Note: The ability "Keeper's Crest" is included on this because I honestly have no idea how a Keeper can keep (no pun intended) the Academy afloat despite the fact a spell that powerful will most likely cause its user to faint.
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Gale is the former Keeper of the Academy in RPs.
Appearance[]
His hand becomes enveloped with an aura of magic while casting a spell, the aura changes to match the element he's using, which makes it easier to tell what spells to use against him. He has a branded marking on his right shoulder, letting off a faint glow whenever he uses the shadow range of EB, but he mostly keeps it covered up.
As of Libra's Scale: Eternity's Gamble, he as has lighter streaks on his wings where they were cut, as well as a large, void-tainted x-shaped scar on his back coming around the front. The scars themselves let off a dark glow, most visible when exposed.
In Xenophobe, Rai begins to help him with his hair, notably being seen in a plait that hangs halfway down his back between his wings. He also is seen wearing a single earring, traditional in the Glacier Tribe, and matching Rai's.
Formal[]
Normally seen wearing the traditional robes of a Keeper and gray in skin tone. Has this messy, out-of-control, spiky, platinum hair. Occasionally, his bangs will hang over his eyes, irritating him unless he did it on purpose. Deep amber eyes, a gold, and white tail, and is normally seen with a wand tucked into a pocket on his belt.
Informal[]
He keeps his robe unbuttoned or takes them off entirely, exposing his shirt which is a shade of blue. He's seen twirling his vorplad blade between his fingers, trying to distract himself from whatever strong emotion he's feeling at the time. He often allows his bangs to hang over his eyes purposely, making him harder to recognize if he manages to get his hair under control.
Elemental Balance (Former)[]
Depending on the element he's using via EB, his eyes become a shade of the color representing that element, and he gains a streak in his hair similar to that of a warden.
After obtaining his earring, it's noted to be infused with the element he uses, changing color as well.
Shapeshift[]
A gray mountain lion with a gold-tipped tail. The tail seems to let off a slight shine and he has deep amber eyes. Always seems displeased for some reason.
Ghost[]
As a ghost, he resembles himself around 4-5 years old, as his soul was suppressed by the elements leading to it not growing in sync with his physical body. This means that whenever the elements spoke to him, they saw him as a child, not an adult. His tail is a solid creamy yellow and his wings are oversized, white but having faint patterning on the edges. He also has a scar resembling that of a cat's claws raking down the right side of his face, which theoretically will notably fade later on in his life.
Personality[]
Original[]
Maintains a reputation for being polite, however, this is just a mask he keeps around others. He sometimes takes advantage of this to immensely irritate someone who displeases him.
Attempts to be polite to the rowdy young wardens, but secretly rants about them behind their backs. Is the type of person you can expect to be friendly one minute... then twirling a knife the next.
Serious and overall cold when angered. Can betray an "ally" in an instant once discovering they are a threat. If he's your teacher, don't irritate him if you value your life, he will blast you. Loneliness also contributed to how he responds to others.
Mysterious and secretive around those he does not feel obliged to be polite to, but kind to those who he trusts. It's impossible to tell if he actually considers the wardens in charge of him or the other way around, especially since he has his own code of conduct. Even the Ancient themselves doesn't know if they're in control of him.
He has quite the dark side, sadistically taking pleasure in murder as Shadow does not allow him to harm himself. He does not often torture his victims, wanting to end things cleanly and quickly, but will depending on who is being killed. He has quite the knowledge on poisons and weapons, despite never seeming to carry any besides his Vorpald Blade...
However, he does have a playful side which shows while shapeshifted, yet, like Ignis, he despises being addressed as cute as well as being treated like a cat.
To those he cares deeply enough, he can be quite protective... and defensive. He's always afraid of his relationships falling apart, but never exactly enjoyed affection due to Shadow and past trauma. Due to this, he finds it difficult to tolerate affection coming with relationships and feels as if he's pushing others away too often - yet if he doesn't, Shadow uses this as a vantage point to take control, often leading to him hating people because he loves them.
He often maltreats or discriminates against Jade, Hunter, and Juniper in private, displaying unexplainable jealousy and hating them with a passion.
Former[]
He's rather emotionally unstable, backing out of arguments, and incredibly self-conscious. He seems to regret his past actions, but it's hard to be certain. However, he seems to be gradually recovering from events that took place in his life, as he's able to freely talk to Faith, Connor, and Hunter about past events. He still has a form of jealousy towards the Landcrafter siblings, but it's lesser.
He occasionally has moments where he cannot think at all, torn between what he would normally do and what he would actually do.
Current[]
His emotional instability is worse, and he desperately tries to hide it by slipping into his previous routine. He's more easily affected by what others say about him, pretending not to care but in reality, adds it to the reasons why he should delve deeper into self-hatred. He's incredibly unsure how he should feel about his family, and avoids Juniper and Hilda whenever possible.
He's taken up a habit of committing self-harm often, suicide becoming something he thinks of often. Whenever someone comments about one of his behaviors he struggles in figuring out if they're actually right... or if it was the result of the elementals using him as a puppet. Trauma from Elemental Balance scares him more than its used to guide him, to the point he avoids certain emotions or behaviors, regardless of people telling him it's normal.
He feels oppressive guilt, but doesn't bother trying to seek forgiveness - he knows he's not going to receive it. Hunter haunting and harassing him only strengthens this belief, dragging him into self-isolation and social dysfunctionality.
Is it possible for him to ever recover?
Most likely not.
Weapons/Gear[]
Vorpald Blade: He often keeps one hidden in his pocket. Why? No one knows.
Tail Blade: A hidden blade affixed to his tail tip, designed to slide out between the prongs. Its mechanism is magically activated, and its disguised using his own fur, allowing it to go completely unnoticed. He's only been mentioned to use it once, against Jade, as he prefers using his vorplad blade due to its physical presence.
Alchemical Brews: A variety of potions and items with a variety of purposes. He only ever carries three at a time, normally being enhanced poisons. The rest are normally locked up in his forbidding wooded box.
Exorcist's Greatsword: His weapon of choice. When he doesn't have it on him (which is often), he summons an element based variant of it.
Frozen Earring: A single mithril earring with a carving of a star on it. Seems normal enough.
Gloves: After burning his hands severely with iron in Xenophobe, Storm and Rai made him a pair of gloves so holding things won't hurt his hands as much. They're also designed to help him hold things better since not having fingernails (or claws) makes it harder to get a grip on objects.
Digitigrade Covers: Coverings he wears in place of shoes. The fit snugly, exposing the joints of his feet to increase mobility. They're also padded, to ensure that their presence doesn't impair his stealth.
Fey Silver Clawcaps: Although he doesn't have visible claws on his hands, per se, he does have them on his toes, and owns a set of metal clawcaps. They're pretty much the equivalent of wearing brass knuckles, except with higher face shredding capabilities. Glace may or may not have borrowed them a few times. Although they're excellent for combat, he only really wears them whenever he's in Shiverchill, as to avoid slipping on the amass of Ice.
Astral Amulet/Academy Amulet (Former): He's either wearing one or the other, depending on what needs to be done.
Academy Robes (Former): Obviously, he wears the robes of the Academy Keeper.
Academy Uniform Shoes (Former): What's most unusual about him is that he barely ever wears shoes. Socks maybe, but not shoes. On the occasion he has to wear them, this is what he wears, as they've been modified for him.
Pets[]
Ice: A keeper that used to belong to Austen. She's more of a companion than anything else, as he rarely brings her along for combat.
Browl: He owns a melanistic browl due to having to frequently send and receive papers and letters in his former job. The browl's feathers are brown and deep red instead of the usual white and violet, hence it's melanism.
Shadow Hound: He owns a singular Shadow Hound, which he keeps trapped in a a florence flask for safety reasons. He only really lets it out whenever he has to make trips to the Whisper's of the Dark, as you can never be too careful there.
Abilities[]
Inherited[]
Fae/Fey Stepping: An ability that fairies and faeries have triggered by instinct. It causes them to teleport a short distance away, bringing them to safety, or in some cases, behind the opponent for an advantage.
Prehensile: He often holds items with his tail whenever he doesn't want people to know what they are.....
Strength: Like all other fairies, he's two times stronger than a human/wizard. However, he often relies on his wits instead of his strengths.
Flying: Obviously, he can fly. As of lately, he does it less often and has taken to walking. After the events of Libra's Scale: Eternity's Gamble, he resorted to only walking, scarcely flying even after his wings healed.
Cold Resistance: The cold doesn't bother him as much as most.
Balance/Agility: "That over-sized cat-"
"Just because I can land on feet doesn't mean I'm a cat-"
"You meow."
"...Can we not address that part?"
Spirit Seer: He can see and summon ghosts! To his demise... One of the reasons the elements choose him as a host.
General[]
Elemental Balance (Formerly): Allows for him to manipulate the same power the wardens gain from the keystones to some extent. Not as powerful as the wardens themselves due to the fact it'll drive him into sheer exhaustion, but it's enough from his perspective. He barely considers himself a practitioner of the Shadow element, however, and only knows a small collection of the spells. It's mostly the last resort to counteract any ancient Shadow Magic present in the Academy. He doesn't often admit to this knowledge or the fact EB allowed him to use the element. After losing EB, he retains traces of the elements he does not possess naturally and can theoretically use them but doesn't for some reason.
Elemental Siphon: An ability that replaced Elemental Balance. He can technically siphon off the elementals themselves due to the connection he has to them, but doing so, especially for long periods of time, has major consequences.
Telekinesis: An ability used often, which takes years for wizards to perfect. A lot of his preferred spells in his spell pool require or use it to some extent.
Astral Magic: He naturally possesses it.
Ice Magic: He naturally possesses it.
Storm Magic: He naturally possesses it.
Earth Magic: He naturally possesses it.
Water, Fire, & Shadow: Seems that having your soul suppressed by elemental beings has a side effect. Most likely not for the better.
Miscellaneous[]
Keeper's Crest (Former): Gained when becoming apprenticed to the current keeper. It greatly increases one's Mana, allowing them to cast spells that'll normally cause them to faint. However, the ability is lost upon retiring or quitting.
Strengths & Weaknesses[]
Strengths[]
Shadow Magic
Water Magic
Any Element Weaker Then The Element He's Using Via Elemental Balance (Formerly): Often overrides natural weaknesses.
Weaknesses[]
Fire Magic
Lemons: He absolutely hates anything acidic in taste, and Storm often teases him for it.
Reading: He actually needs reading glasses but is self-conscious over it and often took to asking Fire to read to him while he was younger.
Elemental Imbalance (Formerly): A state the island will enter into if any element completely managed to overpower the others. It can and will lead to corruption of some sort. He describes it as surprisingly painful.
Any Element Stronger Then The Element He's Using Via Elemental Balance (Formerly): Often overrides natural strengths/immunities.
Lane and Chase (Former): Their arguing mainly annoys him, but Chase is the Fire Warden and can overpower half his natural elements.
Ignis (Former): They've been rivals for years, and Ignis never subsides with his teasing. On top of this, Ignis is fire-elemented.
Emotional Instability: Strong emotions make it harder for him to focus and think things through, frustrating him. Whenever he uses Elemental Balance it affects his ability to control it, as he has trouble staying in control of the host - himself. Also, it resulted in him having a few... violent tendencies. As of his death in Void's Reign, he doesn't have the same issue with Elemental Balance as he's a ghost, but still has difficulty handling emotion.
Trauma: Trauma from past events worsen his emotional instability, as well as making it hard for him to adapt to no longer having Element Balance. He has nothing to rely on, and that never-ending fear only confirms it.
Elemental Physical Form (Formerly): The elements act as multiple consciousnesses for him. A person relies on their conscious mind to keep their hearts beating, continue breathing, etc. However, since he's been acting as a host his entire life, he mostly relies on the elements to do that. So if any of them leave in a physical manner... his heart rate and breathing slows down and can be fatal if they stay out for long. This eventually killed him in Void's Reign.
Gallery[]
Elemental Balance (Former)[]
Other[]
You may add concept sketches and drawings of Gale Starheart here, but make sure to request permission from the original artist and credit them, and follow any rules they have for use of the image.
Trivia[]
- Despite others' opinions, he is not a fool.
- He's quickly irritated when people refuse to tell him things but choose not to show it.
- He won't take on an opponent when he knows he won't win, however, he might if he can figure out a way to trick them.
- He began holding a grudge against the young wardens as of The Return of The Wardens roleplay, where Ian neglected to fully explain to him what was going on, and simply threatened him. He was well aware of who Ian was, so as usual, he kept up his mask of being polite and "naïve".
- Despite being morally gray, he's mainly based on classic antagonists.
- Formerly, he refused to kill another, but now... not so much.
- He's 33, not that he'll tell you. Like all fairies, he seems permanently 20. By the Xenophobe roleplay, he's 50.
- Being Keeper is basically being a custodian, but with magical responsibilities involved as well. As result, he doesn't take to well to rowdy students who cause disaster everywhere, such as Ansat.
- He's the "narrator" of two fanfictions, Elemental Balance and The Lost, The Forgotten.
- He occasionally addressed himself as we/us while he used Elemental Balance, as both the elements and he are equally in control of the host (himself). However, sometimes he's not aware of it, meaning that he might not actually be in control after all... Yet, he lost this quirk upon dying.
- He is technically Hunter, Jade, and Juniper's adoptive sibling - yet was disowned by Hilda.
- His earing still changes color after losing Elemental Balance, just not as evident as his eyes and hair no longer changes.
- His tail blade references to the Assassin's Creed.
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