Name: Mephisto Anafaust, alias Verisophiles
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Nickname/Title: The Informant
Homeland: Unknown
Personality: During his time as a Cyan Sage, Mephisto was indefinitely curious, oftentimes to the point of obsessiveness. Every waking minute he could spare was wholly devoted to his latest fixation, and when this indefinite thirst for knowledge worked in tandem with his compssionless Blue Soul, these intellectual pursuits often yielded frightening results. Without any empathy to tether him down, he was able to coldly hold himself above any "lesser" being, including the poor souls who suffered terrible deaths during his countless inhumane experiments.
He would often find it useful to dissect living people, so as to observe the body's functions as they were carried out, his only concern being that the din of their screams would elicit a headache, or that some stray drop of blood might stain his shoes. Through these and other often gruesome tests, Mephisto was able to accumulate a vast knowledge of not only the body's innermost workings, but those of the mind as well. People became as easily readable as children's books, as malleable as soft gold, and as controllable as toys to him.
Though he could have identified it in any "lesser" person, Mephisto refused to admit that he was living proof of how flawlessly desire and fear can work in tandem--often to create something dangerous. He constructed a towering peak of greed while simultaneously delving deeper into his fears; the latter provided material from which the former could be built up. His unquenchable thirst for knowledge was ultimately the child of an even deeper fear of the unknown, which, when unhindered by emotions of compassion, led him down a path of careless knowledge-seeking, without any regard for the consequences of his knowledge. Eventually, though, those consequences proved to be too great when he began delving into the realm of souls...
Now, in spite of his relative youth, Mephisto exhibits the grave severity of a much older man, coupled with the heavy burden of grudges and resentments. His studies of the soul have forever altered his views of the world, himself, and the Cyan Sages, whom he now scorns as "deaf and blind sheep being herded into oblivion, bringing the entire world with them." His curiousity, while still as passionate as ever, has been reined in and focused towards his own personal goals, just as his manner of speaking has become more deliberate and well-mannered. Where he once spoke with open callousness, he can now manipulate his tone to convey any sort of emotion masterfully--in spite of the underlying apathy.
The fear that once drove him has come to fuse with a cold anger--anger directed at his former comrades' folly. In coming to the conclusion that the Blue Souls are no more than extensions of the Olden Beast itself, he now begrudges Elrick and his followers for refusing to think for themselves and working to loose the Beast again. Therefore, he has come to aid the Acolytes not out of any sudden goodwill, but for the purely selfish motive of defying the creature he believes is attempting to manipulate his kind.
Appearance: http://i31.tinypic.com/69dsag.jpg
Standing at about five feet and ten inches, Mephisto stands neither very tall nor very short, but the girlish smallness of his frame causes him to appear shorter rather than taller. He has a wide face that sharply tapers off to an angular chin, an average-sized nose with a slight hook to the end of it, and a wide, flat mouth. The immense shock of what his research has lead him to believe has gradually changed the color of his straight, shoulder-length hair to a silvery white, and engraved several wrinkles into his youthful skin, mostly near his mouth and eyes.
Mephisto's body, as stated before, is almost feminine in its slimness, yet his long-fingered hands are perfectly built for the delicate procedures he sometimes finds himself performing. The more dangerous of these procedures, however, have left his hands, forearms, and even his a small portion of his face slightly marred with several tiny scars and chemical burns, which he chooses to hide with long sleeves and gloves.
In terms of attire, Mephisto dresses heavily, and entirely in black, using multiple layers of clothing to partially conceal his slim frame--a unique feature which the Cyan Sages may recognize him for. From his first layer to his outermost one, his garb consists of a tight long-sleeved shirt, with a looser, shorter-sleeved shirt overtop of it. A black, gold-embroidered stole hangs down from his shoulders and nearly to the bottom of his baggy, far-eastern-style pants, but is tied tightly to his waist by a thin belt.
Still overtop of his second shirt and stole, he drapes himself in a garment that is too short to be called a cape or cloak, and too spaced to be considered a shawl. Whatever its proper name might be, its bulky shoulders give his own shoulders the illusion of added mass, effectively disguising his slim frame from afar. Knee-high boots, gloves, a necklace of flat gold medallions, and a gold harlequin's mask to hide a facial burn on his cheek--all being black, gold, or a combination of the two--complete his wardrobe. The effect is exactly as desired: Verisopheles, as the Acolytes know him, cuts a striking figure, yet not one that could be associated with the Cyan Sage Mephisto in the slightest.
Element: Lightning - With a mind as innately curious as his, Mephisto has approached the use of his element from a number of unexpected angles, and has gradually developed an affinity with electricity so deeply ingrained within him that he simply cannot function without use of electricity. He is able to sense the presence of electrical energy so acutely that he has been able to memorize the functions of different electrical impulses in the human brain, ranging from muscle control to the tasks of different organs.
With enough concentration, he can generate delicate enough electrical impulses to mimic or interfere with the brain's commands, effectively subjugating a person's body to his control. He regularly makes use of this ability to maintin an optimum heart rate and rate of oxygen intake. In other people, however, this is a very difficult task to accomplish, and more often than not, Mephisto prefers to apply a simple jolt to their temples instead, wiping away any recent memory--or, if a powerful enough jolt is applied, creating a semi-mindless drone.
In addition, Mephisto has studied the known elements enough to know which elements conduct electricity most effectively, and where the gaseous forms of some of these elements are most commonly found. When finding himself in an area where these gases are highly present, he can charge the air with electricty, causing his opponents to gradually generate static energy, which Mephisto can release in the form of a powerful, if unfocused shock to their bodies.
A similar technique can be used to generate lightning bolts--and eventually storms--from charged particles in the air. While these and his numerous other techniques in manipulating electricity are reason enough to be careful, the most dangerous of Mephisto's electrical manipulations is one so simple that he is able to use it constantly, without respite. Even while he sleeps, Mephisto is directing the electrical impulses of other life forms into himself, granting him enough lasting energy that he only needs to rest for a mere four hours each night. Wherever he walks, insects almost instantly drop dead, animals become slow and meek, and even the healthiest individual feels slightly ill while in his presence.
Weapon: A long dagger hangs at Mephisto's waist, the blade of which--being made of silver, the most conductive of all metals--can be charged with electricity to deliver a lethal stab wound.
Bio: Born quite prematurely into a lesser noble family in Mhassus, Mephisto flitted in and out of life for the first few weeks following his birth, and was nearly declared dead on multiple occasions. In spite of this, his parents spared no expense in hiring the highest quality medical care available, and after a few weeks of dire uncertainty, it became clear that little Mephisto would live. While he did live, his health as a child was less than ideal; girlish, frail, and prone to illness, he was forbidden by his mother from taught to duel with his brothers, and remained almost exclusively indoors for the first twelve years of his life.
During that time of limited physical activity, he allowed his mind to feast upon the plethora of books housed within his family's library, as he was offered no alternative--yet he still found it much more preferable to "pointless" tasks such as those that occupied his father's and brothers' time. It was cruelly ironic that most of his family's books were written on topics such as hunting, dueling, and sportsmanship--activities that would forever remain vague concepts of the imagination to him....or so everyone believed.
Though his two brothers were good-intentioned souls, Mephisto's compassionless Blue Soul found their rough, uncultured presence to be offensive; despite their best attempts to socialize with their younger sibling, Acacius and Dominic were met with only derision and scorn from Mephisto, who had identified them as "inferior" before ever discovering his nature as a Blue Soul. That time, however, would come soon enough, when Lord Anafaust deemed the sixteen-year-old ready to at least observe a duel firsthand, if not participate in one himself. He sat through about four or five good-natured duels between his brothers before Dominic was eventually able to persuade their father to give Mephisto a chance at it.
Promising only to parry and defend, Dominic thrust the grip of a heavy rapier into Mephisto's hands before the bookish boy could ever protest. Arrogant as he was, Mephisto wished to prove himself greater than his oafish brother, though he had only read about dueling techniques in his family's library. Still, his pride overcame any apprehension he had felt.
Without knowing exactly what it he was doing, Mephisto mimicked one of the techinques described and illustrated in his books, thrusting ahead with a quick jab of the rapier. Apparently, he executed the attack correctly, for he was able to pierce through his brother's lax guard and into his stomach. It was only a very shallow wound, yet the effect it had on Dominic was frightening; the larger boy briefly convulsed as though pierced by a flying arrow, and entered a state of half-paralysis. Only after several days of intensive medical care was Mephisto's brother able to bend or breathe with ease. It became apparent to Mephisto, his parents, and most of all his brother that the sickly, sedentary bookworm possessed something unique.
After being identified as a Blue Soul, Mephisto was immediately pressed into the Delta Battalion by his father, who quite literally jumped at the chance of having a son within its prestigious ranks. Despite his mother's protests, Mephisto was initiated into their ranks without being offered any authority in the decision. The years within the Delta Battalion proved to be laborious and uninteresting to Mephisto, who had already learned most of what they had to offer him, and found his time better spent towards pursuits of his own making, rather than his assigned duties. He remained apathetically at C rank until his curiosity was at last grabbed not by the Battalion's teachings, but rather by the presence of the other Blue Souls. Rising to A rank with frightening speed, he soon joined them in forming the group known as the Cyan Sages--a lofty title that suited him quite nicely.
Satisfied to at least be among peers, and even more so by the new freedom to search and experiment that he found in them, Mephisto began to seek knowledge unhindered, not caring in the slightest about the loss of life that often resulted from doing so. Between the large-scale attacks and threats, he allowed his constrained mind to completely unzip, and devour as much information as possible. It was during this period of time that he gathered knowledge about the workings of all forms of life, the elements, and his own terrible powers. The latter of the three, however, could not be satisfied by merely toying with his abilities; the source of his power, the soul, needed to be dissected in order for the power itself to be fully understood and realized. Using abducted Acolytes as test subjects, he began to dissect the soul layer-by-layer....
Mephisto was quickly able to confirm for himself the well-taught fact that the White Souls' power originated from that of the Seven Sages, whose souls lay embedded within the Olden Beast. What he could not determine, however, was the source of the Blue Souls, which remained as obscure as a shadow in fog. Adding to his difficulties was the fact that none of the other Sages would consent to participate in his experiments, remaining apprehensive after having seen some of the gruesome results they yielded. And so, left with no other alternative, Mephisto began tracking his own soul back to its source. Upon reaching it, his mind touched not the brilliant gems in the Olden Beast's back, but rather something...else, something dark and full of malice, which, after many months of thought, Mephisto came to as the Olden Beast itself.
The implications that followed were staggering, rendering Mephisto speechless for the first time in his life: If the Blue Souls are in fact spawned from the Olden Beast, then Elrick's quest to awaken the creature was no more than a manipulation on the part of the Beast. It had planted the Cyan Sages on the world above as tools for its release--Mephisto was convinced of it, for there was no other thing conceivable that could be so foul and full of hatred. The thought of being the slave of anything--let alone such a despicable creature--was unbearable to Mephisto, who valued intellect and choice more that anything.
Several months after first beginning his studies, Mephisto cleverly feigned his own death at the hands of the Acolytes, and forged for himself a new identity: The Delta Battalion informant Verisophiles, whose name roughly translates to "lover of true fact," became the Acolytes' main informant as to the Cyan Sages' whereabouts. Cool and aloof, he was an unknown variable to the Delta Battalion, though his primary goal was easy enough to guess: To prevent the Cyan Sages from loosing the Olden Beast, by any means necessary.
Side: Himself; allied with the Acolytes; formerly a Cyan Sage
Goals: To prevent the Olden Beast from being awakened, among other aspirations...
Quote/catchphrase: "People simply follow the herd, unthinking, like sheep..."
