• Appearance
• Personality
• History
• Hooks
• OOC

The Voidmage

Melfice Vainchelon

Age - 44

Race - Corrupted Midlander

Marital Status - Married

Height - 7'4"

Weight - 240 ponze

Melfice prefers to keep to himself more often than not, going through great lengths to have in-depth discussions with those he considers beneath him. (Spoiler Alert: Almost everyone).When he does manage to find someone that piques his interest, he opens up a bit more and is far more likely to discuss things. Bonus points will be rewarded if the individual has some sort of connection to research or knowledge. Science or magic, it matters not. Any chance to learn something from a new perspective not his own is an experience he simply can't avoid to lose. It all serves the purpose of furthering his own goals in life.Despite his rather unwelcoming diposition, Melfice can often be found observing the actions and conversations of others, not bothering to hide the fact that he's staring. He doesn't see such actions as rude simply because he approaches these interactions from a scientific standpoint. As such, the man can be vehemently blunt at times. He will occasionally catch himself and rein in his comments in order to keep in tune to society's acceptable social graces, but these sort of moments are quite rare; especially if he doesn't consider the person he's speaking to worth the effort.

But do not be led astray; the man has quite the temper. He is generally good at hiding this, though there are a few buttons one can press to bring this anger out immediately. It is something that his Mistress, Shadiyah, has perfected to an art and uses it to control him when it best suits her needs.For others, especially those he perceives to be beneath him, it is much harder to drive him to that unbridled rage. He also suffers from haphephobia, and anyone that crosses that line with him will immediately be met with his fury. There are very few that he will allow to touch him, and they will forever be protected and cared for at all costs regardless of the sacrifice it takes.He is a combatant, though he often prefers to not engage in it. When those he loves are threatened or when someone crosses his boundaries repeatedly, he is quick to return in kind.The man has studied how aether works for the vast majority of his life. He has mastered the flow of white and dark magic, and after being corrupted by the creature he summoned, now casts the dark and corrupting magicks of the Void itself.He is capable of withstanding such a unique blend of aether flowing through his body due to his bond with his wife, a succubus that has effectively leeched herself to him not only thanks to the abnormal amount of aether that his vessel holds, but also because the two grew to love one another very deeply.

Melfice's history starts out as normal as anyone can. His family was not particularly rich, but they were wealthy. His mother worked as a doctor, treating and studying various strange and rare illnesses. His father was a scientist, and together they did their best to help ease the burdens of society. The family lived in a grand estate some ways out of Ul'dah, where they would be left alone to their own devices and out of the way of prying eyes. Melfice's fiancé also lived with them, an avid scholar and that apprenticed under his mother. Meanwhile, Melfice was tutored by both mother and father.Occasionally a member of the public would visit in search of one of their elixirs, which the Vainchelon family happily offered. They were kind people, and everyone knew that. No matter how rich or poor, no one was turned away at their door.Eventually Melfice's mother and father received a note of assistance. During one of the Garlean skirmishes, several men and women at war had been stricken by a strange illness. Without hesitation the two left to do what they could to assist the war effort. It would, ultimately, be the first step toward Melfice's path of destruction.

Melfice and his fiance did their best to carry on the work of his mother and father. They were meant to be remembered as some of the best times of his life, but now it is recalled only as the prelude to his downfall. A letter would eventually arrive detailing of the death of his parents. They had been unable to determine the cause of the sickness, and due to how many of the troops had been exposed, the camp was eventually overran. No one was left alive.He never got to recover their bodies. Never got to give them a proper burial. He'd never thought that the last day they walked out the front door would be the last day he ever saw them. With the note came a sample of the virus in hopes that Melfice and his fiance could use their more advanced tools at home.Try as they might, however, the lovers were unsuccessful in finding a cure. Melfice was far too green, having spent most of his time studying his beloved than the books. While she was far more dutiful, she was no match for the great minds of the Garlean Empire. Eventually, during a lab accident, Melfice's lover accidentally came into contact with the virus and passed shortly after.

Devastated, Melfice went down a path of destruction. He'd lost absolutely everything he'd ever known in a very short amount of time. His mother and father had often talked to him about the forbidden magicks that one should never touch. But they had never mentioned a trajedy quite like this.And so Melfice sought to lock himself in his mansion, doing his best to keep the body of his beloved, the only thing left in his life, preserved as much as possible. He began practicing dark magic, having had only a little experience with its opposing force.He began hoarding ancient books and texts of all types, becoming a collector of everything obscure and forbidden. The house fell in disrepair over the years while he practiced his work, and soon people simply assumed he had perished along with the rest of his family. As far as they were concerned, the Vainchelon estate had become a ghost house.Eventually Melfice gained enough knowledge to prepare his first major ritual: a spell of necromancy to bring his lover back from the dead. Her body was, admittedly, not in the best of shape but it was all he had to offer.He quickly found that necromancy wouldn't work. It animated the body, but the soul was nowhere to be found. This simply wouldn't do, and so he had to put the body down on his own. The form of his wife crunched beneath him as he beat it until it was lifeless once more. After all, it wasn't his fiancé. It looked like her, but she wasn't in there. No. He needed to learn more. He needed to seek answers elsewhere.After exhausting all conventional books and ideas, Melfice began exploring ancient civilizations. He looked to the dark and ancient city of Mach to find his answer, which in turn led him further back to of the Allagan Empire. He would summon from the void. They had grown immensely powerful using it as a source of energy. Why couldn't he?

After several more years of studying and preparation, ensuring everything was laid out just perfectly, Melfice began the ritual. He'd hoped to call forth a practitioner of the arts, a creature that he could either learn from or at the very least study in preparation of a second attempt. But all of his preparation would be for naught.A creature on the other side, desperate for release, saw the portal opening and dove into it. Immediately the two were in a brawl for dominance. She struck a gash across his face, and as she stepped forward in preparation of suckling every bit of aether from his form, Melfice--ever the careful with his various fail safes--managed to strap her in a binding ritual that had been prepared beforehand. He'll never forget the horror he felt the first time his eyes met her hollow pools of infinite darkness.The two fought each other often for dominance. She sought to test his limits, and he sought to gain any knowledge she had. An accord was created; she could feed off of him whenever she desired and, in return, she would teach him what she knew about the dark magic she weilded.Of course, the two had their own reasons for agreeing to this, and neither had truly planned to let the other grow too powerful or out of their reach. He was as much her plaything as she was his, and he knew it. This led to the pair often testing their boundaries to see what they could get away with.Through repetition, bonds of trust began to form. She no longer tried taking more aether than was offered, and she saw how well he took care of her. She was not allowed outside, of course, but she didn't care. She was out of the Void, after all. And that in of itself was a hint of freedom.One careless night after weeks without sleep, Melfice did not properly attune his aether to the wards holding her in her prison, and she soon found she could escape. There, standing in front of him with claws drawn, they both had a decision to make. They kissed.

After their first passionate night together where she received exactly what she'd wanted and he felt the sensation of another's touch in what must have been decades, a new understanding formed between the pair. Melfice learned that she wanted to be cured. She did not wish to be one of the Void anymore, and he vowed to do everything he could to help her. She learned that he truly wished no harm upon her and found herself relieved by the revelation.This led the two on various adventures. Melfice, caring little for anyone outside of his personal bubble, did unspeakable things. He formed contracts with unlucky denizens in exchange for their aether, life, or body, all for the prospect of feeding his lover, empowering himself, or using to study and test his newfound knowledge on. By taking their aether for his own and finding ways to increase his own capacity thanks to Shadiyah's guidance, he quickly became a powerful sorcerer.And so the cycle continued. Melfice would stumble across a soul down on their luck looking for help by any means, and he would conveniently offer it to them. Those that failed to keep their end of the bargain--and most did--would find themselves void of aether, stolen by Melfice for he and his. Those that succeeded did, indeed, gain what they wished for, along with Melfice's newfound respect. He was a man of his word, after all.This searching led him to finding his surrogate daughter, who he successfully brought back to life with the help of finely tuned aether crystals and a bit of Shadiyah's power. The two butt heads quite often due to Melfice's inability to stop manipulating people and put logic over emotions, but he does love her very much and has spent a great deal of time hoping to regain her respect and trust.He'd gone on to terrorize other individuals in his relentless search for power, abandoning his desire to revive his dead fiancé in lieu of the newfound goal and happiness that his beloved from the Void afforded him. Some claim that she has him under her spell, and that may very well be. Melfice would argue the opposite; that he can tell when she is asserting her influence over him. Shadiyah? She could tell you, too. But of course, you'd never know if it is the truth or not.

After many campaigns and adventures, thanks to gentle sweetness of his daughter and guidance from Miss Covington, Melfice began to soften. No longer did he simply take what he wanted from others, but instead sought out more (questionably) humane ways to obtain his goals.Melfice had once come close to curing Shadiyah, but instead used that cure on a child being targeted by a cult. This led him, out of desperation, to call forth another creature from the Void. What could go wrong, after all? He had far more experience by now and was far stronger. Shadiyah cautioned him against it, but he cared not. He cared not what happened to him as long as she was happy.And the spell worked. For a time. A large draconic void beast came through, and Melfice used his own body to bind it into their world. He felt power immeasurable, and was able to make great strides in finding a cure for his lover. But mortal bodies were not meant to hold such creatures for long, and soon it gained control of him. A rigorous campaign led by Shadiyah and Miss Covington both saw the creature expelled, but Melfice remained forever changed.He does still hold an affinity for the Void thanks to his experiment. And while he has not given up on searching for Shadiyah's cure, he is certainly taking a far more safe approach to it.They had been lovers for quite some time, but eventually grew close enough to finally bond to one another. Not only this, but Shadiyah opened herself to become specifically bonded to him, sharing a hint of her Void-like strength with him at all times. When the two are together they are a force to be reckoned with. Alone, Melfice functions as any normal caster would - just with a few surprises under his belt.After several more adventures, one that allowed them to adopt yet another daughter named Druscilla, Melfice returned to the Source and started a personal project. To keep Shadiyah safe and those like her that wish to be cured, he began what became the Island of Misfit Voids. Melfice uses his newfound venture to invite, study, and protect all denizens of the Void that wish to have a safe haven until he can manage a proper cure.