Erichthonios' already abysmal opinions on Lahabrea. Still, there is yet the matter of Hephaistos' secrets, and with that and Erichthonios' questions about how his mother met her end, the group forges on. This time, however, the trial facing them is one Hephaistos has set in their way: another hemitheos, this time born of the keyward of Abyssos. The fight that ensues is a difficult one, but in the end the player character once again rises victorious and this time, Erichthonios and Themis manage to seal the hemitheos away, in hopes that they might eventually be able to undo the damage that had been wrought. But even in the wake of an unmitigated success, tensions are still running high between Lahabrea and Erichthonios, until finally Lahabrea tries to insist that Erichthonios leave Pandaemonium and not seek to return. Which has reasonable explanation! Through the entirety of Pandaemonium it has been frequently noted that Erichthonios is not particularly gifted in magic, something that Lahabrea himself knows well, and Lahabrea has concerns about his stated desire to learn about Athena's fate. To say nothing of the fact that Ericthonios admits to a curiosity as to how Hephaistos means to resurrect Athena.
Unfortunately, Lahabrea's injunction backfires, driving Erichtonios to anger... and the trap Hephaistos had laid earlier snaps shut. You see, the familiar that Erichthonios had encountered previously had been his, and so too the poisoned words he had slipped into Ericthonios' ear. Ericthonios, who was and still is vital to Athena's plans; though Erichthonios knows naught of either neither does he wish to break free of the trap. Or so much as see it for what it is. Instead, he disappears, allowing himself to be drawn to Hephaistos' side in search of the answers to his questions.
To his credit, Lahabrea does realize he fucked up pretty much immediately, but Erichthonios is still gone and the only choice Lahabrea and the others have is to make their way to Hephaistos himself, both to save Erichthonios and to get some actual answers besides. From both Hephaistos and Lahabrea, who refuses to reveal anything more until Hephaistos is laid low. Not that Hephaistos makes it easy, given that one more hemitheos stands in their way, but in due time Lahabrea and the others manage to make it down to the deepest depths of Pandaemonium, where Hephaistos has made his lair. The very lair Athena herself had used for her experiments and it's more than clear that Hephaistos means to continue them, given Erichthonios is already bound and unconscious. This time, however, it's no mere hemitheos that bars the path but Hephaistos himself, now complete with a monstrous transformation under his belt. (...It's a Final Fantasy; gotta have that cool boss form.) Still, he too falls... though he does not yield. Instead, like a proper final boss, he climbs to his feet and begins to explain his true goal. Namely, to fulfill Athena's ambition and see Erichthonios' dream brought to life. Ambitions that would see the very world destroyed, as Lahabrea is quick to point out.
Monologues proceed to ensue, with Lahabrea denouncing Hephaistos ambitions and Hephaistos attempting to insist that surely there is no harm in mending a broken family... without stopping to mention the part where resurrection of sort he means to attempt is anathema at best and outright impossible at worst. In the end, it's Erichthonios who breaks the stalemate, stirring to consciousness just enough to hear at least some of what is being said (including the truth about Athena having loved no one but herself) and in a moment of defiance, breaks his bonds and then turns to bind Hephaistos in the same chains that had been previously put to use earlier in Pandaemonium. Which actually works, despite Lahabrea's earlier misgivings that it might not do so, and so Hephaistos is once again bound in crystal. It's here, at the end of all things, and with Hephaistos once again contained that Lahabrea finally speaks of the truth of Athena's final moments to the others. Of how she had showed him her very soul, and he had cut away part of his soul in order to escape the poison she had left behind. An act that Elidibus is quick to mention very nearly rewrote his very existence. Which does at least go some ways to explain why Lahabrea had kept the crystal in the first place - had something gone wrong with what remained of his soul, that single crystal would have been his only recourse.
Thus, with Hephaistos' ambitions brought to an end, Pandaemonium and those who remain begin to see to the process of rebuilding. There is, however, one lingering question: if Hephaistos had previously existed as naught more than memories preserved in crystal, how did he become free in the first place. The answer, unsurprisingly, lies with Athena. Or rather, with her influence - in this case on one of the keywardens of Pandaemonium: Hegemone. A woman whose vision of Pandaemonium had much more closely aligned with Athena's than with Lahabrea's, and once he realizes this truth, he confronts her over it. However, as he explains, though he may be capable of seeing Athena's influence he is unable to break it. You see, in removing the part of his soul that would become Hephaistos he did so at significant cost to his magic. Thus if he is to set things truly to rights, he must needs reclaim that portion of himself. Which he promptly does, shattering the crystal that holds Hephaistos, and in so doing reclaiming soul (corruption included), memories and magic - magic he promptly turns on Hegemone by quite literally burning the malign influence away.
That done he... immediately turns around and asks if she will serve him once more, a fact that even Hegemone expresses some surprise at given that she'd literally betrayed him for his wife. Lahabrea, however, simply remarks that the past is of no consequence and that he requires her talents, which seems to be enough to convince Hegemone to pledge that she will see Pandaemonium restored to its former glory.
It's at some point after this, and his departure from Pandaemonium itself that Lahabrea will end up on the Barge.
Sample Network Entry: https://tlvgreatesthitsdw.dreamwidth.org/118672.html?thread=37725072#cmt37725072
Sample RP: https://tlvgreatesthitsdw.dreamwidth.org/118923.html?thread=37795979#cmt37795979
Special Notes: Given that Lahabrea's true height would come in at somewhere around 18 feet or so, he will be scaled down to a much more manageable 6'9"
User DW:
amphibologiesE-mail/Plurk/Discord/PM to a character journal/alternate method of contact:
Other Characters Currently In-Game: Xigbar
Character Name: Lahabrea (originally Hephaistos)
Series: Final Fantasy XIV
Age: unknown, but has a fully adult son (interviews suggest that Lahabrea is at least the equivalent of somewhere in the 50-60 range, if not more)
From When?: After the conclusion of events in Pandaemonium
Warden Justification: At first glance, one might assume that Lahabrea is about the furthest thing from suited for the position of warden - the society from which he hails has neither meaningful amounts of violence nor (as far as we can tell) any real crime to speak of. However despite this fact, he is nonetheless possessed of not only qualities that make him suited to the role of warden but also a surprising amount of experience that could easily be translated to wardening.
First and foremost is the fact that he is man who takes his sworn duty as the utmost priority, and will do everything in his power to see that duty done, whether it be stewardship of the planet he lives on (as in canon), or as will be the case on the Barge, seeing an inmate through to graduation. Beyond this, he has literal centuries of experience in both leadership positions - one loosely governmental and one associated with academia - and simply working to improve things, even if that has not always been on a personal level. And yet, for all that it is not, he is noted to be someone who often inspires loyalty in others (some of whom he has directly mentored, during his work in academia), which is mentioned has being highly unusual in a society where strong emotions are not terribly common at least on the surface. The exact reasoning behind this is something we never see or hear much about, but it is noted by one of his colleagues that his actions, while unorthodox, do seem to be guided by a sense of what is just. This is further emphasized by Lahabrea himself admitting that he is not near so petty as to deny the achievements of someone just because he might disagree with them, and indeed we do see him willing to listen even despite his own feelings on a given matter.
And then there's the matter of Pandaemonium. The closest thing to a prison that Amaurot has, Lahabrea himself built it and serves as chief overseer. True, Pandaemonium is not so much a prison in modern terms as a place to research more violent creations, but it does mean he understands the idea of either needing or wanting to keep a given entity separate from society at large, and that is at least enough to give him a solid foundation to start on. And from there, his own native stubbornness and unwillingness to give up will be more than enough to help he see matters through to their completion.
Item: a small red crystal marked with the constellation Pisces
Abilities/Powers: Where applicable, nerfs will be noted in bold
Sorcerer
Like many others from the society in which he comes, Lahabrea is possessed of no small amount of magical ability. While he is noted to be particularly talented at creation magic (see below), he is also a mage of no small skill, to the point that even later on in the game and canonically diminished in skill he still poses a fierce foe to the player character. When it comes to offensive magic, he has a strong preference to fire-based spells, and uses them nearly exclusively in the fights we see him in, though it would not be unreasonable to assume that he would be equally capable of using magic aligned with the other elements besides (namely: earth, wind, ice, water, and lightning) as well as possibly those aligned to darkness. (In his later years he does use darkness-aligned spells but it's unclear if this would also be true as of his current canon point.)
In additional to this, he would be familiar with - and almost certainly capable of casting - a variety of non-combat spells, ranging from an assortment of warding spells to illusions. He is also fully capable of using magic to, essentially, draw someone up into the air and hold them immobile as well as using it as a form of teleportation, by means of what appear to be something similar to portals. He will be unable to teleport into locked cabins, or anywhere else a warden would be unable get to, and will similarly be unable to actually leave the Barge.
Beyond the range of pure spell-casting, Lahabrea is also capable of seeing both magical workings that might otherwise be invisible (wards, etc.) as well as the aether of an individual, as well as being able to identify malign influences acting on that individual, though the few instances of this we see are cases where he would know what to look for. For the purposes of the Barge, his ability to sense/recognize aether will only work on those who have magic or similar abilities and will only work at a range equivalent to his natural sight.
Creation magic
As the name might suggest, creation magic is the act of literally creating something out of nothing more than willpower and magic, and is a form of magic that Lahabrea is uncommonly good at, noted to be "a master of every recognized creation magick." His particular specialty - or perhaps simply that which he enjoys most - appears to be phantomology which... is never specifically explained in game but is either creation focused specifically on spirits and animated objects that lack a solid body (suits of armor, etc) or a study of unknown creations. Either way, there are regardless several restrictions to what creation magic. First and foremost, it cannot be used to create anything with a soul. It also requires both that the individual casting the spell have a full and complete understanding of that they wish to create and no small amount of focus besides - there are several occasions where even a stray thought has been noted to dramatically alter a creation.
On the Barge, Lahabrea will be limited by his own natural aether reserves when creating new objects in addition to the restrictions inherent to canon and thus will need to take some care with what he should choose to create/how often he should choose to do so, with creations proving more taxing the more complex they are.
Interment magic
A form of magic whose foundation was established by Lahabrea, this is used within Pandaemonium in order to keep the often-dangerous creations studied there comparatively docile and comes in two forms. Aetherial shackles, which temporarily bind the target, and interment, which freezes the space around a subject for as long as the caster wills it. Both of these will only be used with direct player permission, and interment will be only sustainable as long as his aether reserves hold out.
Transformation
Like many other Amaurotines, Lahabrea is presumably also capable of assuming a transformation (read: boss form) that is implied to be something like the truest expression of their selves and serves as a general power boost, though it's also somewhat frowned on to do so willy-nilly in Amaurotine culture. Since we never actually see Lahabrea's, we have no way of knowing what it looks like, but for the sake of thoroughness, I'm putting this here anyway.
The Echo
"The Echo" is something catch-all term the game uses to cover a variety of effects, the most immediately noticeable of which - the ability to understand all spoken language - is rendered largely moot by the presence of the Barge's universal translator, but it is none the less an ability Lahabrea possesses. Beyond this, the Echo allows him (and most Amaurotines) the ability to see the past through either someone's memories or the imprints left behind in the ambient aether of a location. Both, however, require specific and deliberate intention, and are best focused by memories of strong emotions. Like interment, both iterations of this manifestation of the Echo will only be used with player permission.
Scholar
While we have fewer direct mentions of Lahabrea's scholarly accomplishments as compared to his magical prowess, he is nonetheless directly mentioned to be a renowned orator, and it is further implied that all the members of the Convocation are "sages of surpassing intellect." And indeed, what reports we do have suggest that Lahabrea is exceedingly knowledgeable when it comes to creation specifically and he is unlikely to have let that be the whole of his knowledge. We do, additionally, know that he worked very closely with the Words of Lahabrea - a branch of Akadaemia Anyder, which serves as at least one of the larger centers of education of Amaurot - and served as mentor to at least some of the individuals studying there.
He also has enough of a solid understanding of the inner workings of magic to help establish a whole new branch of magic, so there's that.
Wardening Strategies and Philosophies: Life on the Barge will be a significant change for Lahabrea, for a number of reasons. However, he has never much been one to let uncertainty sway him from his course, once he has decided on it, and though it may take him some time to feel like he properly has his feet under him, he will absolutely stubborn his way through regardless. This overall stubbornness and conviction will also leave him very hard to sway from his course, which will likely prove beneficial for more stubborn inmates. Nor is he likely to be violent himself, partly as a result of the societal norms of his own time and place and partly because he genuinely will not see a particular need to turn to violence to prove his point. He will instead favor more reasoned discussions about any given behavior, though he is more than capable of being stern should it be required of him. (He will also tend to come across as stern just in general, given that he is about the furthest thing from emotionally open.)
As far as he is concerned, his role on the Barge will be something loosely similarly to a mentorship role - his goal as he understands it will be to take something that is not working (an inmate, with assorted unresolved issues) and turn that into something that is (an individual who at least no longer requires being removed from the society they had come from). Finding the right path to get there might be a little tricky, but he is no stranger to failure, nor to simply trying again. A stubborn persistence that has served him will before and will no doubt do so again here, even despite the fact that the vast majority of his cultural touchstones - especially as related to social behavior and what is expected of people - stand distinctly at odds to many that other people aboard will have.
He will not, however, be particularly useful to inmates who need gentler approaches or who otherwise react poorly to stern hands. Likewise, he is not going to be particularly great with anything do to with emotions. This is partly due to the fact that the concept of mental health doesn't seem to exist in Amaurot, or is at least not anything that has significant social structures in place and also partly do to the fact that he is still coming to terms with having essentially reinstalled the greater portion of his emotions just recently. Additionally he does have something of a temper underneath his stern exterior and is not above making somewhat impulsive judgments. And speaking of his stern exterior, that selfsame sternness also has something of tendency to make him come off as a little cold, especially given his general lack of emotional openness.
Deal: To have Athena's corruption removed from his soul
History:
Much of Lahabrea's past prior to him rising to the seat of Lahabrea - one of the fourteen seats on the ruling body of Amaurot, referred to as the Convocation of Fourteen - is unknown. What we do know is that at some point he was raised to that seat, most likely for his skill in creation magic though he may also have been a skilled orator as while by that time. At some point up to and including 'at the same time as taking on the role of Lahabrea' he also became involved with the branch of Akadaemia Anyder that focused largely on creation magics - the Words of Lahabrea. It was through this latter that he met the woman who would have a lasting impact on his life: Athena.
At first, their meetings were - as described by Lahabrea - nothing more than a meeting of two brilliant minds, developing theories about things no one else might have dared to explore. But over time what had begun as a sort of mutual respect developed into something more, and it's at this point we have to briefly take a segue somewhere else. You see, at some point after she and Lahabrea became known to each other, Athena came across an unusual crystal; one unlike anything else and of unknown origin. Dubbing the crystal 'auracite', she spent countless hours researching it feverishly - enough so as to be unusual even for her - before the auracite became the ultimate fruit of her labors: a black crystal she dubbed "the Heart of Sabik".
Regardless of when, exactly, the Heart of Sabik was created, Lahabrea and Athena did still fall in love and eventually had a kid together, a son they named Ericthonios.
Unfortunately for (almost) everyone involved, things were not to stay idyllic forever. You see, there's a slight problem with auracite: namely, that it is prone to enhancing and magnifying a person's greatest ambitions - and very frequently in a way that is not great. And given the amount of time she had spent studying it, Athena fell victim to auracite's influence. Lahabrea, in turn, likely noticing the effect it had on her but also possibly looking for ways to keep the corruption away from the population at large, put her in charge of the newly created Pandaemonium - a prison/research center for more dangerous creations that he had built - at her direct request that she be so. (Which was possibly not the best idea in hindsight but did at least serve to keep Athena somewhat isolated from the larger populace.)
At some point subsequent to this - and presumably once he was at least reasonably on his way to full-grown - Erichthonios also takes up a position in Pandaemonium; what implications we get are that it was possibly at Athena's invitation. This is about the point where things start to go really pear-shaped. While Athena was always more than willing to explore branches of science that other people might have considered anathema at best, the auracite only ramped up that same desire to experiment as far as possible, to the point that she came to the decision to reach for godhood itself. And with Erichthonios now firmly within her sphere of influence she proceeded to do exactly that, using Erichthonios himself as the vessel through which she would attain that which she longed for. What exactly this would have entailed is not clear, however, not least of all for the fact that Lahabrea caught wind of what she was up to and came to Pandaemonium to confront Athena himself. Needless to say, he was more than a little appalled at the full scope of her ambitions, not least of all for the fact that she seemed perfectly willing to sacrifice their son to fuel them.
Knowing, however, that Lahabrea was a man with a deep and abiding desire to know, Athena offers her final proposal: that the two of them join their souls as one, that he might know the whole of her and see her memories - her thoughts - as his own. And Lahabrea, driven by one single question, agrees. Had she ever truly loved him? Thus, did two (briefly) become one, and though Lahabrea saw into Athena's very heart - understood, in that one moment, all that drove her as if it had been his own - the answer to his question was a resounding "no". Athena cared not a whit for an other, be it himself, any other, or the very star itself. Worse still, his direct contact with her soul had also brought him into very direct contact with the auracite's corruption, and though he broke the soul merge as soon as he came to the realization that she had not, in fact, loved him in return it was already too late. The corruption was there already, a seed of desire that one day might take root and drive him along the same path - something Athena seemed all too enthusiastic about.
In desperation, and with no other options available, Lahabrea turned to the extreme; tearing out half of his very soul to dispense with the corruption and the memories of what he had seen, storing both in a crystal. And with that done, he personally saw to Athena's end and - he believed - the end of her twisted machinations, quite entirely unaware that her memories fled instead to the very crystal she had created: the Heart of Sabik. Lahabrea did not, however, see fit to mention the details of Athena's death to Erichthonios, likely out of desire to allow Erichthonios to recall his mother as he had known her. And if that should mean that he should come to hate Lahabrea for his nebulous involvement in regards to the "accident" that had resulted in her death, than so be it.
And thus it is that time passes. Erichthonios himself becomes one Pandaemonium's warders, but aside from that things are largely business in Pandaemonium. Until one day all communication from Pandaemonium abruptly ceases following what is described as "an unnatural shift" in the flow of aether surrounding it. Interestingly, perhaps, despite being the chief keywarden at this time and thus in charge of the whole of its workings, Lahabrea does not personally involve himself at this time. Instead, a young man by the name of Themis, acting as something like an emissary to the Convocation makes his way to Pandaemonium, crossing paths - and joining forces - with the player character along the way.
As soon as they cross the threshold of Pandaemonium, it becomes immediately clear that things are not going well. For one, something is eating away at the very wards keeping Pandaemonium safe - from the inside. For another, there are almost no warders to be seen, until the pair stumble across Erichthonios... who promptly proceeds to attack them instead. One fight to bring him back to his senses later, Erichthonios explains what he knows of what's going on. While he doesn't know who or what, something - or someone - has released the subjects interred in at least the upper circle of Pandaemonium. More worryingly, most of the other warders seem to be nowhere to be found, be they dead or simply hiding somewhere safe. Erichthonios is also emphatically insistent that the Convocation not hear of what has been happening; while he and Lahabrea are somewhat (and understandably!) estranged he knows well enough that Lahabrea's first action would be to propose that Pandaemonium be simply unmade, in order to swiftly and conclusively eliminate the potential threat to the star. As things don't seem terribly dire, Themis agrees to this, and so they set about the dual task of returning the wayward creations to their confinement. And to find out just who, exactly, is behind the mayhem.
They partially succeed. Their path leads them to the Keyward of Asphodelos (the outermost circle of Pandaemonium) himself: Hesperos. A man Erichthonios, at least, knows to be a kind man, who has compassion for all under his care, be they warder or creation. The Hesperos they find... is not that. Instead, he has become cruel and aloof - and also appears to have been turned into something similar to a vampire. Or as he seems to prefer to style himself: a hemitheos; for he claims to stand on the precipice of godhood. Unsurprisingly, a fight swiftly ensues. However, for all that Hesperos is ultimately defeated, he chooses death by his own hand rather than reveal any further information. Be it of how he came to be a hemitheos or the truth of his deceptions.
And still something lurks in Pandaemonium; deeper in the lower circles, the passage to which is blocked a warding sigil even Themis and Erichthonios are not easily able to unravel.
Of course, video games being video games, Themis does eventually manage to unravel the warding sigil standing in their way. But not before Erichthonios - left temporarily alone while Themis follows up on some idle curiosity elsewhere - has a visit from a strange familiar. One that knows a surprising amount about both Erichthonios and his father, including details he'd spoken to no one else. And which seems - or rather, the person speaking through it seems - to be more than willing to drag Erichthonios into some manner of experiment. To the point that it's only the timely arrival of both Themis and the player character that sees the familar chased away. With the group thus reformed, they press on into Abyssos.
Which is to say, they walk pretty much directly into the trap set by their unknown adversary. One impromptu fight with yet another of the creations held in Pandaemonium later, Erichthonios and the others find themselves face-to-face with said adversary: Lahabrea himself. Worse still, perhaps, Lahabrea appears to have fallen sway to Athena's desires - or at least, seems willing to help Erichthonios fulfill his wish to see his mother again, something Erichthonios seems to neither expect nor trust. Before any further conversation can be had on this point however, a second Lahabrea makes his entrance, announcing his presence by striking the first with a fireball. In the ensuing conversation, two things are revealed. First and foremost, the second Lahabrea to arrive on the scene is the real one. The other "Lahabrea" is nothing less than the memories that Lahabrea had previously excised, now taking on a corporeal form and going by the name Hephaistos. Additionally, Themis is actually Elidibus, another member of the Convocation of Fourteen and Lahabrea's coworker. However, for all that questions are raised as to the true nature of Hephaistos plans, he refuses to allow himself to be goaded into such revelations and instead takes his leave. Lahabrea, in turn, suggests that he and the others return to safer locations both for further discussions and some much needed explanations. Much of the ensuing conversation centers on Hephaistos, who Lahabrea implies is more of a darker echo of himself rather than literally part of his soul and memories, but he does also touch on why he has only just now chosen to arrive. Per his own explanation, he had been aware of the anomalies occurring within Pandaemonium, but had also been aware that Themis had been looking into the matter, and had thus not seen it as necessary to become personally involved. However, he had grown suspicious upon receiving a report from one of the keywardens that all was well rather than a formal report from Elidibus and had taken matters into his own hands.
In more ways than one. No sooner has he finished his explanations of the hows and whys of his arrival then he states that should Hephaistos manage to tear down Pandaemonium's protective wards it will invite disaster unto their very star. Naturally, he immediately proposes that Pandaemonium be summarily destroyed and all research to be abandoned. Erichthonios, however, is unwilling to simply leave the other warders to their doom and raises a protest - not least of all because the plan of "fight the monsters" has been working well enough so far. Still, Lahabrea will not be swayed, and in the end it takes Elidibus acting as an impartial observer (part of his official role within the Convocation) before Lahabrea grudgingly agrees to at least see if there's merit in Erichthonios' plan. And even then implies that he is not above the immediate destruction of Pandaemonium should he find the strength of the others to be insufficient for their chosen course.
Needless to say, this does not do much to improve Erichthonios' already abysmal opinions on Lahabrea. Still, there is yet the matter of Hephaistos' secrets, and with that and Erichthonios' questions about how his mother met her end, the group forges on. This time, however, the trial facing them is one Hephaistos has set in their way: another hemitheos, this time born of the keyward of Abyssos. The fight that ensues is a difficult one, but in the end the player character once again rises victorious and this time, Erichthonios and Themis manage to seal the hemitheos away, in hopes that they might eventually be able to undo the damage that had been wrought. But even in the wake of an unmitigated success, tensions are still running high between Lahabrea and Erichthonios, until finally Lahabrea tries to insist that Erichthonios leave Pandaemonium and not seek to return. Which has reasonable explanation! Through the entirety of Pandaemonium it has been frequently noted that Erichthonios is not particularly gifted in magic, something that Lahabrea himself knows well, and Lahabrea has concerns about his stated desire to learn about Athena's fate. To say nothing of the fact that Ericthonios admits to a curiosity as to how Hephaistos means to resurrect Athena.
Unfortunately, Lahabrea's injunction backfires, driving Erichtonios to anger... and the trap Hephaistos had laid earlier snaps shut. You see, the familiar that Erichthonios had encountered previously had been his, and so too the poisoned words he had slipped into Ericthonios' ear. Ericthonios, who was and still is vital to Athena's plans; though Erichthonios knows naught of either neither does he wish to break free of the trap. Or so much as see it for what it is. Instead, he disappears, allowing himself to be drawn to Hephaistos' side in search of the answers to his questions.
To his credit, Lahabrea does realize he fucked up pretty much immediately, but Erichthonios is still gone and the only choice Lahabrea and the others have is to make their way to Hephaistos himself, both to save Erichthonios and to get some actual answers besides. From both Hephaistos and Lahabrea, who refuses to reveal anything more until Hephaistos is laid low. Not that Hephaistos makes it easy, given that one more hemitheos stands in their way, but in due time Lahabrea and the others manage to make it down to the deepest depths of Pandaemonium, where Hephaistos has made his lair. The very lair Athena herself had used for her experiments and it's more than clear that Hephaistos means to continue them, given Erichthonios is already bound and unconscious. This time, however, it's no mere hemitheos that bars the path but Hephaistos himself, now complete with a monstrous transformation under his belt. (...It's a Final Fantasy; gotta have that cool boss form.) Still, he too falls... though he does not yield. Instead, like a proper final boss, he climbs to his feet and begins to explain his true goal. Namely, to fulfill Athena's ambition and see Erichthonios' dream brought to life. Ambitions that would see the very world destroyed, as Lahabrea is quick to point out.
Monologues proceed to ensue, with Lahabrea denouncing Hephaistos ambitions and Hephaistos attempting to insist that surely there is no harm in mending a broken family... without stopping to mention the part where resurrection of sort he means to attempt is anathema at best and outright impossible at worst. In the end, it's Erichthonios who breaks the stalemate, stirring to consciousness just enough to hear at least some of what is being said (including the truth about Athena having loved no one but herself) and in a moment of defiance, breaks his bonds and then turns to bind Hephaistos in the same chains that had been previously put to use earlier in Pandaemonium. Which actually works, despite Lahabrea's earlier misgivings that it might not do so, and so Hephaistos is once again bound in crystal. It's here, at the end of all things, and with Hephaistos once again contained that Lahabrea finally speaks of the truth of Athena's final moments to the others. Of how she had showed him her very soul, and he had cut away part of his soul in order to escape the poison she had left behind. An act that Elidibus is quick to mention very nearly rewrote his very existence. Which does at least go some ways to explain why Lahabrea had kept the crystal in the first place - had something gone wrong with what remained of his soul, that single crystal would have been his only recourse.
Thus, with Hephaistos' ambitions brought to an end, Pandaemonium and those who remain begin to see to the process of rebuilding. There is, however, one lingering question: if Hephaistos had previously existed as naught more than memories preserved in crystal, how did he become free in the first place. The answer, unsurprisingly, lies with Athena. Or rather, with her influence - in this case on one of the keywardens of Pandaemonium: Hegemone. A woman whose vision of Pandaemonium had much more closely aligned with Athena's than with Lahabrea's, and once he realizes this truth, he confronts her over it. However, as he explains, though he may be capable of seeing Athena's influence he is unable to break it. You see, in removing the part of his soul that would become Hephaistos he did so at significant cost to his magic. Thus if he is to set things truly to rights, he must needs reclaim that portion of himself. Which he promptly does, shattering the crystal that holds Hephaistos, and in so doing reclaiming soul (corruption included), memories and magic - magic he promptly turns on Hegemone by quite literally burning the malign influence away.
That done he... immediately turns around and asks if she will serve him once more, a fact that even Hegemone expresses some surprise at given that she'd literally betrayed him for his wife. Lahabrea, however, simply remarks that the past is of no consequence and that he requires her talents, which seems to be enough to convince Hegemone to pledge that she will see Pandaemonium restored to its former glory.
It's at some point after this, and his departure from Pandaemonium itself that Lahabrea will end up on the Barge.
Sample Network Entry: https://tlvgreatesthitsdw.dreamwidth.org/118672.html?thread=37725072#cmt37725072
Sample RP: https://tlvgreatesthitsdw.dreamwidth.org/118923.html?thread=37795979#cmt37795979
Special Notes: Given that Lahabrea's true height would come in at somewhere around 18 feet or so, he will be scaled down to a much more manageable 6'9"