Empatheias App

⌈ PLAYER SECTION ⌉
Player: Minki
Contact: Plurk: froncentrate
Age: 22
Current Characters: N/A


⌈ CHARACTER SECTION ⌉
Character: Redcloak
Age: Mid-thirties, but has been alive for half a century
Canon: Order of the Stick
Canon Point: After Comic 901

Background: http://oots.wikia.com/wiki/Redcloak

Personality: Redcloak comes off as sarcastic with a dry sense of humor. He isn't one to tolerate fools, calling out his comrades on their insanity, like taking bets over whether prisoners survive various death traps or not. In a rare move, he criticized and mocked his “master” for losing his body. He's more than happy to show where other people went wrong, though in the case of the dim-witted Monster in the Dark, if it becomes too much of a trouble to do so, he would let it go all too easily. He styles himself as an intelligent, driven figure and a leader of his people, paying little mind to distractions that would only slow down his plans... Though even a wet blanket like Redcloak can't resist joining in on his comrades' fun sometimes, especially when it comes to watching a group of people deservedly (by his own judgment) getting their just desserts, like the Hobgoblins or any human. He takes somewhat of a pride in his own intelligence, but there are often cases where this turns against them. As with O-Chul, who simply knew nothing of what Redcloak assumed he knew, he refused to believe him only because he should know. Though intelligent, cases like these often blind him to the simplest solutions.

Before his village in Goblin Hills was wiped out by the Sapphire Guard, the then-High Priest of the Dark One first inducted him into his faith as an Acolyte where his goal was simply to “serve the community in some small way”. Even then, his main calling in life was to serve the Goblin people, to be part of a greater good. Witnessing his family and friends being wiped out all in a single day by human paladins only bolstered his will, driving him to shoulder the cause of his people. Redcloak deeply and sincerely wants to achieve for his people an equal playing field where they will no longer be threatened by the other races of the world and relegated to live in wastelands. His sense of justice and fairness drives him in his goal to change the very nature of an unfair, hypocritical world, being perfectly willing to risk complete nonexistence for that end. Redcloak's self-righteousness, however, also allows him to justify much of his own speciesism, calling the sacking of Azure City a good start in humanity paying off their debt to the Goblin people of a lost village plus interest. The tragedy fueled a life-long speciesist grudge toward humanity which considers a “cowardly, distrustful, and morally bankrupt race”. While hesitant to kill off the defenseless, likely conscious that doing so would make him no better than the paladins that killed his family, he is merciless otherwise like when he left Tsukiko, an ally, for dead in their first encounter. His motivations and actions often clash, being perfectly willing to commit evil to serve a cause he deems 'good'.

Partnering with Xykon proves to be Redcloak's one area where his motivations and actions clash hard. Though Xykon doesn't have the best interests of Goblinkind at heart, being perfectly willing to kill them for his personal amusement, Redcloak stuck with his partnership for the “greater good”. Though he Redcloak detests him, Xykon's power and his crucial role in fulfilling the Dark One's Plan force him to turn a blind eye to Goblin deaths. His brother, Right-Eye, rightfully calls him out on this: “It's all about whose fault it is. If I kill Xykon now, then it was all a waste. You ordered goblins to their deaths believing in the Plan- so if we abandon it now, then you were wrong”. With the burden of his entire race over him, Redcloak has adopted an unconscious habit of regularly lying to himself, convincing himself that everything that happened is for the “greater good”. That their deaths aren't his fault. And so, to save himself, he continues this path single-mindedly, refusing other options like building a small, thriving community and enriching Goblin lives gradually like his brother tried. To that end, he killed his own brother, just so he wouldn't admit he was wrong and take personal responsibility for Goblin deaths. Though he gambles with Goblin lives over his Plan, Redcloak tells himself that it'll all be worth it, that all he can do is keep to this one path. When, in truth, he had every opportunity to change directions.

Concerning his relationship with Xykon, Redcloak, in spite of being his people's High Priest, has openly accepted subservience. As the tactical brains of the group, however, this proves to be just a ruse. Redcloak can bluff like the best of them and he maintains subservience toward “Lord” Xykon in order to keep the lich under his thumb, even giving up his true name for his sake. Through their partnership, he subtly guides his actions, putting up with his own indignities as long as it keeps the lich either out of his proverbial hair or committed to a singular path. For the longest time, he was willing to put up with Tsukiko's own insults and attempts to “undercut [his] authority”, until she outlived her usefulness. Redcloak possesses a manipulative mind that he uses to move certain pieces the way he wants them to. This represents both his high intelligence, but also a strong emotional barrier raised between him and other people. After living decades pursuing his Plan, he always needs to prepare for conflict. A simple knock on the door at his brother's house had him jump into action, thinking enemies were out to get him. It's unlikely Redcloak can ever develop a healthy relationship with someone that doesn't revolve around utility or adversity. He sees his allies as a means to an end, including Xykon, the Monster in the Dark, Tsukiko, and even his people. In the end, he's still the same angry boy that watched crusaders killed his family.

Over the course of the comic, though, Redcloak has developed quite a bit, albeit in his usual slanted direction. In spite of growing accustomed to seeing Goblin lives thrown into the pyre for the sake of his Plan, especially Hobgoblins who he considered bullies, Redcloak realized finally how he was becoming too comfortable with atrocity. After a Hobgoblin soldier pushed him out of the way of a catapulted boulder, it made him realize how awful he has been. Since then, committed himself to saving Goblin lives where he can help it instead of just relying on an abstract plan to reform reality. After losing an eye, Redcloak has since been against wasting more time, set on bringing the Plan to fruition with no further distractions. Unlike Xykon, he remembers faces and was eager to kill Roy Greenhilt after he and his party proved they were working against him. If Xykon hadn't been unwilling to fight, he would have eliminated them as threats then and there. While he won't admit he was wrong, Redcloak has still matured, gaining new conviction toward maximizing Goblin lives and taking no more chances with them. The Plan matters and he needs to act toward the full interests of Goblinkind, even as he lies to himself.

Abilities: Redcloak is around a 17th level Cleric in D&D terms. His power comes from his god, the Dark One, and upon daily meditation, he is able to restore his finite supply of spells, including those of the Destruction and Law Domains.

Spells of the Destruction domain allow Redcloak to cast spells that can destroy objects, walls, and doors. The Law domain grants him spells like Hold Person, allowing him to paralyze people upon success. There's always a chance to resist D&D spells, and Redcloak isn't what anyone would call an avatar of destruction. His spells allow him to tangle with other combatants one on one, but he has no experience with weapons or the like, meaning he's bound to fail against a particularly skilled fighter in melee. But as a schemer, Redcloak often avoids getting into scuffles alone, relying on summoning spells to make contracts with demons or bring to the material plane chemically-themed Elementals of varying sizes.

Redcloak can cast Earthquake for instant cave-ins when making an escape. He's familiar with teleportation spells to get himself out of danger or to banish an enemy to a distant area. His 9th Level spell, Gate, allows him to open doorways into different dimensions, but that may be unusable here.

Though not an experienced necromancer, Redcloak knows a few spells to animate the dead. He can bring to life mindless skeletons or zombies or call upon the services of particularly powerful undead, like Death Knights, Huecuvas, and Eyes of Fear and Flame.

Otherwise, the spells he has access to are listed here. He can craft, ward, and protect items, learned in large part to defend Xykon's phylactery.

His Crimson Mantle stunts his aging so long as he wears it and grants protection from all diseases. It imbues him with divine knowledge like secret lore concerning his god. As a trait among goblins, he can also see in the dark.

Alignment: Elios, the Arehtei of Hate and Love, fits Redcloak the best. His love for Goblinkind is overwhelmed and confused by his hatred toward an unjust world. Though he wants to serve Goblinkind and bring justice to the countless lives lost, his hatred drives him to continue allowing more deaths. His hatred has stunted his ability to love, but beneath all of it, love and having lost love drive him.

Other: Redcloak is self-aware that his world is based on the rules of D&D and frequently makes references to them. He's also aware that his world is a comic book, which he calls out several times here and then. Besides for self-references, he won't break the 4th wall for other people's canons.

His only possessions are a picture of the Dark One, his Crimson Mantle, his Unholy Symbol (the medium for his magic), and fairly normal black armor.

⌈ SAMPLE SECTION ⌉
Sample: Test Drive Post!


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