Caster (Lina Inverse)

Player Name: Incardine
Contact Info: NekoIncChan on AIM
Other Characters Played:
* Original Character, Megaera D'Ashland
* Code Geass, Kallen Stadtfeld
* The Order of the Stick, Redcloak

Character Name: Caster (Lina Inverse)
Canon: Slayers

Canon Background: http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Lina_Inverse focuses on Lina's relationships. A loose plot summary of some of the mainline of her story (the first three seasons of the anime):
http://animeyume.com/slayers/slsynopsis.html

AU Background: Lina Inverse was a famous, famous spellcaster a few centuries ago... For mostly all the wrong reasons. Officially born with the title "Lina the Pink", she is more famously known as the "Dragon Spooker" and "The Enemy of All Who Live". While she fought creatures of evil and robbers, she took the rewards from the hunts for herself, and became infamous for the amounts of collateral damage she could cause. She was famous from the age of 14 for her prodigous talents in black magic, shamanism, and even some white magic - combined, her knowledge and raw talent made her the only magician on the planet capable of casting legendary destructive magic such as the Ragna Blade and the Giga Slave. (Some rumors attribute a single casting of the latter spell to the entire existence of the Rift.)

The circumstances of her death are less than clear - in part becuase she was essentially 'dead' for short periods of time at various points of her adventures. Most believe that she fell to a dragon, or possibly to some kind of Riftspawn, in pursuit of another great treasure.

Needless to say, the fact that she's back (sort of) is positively scary to any who have heard her name. Poor Roy Mustang, hoping to get a more subtle Caster who could help him attain Fuhrerhood, has instead wound up with the legendary Enemy of All Who Live - whose appetite could drain him of finances to a truly dangerous point, given half a chance...

Personality: Lina Inverse is, to be direct, full of herself. She was one of the greatest wizards of her time, and she very, very well knew it - resulting in an overblown ego that made her view herself as one of the most beautiful, desirable ladies in the world... An illusion that would easily shatter under (in particular) any female with larger breasts than her. She herself is a B-cup - causing many to refer to her as one or another term for 'flat-chested', invariably drawing a violent response.

Speaking of, if you needed to classify Caster quickly, the quickest accurate metaphor is three of the Seven Deadly Sins. First is Wrath - when absolutely anything sets her hair-trigger temper off, she's prone to inflicting all sorts of harm on it. Common triggers for this include using less-fortunate nicknames of hers around her, or insulting her chest size, but nothing will set her off faster than threatening - or committing - violence against children. Her rage can, in some situations, actively empower her - to the point where she's cast Dragon Slave and even Ragna Blade without chanting when sufficiently pissed off. (The Dragon Slave castings in question were invariably in for-laughs situations. The Ragna Blade casting, however, was anything but.)

Second up, gluttony. Magic burns calories fast, and results in Caster having a positively ludicrous appetite. "One order of everything on the menu" is her normal order at any inn, and she will fight over the last bites of a meal with any who would dare try to claim them from her. Her desire to try the world's finest foods is an overwhelming objective, where, when told that dragon's meat had to steep for six months so that it didn't become fatally poisonous, she responded, with complete seriousness, "FINE! I'LL DIE! GIMME!" Even as a Heroic Spirit, Caster maintains an intense, expensive appetite, which turns into an additional source of casting power.

Then, there's greed. Caster became an adventurer to pursue profitable jobs - whether that means raiding ancient ruins for stuff to sell, beating up bandits and taking their money, or performing jobs, does not concern her. When it comes to her eye for profit, Caster is very much like her parents - both master merchants - with her regularly talking better deals out of any situation. Surprisingly, she consistently stops short of extorting or stealing from innocent people - even if she's willing to talk a fee out of a village's mayor to take out a dragon, while that dragon is destroying the village... Then destroy the village while casting Dragon Slave on the dragon... Then still ask for the fee, with a very 'pitchfork mob' response ensuing.

In spite of all of these, Caster has some undercurrent positive traits. If she becomes driven towards a goal, she will pursue it with a mighty focus. She really does believe in stopping bandits, even if she's prone to just taking their money rather than giving it to the poor. More than anything, however, Caster is smart, and learns fast. She first cast the Giga Slave, the greatest destructive spell ever known, at the age of fourteen, and when her goal for an adventure isn't money or food, it's for knowledge. She carries out her duties with the Sorcerer's Guild of her world regularly, visiting branches in any town that has one, and occasionally taking several days out of her adventuring to serve as a guest instructor, to grant others the opportunities she has benefitted so much from. This has had the interesting result of making her feared amongst many, but revered by arcane spellcasters.

There are exactly three things Caster is known to be scared of in the entire universe. One is slugs, for some inexplicable reason - their precise combination of sliminess, vulnerability to salt, and other traits turns off Caster's capacity for rationality. The second is high-level rift creatures, for precisely the opposite reason - she knows they are a threat to her, and need to be treated with caution. The third, for much more practical reasons, is her older sister, Luna, who apparently carried a shard of the power of the legendary dragon, Ceifeed, and thus was a hazard to even the greatest rift beasts - who could cleave a Dragon Slave in half with her sword. Caster's fear of Luna is sufficient that, even knowing Luna should have been dead for three centuries, Caster would follow a perceived order from her sister faster than even a Command Spell.

It's also good to note that Lina can be very, very snarky about situations, sarcastically commenting about things with exceptional prejudice, and that she's also explicitly aware of the fourth wall - in the first season, at one point, she draws the signature weapon of her voice actor's previous role to beat up Gourry, flat-out telling the audience that if she has to explain the joke, there's something wrong with them. Later on, she explicitly refers to fantasy tropes, and at one point, flat-out states that she should've seen a comic relief character showing up because things were getting too dramatic. (In the Novels, there's explicitly a framing device of her telling her own stories, turning this into something more reasonable. No such luck in the anime.)

Combat Style: Black Magic - the destructive forms of casting - are by far Caster's specialty, in which she is capable of (given enough time to cast) throwing out some of the mightiest spells in Dagaria's long history, including the village-buster Dragon Slave, shadow-powered Ragna Blade, and even the potentially world-destroying Giga Slave. She's also a solid Shamanist caster, specializing in fire magic - from the iconic fireball, to the Explosion Array trap spell, plus many utility spells like flight.

In melee, she's reasonably good with a shortsword, but will fall quickly to a properly-trained soldier or a group of pitchfork-toting villagers - usually, if she doesn't have the time to stop and cast something, she resorts to the time honored tactic of running the hell away. Not that she will ever admit to it.

Caster maintains no fewer than four Noble Phantasms - three spells and one set of artifacts that were critical pieces of her legend. The first is the C-Rank, Anti-Village spell known as the "Dragon Slave" - a corruption of its original name, "Dragon Slayer", a spell capable of killing a (typical) dragon in one shot... Albeit with vast, vast amounts of collateral damage. The second is the B-Rank, Pro-Thaumaturgy artifacts known as the Demon's Blood Talismans, which are powered by energies from each of four ancient demons. When activated by a special trigger spell, they provide Caster with a temporary burst of power, allowing her to boost a single spell immensely, or to cast her A-Rank Noble Phantasms.

The Ragna Blade is an A-Rank Anti-Unit spell that stands entirely outside of the common classifications of magic. It creates a black, sword-shaped energy charge, capable of slicing directly through just about anything - even into the Astral Plane, making it one of a few spells that can truly slay high-level daemons (though not always in one strike). The spell is extremely draining to cast, however - even as a Heroic Spirit, and even with the Talismans, Caster can't reliably use it more than once in a fight.

Then there's the A++-Rank, Anti-World spell known as the Giga Slave - developed by Caster in her lifetime and never, ever taught to any other, it is believed to be the strongest destructive spell ever developed. The exact limits of its destructive potential are unclear - the legends go all over the place, from 'god-slayer' to 'the only thing that can completely destroy a high-level Taintspawn' to 'world-ender'. The first - and only confirmed - casting is said to have turned a lake into a sea of death, a place where no life could exist for centuries. The problem is, the spell relies on directly summoning the Lord of Nightmares, a mighty and mysterious Old Religion deity - if the caster lost control, the entire world would be at the being's mercy (which would possibly mean annihilation of the world). There are rumors that the spell is even responsible for the Rift's creation (to be clear, these are false). Further, casting the spell drains Caster's energy so thoroughly as to temporarily turn her hair white.

Kingdom or Faction: Amestris (by virtue of being summoned by Roy Mustang).

Primary Role: Loosely, Engineer - Caster is her own artillery, though...

Tarot Cards:
Past - The Magician. Lina Inverse's origin and entire history are borne of her abilities as a caster - one of the most dreaded, yet most successful, in the history of Dagaria. Without it, she would not be a Heroic Spirit now.
Present - The High Priestess, 'Inverted'. As any sane Servant in the Holy Grail War, Caster must conceal her truest identity from others in order that her weaknesses go undiscovered.
Future - The Star. Caster is a Heroic Spirit, not for her horrifying destructive potential or legendary greed and gluttony... But for what she faced, and what she will face. She may bring down an entire village - but she'll have brought down the dragon oppressing it, giving the villagers a new chance, too.

Title: The Enemy Of All Who Live.

Artifacts: See the Demon's Blood Talismans, aforementioned in Combat Style.

Setting Considerations: The creature race known as the Mazoku are easily replaced with higher-functioning Rift-related beings. The specific concept of The Lord Of Nightmares, however, is distinctly more complex - while it is the origin of the Mazoku, it's made pretty clear in Slayers NEXT that the Lord of Nightmares' motivations are more complex than the Mazoku realize. How to convert this could require some thinking.

Notes: Caster is fourth-wall cognizant. In canon, she makes wisecracks about literary tropes, about how the series can't stay too serious for long, and about her voice actor (a joke that sadly did not translate to the US release).

Sample Post: http://testrun-box.dreamwidth.org/16264.html
Tarot Questions:
You are about to embark upon a grand journey. What do you carry in your satchel? - A sword, a few sets of spell components, and some basic camp supplies. If I need more than that, I'll get it from the first couple bandit camps I cross.
Your liege has called upon you to perform a task of great importance. Upon what do you rely to complete it? - My magic. One way or another, an explosion can handle just about any task you'd give to a Wizard.
Your rival in court knows something that you do not, and this knowledge is giving them the advantage. How do you address this issue? - Secrets are only useful for people who aren't on fire.
What does your presence bring to your kingdom? - My presence brings power that can change the tide of battle, beauty that can sway the hearts of their enemies, and wisdom to guide it to a new era!
What is god to you? - That's a tricky one. I mean, I've called on the power of pretty mighty things in my lifetime, but I've never called on "God".
It is the eve of a great battle, and the troops have made camp for the night. Where are you and what are you doing? - I'm eating. You can never be fed enough on the night before a battle, I say.
You are presiding over a murder trial where both suspects claim innocence. What do you do? - Ask for the identity of the wiseass who put me in a judge's seat. Do I look like a lawyer?!
You are given the opportunity to bet everything you have for great fortune, should you win you will be granted the wealth of kings but should you lose you will lose everything. What do you do? - If I think it's a fair bet? I'll take those odds. I can rebuild if I lose.
What do you do in the face of great adversity? - When the going gets tough, the tough need to get going, plain and simple!
What do you want people to remember about you after you are gone? - My beauty, my grace, and my successes in saving innocent people from the darkness of the world! *Talk about an ego trip, Lina...*
A celebration is being held in your honor. Lavish food, gifts, and even people are offered at your table. What do you take or do in celebration of your achievements? - Food first. Then second and third. Then gifts. People seems kinda creepy.
What vices keep you from achieving your true potential? - So what if I need food for casting? I don't see how that gets in the way!
What do you make of your dreams? - I don't think about them too much. They just stand in the way of what I do while I'm awake, if you ask me.
At the end of the journey, what remains in your satchel? - Much of what I started with, and a lot of money from all the bandits and villains who got in my way.