Logan Hawthorne

✦ Appearance

Logan is very stocky with thick, powerful but not fully lean musculature. He also has a small forehead. His eyes are sharp and piercing, when not offset by a more pleasant expression. He often keeps his mid-back length hair in a simple braid.

✦ Info

Personality: Logan is pragmatic and patient. However, when he gets the chance, he can be goofy. Sometimes, it's a mask. He's good at knowing the right time to crack a joke. He holds himself to the highest standard, but at the same time at least tries to avoid working himself to death. He now knows very well what he is and isn't capable of; he has to. Any doubts or flaws he had before, as a fresh Rook, he had to kill with all vehemence.
It was the only way forward.
Likes/Dislikes: Likes candy and sugary foods; enjoys a hobby of making candy. Hates coffee. Is really into civil engineering.

¶ Backstory

His twin sister Avabella was the only Hawthorne kid of their generation that matched him in intellect; prodigal twins, of equal level. Each displayed an affinity for magic early on, Logan to electricity and Ava to fire.
What Logan also displayed was an uncanny skill of perception. Sometimes he bordered on clairvoyant, knowing things he had no business knowing: It would be years until it could be explained, by Logan himself.
After evaluation at the age of 9, the clan described his sensory talent as a "once in a generation" ability. So acute was his ability to feel magic, he could feel the residue of a mage's presence in an area, five hours after they left; without sensory training.

He enrolled at DFMA at the age of 17: At 24, he graduated from a dual degree program with a Bachelor's in the Combat Prowess Program and a PHD in Runic System Theory. His professors, on some occasions, urged him to "take it easy," something which seemed ridiculous to him at the time.
In the present, he kinda wishes he had. He wishes he could've spent more time with his sister; yeah, during college everyone has less free time but... he could've definitely tried to make some more, at least.
Soon after graduating, in AE694 he joined the ATDF.

Soon afterward he transferred to a Diagonal which had jurisdiction over the cultural region of Acuria, for a particular reason: He'd heard of a particular mystic group, through the grapevine; rumor said they could rewire the senses.
It was fascinating enough that he had to investigate. He spent several years in the region — That was a weird and rough time, being away from Ava for so long — before he transferred back to Dragonfall in AE702 as a Knight under Alessia Gataki. This was 7 years before Ignis Alston's attack on Dragonfall.

Logan doesn't remember exactly where he was that day, but he knew he was off duty. He felt it long before it happened. He remembers sprinting outside, screaming, and overloading his magic just enough that he barely prevented the buildings behind and around him from being obliterated.
His memory stops being coherent after he reconnects with his diagonal. The only thing he can remember clearly is pain from mana over-exhaustion; when he ran out of mana, his body began consuming itself to continue powering his spells. He was told, after the fact, that he only collapsed once everything was over.
It took him a month to fully recover.

Despite his misgivings Alessia eventually chose Logan to succeed her.
Going forward, thinking back on it, maybe he should've listened to his gut instinct. Maybe he should've waited. He didn't feel ready in the slightest for such a massive responsibility; but that just came with the mantle, he supposed. He didn't know what was in store for them.

AE710, two months after Ignis' attack, signs of a cult began popping up; it had been brewing for even longer, almost certainly, but for one reason or another it only started picking up steam after the attack. First it was disappearances, then they got bolder. They began performing ritualistic murders, leaving behind bodies that could only be described as "desecrated, befouled, and corrupted".
It was possible — unlikely, highly unlikely even, but possible — that the desecrated bodies were hazardous, or toxic, or whatever. It made him uneasy. He declared every case of these ritualistic murders had to be handled by hazmat teams; even when evidence started to point to the unlikelihood of the corruption being contagious, he didn't want to take the risk.
It made them slower than they would've been otherwise, if he'd lifted the quarantine. It's very likely they could've made more progress, sooner.
That was the first of his many mistakes in this case. But the worst was yet to come.

They had been tracking the movements of the cult for some time now, and had narrowed their base's location to a few possibilities. Logan had each of them monitored at all times. Over all, they'd made far less progress than he'd hoped for. Too little progress, too slow; he felt like a fool, like they should've taken the cult down ages ago, like he was failing everyone.
He was restless. He was letting everything get to him.
That was his second biggest mistake: If he'd kept a clearer mind, so much difficulty could've been avoided; this is the mistake that led to everything which would follow.
This is hindsight, of course.

It happened on December 15th, the coldest day of that year.
They'd narrowed the cult's possible base locations down to one. But those bastards, somehow they figured out they were being watched. They shouldn't have been able to. It just shouldn't have been possible; even today, years later, he doesn't have an explanation for how they found out.

By 4 in the morning, some thirty people had entered the base location. Everyone was roused immediately, once the tenth person had entered. By 5, no one had left the location. He should've been more cautious; it was fucking weird. More than anyone else, Logan, Logan should have seen it: They figure out where the base is, then, suddenly, the whole cult convenes. With a clearer mind, he would have seen it for what it was. Of course, this is hindsight again.
At 6 in the morning, they attacked the cult's base.

At the start, for the most part, everything was fine. Most of the members were nonmagi, wielding enchanted weapons not advanced enough to deal with the strength of a diagonal. This was to be expected. What was not expected, as they cleared through the base, was a tunnel. The cult had dug beneath the foundations of the building.
Underneath, Logan couldn't sense anything. It was a complete arcane sensory null zone. They didn't have time to dismantle it; the cult could be preparing anything down there, and they had to stop whatever it was. Without his ace, his sensory prowess, it made sense to Logan to put Avabella in front, in what would usually be his place.
In truth, he was scared; but this also is hindsight. Back then, as a fresh Rook, he didn't offer himself such luxuries as "fear". Another mistake for the pile, this one almost the worst.

A spiraling stairwell carved down through the foundation and the earth, barely large enough at any point for one person, for fifty feet maybe. At the bottom, it opened into a large chamber.
Contained therein — surrounded by the cult, and half of them dead — was a demon.

Its body was semi-amorphous, made of green fire but taking the vague shape of a humanoid leopard. Its limbs were gangling and angular. The surface of the flames glistened, as if covered in oil. When it moved, the light of the flames bent and refracted, casting dizzying green patterns across its surroundings.
Its presence alone almost made him vomit, cutting through the sensory null field now that he was "closer"; "closer" being relative, they were some twenty feet away. Even that far away, and with the suffocating blanket of the null field... He almost ran.

Then it turned. Its eyes were white beneath the miasmatic film. With its wings, wings thin and brittle like dead bramble, it covered its gaunt abdomen. Later, it would be identified as the greater demon Flauros.

It spoke to him, in a voice like the dying gasp of a man. It was his own voice.
And the word of the demon was desolation. What it said, he would never be able to recall. Even in its absence, brain refusing to remember, the wounds of the word are forever.

Despite everything, Logan should've done more. Out of everyone there, he's the one who shouldn't have froze. He was terrified, and in the worst possible moment, he froze; and for that Ava almost died. His fuck up got her grievously injured and almost killed. His fuck up.
He had her extracted while he and his diagonal held back the demon, retreating back up the staircase. With time and backup, they were able to defeat it.
Logan could never get Avabella to see him or talk to him again, after that. Even while she was in the hospital, she refused to see him.
He doesn't blame her.

Logan's grown better into his position since then. He had to obviously; it was the only way he could possibly go on living, let alone keep his position.

✦ Magic Name: Gulthan Ūle

Overall place in type triad: Defense
Elemental Properties: Psycholektra (Psychic & Lightning)

¶ Description

Logan is the Golden Owl, successor of Rook Gataki, and his purpose like his predecessor is the protection of Dragonfall. To this purpose his expertise lies in defense matrices: his mind operates in runes and matrix structure. Sadyarushk is the language of his choice, one of the most powerful and possibly the oldest; both aspects are hotly debated.
The power of Sadyarushk is so great that, when one rune is written, it immediately activates. This normally makes it dangerous but thanks to great proficiency, Logan can "smother" the rune with his magic to prevent premature activation. It requires great willpower and greater practice.
The amount of focus it would take to do this, normally, would render matrix construction mid-combat inviable but even among magi Logan is not normal.
His sensory abilities change this completely.
Logan has the ability to memorize matrices, and then construct them from sheer muscle memory — burning them onto surfaces or into the air itself with his magic — unlike almost anyone else alive. To aid this, he has at his disposal Matrix Scrolls.

These are scrolls inscribed with matrix formula too intricate for Logan to quickly draw on the fly. The writing itself is a somatic component. When he channels magic into one of these scrolls the structure of the writing on it acts; as a psychosomatic trigger, bringing the correct matrix to mind; a matrix in itself, helping him with the next step, actively unfolding from two dimensions to three; and as a sort of component as he rips the very writing from the page.
The written matrix on the page is conjured into the air where Logan simultaneously draws the other portion to complete it. After this the scroll is left blank, able to be re-written and used again.

To use a Matrix Scroll, he must first retrieve it and have it in his hand. Under most conditions, this takes him a turn, but he's still able to fight and do other things while retrieving a scroll considering his telepathy.

Coupling his runic expertise is his unique elemental affinity: Psycholektra. The unstoppable force of electricity conjoined with the structure of psionic power.
Logan has never encountered anything else quite like it.
To summarize, his Psychic and Lightning affinities have fused beyond the point of separation; individual use is now impossible for him. The effects are numerous namely, when using telekinesis soon after the fusion, he had to learn to not electrocute the held item. Logan was quite surprised when he lifted a cup and accidentally pumped several thousand volts through it. His carpet still bears the soot stain.

¶ Techniques

» One True Sense (Self, Passive || N/E)
₯ REFINEMENT OF THE INBORN GIFT

Logan was born with arcane senses only comparable to that of magi 30 years his senior. So great was this even at 5 he could sense the heart problems in his cousin Simon, but of course back then he couldn't articulate what he felt let alone get anyone to listen to him. Simon died a year later.
So great are they now that if he's familiar with an uncloaked magi's signature, he can pinpoint their exact location provided they're within 100m of him.

Added on top of this is the technique One True Sense, in which the mental barriers between all of his senses have been removed. Combined and overlapped like this, they amplify each other. He has rewired his brain both biologically and magically.
This more comprehensive perception of the world may make it seem to the outside observer like Logan can see in every direction and even through walls, but it's both more complicated than that and less extreme.
As a side effect, Logan is far more resilient to hexes and attacks targeting the senses. Even if one sense is completely disabled, the others easily compensate.

» Psioelectric Discipline (Self | Psycholektra)

This spell consumes two slots.
Psionics and lightning, conjoined together, supercharge each other. His range for psioelectric control is 8m, "psioelectric control" comprising techniques such as telekinesis and fine-grain electricity control. This greatly enhances the power of his swords. He can send techniques beyond this range but in most cases, past 8m he no longer has direct control.
If he has the time to do so Logan may use an ability called "Capacitance". This allows Logan to act as a capacitor and charge his abilities further. While channeling Capacitance he's free to move and engage in physical combat, but cannot cast other spells.
For every turn channeled (marked at the beginning of every turn) the very next technique will be stronger and gain an additional meter of range, until level 5 is reached. At Capacitance level 5, the "Bunker Buster" effect becomes active. The very next attack will be supremely effective against defenses both physical and arcane, with a total range amplification of 10m.
There is no benefit beyond level 5. A Capacitance charge may be held indefinitely, but cannot be channeled again for 4 turns after it is discharged.

µ Friction Control (Self, Passive | Psycholektra)

This allows Logan to control his friction with any and every surface or object individually, including, namely, the ground. When removing all friction with the ground the effect is like ice skating, but even greater. Logan can also walk or run on any surface including walls by increasing his friction with that surface.
Allows Logan to move and position himself in ways that look comical but are devastatingly effective.

µ Áwa wehte (Offense | Psycholektra)

Requires one of his swords. Must be charged for one turn, during which his current sword will glow bright blue.
Logan swings his sword to create up to three slashing waves of finely condensed psycholectric energy. These waves will hang suspended in the air for that turn, before flying forward at high speed on the next. Cooldown of 4 turns after use.

µ Þyddan (or Thyddan) (Self, Passive | Psycholektra)

Logan's telekinetic and electric prowess, now one and the same. Electro-telekinetic... Psyelekinetic... Psycholektrikinetic... Whatever, electric brain power makes stuff move fast. Grabbing things, throwing things, stopping things, self-propulsion when in the air or skating everywhere with Friction Control, things like that.
It has an effective range of 8m in a sphere around him with a limited amount of force he can exude at any given time, reduced if he's airborne (for complicated reasons.) This makes it so he can't fly. He can glide though, and fall from effectively any height without taking damage. Also helps him walk and run on any surface combined with Friction Control.
This passively increases the power of all of his melee combat. When he fights without holding back, his every movement leaves behind a trail of sparks.

µ Circuit Break Riposte (Defense | Psycholektra)

Logan creates an electric circuit between him and his blade before taking up a defensive stance. When blocking an attack while Circuit Break is active, the electric circuit is disturbed. Logan must initiate Circuit Break one turn before it activates, and can maintain this defensive stance for up to two turns.
When combined with his One True Sense, Circuit Break allows him to block and then riposte instantly. A secondary effect is that, on initial success, Circuit Break can repeatedly chain into itself within the same turn allowing Logan to block a flurry of many attacks (like a hail of arrows or other projectiles) and immediately follow up.

µ Revolution (Defense | Psycholektra)

This is actually built on the theory behind Arcana Augere, despite not using it. Logan puts pressure on his magic and expels it while "spinning" it with extreme force. At the same time, he spins in the same direction. Almost instantly, a dome shield of rotating psionic lightning is formed. It should be noted there are many, many smaller issues that arose and had to be dealt with before it became viable.
The resulting shield is very durable, and incredibly violent; it will try to shred anything which makes contact with it. The mana drain is extremely high, thanks to the extremely high energy density: Logan can only get 4-5 turns of usage before completely exhausting his mana supply.

» Bunker Charms (Defense | Psycholektra)

Logan has several defensive charms at his disposal. Occupies two slots.
The first of these is simply "Protect", which requires a specific stance and a power word as somatic component: Logan holds his current weapon in front of him and says "Ge-beorga". At once, a curved circular shield forms from the tip of his weapon. The rune matrix is quite simple.
While not particularly strong, it is exceedingly simple and fast. Cannot be used again for 1 turn if dispelled, and 3 turns if broken.

µ Malkarin's Enchantment of Reinforcement (Defense | Psycholektra)

MER reinforces a targeted, pre-existing structure or building, protecting it via a "battery" that can absorb so much damage before the enchantment unravels and the structure becomes vulnerable again.
The matrix takes the form of the astrogram, which is like a pentagram with a four-pointed star in a bounding circle instead of five. Lining the inside of the bounding circle is a runic script divided into four looping sections, the centers of which lie on the points of the astrogram.
To weave the enchantment he can do so manually or with a scroll. Cannot be applied manually in combat. For MER, he carries one scroll.
Manual application requires Logan to circumnavigate the structure and draw the matrix as he goes, tapping his sword to the four points of the astrogram to charge it. Remains for 6 months or until the battery is depleted.

µ Ealíþyddan (Defense | Psycholektra) (Matrix Scroll)

Logan's own creation based on Malkarin's work. The matrix foundation of Ealíþyddan is a translucent pentagonal icositetrahedron, centered on Logan to use himself as the catalyst. Its faces are Floret pentagons, irregular pentagons with three short and two long sides, arranged into 6 identical sets of four, which are arranged with their long sides together into an almost pyramid like shape. These cells repeat and interlock together. The resulting shield is 8m in diameter, centered on Logan.
Ealíþyddan can be considered to be a "bunker" charm in the truest sense. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. The shield is incredibly durable, and can remain in place for an extended period of time, up to 8 turns if unbroken. For as long as it's active Logan must remain in place. He may choose to dispel it at anytime.
However, in exchange for its power, it places Logan at great risk. As he's at the epicenter of the matrix, should the shield be destroyed the arcane backlash from the matrix dissolving falls directly on him; Logan will take a great deal of internal damage, as the shock floods his system, and be dazed for 3-4 turns.

Relies on matrix scrolls and cannot be used in combat without them. Logan carries two small scrolls for Ealíþyddan. Can be cast near-instantly after the scroll is retrieved.

µ Breach Seal (Defense | Psycholektra) (Matrix Scroll)

Patches pre-existing physical structures that have been damaged. This can be used to patch holes in physical defenses, like walls, or to stop any structure from collapsing. Requires an additional turn of setup. Logan chooses two or more anchor points for the matrix within 16m of him, and between them weaves a lattice of condensed psycholektric will. This patchwork reinforcement is long-lasting and sturdy, able to persist for up to a month if it isn't actively destroyed. The lattice weaving takes place on the same turn as anchor point creation; Breach Seal takes 2 turns to perform.
Logan carries one scroll for Breach Seal.

µ Gewǽreld (Defense | Psycholektra) (Matrix Scroll)

Allows Logan to create shields for an ally at ranges of up to 30m. Logan retrieves the scroll and focuses on the target, which requires Logan to be able to perceive them (not necessarily line of sight), for one turn; the shield is created on the third turn. If the targeted ally is grounded, the shield has a curved rectangular shape and 3m tall and 1.5m wide. If the targeted ally is airborne, the shield is a curved disc 2.5m in diameter. This shield will remain in place for 6 turns if it is not destroyed.
Logan carries two scrolls for Gewǽreld.

µ Ward Creation (Defense | Psycholektra)

Does not use matrix scrolls. Logan draws a linked quatrainic series of magic bands around a friendly target, specifying a damage type to protect them against. Requires Logan's focus and for the target to remain within 8m of Logan for three turns. Once the ward is completed, it acts as a shield with a battery, consuming mana to block attacks dealing that damage type. The ward can be visualized as a thin bubble that fully encapsulates the target, hovering a few inches above their body. It can block between 1-8 attacks, depending on the strength of the attack and how much power Logan stores in the ward, before it unravels and ceased to exist. The available damage types are Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing.

» ARCNET (Defense, Offense | Psycholektra)
₯ THE BIG ONE

The matrix scroll for ARCNET is 24" wide and 32' long, requiring ~300h of work to create, or about 4 months if he works on it 2.5h per day. Its tube container is 28" long and 8" in diameter. The tube is heavily warded, powered by two battery crystals. It remains in his presence at all times, usually strapped perpendicularly across his lower back. To date, he has not allowed a single living soul to see the formula.
ARCNET is composed of two parts, both requiring Logan's complete attention for 3 turns to construct. Any interruption will revert his progress, but only for that part and without risk. After interruption he Once a part is finished that progress is considered "safe". He may choose to abort the technique while still constructing the first piece, but after it's finished, there's no turning back.

The first stage is a two-fold amplification matrix tower of willpower made physical, which is constructed beneath Logan and slowly lifts him into the air. He may make it any height he desires, up to 15m tall.
The second stage is a cylindrical bounding field, looking like a dense web of electric blue spidersilk, 32m in diameter centered his position; the height of the cylinder is 10m plus the height of the matrix tower. These two pieces are connected remotely, and once both are completed, everything within the bounding field can now be considered to be "inside" Logan's magic.

Once ARCNET is completed Logan gains total awareness within the bounding field. There is nothing that can escape his senses. The range of his magic extends everywhere within the bounding field, and any efficiency loss from performing attacks at range is nullified. For so long as ARCNET is active Logan's magic power skyrockets. He can reinforce any structure within the field on the fly, create shields of psioelectric power to protect his allies, and blast projectiles out of the air.
However, Logan may not leave his perch upon the amplification tower. If he's knocked off of it ARCNET will IMMEDIATELY fail without chance for recovery, but this is the only "direct" way to destroy ARCNET. Of course if he runs out of mana, then it will also fail.

✦ Gear

¶ Bealkadā

Elemental properties: Psycholektra
Catalyst: Y

µ Description

Logan's Montante Bealkadā has an overall length of 66" and a blade length of 50". The long crossguard is not accompanied by side rings as he's found they get in his way far more than they're worth. Above the crossguard is the ricasso. The ricasso is an unsharpened portion of the blade handled during halfswording, and is protected by parrying hooks, effectively a smaller crossguard.

The most striking aspect of the Montante is the blade. The metal is the purest white, like ivory.

Bealkadā's creation was a joint effort between the Hawthorne family and Blaise Corbin. The weapon, from before creation, has been fully saturated with Logan's magic. He is able to call it to his side regardless of distance, so long as it has a viable path to get to him. Logan also has a general sense of where Bealkadā is at all times, again regardless of distance.

¶ Thundael

Elemental properties: Psycholektra
Catalyst: Y

µ Description

Logan's secondary weapon Thundael, a bastard sword. It has an overall length of 49" and a blade length of 38". Unlike Bealkadā, the crossguard is accompanied by side rings. However, like Bealkadā, Thundael's blade is the purest ivory white.

Same functional ability as Bealkadā, but is a bastard sword, better suited for situations where the size of the Montante is disadvantageous.

¶ Scroll holster(s)

Elemental properties: Psycholektra
Catalyst: Y

µ Description

A holster for Logan's matrix scrolls, basically just a few pieces of leather joined together with 6 slots for his regular-sized scrolls. Is shielded to stop them from being obliterated at the start of every fight, powered by a battery crystal. All of the scrolls are easily retrievable via telekinetics.
The tube for ARCNET, strapped perpendicular across his lower back, has far more powerful shielding. The massive, mildly ornate aura-farming tube subtly radiates power.