Nicodemus | No-Maj

Nicodemus,

there is no sign of land

Nicodemus (not “Nico” and never “Nic”) is nothing if not a product of his environment. With his early years spent bouncing between orphanages, foster homes, and various juvenile detention facilities he grew up hard and it made him strong in many of the ways you'd expect. In a childhood where the physically strong dominated the weak with callous brutality the only way for short, skinny kid like Nicodemus to survive was to be smarter and more ruthless then any of the children around him. He learned to make up for his frailty with an “any-means-necessary” mentality, and he eventually applied this mindset to his life beyond physical conflicts as well. There was no room for pride in the life of a survivor. It was also during these early years that Nicodemus discovered his predilection for pain.

His personality isn't all doom and gloom though. Nicodemus spends all the time he can spare listening to music and delights in discovering new genres and artists to add to his catalog. He has no real preferences as far as music is concerned and he can find pleasure in anything with a beat so long as he can feel the soul of the musicians. He also has a few artistic pursuits of his own in the forms of sculpture and cooking. With sculpture Nicodemus has been known to work with any medium available. Whether he's weaving sticks into abstract shapes or welding scrap metal together to create animals he finds satisfaction in the simple act of keeping his hands busy and revealing the forms hidden within his various mediums. The cooking is simply another result of his upbringing. If your diet consists of cup noodles and whatever rats you can catch you tend to learn how to make them taste good. Though now he spends a good portion of whatever income he can scrape together on finer fare.

Nicodemus also lives with an essentially textbook case of manic depression, and much of his creativity flows from his manic states. When he's up he's way up and he can spend days on end turning everything he can get his hands on into a sculpture. Of course, the other side of this coin is the depression. With lows much lower than the average person's that can see him bedridden for the better part of a week. During these bouts of depression he often dives into substance abuse and he keeps a stash of drugs on hand for these occasions. His drug of choice is generally hallucinogenic in nature as he already spends his down times trapped within his mind and the hallucinations can go a long way towards escaping that particular cage.

Standing at around 5'10” (1.7 m) and only weighing in at about 129 lbs (58.5 kg) Nicodemus is pretty much the opposite of an imposing figure. Because of his small frame Nicodemus is essentially all bones and lean muscles. His well-defined musculature is more the result of genetics and a lack of body fat then from any sort of work out regimen, and a byproduct of this is his general poor health and overall physical weakness. The angular features present in his body extend to his face as well granting him a sharply pointed, Grecian nose and a chin that could cut glass.

Despite his admittedly attractive facial features the thing that stands out the most are his piercing gray eyes. The heavy-lidded shape of his eyes often gives the impression that Nicodemus is squinting or half asleep, but that's just their natural form. Complete with long lashes that some might consider feminine and perfect eyebrows (he doesn't shape them, he swears) his eyes really are one of his most striking features. His look is topped off with a mop of messy, naturally silver hair that is often styled in such a way as to conceal one eye.

As far as distinctive markings are concerned Nicodemus has a fairly obvious vertical scar across his lips. However, if you're able to get him to remove a few articles of clothing you'd see that his facial scar is just the tip of the iceberg. His rough childhood combined with a chosen profession that mainly consists of sharp tools and flying sparks have gifted Nicodemus with a multitude of small scars all over his body. He also has a few tattoos on his arms that he hopes will grow into full sleeves and perhaps a full body covering someday.


Nicodemus's wardrobe consists of a rather muted color palate that primarily sticks to blacks, whites, and grays but occasionally crosses into dark blues and deep reds. He prefers slacks to jeans and he's a large fan of slim cuts and tight fits. As far as shirts go he tends to stick to v-necks as he likes the breathing room. Though his clothes are generally casual due to the nature of his work he can be a sharp dresser on occasion and he owns a few suits that can only be described as absolutely stunning.


Stage 1: If/when Nicodemus discovers his first magi abilities his hands and forearms will be covered in course gray fur and his nails will harden into black claws. He will also gain noticeably elongated canines.

Stage 2: If/when Nicodemus acquires his first advanced (read: purchasable) magi ability the fur will spread up his arms to his shoulders and onto his pecs, neck, back, and face. The wiry nature of this fur will also extend to his hair causing it to perpetually defy gravity.

Stage 3: If/when Nicodemus masters any single one of his magi abilities (read: Earth III, Earthquake III, Rejuvenation II, etc.) he will gain the pointed, furry ears and big fluffy tail of a wolf

Parents
Mother: Toldi (deceased)
Father: Unknown (unknown)

Siblings
Brother/Sister: Unknown (unknown)

Extended Family: Unknown (unknown)


The story of Nicodemus's life begins at it's most obvious point, his conception. His mother, Toldi, was a sex worker in a brothel in the port town of Junos. Anywhere with such a large volume of sailors passing through it is bound to become home to an equivalent amount of sex workers, and the large amount of poverty stricken people in Suraja only added to this number. As Toldi hailed from a snowy and inconsequential town in Fokradiin her beauty was seen as exotic by the people of Suraja and sailors from Ethea and Ikigai. While serving as a reminder of home to those travelers from Fokradiin, Wuld, and Strun.

It was in the course of her work that Toldi became pregnant with Nicodemus despite the lengths women in her profession generally went to in order to prevent just such an occurrence. She hid her condition for as long as possible and then fled back to Fokradiin, likely planning on reconnecting with the family she had run away from so many years before. Unfortunately, despite the many questions raised by both the circumstances of his conception and birth Nicodemus decided to put his mother through labor in the middle of the Whirlwind Sea, and she died before the ship made port in Hjall. The sailors cared for young Nicodemus until they reached Fokradiin but they were in no shape to be the parents of an abandoned infant so they gave the baby boy to an orphanage in the environmental dome before continuing on their trade routes.

The early years in the orphanage as a baby were uneventful, obviously, but once the staff moved Nicodemus out of the nursery and into the orphanage proper his limited understanding of the world was destroyed. He came to find out that the orphanage worked a lot like you'd imagine a prison would. There were different factions of children each headed up by the strongest and smartest kids there. Outright violence wasn't permitted by the staff, but that didn't stop kids from getting hurt. The rules of that place, both the staff's and the children's, did much to shape the man Nicodemus would become. This is also where he got his first, and most distinctive scar. The slash across his lips came from an attack by another boy wielding a homemade knife when Nicodemus was only eight years old.

This mark on his face tanked most of the actual adoption opportunities he might have had, and instead lead to Nicodemus eventually being placed in foster care at thirteen. This family, the Ivarsens, was very devout making a point to make offerings to all the gods of Adamah's pantheon. Though the did each take a personal patron and encouraged Nicodemus to do the same. After much consideration he finally settled on Nevyne. At first this was something of an act of defiance. Though the Ivarsens worshiped every god Nevyne's links to necromancy and Philip's madness meant those two gods in particular saw a smaller portion of the praise than the others. Beyond that Nicodemus chose Nevyne because he found it funny that he, an insomniac for as long as he could remember, would pray to the goddess of dreams.

Despite getting arrested and removed from the Ivarsens care at fourteen Nicodemus chose to keep his religion and regularly makes offerings and prayers to Nevyne. The reason for his arrest was one of his first artistic expressions. Coming down in the form of a destruction of property charge. Though Nicodemus has always argued that he was creating, not destroying. It made little difference in the eyes of the court though and he was sentenced regardless. His time in the orphanage went a long way toward preparing him for the juvenile detention center. From the JDC he was placed into a boy's home which he promptly ran away from. He then spent the rest of his teens in and out of JDC for various minor crimes including theft and assault.

Upon turning eighteen Nicodemus decided it would be best to leave Fokradiin and his troubled youth behind. So he got a job on a ship and set sail for The New World. Ethea in particular. He figured the more modern folk in that part of the world would have a bit more respect for sculpture, and if not respect then perhaps money. After bouncing around for a few years he ended up settling in Dagos and selling his art to those tourists foolish enough to spend their money on something permanent rather than losing it in a casino. It was during his early years in Dagos that Nicodemus discovered his manic depression, but rather than pursuing any sort of treatment he just accepted it as yet another part of life to deal with. With no real friends and no real purpose in life Nicodemus spends most of his time sculpting and doing whatever odd jobs he has to in order to make ends meet. Perhaps someday he will find something worth fighting for beyond survival, but today is not that day.

Maybe tomorrow.

Unarmed Combat I (Street Fighting): You know the basics and can hold your own in a street fight.
The type of martial art or fighting style is up to you.
We trust you to be realistic for what you can accomplish and not accomplish at being a general level one in unarmed combat.

Melee Combat I (Knives): Can accomplish fundamental and basic feats with melee weapons.

Examples: Knife, Sword, Sai, Hammer, Axe, Whip, Lance, Chainsaw, etc




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Noblesse, M-21 as Nicodemus