Kalve

From Dream Chasers
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Kalve
( ? )
IC Information
Full Name: Kalve
Gender: Male
Age (Birthdate): 209 (???)
Hometown: Photosphere
Hair Colour: Iron Grey
Class: Master Maker
Role: Antagonist
Bounty: --
OOC Information
Theme: Original Character
Groups: Metal Demons
Player: Binary

"If we cannot find a way forward, I will simply create one."

Kalve is a Metal Demon doing his best to reconcile duty with scientific curiosity. An artisan and a martial artist, Kalve is skilled in the use of esoteric combat techniques and with the tools necessary for the creation of the powerful ARMs they wield, and is constantly toying with the blending of the two. Kalve is interested in the idea of experimenting with Filgaia itself, and seeks to understand why his people cannot coexist with the life already extant on this planet... all while attempting to change it to suit their needs. Possessing a somewhat mercurial temperament, Kalve finds himself enamoured with sorcery, something that he is incapable of but desperately wishes to learn, and of the concept of the non-combatant, something that he privately romanticizes and is constantly befuddled by.

Background

A Metal Demon from the Photosphere. Previously swept up on a caravan to Adlehyde and mostly undercover; now somewhat more openly known as a quicksilver-bleeding alien rather than merely a weird wanderer.

Powers and Abilities

Techniques - Method Mercury

Kalve's techniques are a part of a fighting style called Method Mercury, a Metal Demon martial art considered somewhat esoteric. Adherents of the mysteries of Method Mercury believe that a demon's body is the ultimate weapon, and that they should be as adaptable as the parts of them that became their ARMs. As such, students of the school learn to consciously control their innate capacity for shapeshifting, performing such acts as reversing their joints or adding new ones, shifting their weight and mass for sudden and crushing blows, and seamlessly and temporarily melding their ARMs into their body for maximum effectiveness.

More experienced masters of Method Mercury learn to constantly and unconsciously shift their internal organs to prevent vital strikes, and to transform into especially terrifying shapes specialized to defeat the foe in front of them. While Kalve is capable of reflexively shifting the location of his internals somewhat, he is not yet a master of this particular trick, though he has been shown to have enough control to adopt a more human-like form for day-to-day use or a more monstrous one during the heat of battle. Extreme stresses can cause him to become unstable in these forms, forcing temporary reversion to his natural form.

ARM - Manipule Array

The Manipule Array is a set of four extra arms affixed to Kalve's back, seamlessly joined with his otherwise-humanoid body through a combination of his martial art and the arcane devices used in the creation of Metal Demon ARMs. He is capable of using them like his normal arms, receiving tactile feedback through them including lessened (but still present) pain from damage. The arms are very strong, capable of extending further than his natural ones, and end in hands that may be changed to mimic any similarly-sized manual or power tool he needs to do his work on the fly. He could mimic a wrench, a power drill or welding torch, but he couldn't produce a larger drill press, a planer, or the highly specialized equipment needed to turn Metal Demon flesh into an ARM.

ARM - Silhouette Engine

Kalve's slightly more subtle ARM is the Silhouette Engine, a pair of diamond-shaped objects capable of projecting short-lived clouds of exotic matter appearing to the naked eye as balls of light. Kalve uses the Silhouette Engine to prototype ARMs before dedicating the time and material necessary to construct them, projecting a cloud and using his hands, the Manipule Array and mental commands issued to the Engine to shape the cloud as necessary. The Engine is typically embedded in his primary hands, letting him contain and make minute adjustment with them while the Array does most of the work. The Engine is also capable of storing designs and recording shapes and projecting them for rapid assembly at a later time... which is its primary use in combat.

While Kalve could very easily create simple three-dimensional shapes and turn them into weapons, this limits his on-the-fly options to either primitive melee weapons or precreated weapon designs for ARMs he has yet to create. Kalve very often uses the Silhouette Engine to create ranged weapons he's already concocted, preferring one-handed firearms and energy weapons because of the speed at which he can deploy them. Weapons produced with the Silhouette Engine come loaded with one magazine and are incompatible with ammunition made of other forms of matter, which means that it can only reload itself and can't take advantage of specialized ammo if it wasn't already designed with it loaded.

Objects produced by the Engine dematerialize if they go more than a few meters from Kalve with the exception of things designed for this, which instead requires more computational overhead. Essentially, the further away he wants to hit something, the fewer or less complex the things he's moving outside of his bubble of influence with it have to be. This also means he could lend a weapon to an ally in the unlikely event they lack one, but they couldn't go very far without it disappearing out of their hand. While weapons of extreme complexity are theoretically possible to create with the Silhouette Engine, they take a correspondingly long amount of time to generate. In a fast-paced combat situation, Kalve is limited in scope to objects that can be made with near-instant creation time. This limits him to simpler, largely predefined weapons: compact pulse beam guns, automatic slugthrowers, or multiple pistol-sized weapons. Essentially, if it's something the Metal Demons could conceivably deploy on any kind of mass scale -- or if he's prototyped a specific weapon to test in the field -- he can make it quick enough to swap on the fly.

Notably, the Silhouette Engine cannot create devices capable of mass destruction. The amount of energy necessary to properly deploy such objects -- plus the proximity Kalve would need to be to it to actually use it -- makes it both impractical and suicidal. He could make a kinetic cannon that could knock out the wall of a building, but he couldn't spontaneously create a bomb that would reduce a town to rubble. That has to be done the old fashioned way.


Relationships

(Added as I think of them.)

Metal Demons
Zed Best Bro "Boundless determination and hot blood pressed into one Hyadean. It turned out well. I'm just as surprised as you are."
Riesenlied Burned Respect "There is something that could be done to change things. Running was not it."
Noeline Wariness "The tempting whisper in Riesenlied's ear. I do not wish to end you."
Alhazred Silent Rivalry "Unnecessary and wasteful. I will do better."
Lady Harken Wary Acceptance "Rumor leads me to wariness. However, reports of your effectiveness cannot be denied. And with the loss of Berserk..."
Assorted Others
Ida Everstead-Rey Forbidden Romance "Step from this path of despair. This power will destroy you. ...I will not let it."
Gwen Whitlock Apologetic Affinity "One day perhaps we will cross paths and not need to do battle. That would be pleasant."
Talise Gianfair Wary Affinity "We may not be so different after all."
Lydia Seren Curiosity "A mystery yet to solve, and a talkative one, no less."
Kaguya Gruff Acceptance "What exactly is in that bag?"
Ambrosius Amiable Comraderie "We work well together, while our purposes align."
Matilda Whitehead Secret Fascination "You are clearly no warrior. That's... amazing."
Dean Stark Mild Irritation "Interesting weapons. Irritating energy."
Lily Keil Academic Respect "There is much we can teach one another."
Lucia Confused Intrigue "Are you really the Lord of Calamity? Can you really help us? ...Should you?"
Hiro (and Ruby) *approving nod* "A promising warrior and a curious companion. Stick to your convictions."
Alisha Diphda Mild Disapproval "Honoring your teacher and your school in death is your responsibility. Others must learn, even if you cannot. Remember this for when next we meet."

Logs and Cutscenes

Chapter 1 Logs

Chapter 1 Cutscenes

Retrieved from "https://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Kalve&oldid=7970"