Dacia Setgrave

YOU NEED PERMISSION TO INCLUDE THIS COSTAR IN YOUR STORIES AS THIS IS A PLAYED CHARACTER WHOSE WRITER NEEDED TO PURSUE OTHER ADVENTURES FOR NOW AND MAY RETURN TO CLAIM THEM. ALSO THIS CHARACTER WAS GRANDFATHERED IN DUE TO EXTREME LONGEVITY WITH THE GAME AND SHOULD NOT BE USED AS AN EXAMPLE OF POWER FOR NEW CHAERACTERS.

GENDER Female

PLAY-BY Cate Blanchett

RACE Magus

JOB Overseer - New York Chapter

LOCATION New York City

APPEARANCE

Dacia appears a fit woman in her late thirties to perhaps mid forties. She is a striking woman. One is hard pressed to guess her age, her timeless visage changing with her mood and attire. Only the soft lines of worry, the voice of experience and the silvery highlights streaking her pale blonde hair, reveal or rather confuse her true age.

Her complexion is as pale porcelain, her features, a beautiful combination of her father’s ancient Northumbrian stock and her Mother’s Roman roots. Her pale icy blue eyes are seductive and stark, her mid-length hair a pale blonde with streaks of silver, the style of which changing from week to week, if not day to day. A tall woman, she stands 5’11”. Her long graceful limbs beautifully toned, her figure lean and elegant, dressing in only the most fashionable clothes. Rarely wearing the same ensemble twice in a month.

She still possesses a Northern English accent, somewhat flattened from her travels yet still bearing a hint of the soft rolling trills of her Northumbrian homeland.

PERSONALITY

She is the ‘Original Ice Queen’, in magic and in temperament but please never, ever compare her to a Disney character. The last one to make such a suggestion found themselves suffocating in an air tight globe of ice. Often ‘cold hearted’ and unsympathetic, one can simply chalk this trait up to being shrewd and brusque, but if one were to truly describe Dacia with one word it would be ‘unpredictable’. She is a chameleon, able to adopt many masques and blend into any social situation. That said, there are those who might describe her as a ‘sociopath’ by her extreme range of behaviours and distinct lack of conscience. Perhaps, but make no mistake, while her morals are often subdued she is not lacking a guide to the wrongness and rightness of her actions.

More than often she is the last to speak, preferring to listen and choose her words carefully rather than banter. While she can act lively and exuberant Dacia generally prefers to remain reserved. Her expressive features are able speak volumes and when necessary she can be extremely intimidating without uttering a sound. There is definitely a dark side to the woman’s temper. Were their monarchs in the Order she would be a queen and as such she often falls victim to trappings of royalty. Entitlement shrouds her, she has always been provided for, allowances made. When she isn’t paid the respect she feels she is due Dacia often responds with swift retribution. She had learned well the lesson of humility all those years ago in China but it did not make her humble, it tempered her to the core.

Dacia does not believe in the charity nor the benevolence of entities not inherently human. Creatures from beyond the Veil have no claim to this world and thus she is extremely distrustful, even prejudice against such beings. This attitude puts her in line with the policies of the Vanguard. While she naturally disagrees with their hatred of magic, she does in fact agree with their desire to banish from the world all beings that no longer appear or behave as Humans, or merely masquerade as them. She loathes nothing else more than monstrosities that hide behind the guise of Humanity and believes that one day all Humans shall become Magus.

She enjoys the game of Chess and always has a game on the go, against herself, online, or replaying the game of another great master. She collects chess pieces and has a few of her collections on display in her office at the Citadel. To her, as with most who love the game, it is a metaphor of life, sometimes an obsession.

PERSONAL BELONGINGS

Her signet ring of the Order which lists her rank as Overseer and her affiliation with New York and Rome. She carries her personal identification, cell phone and such. Her identifying brooch of the Order which she always wears is made of crystal, as if carves from ice. She carries no other items of significance.

SOCIAL AFFILIATIONS/RELATIONSHIPS

She has known Salvatore Avara and the Propheta of his Trinity, Marellis Severin for many years. Kosta De Cerbo is an old friend, a man actually younger than her whom she originally trained with back in Rome.

APPROVED ABILITIES

MAGUS - CLASS: Physical Adept, Psionic, Elementalist (Cold).

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MINOR Spells
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Cantrips (Class Wide)
Many Magus, with practice and training, can attempt minor, non-combative spells called cantrips. There is really no limit to the amount of times per day these cantrips can be mustered, since they are such small things. Typical examples are: lighting a candle or snuffing it out, minor telekinesis on small objects such as sliding a coffee cup across a table, and to cause an illusory sound, like a pebble dropping, in order to create a distraction.

Many of her cantrips have to do with the manipulation of cold and it’s production.

Mana Field Attunement (Class Wide)
A Mage, being trained in the art of manipulating the Mana field that permeates everything, is attuned to the field around them. This typically gives them a sense of how strong or weak the field is around them and what kind of effect it will have on their casting, and in some cases those most sensitive to it can even sense if magic has been or is actively being used in an area.

Mana Cloak (*)
This is an extremely rare incantation, which for Dacia is cast like a cantrip. It allows the caster to eliminate their mana, which in reality is very difficult to conceal. While the caster is hiding their mana, they cannot cast or use magic. The spell renders their mana completely undetectable. Very few Magus (if any) are able to master this particular spell. Dacia often utilizes this particular spell.

Witch Whisper (Psionic)
A form of telepathy which borders on being a cantrip. The caster is able to ‘whisper in a person’s ear’, that is, project their voice to anyone in their field of vision. The caster’s words are only mouthed and are received as a whisper. The spell has a duration of a few minutes.

Awareness (Psionic)
When initiated the spell lasts for approximately half of an hour, during which the caster becomes aware of the presence of danger to themselves. They can sense a threat within half of a mile, but the only information they receive is the direction it’s coming from.

Reflective Warning (Psionic)
The caster receives images of what’s going on behind them as if looking into a mirror. It allows them to be visually aware of everything around them in a full 360 degrees. Duration: 1 hour.

Winter’s Cloak (Elemental)
This is an immunity to cold conditions, as low as -95ºC. The caster is not warm, rather the surface of their skin is freezing. The colder the temperature of the environment the more pale their skin becomes. The longer they employ the spell, the more they begin to resemble an elemental of the cold, their skin turning blue, their eyes becoming pale, hair turning white. The spell can endure so long as they have mana, indefinitely if the don’t cast any other spells or become weakened.

Winter’s Breath (Elemental)
Within a radius of two hundred feet the caster can decrease the temperature, drop it to freezing if they so choose. They can also increase the humidity and coat everything with a layer of hoar frost if they wish, or even produce a layer of ice across a surface. The caster can also, in an instant, alter the surface temperature of their flesh to freezing. They are completely immune to the cold and that of their own frosty magic.

Repel Flame (Elemental)
Works on both magical and non-magical fire. The production of a shield, ten feet diameter that will defend against any form of fire attack. The strength of the shield draws from the power and will of the caster, thus prolonged fire attacks end up as a battle of 'magical wills'.

Frost Touch (Elemental)
Once cast, with the span of 5 minutes, anything contacting the caster’s skin will have it’s surface temperature plummet 20ºC. A cup of water will instantly freeze. A person would suffer frost bite at the point of contact but then suffer extreme chills through their body. The longer the contact is maintained and consequently more mana poured into the spell, the more of the target is frozen.

Meditative Longevity (Physical Adept)
A form of ritualized meditation that when utilized an hour each day, rejuvenates the body and even turns back time, increasing the Magus’ life span. The spell actually draws ‘chi or qi energy from the environment but this siphoning comes with a price. The caster trades empathy and sympathy for extra life. They are unable to love deeply or even truly care for another. Relationships are hollow.

Lasting Breath (Physical Adept)
The ability to decrease one’s use for oxygen and increase stamina. One breath can last up to half of an hour (1 charge per 5 minutes, 30 min max). Not needing to breath as often the caster’s stamina significantly increases allowing them to run twice as far while maintaining a fast pace.

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INTERMEDIATE Spells 
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Mana Sight (Class Wide)
More advanced Magi are capable of supplementing their senses with their attunement to the fields of Mana around them, most commonly done through the sense of sight, even in the case of rare blind Magi. This allows a mage to 'see' in terms of the mana of an area, giving them a greater ability to see through magical deception or to detect other active abilities being used in their immediate area. This ability is line-of-sight only.

Meditative Rejuvenation (Physical Adept)
Self healing through meditation. The caster must remain in an uninterrupted meditative state in order for the healing to work. The length of time depends on the amount of damage. Critical injuries can require up to twenty four hours to mend internal damage, after which shorter states of meditation will be required.

Winter’s Mend (Elemental + Psionic + Physical Adept)
This spell stems from all three of her disciplines. It freezes a wound, mending it, but then through a combination of Chi and Psionic energy initiates internal healing. It allows the caster to heal wounds (with no foreign objects lodged within), turning what would take a month to heal into a few days. It will even increase the mending of bones but such injuries will still take half the time to heal.

Winter Wind (Elemental)
Basically a stronger version of Winter's Breath. The caster is able produce icy cold winds in a 100' radius/sphere. They can cause frost bite but little else. This spell is mainly useful in suppressing fire, normal and magical.

Non-magical fire is choked in a matter of seconds and heat is eliminated, the hot air being replaced with zero degrees celsius. The spell endures for up to half an hour and the radius of effect moves with the caster at it's center. It will also cool lava, solidifying it into rock. Surprising magical fire turns into a battle of wills, draining more mana and strength from the caster.

Scrying (Psionic)
This incantation induces a trance allowing the caster to spy upon the ‘owner’ of a personal item that they hold. It can be a necklace, a lock of hair, anything that that the person has spent some time with. Naturally there are ways to block scrying but in the case that the target is unaware and unguarded the caster can see, hear, even smell the person they are spying on for approximately 5 minutes.

Frozen Phantom (Psionic)
So long as temperature of the area is below 0ºC (freezing) this spell can be cast. It allows the caster to phase through the cold, to teleport their body and contacting possessions to another destination in their line of sight that is no further than 100 feet away. When cast, the caster instantly transports to their desired location and a remnant of their form is left behind in the form of an ice sculpture. The spell allows up to three ‘transfers/teleportations’ in rapid succession (no more than a three second delay between jumps).

Cryokinetic Morphing - Stage I (Elemental + Psionic)
This is the instantaneous production of ice from the moisture in the air. There needs to be a slight humidity factor in order for this ability to work, as well she herself needs to be hydrated. With the wave of a hand she can construct anything her mind can envision out of crystalline ice. A form of telekinesis manipulates the ice, allowing her to create objects and move them around by sheer will, even hurl them at an enemy if she so desires. She is able to construct items out of normal ice or even produce ‘blue ice’, void of trapped air and extremely hard. Naturally producing items of blue ice requires more energy and takes longer. The first stage of this power allows her to create smaller items at a range of 100 feet from her person. The duration and amount of constructs go hand in hand. Approximately 100 square feet in half of an hour.

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MAJOR Spells
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Death Strike (Physical Adept)
A chi focused strike allowing the caster’s hand or foot to penetrate and break solid objects that would otherwise crack bone. The wielder’s strength triples packing significant force behind the punch or kick. The force cannot, however, being instantly summoned. The casting or ‘summoning of the energy’ takes at least six seconds, time/energy that can be generated through meditation or motion of combat.

Steel Ice (Physical Adept - ‘Chi-gong’ + Elemental)
The caster can make their flesh resist damage and cold attacks. They can repel blades, their bones are unbroken from harsh impacts, they can even survive gun shots, however, the more violent the damage the more of a residual effect the caster will feel. Flesh will still bruise. The effects of the incantation lasts for twenty seconds up to a maximum of five minutes, significantly draining the caster’s mana. During this time they are not only resilient to damage but their fists and feet are harder and can thus inflict more damage.

Ice Grasp (Elemental)
This is a heightened form of Frost Touch. The caster can blast something with a cone of cold, optimal range six feet. The initial area of effect is roughly the mass of an average man and it will be frozen solid (dead). Contact must be maintained for at least five seconds to initiate the ‘deep freeze’ and if broken in that time, a conscious victim will make a full recovery after a few hours of rest. This power can make steel doors as brittle as thin ice.

Cryokinetic Morphing - Stage 2 (Elemental + Psionic)
The second stage of this ability simply increases range to 500 feet and the amount of ice is 500 square feet. Her production of blue ice doubles allowing her to craft extremely strong constructs in a matter of moments. (The most common attacks she utilizes is generating spiralling roots of ice that spring up and entrap her enemies. The numbing effect of the ice is quick to sap one’s strength.)

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LEGENDARY Spells
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Winter’s Wrath (Elemental)
Allows the caster to summon a frigid blast of wind, so cold, that it will incapacitate all creatures in it’s path. The icy blast first manifests as a gust radiating from behind the caster, starting at fifty feet wide/tall and increasing to two hundred at it’s maximum range of five hundred feet. It can also blast out in all directions from the caster. The wind itself has hurricane force, able to turn over a small vehicle. The winds then form a vortex, maintaining high velocity around the caster in an area of up to one kilometre for approximately fifteen minutes to half of an hour (depending on her physical condition). It is a devastating attack, coating the area of effect with several inches of snow, frost and ice. Within this 'blizzard' all cold attacks are increased in strength and power.

Dream Storm (Psionic)
A devastating mental attack, a swirling mass of psychic energy radiating from the caster, lashing out at all minds up to a radius of five hundred feet in all directions. All conscious minds (animals, insects, people, everything) are rendered unconscious, frozen in a dream state, their bodies slowly crumpling to the ground. But if not (since no spell is absolute in it's success) those effected are generally disoriented and unable to maintain their focus on the caster so long as the caster does not engage them. The effects last for one to two hours, depending on the creature/person affected. During this period, conscious beings capable of dreaming are thrust into nightmares which they will physically react to. It becomes difficult for them to differentiate their unreal nightmares from reality.

APPROVED SKILLS

LANGUAGES: She spoke Italian before her dominant English and is fluent in both. She can as well converse in (and read/write) Cantonese, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Swedish, German and Flemish. She possesses an understanding of Japanese and Russian but would have difficulty conversing with a native speaker. She is able to read and understand Russian far better than she can speak it. She can also read Latin, Ancient Greek, Old Norse Runes and Mayan Hieroglyphics.

DANCE: For most of her young life Dacia studied ballet but as she began to grow taller the dream of becoming a ballerina was simply no longer possible.

MARTIAL ARTS: She well trained in wushu and the art of Chi-gong. It is nothing she flaunts. She trains and uses her skills when needed, never performing for others.

HERBALIST: From her time in China she is knowledgeable in medicinal plants and herbs.

CHESS MASTER: She is adept at the game, low ranking compared to the grand masters of the discipline.

APPROVED HISTORY

She was born November 2nd, 1960, the product of two of the oldest bloodlines in the secret Order of the First Light. Her father, a Northumbrian desired that she grow up in North England. For the first ten years of her life they remained in New Castle but then her interest in dance would lead them back to her mother’s native city of Rome. There she excelled in all of her studies while simultaneously immersing herself in the mythos of the First Light. Her genius level intellect seemed to know no bounds, a true prodigy among the scholars that would in time become the Magus of the post-resonance world. Life, however, was not all books, she also focused on her ballet. She loved to dance and like many young girls aspired to be a prima-ballerina. Unfortunately, by age thirteen it was becoming apparent that she had inherited her father’s height and not her mother’s petite frame.

It was the first of many disappointments.

She graduated from the University of Rome with honours and shortly thereafter Dacia learned that she was unable to bear children. The tragedy would greatly shape her life. Her fiancé at the time desired a large family and simply could not reconcile the fact that he would be denied is lineage. The loss was devastating. She grew cold and journeyed as far away as she could, all the way to China. There she worked as a foreign dignitary and pursued the mysteries of ‘Chi-gong’ and the art of wushu. 

She immersed her life in the world of martial arts at a temple of women practitioners. Their symbol was ‘exile’. They would never be accepted by the men of the greater schools even though the ancient knowledge of various styles had been passed down to them by their fathers (and mothers). There was deep seeded resentment in the order but they were disciplined to never lash out. Dacia was humiliated daily by them for over a year until they conceded to teach her their ways. For ten years she trained, living two lives., the foreign dignitary and the devoted monk. The latter took precedence in her lifestyle but after a decade it was becoming very clear that she would never learn to be humble. 

One day her pride got the better of her. A master from one of the local schools visited, as they often did. Through the years the woman’s order had developed a peaceful relationship with those who had originally shunned them. Their unwavering tolerance had earned them respect but every so often a master visited to test this countenance. It had become a ritual. The master would challenge a high ranking student and she would lose. She would not strike him and endure his beating with honour and respect. It had been so for decades and wisely, Dacia had always been kept hidden away from these visiting masters until one day one appeared unannounced. To his surprise, he spied a tall pale haired woman of European descent training in the courtyard and upon witnessing this would allow no other to accept his challenge. Naturally the sisters pleaded with Dacia to honour their traditions. She agreed, after all she could endure a few hits and a loss, all the while knowing she could take the man a part if she so desired. It was only a friendly contest, she was sure she probably endured worse at the hands of her sisters and indeed she had, in the beginning. As the bout went on, the master became discontent with her reaction to his strikes. Larger than her Asian sisters by far, and taller than the master her feigns to his hits were not enough to guard his honour. He grew angry, his attacks more violent. When Dacia fell, he continued to beat her, that’s when everything went red. She couldn’t rightly remember what happened, it was all a blur. Training took over, long legs cracking against skull. After Dacia was done with the master he needed to be hospitalized and she was banished. She took it as sign to return home. After eleven years she finally returned to Italy and deciding to stay took her rightful place in the Order of First Light as well accepted a position in the English Embassy of Rome.

Life was happy enough, thereafter. She was very successful and enjoyed her fleeting relationships. Independence had made her strong and at times, ruthless in her ambitions. Many a prospective suitor had been lost in the snowy wastes of her icy exterior and she began to resent men for even attempting to get to know her.

After the Resonance her abilities progressed far beyond most of her colleagues. She was able to incorporate her knowledge of ‘eastern mysticism’ with the ancient mythos of the First Light and develop her own unique form of ‘wintery magic’ as a High Arch Magus. For years she served Rome and assisted in the spread of their Order throughout the Resonated World and was in the minority when she spoke out against the use of Inquisitors to quietly extract any non-compliant Magus from their many chapters.

The Inquisitor Trinities seemed to only serve to fan the flames of rebellion in New York City and so when ARMA struck back, Dacia had the spotlight. She had foreseen what the ‘seers’ had been unable to foretell but still they chose to ignore her and ordered the rebels to be secretly and quietly dismantled. Easier said than done. They proved too resourceful and so after years of studying the situation from afar it was decided that Dacia take over as the Overseer of the New York Chapter despite the fact that Salvatore Avara had appointed himself Chancellor. A title he would retain but become her number two in the ranking. As a High Arch Magus of the Order the position was in reality, a demotion. Some believe that the council wished to oust her out of power but another side of the story is that she herself desired to leave the Vatican and saw the overseer position as an opportunity. The logic of her decision was unclear but in time all will be revealed.