app for the box

[highhealplz]

Player Information
Player name: Liz
Contact: the zombie nun @ aim
Are you over 18: y
Characters in The Box Already: previously Maria del Andallo!

Character Information
Character Name: Ashraf Salib
Canon: Original (Ragnarok Online MMORPG)
Canon Point: In the middle of his fight with the Doppleganger.
Is your character Dead, Undead or Alive: Alive
History:

Ashraf was born, the first time, in the desert city of Morroc, best known for its covert Thieves' Guild. Visitors here know to keep a close eye on all personal belongings, and never to wander anywhere alone after dark. Or during the day, really. It's a city that gets by on the sharpness of its wits and the speed of its draw.

Ashraf never liked it there.

With a father in and out of jail for as long as he could remember (a lower ranking member of the Guild, and not very good, as evidenced by those many trips to jail) and a mother too busy trying to earn money for her kids to spend much time with them, Ashraf found that his best (and only) role models were the priests that visited from Prontera. Ashraf was fascinated by these holy men and women, staying as near as he could to listen to all they said. The abilities they worked were nothing short of miraculous, healing the sick and wounded, dispensing blessings from the gods without any struggle at all. It was amazing. It was exactly what Ashraf wanted to achieve for himself.

So, when he was 14, he started out for Prontera, the capitol of all of Rune-Midgard and home of King Tristan. He was accepted as an acolyte after just a month of dedicated service, and it was then that his studies really began. It took him 5 long years of study, training, and finally even of field experience, to finally earn the much-coveted promotion into priesthood. Ashraf had shirked most of his friendships, fallen out of contact with his family, and failed entirely with any kind of romantic life, but it was worth it. At age 19, he was made a priest. He proudly travelled all over Rune-Midgard, sharpening his skill at healing and supporting warriors in battle. He never much liked that he had to charge for it, but… well, there wasn't any other way he could see to keep himself fed.

When he was 27, Ashraf met Olivia Durant. Olivia was a crusader, also working in the order of the All-Father, and as stern and commanding a woman as Ashraf had ever met. They worked well together, and Ashraf was continually impressed by her strength and morals. He began to join parties that Olivia had joined already, looking to enjoy her company a little longer. It became a joint partnership, and Olivia began to rely on Ashraf as a priest, as he relied on her as a warrior. Eventually the two began to rely on each other as friends, as well. Ashraf harbored an admiration that had turned into love for two months before Olivia grew annoyed at his cautiously slow speed. Customarily direct and straightforward as ever, Olivia took the relationship into her own hands, and they were married within the year.

The two became well-known for Olivia's strength (and for her crusade against demons in particular—just their sinful and corrupted existence never failed to rile her ire) and Ashraf's supportive endurance. They earned enough to live comfortably, and were happy together. It was when Ashraf was 30 that the long-forgotten demon Satan Morroc burst free from his thousand year prison underneath Morroc, destroying the entire city.

Ashraf had never wanted to visit his home, and it didn't bother him that he hadn't seen his mother or siblings in 16 years. But when his home was destroyed, and it was clear they'd gone with it, the guilt was overwhelming. He urged Olivia to accept the king's summons to do battle with Satan Morroc and his forces, only to spend hours wandering through the ruins once they'd arrived in the devastated city. He never told Olivia about his family or their absent relationship, but he didn't have to—his reaction was enough for her to understand.

The two spent the next 20 years in pursuit of the demon. The rift that Satan Morroc had caused in space protected him from direct assault, and so their search for an alternative route took them far and wide. In the company of a small party, they came eventually to Niflheim, that land of the dead in the roots of the great Tree of Life. Ashraf and Olivia both had been there before on earlier quests, although never so deep into the heart of the land — they were far less prepared than they'd thought. The hordes of demons arrayed against them allowed no respite, nor was there anywhere to hide from them. All they could do was press on, and Ashraf's supply of blue gems dwindled as party members fell and were resurrected again.

Then came a lull. Taking advantage of it, the party set up a camp and a few watches, hoping to rest a little. It was the hunter that discovered the little boy shivering in the darkness and brought him into the firelight — and subsequently, it was the hunter that was first killed when the "little boy" showed himself as a hylozoist, another of the demons. Infuriated that the demons would prey even on their kindness, Olivia rushed immediately to meet the reassembling demons, missing entirely Ashraf's cry of warning. He'd used the last of his blue gems on the fallen hunter, and his resurrection spell was useless without them.

The party fell, one by one, and Olivia was the last of them to die. Faced with the ever-growing hordes of demons, and knowing that if he were to die too, there would be no hope at all of resurrecting the party, Ashraf was forced to create a warp portal for himself to escape into. It took him directly back to Prontera, where he desperately tried to arrange a rescue party to retrieve and revive the corpses, but even he had to reluctantly admit that it was impossible. Even if the demons had left the corpses where they lay, which was incredibly unlikely, by the time they got there it would be too late to revive any of them. The entire party, and Olivia with them, were gone.

He took a week to mourn, and then departed for the renewed floating city of Juno to find his way to Valhalla and the Valkyries. As the legend said, he could offer his life to the Valkyrie, and if he was found worthy, he would be reborn. (If not… well. Best not to think of that.) Rebirth would be a long and difficult road, but he would have far more power to protect the innocent by the end of it, and what had happened in Niflheim would never happen again. He was determined. The Valkyries accepted his offer, and he was sent back to Rune-Midgard as an infant.

This time, Ashraf was raised in the Church, which provided him with everything he could want. By the time he was five, he had begun to recall memories from his previous life, and the priests at the church took the opportunity to tell him all about himself as he had been. They emphasized his greatness, his self-sacrifice, how strong and well-known he had been. Needless to say, Ashraf developed a pretty high opinion of himself. Only one man, a young friend of Ashraf's from his previous life, was around to keep Ashraf's ego to manageable proportions. Shaun, now easily Ashraf's senior, provided enough tough love and mockery to keep Ashraf occasionally grounded.

But it was harder this time around, and the challenges were greater; however, Ashraf was not only determined, but completely self-assured. He was made a high priest by the time he was 15—four years earlier than he'd become a priest the first time—and he wasted no time in setting out into the world.

This time, though, he was not so passive. He had paid special attention in his studies to learning how best to damage demons and undead creatures, and by the time he was a high priest, he'd decided that he would do things differently this time. Namely, he learned the spell Magnus Exorcismus — an exorcism spell that deal great holy damage to anything unholy in the area, even more powerful than Olivia's self-sacrificial Grand Cross had been. This time he would not merely support others, he would take the fight against the unholy corruption of the world into his own hands, and his fight against Satan Morroc had expanded to cover all of demon and undead.
 
His adventures throughout Rune-Midgard focused heavily on just that, and he was well-known for occasionally leading a party astray specifically to run into demons and undead creatures. In fact, he became a little too well-known for it. A knight joined their party, quickly gaining Ashraf's friendship and appreciation. This man lead them into the underground dungeons below the city of Geffen, famous for being choked with undead and demons. Of course, Ashraf was only too happy to follow along. But it proved to be a trap, and just as hordes of readied demons sprang to the attack, the knight uncovered himself as the Doppleganger, the infamous lead demon of Geffen. Ashraf gamely rallied himself and his party members to fight, and it will be from the middle of this desperate struggle that he'll be taken.

Personality:

Ashraf began life — his first life — as an opinionated and angry boy. It bothered him to see the casual injustices in Morroc; the way merchants swindled, the pride thieves took in their craft, the lies men and women told each other. But being young and incapable, he had no solution beyond anger to his disappointment. Until the day he saw a traveling priest of the Prontera Church. The man showed nothing but kindness and goodwill toward all, healing the sick and injured, helping how he could and expecting nothing in exchange, then going on his holy way again, straight back out of Ashraf's life. Needless to say, the boy was impressed. That was how a truly good man should act. It was how he should act. It was from that moment that he decided he would be a priest, and his life became a struggle toward this goal.

Ashraf grew into a serious, solemn, and deeply dedicated man. He grew up knowing exactly what the men and women of the Prontera Church that he most respected were supposed to be like, and trying to emulate it at all times. This required soothing a rather easily provoked temper held over from his youth, but the job of it got easier as the years passed. By the time he was forty, he was well respected as a kind, serious, and compassionate man of the faith. He had a penchant for letting the sorrows of the world occasionally drag him down, but he knew by then that the remedy was to keep someone around who could remind him to stand strong — a role generally filled by his wife.

The two complimented each other nicely, with Olivia keeping Ashraf strong, and Ashraf keeping Olivia compassionate. After her death, a great sadness took hold. There was guilt, of course, in knowing he had failed to save her, and there was resignation in knowing that the odds had been stacked too highly against them, and no one could have saved her. But above all else, he felt his strength to keep fighting failing without her. It was this that finally pushed him into giving himself to the Valkyries of Valhalla to be reborn, as much as it was the knowledge that he could never keep people safe as he was, and that he would need to surrender himself and strengthen his holy power.

After he was reborn, as a baby raised in the Parish, Ashraf had significantly different influences. Everyone around him knew the sacrifice he'd made, and the great man he'd been — and so rather than seeing a lofty ideal and striving toward it, he instead was raised being that lofty ideal. Ashraf knew he was capable of great things, because he'd already achieved them. This was reflected in his confidence, above all else. Even as an acolyte, he was ready to take on any challenge, physical, spiritual, or otherwise. He had an indomitable spirit and a thirst to reacquaint himself with the world, and the pain of losing Olivia had been softened as the memories of her became hazy in his second childhood. Ashraf had only Shaun to keep him from floating away entirely on the winds of ego; Shaun, who was unimpressed by the man he had been, and constantly demanded of Ashraf, "Yeah, but who are you now?"

Nowadays he is a confident 20-year-old (technically 75-year old) man, completely assured of himself, his use to the world, and his good standing in matters of faith and the Church. This lends him much of the cockiness that goes with confidence, but he has lost none of his compassion. If anything, it's even more obvious now. Ashraf genuinely likes and cares for people; he would rather spend an evening in a tavern, getting to know those that frequent it, than sitting in a library at the Church studying scripture. He sees the best in anyone he meets, and is happy to help them see the same if need be.

His faith is a rock. He believes wholeheartedly in the guiding hand of the divine, and with that has come an interest in any other forms of religion that may present themselves. After all, it works so well for him, surely there must be something worth learning in a different version of the same faith and comfort, right? He even, to some extent, believes in any religion he comes across. It all equates to the same basic love and respect, and at the root of everything, the same divine force drives it all.

Ashraf isn't blind to suffering, though. He's very aware of it, and does his best to alleviate it — but could never take that as a sign of displeasure or abandonment by God. He sees suffering as trials given to people to ultimately shape them into a better, more whole person. He views his own tribulations as gifts, even if they were pretty unwelcome gifts at the time. In retrospect, everything he has lost and suffered for, in this life and in his last life, has made him stronger in the end, and he's grateful for that much.

Abilities, Strengths and Weaknesses:

Ashraf is a healer, and a darn good one, which makes him really, really difficult to kill. He's also great for keeping other people around him alive as well, with a wide array of supportive magic, good for increasing natural strength and speed, shielding, and general RPG stuff like that. Here is a full list of his spells and abilities!

As far as weaknesses go, Ashraf only has one offensive magic spell that will affect non-demons/undead, and it's not particularly strong. It would feel like a burning jolt of electricity, and probably take 8-15 repetitive casts to kill an average human. He has absolutely no skill with any kind of weapon or martial art, and is pretty much worse than useless with them. Stand back, the dude's gonna put his own eye out with that sword.

Emotionally speaking, Ashraf is very hardy. He can take almost anything in stride and grin about it, and he's even managed to soothe the temper that he was embarrassed to have in his first life. He can draw from his own difficult experiences to summon empathy for just about anyone, and is always willing to lend an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on. He has enough self-assurance and confidence to spare, and is ever ready to lend what fortitude he can to people.

But that said, he also has too much self-assurance and confidence. These lead him into dangerous situations which, if he can survive them, is no guarantee that any of those around him can. He takes death and injury far too lightly (they're just temporary, what are you so worried about!), doesn't mind gambling with the lives of fighters around him, and will throw himself head-first into anything. After all, nothing's been able to kill him yet, and plenty has tried! But even more than that, Ashraf will often assume he knows what's best for people. He is good at reading people, and often does have a good idea of it — but it's a dangerous assumption to make, and he's sometimes at risk of leaning past caring and into manipulating or controlling in the name of someone else's best interests.

Samples
Network/Action Spam Sample:

video:

[ There's the usual fiddling, of course. The sort of fiddling that says "hey look at me, I've never so much as touched a typewriter before, what the hell is this!" But eventually he gets it, and of course he's already smiling happily. Of course he is. ]

Hey! I was told people would hear it if I tried to contact them with this, so... [ He shrugs carelessly. ] Let's hope I'm not just talking to myself, right? I do enough of that as is.

So anyway, I'm Ashraf. [ He pauses, considers, and amends: ] Ashraf Salib, high priest of the Rune-Midgard Church of the All-Father... and so forth. What that really means is that I'm a healer. And it sounds like I'll be here for a while, so if you get any papercuts, stubbed toes, or dismembered limbs — [ A winning smile, right here. ] You know who to come to.

Prose Log Sample: Here!