Uruz is a runecaster, a mage whose skill is primarily in crafting runic magic. He tends to be somewhat of a loner, but is often motivated to help people in need. He tends to eschew flashy magic, preferring to not draw undue attention to himself or his abilities. Originally from Sangria, he now tends to travel between worlds, often drawn to whichever one needs his presence the most.
Personality
Uruz has learned over the years that keeping a tight reign on his emotions helps him keep his mind in focus, a requirement for being able to work truly effective magic. Since he is aware of the dangers involved in the environments he often finds himself in, he often keeps people at an emotional distance until he has had a chance to feel them out. These two factors tends to make him seem aloof to those he hasn't warmed to yet. He has a quirky sense of humor, and is often given to pranks, has a enjoyment of puns, and often lapses into sarcasm or snark, especially when things are looking grim. However, he tends to be a team player, whether rummaging through his library to answer an associate's question regarding a particular cursed item or using his magical abilities to shore up weak spots in the midst of combat. He rarely talks about his past, and when he does, it's rarely in any real detail or depth. His childhood memory loss is a sore spot with him. He almost never responds to his first name, Stephan, instead insisting people call him Uruz. About the only people he is comfortable using his first name are those he considers family, such as lifelong friends or lovers. He tends to keep discussions regarding his traveling to different worlds deliberately vague, unless he feels that the events might somehow spill across the boundaries between worlds.
Background
Early years
Stephan Uruz had been found wandering aimlessly as a child in Port Au Feu, unable to remember anything other than his own name. When no one came to claim him, he was placed in a local orphanage. Initially rebellous with both the authorities and the fellow orphans, Uruz would repeatedly run away over the years, only to be forcibly returned when caught. The conflict would be exacerbated as odd events would occur around him during times of intense emotion.
Training
A particularly violent outburst of power happened to occur within sight of Mallory Greythorne, who detected the mystical abilities contained within the small child. Agreeing to adopt Uruz, the mage decided that the best course of action would be to train the child to control his power before he ended up seriously injuring himself or others around him. Uruz took to the training well, developing a knack for manipulating energies with the use of rune staves. During this time his mentor also had him train with martial artists, the regime helping to focus and discipline the young man's mind.
The wandering path
After completing his training, Uruz found himself traveling between worlds, occasionally at first, but becoming more and more common. Eventually he established places of residence in each, giving himself bases of operation from which to work. He will stay in each world for a while, sometimes for a matter of days, other times months, before feeling the need to travel to another realm, without calling any place home. While sometimes he feels as though he is anchorless in a larger universe, he believes that his restless nature serves a larger purpose. Often he will show up when he is needed, even though no one may realize it at the time.
SIGNATURE ABILITY
Blood Magic
Uruz has a unexplained ability to manifest intense magical effects under unusual circumstances. First, he must be bleeding, and he must be in dire emotional distress, such as being enraged to the point where he would consider murdering an opponent in cold blood, seeing a loved one killed or critically injured, or witnessing the slaughter of innocents. The emotional trauma must be sufficient that he is unable to think of anything other than his rage or pain for the blood magic to take effect. The magic born of this state is entirely wild and is not under his control, though the magic will be somewhat shaped by his emotional distress.
SKILLS
Uruz has had some training with firearms, though he doesn't practice regularly enough to improve beyond the basics of gun handling and maintenence.
Lockpicking - Competent Level
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A relic from his misspent youth, Uruz has experience with lockpicking, and occasionally he'll pick up new locks with which to keep in practice. He keeps simple tools in his wallet, suitable for most basic locks, and has a case with more complex tools he will slip into the pocket of his overcoat if he thinks that he might need it on a mission.
Martial Arts - Competent Level
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Uruz has trained in various martial arts over the years, partially for self defense, partially to help bring focus to his mind, and is capable of holding his own against unpowered opponents in hand to hand combat.
ABILITIES
Blood Runes - Enhanced Level
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Uruz may attempt to invoke runic power by cutting the runes into his own flesh (such as a forearm). The resulting spell isn't any more powerful than his usual magic, but it requires less time, as he is pulling on blood magic and the focus brought on by the pain to "make up" for using a simpler runestave than would normally be required. The down side (aside from the fact he has to wound himself in order to cast the spell) is that the spell is not quite as potent as it would otherwise be, and it may have a random component to its result. These side effects are generally minor, but they can add an unpredictable element that is another reason not to overuse this ability.
Magic: Magical Protection - Enhanced Level
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Uruz commonly wears a old duster that he has stitched runes into the edges into a complex protective spell. When worn, the duster emits a magical shield that covers and protects the wearer against many forms of attack, including force, energy and magic. It does not generally protect against things such as gas attacks, however. The protective field spreads over the person's entire form, and protects the garment as well. It also keeps its wearer at a comfortable temperature, whether they are standing on a desert or an iceberg. When Uruz travels between realms, the coat will adapt itself to match local garbs, without adversely affecting its protective measures.
Power: Perception - Basic Level
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Uruz can sometimes sense when magic is being used in an area. This is usually not able to pick up on specifics, though with concentration he might be able to discern the type of magic being used, such as glamour or death magic. However, this ability does not render Uruz immune to the effects of that magic, but rather only lets him detect that it's being used. For example, he might realize illusionary magic is being used in an area, but would not be able to see through the illusion any more than a normal human.
Power: Precognition - Basic Level
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Uruz has a limited form of precognition, mainly limited to a 'gut feeling' that something is going to happen, with occasional glimpses of imagery without context. It is extremely sporadic and not within his control, and is rarely specific. For example, instead of seeing a vision of someone being hit with a car, he may get a feeling that something bad is going to happen to that person, perhaps with a flash of image of the person laying in a pool of blood. It does tend to become more potent if it involves someone he knows well or something that affects a large area or number of people, but rarely is strong enough to give him more than a feeling that something is going to happen soon. For large, traumatic events, he might develop nightmares, though even these will be vague enough that he won't know specifically what is going to happen until it unfolds. Often times this ability will produce a strong sense of deja vu as he witnesses events unfold, often leading him to becoming cranky and irritable until the events are complete.
Magic: Runic Magic - Enhanced Level
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He can draw upon and shape dimensional energies by crafting runestaves to a variety of effects. Previous spells displayed have included defensive spells, such as shields and protective circles, summoning "pools" or circles of healing magic, protecting areas from remote viewing, doing remote scrying of his own, the setting of magical traps, rendering objects temporarily intangible, and even teleportation of himself and others. The stronger the effect, the more complex and time consuming the crafting of the runestaves becomes.
For permanent spells, they must be set in something just as permanent, such as carved, painted, or burned into an object's surface. For temporary effects, chalk or such can be used. Uruz has even used his own blood in a pinch, though often to unpredictable effects. Some runic spells can be prepared in advance and then activated by burning the material, thus freeing the energies to take hold. (See Runecasting Weakness for limitations and additional examples.)
Magic: Runic Warding - Supreme Level
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Uruz is an expert in protective runic magic. Like his regular runestaves, they must be drawn in order to have an effect. These can range from simple protective spells covering a single person, to protecting large groups or even structures. The spells can be a general protective spell, or designed to defend against specific types of attacks. Years of practice help him craft protective runestaves in less time than it takes for him to prepare other types of spells. These barriers exist at up to Supreme level strength, however that level is defined for a given world he is on.
ADVANTAGES
Uruz has access to a mystical library that he often uses when researching specific types of magic and mystical lore.
WEAKNESSES
Uruz is strongly nearsighted and requires glasses to help him see distant objects.
Uruz's magical ability requires him to write out the spell in the form of rune staves. While potent, runecasting is neither a quick nor an easy form of magic, with the rune staves increasing in complexity in relation to how powerful the magic must be, anywhere from a few seconds drawing in dirt or dust to summon a small cluster of stinging insects to minutes drawing a complex symbol to summon a bolt of lightning, to an intricate pattern drawn in paint, gold, or blood over a period of several hours, days, or even weeks to summon a protective shield around an entire building. Any mistakes in producing a runestave can have disastrous consequences, such as a summoned bolt of lightning striking the wrong target, or a shield stunning those who it was intended to protect.
Some runestaves are one-shot spells and lose their potency as soon as the effect takes place, requiring Uruz to redraw the stave if he wants to call the effect again. These he will usually draw in chalk, so as to make it easier to wipe the markings out before beginning again, or draw upon flash paper that he can prepare in advance and burn to summon a basic effect. Magic with a longer effect or meant to be more permanent, such as a shield upon a building, needs to be made in a more durable manner, such as painted on or carved into an integral structure within the building itself. These spells are self-sustaining once complete but require the utmost care to detail and are long-term projects.
While it is possible for Uruz to design specially prepared spells in advance that can be activated at need, these tend to be better suited to defensive magic, and the volatile nature of things such as combat usually pushes him to more of a defensive or support role, using runic spells to protect or heal friendly combatants or protecting civilians, though his offensive potential can be devastating...if he has the time to draw the spells correctly. As it's a written spell, if the runestave is damaged or destroyed, the magic it supports will collapse, though some of the simple one-shot spells are designed to activate as the rune is consumed, such as a shield spell crafted on flash paper that activates when the paper is burned. Due to the nature of his magic, if he is prevented from forming a runestave, such as having his hands bound behind his back, he will be unable to work an effect.
