Nolan is a student at Queensmouth Academy along with his three brothers -- Nero, Nicodemus (twin), and Newt. There he is studying the occult and the arcane along with the classics. He is a willful free spirit, passionate and mercurial. A performer by nature, he can be found spinning fire, dancing, or involved in school performances.
Personality
Nolan is a free spirit, willful and mercurial. He runs hot -- passionate, quick to love, quick to anger. He loves to perform for an audience, and loves people in general.
Background
Nolan Oberlin Xanthos was born one of four sons, legacies of a long line of mages with a strong sense of familial loyalty and tradition. When they were young, each of the Xanthos children showed an affinity for a particular type of elemental magic which they continued to study and develop as they got older. Nolan's element was fire, and it seemed to suit him. He tends to run hot, passionate, mercurial, quick to laugh, to love, and to anger. His nearly identical twin, Nicodemus, is his balance, with a water affinity. The two share a deep bond that is as magical as it is genetic, that allows them to share their experiences with one another, communicate, and sense when the other is in danger.
Nolan always struggled with their parents' expectations. Traditional and affluent, they had very definite ideas of what their boys should grow up to be. Nolan has an artist's heart. He wants to dance, and spin fire, and perform in the theatre, and do all of the things that his parents consider impractical and a waste of his academic talents and mind. This has never stopped him, despite the number of arguments that it's caused between them. Nolan is a creature of passion, and while he does love to study and to learn, he hates being told what to do, and so he will always be seen a little bit as the rebel in his family's eyes.
He does love his studies at Queensmouth, however, and despite his irreverence, is a good student with an avid interest in classical education -- language, history, art, science, literature, philosophy, and critical thinking.
SKILLS
Theatre is not just a passion but something that he has been studying for some time. He is proficient at playing a variety of roles.
Athletics - Competent Level
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Running, jumping, climbing, sports. Nolan is constantly training in some physical activity and is very athletic.
Dancing - Competent Level
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Trained in ballet, tap, swing, jazz, and modern techniques, he is an excellent dancer. As a fire dancer, Nolan can use poi, staves, swords, fans, and other flaming objects to perform (as well as their LED counterparts).
Knowledge - Competent Level
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Nolan has received a classical education at Queensmouth Prep and now at Queensmouth Academy, which focuses on history, literature, logic, sciences, philosophy, and he excels at his studies despite his somewhat irreverent behaviour.
Melee Weapons - Novice Level
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Not only can he dance with a flaming sword, but he has also been training how to use bladed weapons -- swords, knives, rapiers, etc.. to a more practical end.
Occultism - Competent Level
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As a student of Queensmouth Academy, Nolan has studied the arcane, occult practices, ritualism, mythologies, spiritualism, divination, and general knowledge of the supernatural world.
While not as strong a singer as he is a dancer, he is still training to become better.
ABILITIES
Magic: Empath - Enhanced Level
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Nolan is able to read other people's emotions, especially if they are intense. He can pick up on more subtle emotions with concentration, and with greater focus, the emotions that others are trying to hide. The greater his focus and concentration, the more depth and specificity about the feelings he can sense is available to him. Those with the ability to disguise/conceal/or otherwise obscure their emotions may be able to resist this ability. He cannot read those with such abilities at a Supreme level.
Magic: Enchantment - Enhanced Level
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Nolan has the ability to manipulate the emotions of others which might sway an audience to be moved to tears, to soothe another's pain, to allow more restful sleep, to calm a brewing argument, or stoke another's rage. With more powerful spells, he can compel others, manipulating them toward a desired end. He is also able to create charms, items imbued with the magic he can cast which can be granted to others.
Magic: Fire - Supreme Level
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Nolan has extensive abilities to create and manipulate flame and heat. He can create a tiny flickering flame to an inferno and control it, making it grow, shrink, dance, or form patterns. He can raise the ambient temperature in a room, and melt through even steel with concentrated heat. He can snuff out a blaze or he can stoke it to new heights, changing its color and composition with finely honed skill.
Magic: Illusion - Basic Level
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In combination with his ability to manipulate light, which allows for extremely detailed visual illusions, Nolan can also add sound, smell, taste, and even touch to his illusions at a very basic level, not nearly as nuanced as the visuals, and easily broken.
Magic: Light - Supreme Level
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Nolan has extensive abilities to manipulate light and shadow, causing it to be brighter or darker, to create visual illusions, and to bend light around objects or people to hide them from sight. He can create colored lights and effects, manipulate reflections, and affect the light reflected into recording devices. He can blind with brilliant bursts, or plunge an area into darkness by absorbing the light. He can even focus light into precise laser-like beams which can be used to cut.
Innate: Twin Link - Enhanced Level
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Nolan and Nicodemus share a twin link, a bond that allows them to innately sense when the other is in danger, to know what the other is feeling, and to be able to communicate telepathically with one another, sharing thoughts, flashes of images, and even sensation over long distances.
ADVANTAGES
Nolan drives a dark highland green Ford Mustang.
He owns all the equipment needed for fire dancing as well as a plethora of sports equipment.
Nolan comes from a long line of traditional mages. They have a lot of expectations that they place on their children, the legacies to that line. But, at the same time, they also provide a support structure that makes sure that the boys want for very little. A home, a safe place to go, an education, an allowance, and a healthy trust fund are just a few of the benefits of being a Xanthos.
Nolan was gifted a finely crafted steel sword by one of his uncles. It has no magical properties but is a well-balanced blade.
WEAKNESSES
There are a lot of familial expectations placed on Nolan. He comes from a long line of mages and his parents have aspirations for their children. There is a constant pressure to live up to them.
Nolan's magic is powered by his will. Casting small to medium spells and minor to moderate effects can be done with relative ease and maintained for some time, however, the more powerful a spell, the larger, and the longer its duration if it must be maintained, or if it is a permanent spell that takes a great deal of energy -- will cause him to become depleted, weak, and exhausted, requiring a full eight hours of rest before he can cast again. Truly supreme level spells can knock him out for a full 24 hours.
Nolan is passionate, but moody, and while he is usually a light-hearted free spirit, he runs hot, with a quick temper, and can change moods on a dime.
He doesn't like to be told what to do and if it isn't something he was already intending to do anyway, may be prone to being argumentative about it.
