{ B } a s i c I n f o r m a t i o n
Full Name: Demyan Ludmila [deem-YAHN lood-MEE-lah]
Nicknames: Deem, Doctor Ludmila
Age: Physically 33; Chronologically 330
Gender: Male
Race: Ice Mage
Job: Mathematics Professor / Melee Combat Instructor
Sexuality: Demiromantic Demisexual
{ A } p p e a r a n c e
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 175 lbs
Hair Color: Blue Iris
Eye Color: Keppel
Muscle Tone: Generously built and sculpted with no overbulking attributions
{ C } o m b a t I n f o r m a t i o n
Strengths: Melee combat and strategy, anything requiring mathematics, diplomacy and debate
Weaknesses: Colloquial interaction, fire, ranged combat/combat where he cannot see the enemy clearly
Weapon(s): Ice, anything made out of ice; cannot make ice when the air is dry.
Power(s): Defensive Ice Creation/Manipulation – User can create, shape, and manipulate ice—water frozen into a solid state and appears naturally in forms of snow, hail, icicles, ice spikes and candles, glaciers, pack ice, frost, and polar ice caps—and cold by reducing the kinetic energy of atoms and thus making things colder for various defensive mechanisms. With over three centuries of experience, Demyan is able to craft anything from a solid shield to a fullblown arctic fortress. Due to breaking the taboo of the Arctic Council, his magic takes significant toll on his body. The more power he uses, the more his blood freezes. If enough blood freezes, his body forces itself into unconsciousness in its attempt to start regaining homeostasis; if he isn’t conscious to use his power, then his blood won’t freeze anymore. The length of time of use also affects how long it takes for his blood to freeze. For example, if he makes a simple shield of ice, he might just feel a little colder at his fingertips; if he creates a dome to shield a large area, his whole arm might go numb in an instant before slowly spreading to the rest of his body. More complex spells, like the dome, still require the proper incantations and markings.
Offensive Ice Creation/Manipulation – User can create, shape, and manipulate ice—water frozen into a solid state and appears naturally in forms of snow, hail, icicles, ice spikes and candles, glaciers, pack ice, frost, and polar ice caps—and cold by reducing the kinetic energy of atoms and thus making things colder for various offensive mechanisms. Just as with defensive ice, offensive ice works with the same mechanisms. With his experience, Demyan can craft anything from his usual ice blade to a storm of absolute zero. The same reflexive tolls apply, and more complex spells still require the proper incantations and markings.
Blessings – A weaker area of his; requires markings and incantations until he masters the archaic art. Blessings from Ice Mages typically involve the cold. An Ice Mage cannot bless you to walk through fire, and nor can they prevent you from falling into a volcano if you happen to trip and fall while on vacation to Yellowstone in the near-future. There are three levels of blessing: Prevention, Endurance, and Failsafe. Prevention Blessings include preventing a target from getting frostbite before they enter a tundra, preventing a target from freezing in bed during cold nights, or even preventing your drinks from watering down in the heat; the main focus is preventing tragedy the cold can cause directly or indirectly. Endurance Blessings include the ability to withstand harsh snowstorms, resistance against other Ice Mage magic, or even seeing through a metaphorically icy heart in its trials and tribulations; the main focus is endurance against anything the chill can bring. Failsafe Blessings are last resort blessings that only work while the event is happening. Some Failsafe Blessings include curing someone with frostbite, protecting crops through a sudden blizzard, or even lowering life threatening fevers; the main focus is to save yourself or another through ice. Seasoned Ice Mages can perform these blessings as easily as Demyan is able to perform Defensive and Offensive Ice Creation/Manipulation; others, like the math wizard himself, still require markings and incantations.
Curses – Like Blessings, Curses are a weaker area of his; they require markings and incantations until he masters the archaic art. Curses from Ice Mages typically involve the cold. An Ice Mage cannot curse you to suffer heatstroke, and nor can they make you fail an exam. There are two levels of Cursing: Levity and Severity. Levity Curses are small curses such as making you feel constantly cold no matter how many blankets you use, having you slip on ice, or even have your drinks always come without ice; they are meant to be benign, and yet they are extremely difficult to perform—even for the Seasoned Ice Mages. Severity Curses are even more difficult. Severity Curses can range from ruining a crop with a cold spring and summer or even bringing about frostbite under the smallest of circumstance. Curses, unlike Blessings, come with sets of conditions, because it must always be possible to break the curse. Unlike Levity Curses, Severity Curse clauses must be clarified to the Curse-ee. The set of conditions varies from curse to curse, but generally, Severity Curses are much harder to break as they are much harder to perform. In addition, Curses are a double-edged sword in their own right. If the curse is broken, then the Ice Mage suffers from the Curse instead, and it can only be dispelled if they fulfill the same criteria to break it as given to the original Curse-ee. Due to this, most Ice Mages abstain from using them. Even Seasoned Ice Mages have difficulty performing Curses without the markings and incantations; Demyan needs time and preparation—as well as loads of studying—if he so much as wants to give a perpetual shiver.
{ P } e r s o n a l i t y & B i o g r a p h y
Personality:
Biography/Background: The late 1600s in Russia gave birth to a great advancement for Ice Mages, all starting with an event called Raskol. Noted in history for its then-iconoclastic changes and bloodbaths, it gave rise to a similar schism happening within the Arctic Council—the Council based in Russia, established in order to monitor and guide all Ice Mages. While Raskol divided Old Believers and the State, the Arctic Council found itself divided into North and South Arctics. The North ran the Old Believers, and the South ran the State behind the scenes, both causing the religious schism on purpose in order to eliminate their opposition. As historians know, the Old Believers were either exiled or executed, and the State prevailed; the North fell, and the South rose. Catherine the Great later attempted to win back the straggling Ice Mages who fled or went into hiding by asking the ‘Old Believers’ to return home to Mother Russia, but as history shows, they were second-class citizens until the early 1900s. Demyan’s parents were part of the North, and they believed the welcome.
Immediately, Catherine the Great instituted a type of Affirmative Action for the North, encouraging and instituting mandatory promotions into the Arctic Council to give them voice. With a Council of ten, no less and no more than five of its constituents had to be from the North, and since the Ludmilas were of the first to return to the Motherland, they were given special privilege. Imbued with pride, the two encouraged their son to set an example for the other Northerners, encouraged him to enlist in the Arctic Defense (AD) as soon as he would come of age.
The AD are an elite sect of soldiers who swear loyalty to the czar and work to defend the Motherland on impossible missions. Because of their supernatural capabilities, they are kept secret from the rest of the world, and they never leave survivors to tell the tale. Brutal, efficient, and cold, the AD has always been Russia’s greatest trump card and the reason why Russia has always been practically undefeated in anything from border skirmishes to full-out war. Being a part of the AD is seen as the first step to becoming a Councilmember, for czars often recognize the talented through military service rather than ballot. Anyone is eligible to enlist, and it is the highest honor for ice mages, but not everyone is able to withstand the brutality and realities of war. Due to the rate Ice Mages age—physically age one year for every chronological decade—soldiers are forbidden to enlist before the age of 100. A physical ten-year-old is the perfect start to a life of war, and they usually start with stealth missions or missions that require flexibility and speed. Demyan was no exception.
When he first enlisted, he immediately wanted to backtrack and go home. Despite having the wisdom of a sage and the disciplined schooling of a commander, the ‘boy’ wanted nothing to do with the AD. If it weren’t for his parents constantly reminding him that he was the son of two councilmembers, he would have certainly quit; in addition, there were many others who shared his sentimentality, and they only remained for their instilled nationalism from their parents. Every moment in training was always juxtaposed to the sanctuary of the Ice Mage Asylum, the paradise where regular Ice Mages could live in peace. Watching other Ice Mages take up studies, rest in the snow, and smile with their families took a toll on morale from Demyan; he wished his family could grow up like that one day, too. Eventually, he had the courage to propose such to his parents, and their response was a deal. If he were able to take their place in the Arctic Council, then he could do whatever he wished. As part of the Arctic Council, his parents never had a say so in whether to fight in war or not; those of the Council were always lead unit commanders. After being in the Council for so long, retiring was never an option for them; however, if their son took their place, then he could resign immediately, and the three could live in the Asylum together. Taking this as a new goal and challenge, the Russian agreed. He never expected to become entrapped in the same cycle as his parents.
Three became four when his parents welcomed a little sister to the fold around his 120th birthday, and hope for the two offspring to succeed their parents and return to the Asylum burned brightly. He would replace his father, and she would replace his mother; it was practically written in the stars. At first, Demyan was excited for the little girl, and he felt that the sooner she could join him, the sooner he could find a solid morale to stay with his heart and soul; unfortunately, his perspectives changed when they deployed his unit to fend off the Ottoman Empire threat in 1806. The horrors of war were too indescribable for the ‘child,’ but it was when it was kill or be killed did he realize two things. The first thing he realized was that he could not let his sister take any part in the AD; the brutality was too much to scar someone so innocent. The second thing he realized was that once he would inevitably join the Arctic Council, he knew he could never quit. There were too many people depending on a strong commanding officer in battle, and if said officer wasn’t primed for the job, then the people would die. That strange sense of nationalism overtook him, and at just 120 years old, he decided that he would live and die for his family and country—and he knew he would never be alone. A brave ‘girl’—just a decade younger than he—promised to stand by his side in every war, and the two became fast friends.
Once the campaign ended, he tried to convince his parents that war was not for the youngest—that he could manage just fine on his own. The boy tried to pitch other ideas that held more mercy, like studies. The Ludmilas figured he was jesting, and once they saw that instilled nationalism in his eyes, they reminded him of the deal and went further into the reasoning. The two affirmed that they were to be warriors in order to pay back what could never be paid: the debt to the late Catherine the Great for allowing them to return to Russia. While it would have been ideal for them to retire to the Asylum to live out the rest of their days as a family, they knew that it would only leave a gaping hole in their heart for a savior long since passed. The deal still stood, but they knew that none of them would ever live up to their word. Uncertain on how to argue the point further, Demyan rested the case and prayed that with time, his parents would understand. After all, his sister still had 100 years before she could join the AD, and 100 years was a long time to mature and understand the workings about them.
As time transitioned, the Russian became accustomed to his routine, fighting war after war alongside his best friend. From Empires to States, the AD brought victories to Russia countless times throughout many terrains; to the world, the Motherland was undefeatable—until Civil War struck once more. The South finally voiced their unhappiness concerning the Affirmative Action for the North, and once more, the foundation of Russia shook under the guise of a ‘Communist Revolution.’ To the South, there should have never been any special treatment to the Old Believers, and if someone wanted to be part of the Council, then they had to do it off merit and not quota. The infighting tore the AD apart, and with it, Russia’s most potent fighting force, and the effects shone vividly in those bleak nights. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk allowed Nicholas II and others involved with the Ice Mages to focus on fixing things, like Catherine the Great before them. Discrimination and racism ran rampant for a time, and through the secret chaos, a man named Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili rose to power—otherwise known as Joseph Stalin.
Stalin immediately unified the Ice Mages through fear and power, reminding them all of the blood that runs through them. Without so much as flinching, he broadcasted that if they did not obey and serve their purpose, then their own power would turn on them, and the Taboo came to light once again. The Ice Tribe’s one taboo is never to betray the Czars of Russia, to serve them until death; if they failed in their one rule, then a curse would forever taint them. To keep them in check, in ancient times, the Arctic Council made a pact with the leaders of Russia for protection from the mortal world; the pact spanned forever more. When Stalin told the Ice Mages that division was seen as betrayal to him, many started to see the effects of the broken Taboo, and many died in the cruelest ways imaginable. Mothers and fathers fell protecting their children from furnaces, using their powers to form powerful shields until their own blood froze them to death. Children died exhausting their powers for their friends, ice blades in hand while their heart encased itself in a frozen slumber. Families struggled with curses, passing them on to those they loved out of the torturous feelings damning them slowly. It came as no surprise when the North and South reunited again out of fear, out of helplessness.
Naturally, Demyan and his best friend questioned their new leader, and through impregnable resolve, the two decided that they would act if Stalin did anything to endanger Russia as a whole. To their surprise, however, the man promoted the two to be in the Council, taking the place of their respective parents. As new North and South representatives, the two also got to thaw out an animal from the Ice Age and keep it as their forever companion, like a pet, an advisor. The two chose baby dinosaurs, and from then on, they were the icons of the Council. Two dinosaurs back to back became the emblem of the AD, and for a while, it felt as though Stalin wasn’t really as bad as he was initially seen. A new change—revolution—brought way for greater advancements in both the Council and in Russia. Or so it appeared. Almost immediately after the promotion, Germany attacked Russia, and the country plunged itself into World War II. The Ice Mages wanted to focus on internal affairs, like the changing in powers, but Stalin begged to differ, and war solidified the truth of his savage brutality.
The man carried out the war with obscene amounts of vicious crimes against humanity, and Demyan and his best friend were always the first on the front lines to spill first blood. He should have resigned as soon as he got promoted; he should have followed through on the deal made so long ago with his parents—but would that have counted as betrayal to Stalin? With no room to question authority, the obedient soldier shouldered on through the bloodiest of battles, hoping that the sooner they could end the war, the sooner real change could take place. However, after the battles of Stalingrad and Leningrad, that hope died. The Leader of the great ‘Red Army,’ used the most horrendous tactic the Ludmila successor could ever stomach. Rather than evacuating Russian civilians in warzones, Stalin demanded that they stay to slow down the German advance. His reasoning? The soldiers would be more ‘motivated’ to fight and protect if there were innocent civilians in the crossfire. To make matters worse, the AD could not use their Ice Powers, for if they revealed their existence to the civilians, then they would have to murder them to keep their secrecy. Demyan watched many of his own men and women die in the line of fire, witnessed many civilians starve to death in siege, and resorted to unspeakable methods just to keep himself and whatever was left of his unit alive to defend the citizens.
No matter how many times he told himself that Stalin was a madman, that he had to be stopped, he hadn’t a choice in those battles. As a Councilmember, he was obligated to lead his unit to victory no matter the cost, and the burden weighed heavy in his heart. Each victory was pyrrhic at best, worthless at worst. Sleep escaped him for months on end, and if it weren’t for his baby dinosaur, Putin, constantly giving him support and the occasional stuffed-animal snuggle opportunity, he would have been another casualty. Not that Stalin would care.
He later reunited with his best friend’s unit, forced to join forces due to the heavy losses their units suffered. It was there that he learned that his sister and mother had died in their Asylum after his sister had been injured and discharged, and his best friend’s parents both suffered no quarter. Their deaths were considered war casualties, but the two knew there was more to it; it was to keep them in line. Every Commander—every Arctic Council member—lost family at the same time to send a message: Stalin would not tolerate failure. Unluckily for him, Demyan and his best friend would not tolerate brutality.
- but the issue here is that rebuking those of czar blood and acting against them is the one taboo that ice mages must never break for some reason
- apparently there was a pact a long time ago or smth to keep them in check yadda yadda
- did that matter to deem and bffle? nahhhhhh
- #we're gonna kill stalin
- they played good little soldier until 1953, and that's when s**t hit the fan
- as stalin's bodyguards and councilmembers, deem and bffle tagged along to watch over him
- and then deem did the unthinkable, thinking that it would be the best course of action for russia
- he froze a part in stalin's brain to interrupt blood flow, and that is when the man suffered his fatal stroke
- naturally, the two were caught for the assassination and brought to the council to explain themselves
- but not before there was a badass fight between them and some of the council's helpers: fire wielders
- bffle ended up having a useless burnt leg and deem ended up with a hideous burn mark on the right side of his face
- undaunted, the two resolved that it was for the better for russia bc look at what this ******** was doing
- the man was starving his own people hot damn
- because they were councilmembers, they couldn't be sentenced to death
- besides, the taboo's curse would take effect on them anyways bc they weren't 'in check' anymore
- instead, the council unanimously agreed to send the two of them into exile, to walk among humans and forever run from them due to their slow aging and ice prowess
- the exile would only be for 100 years, but every day separated from his friends--including bffle--and remaining family stung deem beyond belief
- he'd have to move every five years from his location as to not arouse suspicion, and it was agonizing knowing that he couldn't make any connections because of so
- it was also going to be a challenge to hide a ******** baby dinosaur
- painfully lonely and lost, the man saw silver lining only in catching up on what his adolescence didn't allow: schooling
- he attended many different university lectures and classes, and he developed a passion for mathematics
- in fact, he set off all over the world, learning all he can about the subject, until finally, he took a leap of faith
- actually enrolled with a pseudonym at a university and managed to snag a degree in discrete mathematics
- later, he learned how to quantify qualia and earned a fulkerson prize for his thesis
- arctic council caught whiff of this and were like ***** what the ******** are u doing u supposed to be in hiding boi do you want another 100 years added
- to which he reluctantly agreed and retired to an abandoned village in karelia
- held onto the hope that it's okay because in less than fifty years he could see his dad and former friends at least right
- then seven years ago, he found another school that the arctic council would never hear about: dark stone
- so he immediately applied to be a mathematics professor as well as a melee combat instructor once he found out what the school was really for
- the best he can do is make sure that the children don't die like his sister out in the field; it was a newfound obligation
- a few years after that, he ran into quite a sight: a wreck
- and in that wreck laid bffle, her husband, and her 12 year old child
- that's one way to have a reunion
- had a short convo with bffle where she told him to look after her child for her and bruh there were some b***h tears ngl
- quickly saved the boy and started to raise him as his own
- feeling the effects of fatherhood, he grew to love the boy as his son, and a part of him wanted to have him give the boy a proper life
- a part of him wanted to quit being the professor at dark stone and focus on raising the teenager
- but fate has a funny way of playing things out
- ********' john what the s**t ******** why did you follow him to dark stone now here's a new headache he's going to have to dodge in order to keep you safe
{ E } x t r a I n f o r m a t i o n
Theme: When we Were Young :: Take That
Battle Theme: Mezame :: Yuki Kajiura
Likes
1. Putin the Baby Dinosaur
2. Chilled rooms/areas
3. Not having to run anymore
Dislikes
1. The temporary exile
2. Stalin and any Red Army tactics
3. Outright brutality
Extra Information:
