The Paladin
Full/True Name: Arthurus Alistair ll of House Benoît.
Aliases: Arthur Bennet (modern identity), Sir Arthur (no actual relation), The Paladin.
Birthplace: Eastern France. He honestly couldn't tell you exactly where anymore.
Species: Divine-Touched Human.
Age: 664 years of age. Biologically, he could pass for someone in their mid-to-late twenties.
Height: 6'5ft.
Weight: 234lbs.
Hair Color: Black.
Eye Color: Blue.
Physical Appearance: Arthur is a titanic individual, towering and ripe with muscle... yet, rarely does his aura ever come off as intimidating. His demeanor, more often than not, is friendly and gentle, and his poise always well-mannered. Despite his immense size, his face still carries a youthful jovialness to it.
Gender: Cis Male.
Orientation: Demisexual/Demiromantic.
Alignment: Righteous Hero.
Occupation: Professionally, Arthur is an archaeologist. Unprofessionally... well, he tries to make the world a better and safer place for those that inhabit it.
Current Residence: Marseille, France.
Personality: A man who's old yet not tired, one who's been wounded by the world more than most but still refuses to be jaded; he's kind, charitable, calm... and more than anything, polite and respectful. Even when in battle with the vilest the Earth has to offer, you'll rarely catch any insult or profanity leave his mouth. He's been trying his best to not lose himself in his years, and has thus far been remarkably successful.
A life made up of Unbroken Promises
History TBA. I'm tired and uninspired to put this into words at the moment.
The Divine
The "Divine" (Alternatively known as "The Light" or "Lifeforce") is a mysterious, invisible energy that radiates from all carbon-based life unbeknownst to most; it's name originally coming from the spiritualists that first tapped into it, seeing it as proof of God's hand in life. While Arthur no longer shares such beliefs, he still refers to it as such as he believes it's as close as one could get to embodying such a term.
Arthur is the last known living practitioner of the arts required to harness the divine, it's practice being lost to the ages (at least, in it's western incarnation... he theorizes "Chi" may be an alternate form of it).
It grants numerous abilities and benefits which Bennet has perfected over his many years.
- Enhanced Physicals & Biological Immortality
While he was a fine physical specimen even before taking on this new life of his, the divine has pushed him beyond the limits any average human could hope to achieve. Where most mortal bodies hit a point where their body starts giving less and less, and even most immortals would hit a point where their body locks in and is trapped in it's "prime"... Arthur is different.
His body not only never started degrading- it never stopped growing, either. Conquering aging was only the first victory of the Divine; over centuries, his body improved upon itself hundreds of times over. Every biological imperfect in the human form has been burned away, and every strength it had had been reinforced. His immune system is impenetrable, lesser poisons fail to make a dent, and it is all ran at 300% efficiency.
His muscle mass is great but not hampering to his movements; furthermore, each layer of muscle is five times as dense as what could be expected of a human being; this not only greatly enhances his strength, giving him the capability to lift several tons without breaking a sweat, but also makes his hide several times more difficult to damage. Punching him is akin to punching a rhinoceros.
- Channeling Life
Enhancing his already ludicrous physicals even more is his ability to channel the divine more directly; enveloping himself in an aura of power than can push the limits of his strength and speed further, cause his body to be toxic to the undead and "unliving outsiders" (demons and angels alike, as well as many other otherworldly beings), and allow him to strike even those beyond him and the physical realm.
... in other words, he can punch ghosts.
In addition, channeling divine energy through his body gives him a greater control over his body than most could hope to get even in a hospital; he can will wounds to repair themselves, force venom out through the wounds they entered from, or signal his body to counteract any new impairment that might come his way.
The divine is the force of life, and thus gives those who master it mastery of their own life.
- Blessings of the Divine
Just as the divine grants Arthur control over his own life, so too does it let him aid others; he can heal their wounds, purge any diseases or poisons they might be facing, and even temporarily stimulate their own divine energies by channeling some of his own- giving them a temporary "buff", boosting their bodies to their limits.
This blessing can be applied to any carbon based life, not just humans; and he can even bless food or water, to purge them of any pollutants or poisons that might've snuck into them.
- Righteous Smites
By focusing the divine into his fists or a properly prepared weapon, he can infuse strikes even further with divine force; of which, there are many flavors. The most basic and easy to channel is the standard "Divine Smite", which infuses strikes with pure light- deadly to the undead and outsiders, meh against the living.
As for other "flavors" Arthur has mastered...
Searing Smites- The light heats up and erupts into fire, coating his weapon in flames.
Thunderous Smites- Lifeforce crackles and the weapon vibrates, striking with thunderous force than can shatter eardrum and will send those struck flying backwards.
Wrathful Smites- Warped divine energy leaps from the weapon to those struck, traveling from the contact point to their brain in order to attack their mind; causing splitting headaches and weakening one's resolve.
Branding Smites- The weapon glitters with light as it is infused, before transferring that light to the target of the attack; coating them in a magical glow that will make their location now matter how they choose to hide.
Blinding Smites- Each landed hit will cause a flash of blinding light, intent on disorienting the opponent.
Banishing Smites- The most draining attack for Arthur to use, this channeling causes the divine energy covering his weapon to ripple and glow an unearthly color (specified to the target), with the intent being to strike the otherworldly outsider back to their home dimension.
Weaknesses
- The divine is a force of life, and thus can only be properly channeled when the user is "living"; or, more accurately, when they're capable of drawing breath. The quickest way to disable a paladin is to attack their throat and cut off their air supply, as many older users have fallen. Similarly, the divine cannot be channeled through a body part without proper blood flow to it, as blood carries oxygen and oxygen carries the divine. Going for mayor arteries will make it much easier.
- Dead material, such as food, can still conduct the divine and carry it (though you obviously can't "heal" a fallen leaf), but anything else will fail to carry it that far. Arthur's greatsword, for example, cannot hold a charge on it's own; it requires a catalyst, like oils or blood, in order to carry it.
- As a continuation of the above- a robot would be virtually immune to most divine effects.
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