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Emet-Selch ([personal profile] unsundered) wrote2024-09-29 05:47 pm
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Character Info

title:
Emet-Selch
name:
Hades
canon:
Final Fantasy XIV
age:
12,000+
height:
6'7" / 202cm
canon point:
6.0 Endwalker
soul type:
aves (rook)
crau:
Aefenglom + Jikan
arrival:
April 2025
residence:
the Valentia
appearance : canon + developed
Origin

Currently residing in his native body, pictured here. In recent history has also had the appearance of a Garlean, and while he's also taken the bodies of thousands of others, their particular forms remain an unknown.

He's additionally natively capable of completely transforming himself into far larger and more monstrous shapes. These forms are considerably more powerful than any of his humanoid bodies, and reflect something of his true self- or how he views himself, at least. They would only be utilized in dire straits, as they're considered personal, private. And in most situations, vastly overkill.

Within Karteria they will ultimately be available to him... but functionally useless. While they could be 'maintained' reasonably well, should he try to do anything useful with them, they will collapse around him, his limited resources unable to sustain the transformation. Additionally, they will become Corrupted by his Aves soul, growing feathers over all of his arms/wings, along with beak-like features, and altered claws.

Permanent Changes

None as of yet. For future reference, what will happen is below:

Hair: Threaded with black feathers with an iridescent sheen (a trait of all of his feathers).

Eyes: Nictitating membranes, and tetrachromatic vision. His native soul sight remains unchanged, but his physical sight has improved.

Ears: Ears remain present, but become slightly pointed and feathered. Hearing is somewhat improved.

Hands & Arms: Wrists and hands are scaled, and change in color to a pale gray, with nails transformed into short, sharp claws. Arrangement of fingers remains normal. Starting above the wrist, small clusters of soft, downy feathers begin to grow, becoming increasingly dense towards the shoulders. Layers of much longer feathers also span down from the shoulders, towards the elbow, developing his arms into something like wings.

Legs & Feet: Legs maintain the usual humanoid proportion, but also develop feathers, particularly around the hips and thighs. Below the knee, his skin transitions into scales, which continues into a complete transformation of his feet into a rook's. Each of his toes (three forward, and one pointed backward) carries a sharp, sturdy talon. As with his hands and arms, the scales are grey, with the claws black.

Tail feathers: They exist, and trail long enough to nearly brush the ground when relaxed.

Other: His ability to taste is weaker overall, including a complete inability to register capsaicin (so spicy food no longer is). His sense of smell is also weaker, though still present.

When Shifted

All of the above, but the development and spread of feathers increases drastically, densely covering the legs in glossy black feathers before transitioning directly into scales. Talons increase in size and strength, and are capable of slicing through metal. His legs themselves change to a bird's proportions, giving him a very different stance.

The spread of feathers along his chest, back, and neck also increases, and his wings in particular become more pronounced.

(Physical) Sight is enhanced, allowing him to see at considerably greater distance.
PERSONALITY + IMPRESSIONS
+

devoted.

=

theatrical. stubborn. emotional.

-

judgmental. jaded. bitter. superior. unforgiving.

Emet-Selch has a slow, heavy gait as a default, and projects an overall impression of being tired. Not to the point of apparent weakness or immanent collapse- it's much the opposite, as he appears almost disturbingly resolute, implacable. But he certainly operates on a lower key of determined energy.

In terms of expression, he is either irritated or smug. A slight frown is his 'relaxed' expression, and what you'll most commonly see if he's at all comfortable with you. If you're unfamiliar or he dislikes you, it'll drift either into a show of superiority or annoyance, depending. And in that case it is, largely, a show. While he is genuinely arrogant and has an obscene amount of self-confidence, he has a somewhat theatrical way of presenting it and himself, so expect some occasionally grand gesturing. And combined with his lack of energy, it's an attitude that can come across as rather languid, irreverent, or flippant- and that's certainly what he's trying to convey. But it's not terribly hard to notice the underlying exhaustion. To see any kind of genuine smile from him is extremely rare, and the expression is extremely fleeting.

The more he's willing to monologue at you in a superior manner, the more he dislikes you. The briefer he is, the more he likes you, really. This is, of course, in a general sense; if he has a reason to discuss something in detail with someone he views favorably, he will, and he'll drop much of the theatricality in the process. The superiority will remain, of course, but he'll be more matter-of-fact about it.

Overall, despite his projected sense of detachment and distance, Emet-Selch is extremely, extremely emotional, sentimental, and sensitive.

After his death, and, well, everything in Endwalker, these parts of him remain in evidence, though he'll lean a bit more towards emotional stability. His posture might improve a little due to the weight off his shoulders, but his energy will remain poor and his loneliness persistent. The world he loved remains forever unsaved, he's not in it, and yet forced to live despite it all. He will still look, and will still be, tired.
VOICED CUTSCENES
stormblood + shadowbringers
s h a d o w b r i n g e r s


endwalker
e n d w a l k e r

6.0 The Next Ship to Sail: Scene 1
6.0 The Next Ship to Sail: Scene 3
6.0 A Labyrinthine Descent: Scene 1
6.0 For Thavnair Bound: Scene 2
6.0 Tipping the Scale: Scene 4
6.0 The Satrap of Radz-at-Han: Scene 1
6.0 A Frosty Reception: Scene 1
6.0 A Frosty Reception: Scene 5
6.0 A Trip to the Moon: Scene 1
6.0 Hope Upon a Flower: Scene 3
6.0 Hope Upon a Flower: Scene 4
6.0 In Search of Hermes: Scene 1
6.0 Ponder, Warrant, Cherish, Welcome: Scene 1
6.0 Lives Apart Scene 1
6.0 Their Greatest Contribution: Scene 1
6.0 Verdict and Execution: Scene 1
6.0 Travelers at the Crossroads: Scene 1
6.0 A Past, Not Yet Come to Pass: Scene 1
6.0 Words Without Sound: Scene 1
6.0 Follow, Wander, Stumble, Listen: Scene 1
6.0 Caging the Messenger: Scene 1
6.0 Caging the Messenger: Scene 2
6.0 Thou Must Live, Die, and Know: Scene 2
6.0 Her Children, One and All: Scene 6
6.0 Unto the Heavens: Scene 5
6.0 You're Not Alone: Scene 4
6.0 Endwalker: Scene 8
ABILITIES
immortality.
Of the "won't die unless killed" variety. And Ascians are notoriously hard to kill, as their soul needs to be weakened, trapped, and hit with an extremely powerful burst of light/energy before they have the chance to escape. As a note, this only applies to their soul- their physical bodies are quite mortal and can be killed easily enough if they're not paying attention. If that happens, Emet-Selch would probably want to get a new one rather than fix it.

Game Condition: Completely nullified. Emet-Selch is as mortal as anyone else.

possession.
As insinuated above, Ascians can forcefully possess the bodies of other beings and control them. As they no longer have physical bodies of their own, they have to take possession of others in order to interact with most people- as they would be invisible to the majority otherwise. The process is usually irreversible. And while most Ascians tend to keep the appearance of whoever it is they've possessed, Emet-Selch does not, and chooses to twist their shape into something more comfortable for him. But unless his current body dies, he wouldn't try to jump to anyone else's- as the process is apparently quite tiring (and has unfortunate consequences if it's performed too often), and he dislikes the effort. As a side note- Ascians can also possess corpses just fine (and the weaker Ascians are limited to the dead, for that matter), but where possible they tend to prefer the living.

As a side-side note, Ascians on par with Emet-Selch can possess the dead- even considerably aged dead- and restore those bodies to life. This would not restore its original owner to life, of course, as the flesh is just a convenient shell for Ascians to inhabit. But the body would be in perfectly fine form.

As a side-side-side note, not everyone can be possessed. People with particularly dense souls/protection from gods or god-like entities would have bodies that he'd be unable to hijack. People without bodies at all, uh, he would definitely not be able to hijack either.

Game Condition: Completely nullified. He cannot jump ship (the ship is his body).

teleportation.
You rarely see an Ascian walk anywhere, and Emet-Selch is particularly lazy; they teleport a lot. They can also take others with them. Possibly related to this is the ability to fly/hover.

Game Condition: Mostly nullified. Will no longer be able to fly using his native power, and will have to relearn the ability using aves magic. He may still teleport, but with significant caveats: short distances only, to places he's been, will drain him considerably.

home in the rift.
The rift is a void-like space between worlds, and once an Ascian retreats to it, they cannot be followed by anyone who's not an Ascian (or an equivalent spirit-based entity, presumably). Living entities cannot survive here long, and anyone without the ability to traverse this space would be trapped there if brought and left.

Game Condition: Completely nullified and inaccessible besides.

concept creation.
Emet-Selch can create almost anything that he wants to, provided he has the motivation. This has included an entire metropolis, from memory, complete with shades of its original inhabitants (Granted, said inhabitants were fairly limited, incapable of understanding what they were (apart from one), and existing in a brief moment of time. Also, we can't enter most of the buildings, so it's possible their interiors are not quite as detailed, but still! An entire city!). He also recreates part of the same city in its final hours- complete with functional beasts and abominations. There's nothing that suggests that either of these things was particularly difficult.

While the process of creation has to be deliberate (as in, you can't be casually thinking about something and accidentally create it), it's also not perfect- as distractions and stray thoughts can change the outcome from what was intended. Also, if the concept behind the creation isn't well-considered, the result can be flawed or non-functional. Additionally, truly living entities cannot be made- as souls are the one thing that this magic can't create. Magical facsimiles though, that appear functionally 'alive'- those are entirely possible. Created familiars can come to possess souls, but that's not up to the design or choice of the creator, but up to the will of the star itself.

Game Condition: Mostly accessible, with caveats. He cannot create cities, or anything remotely to that scale. He can't craft inherently magical items. But he can create objects of up to a moderate size (no larger than a car, and anything that big would be demanding) with the same level of skill and quality as ever.

The amount he can create, however... is vastly, vastly reduced. He cannot furnish a household or a business in a day. Or a week. His nigh-limitless magical stores are blocked off from him, the drip of aether only enough to create a few things at a time. Offensive (native) magic uses the same resource, so the more he uses for one thing, the less he has available for everything else.

dark magic.
The typical Ascian toolkit, the majority of his spells would be considered dark-aspected. Emet-Selch is definitely a mage, and any combat with him would be magical in nature. Various blasts of darkness, exploding shadow spears and arrows, shields to protect himself, that sort of thing. He does have command over most of the elements (as shown from his abilities in the past) as any good black mage, but with a favoring towards the dark. Even when taking on a defensive role, he'll intersperse dark magic alongside using a sword. One caveat to his magical prowess: he can't heal. Emet-Selch's abilities are offensive or protective only.

He also has much stronger, larger, and less human-looking forms, drawing on his affinity with the Underworld. His strongest abilities would only be available while in a transformed state. Neither form would be anything he would assume on a whim, as transformation is a very personal expression of the self, and it was considered vulgar in his time to show off that ability without good cause. Even separate from that world, he has some propriety left. (Also, in almost every circumstance, transforming would be utterly overkill.)

Game Condition: Partially accessible. Lesser forms of his magic are available, but will drain him inordinately to use. His transformations (as noted elsewhere) are accessible, but both useless and mutated.

soul sight.
Emet-Selch can see people's souls, recognize them even when fragmented, and is extremely sensitive to spiritual disturbances. While this is something many people in his original society could do, he's stated to be exceptionally good at it. It's not an ability that's permanently on but something he has to choose to do, and it was considered somewhat rude in his time to search out someone via their soul unless it was important to find them quickly. It's otherwise something that can be done without effort.

As part of his connection to the Underworld, Emet-Selch was capable of retrieving one character's soul + body after it had gotten lost within the Lifestream. Doing so was considered a simple task.

Game Condition: Largely accessible. His soul sight is available and will function as it usually does. There will be no retrieving or otherwise removing or separating souls from anything, of course.

ascian ascendance.
The ability to create more Ascians. While Emet-Selch, Elidibus, and Lahabrea were the only members of the Convocation whose souls were intact, the shards of their brethren existed across the sundered worlds. To fill in the rest of their number, the unsundered Ascians could find one of those shards and elevate them back to their former position. They would still be at a fraction of their original power, but their memories, and their devotion to Zodiark would be restored. It's apparently possible for a non-Convocation member to be raised into an Ascian, but they prefer not to do so (as their loyalty to Zodiark would be inherently weaker than someone whose soul has been indelibly stained by him).

Game Condition: Completely nullified and... not something he would be doing anyway.

the echo.
"The power to break down the barriers of existence". A vague power that is generally demonstrated by the protagonists, but the Ascians possess it as well (in a more complete form). It's possible many of the abilities listed above are ultimately forms the Echo takes. It apparently has a true name (which would be what Emet-Selch would know it as), but canon has yet to reveal it. Lahabrea and Igeyorhm were shown to be able to briefly merge their souls into one entity, so this is likely something any Ascian could do as well (with others? with only other Ascians or similar entities? unknown).

Other Echo abilities include: seeing parts of another person's past, universal translation.

Game Condition: A mystery. Will be nullified when it interferes with gameplay. Universal translation should function as normal, though. No seeing into anyone's pasts.

MISCELLANEOUS TEXTS
Links

from the Amaurot dungeon
"And lo, vile beasts did rise,
Leaving naught in their wake but blood and ash.
Thus did the first doom befall us.

It would not, however, prove the last.
For soon did the sun bend low, scorching earth and boiling seas.
Thus did the second doom break us.

Yet it was neither claw nor flame, but our very sins--
Stacked to the heavens where they took root, corrupting its halls--
Thus did the third doom undo us."

"Welcome to the final days of Amaurot...
The fabric of our star began to fray...
...and the unchecked energies of creation begat malformed beasts.
Just as prayer gives rise to primals, our dread made manifest our deepest fears.
The first beast was striking in its unsightliness...
As if to scour away all life, it called down a cataclysmic deluge.
Yet even its defeat did not halt the march of oblivion...

The land buckled; the cities burned; the waters ran red with blood...
The beast bellows, and gives birth to terror. A terror which, in turn, gives birth to new beasts...
Its gaze turned skyward, and fiery rain falls from the heavens...
Once the fear has taken root, it cannot be expunged...
As if feeding upon the horror, the beast bloats...then shivers...then ruptures...
Yet this was far from the worst of it. Come, and I will show you...

Just a little further...
...and you will see the end of a world.
The star was fading. We saw we had to weave its laws anew...
But between us and our goal loomed a final misbegotten fiend...
From the depths of despair, the last harbinger arose...
Its voice was fulgent destruction, and none could stand in its path.
And as it edged inexorably closer, we knew...
Without decisive sacrifice, our star would surely perish."
narration from the Amaurot dungeon

dialogue from "The Dying Gasp"
"You are destined for naught else but oblivion!

Darkness reigns!
Flee, you fools!
The arcane is mine to command!

Give voice to your anguish, my brethren!
Give substance to our hopes, our dreams, our prayers...
And by their undeniable grace, may our perfect world rise anew!
Yawn wide, the ever-hungering void!
Devour the Light and return all to Darkness!

Impressive resilience... But it matters little. I have all eternity to break your stubborn wills!
I am stifled by this vessel of flesh...
Unburden your sleeping souls, my brethren...
I shall bear every hope, every dream, every prayer!

The future of this star shall be shaped by my hands!
I shall be raised up by the prayers of my fallen brethren!
Behold, a sorcerer of eld! Tremble before my glory!

Darkness flow through me!
Hearken to the word of ruin!
This place will be your tomb!

Drown in despair!
My dormant brethren, dream now of a dark tomorrow...
By our gathered might must we reclaim these vain reflections.
In Zodiark's name, I beseech you!

Has the Wardens' Light won free!? No...
Damn you... Damn your wretched blessing!
I will extinguish the spark of your miserable lives!
That Light split the world, and every life upon it!
Our tragedy must never again come to pass!
By His grace will Darkness reign over all!

Death comes for Her servants...
I shall rebuild our kingdom upon your bones.
Abomination! You seek to shatter my soul?"

"Show me your "vaunted" strength. And I shall expose the lie of your fragmented existence!

Flee, you fools!
Darkness reigns!
You are no match for my mastery of the arcane!
The arcane is mine to command!

Pitiful, malformed, wretched creatures!
Your call for aid beyond this world will avail you naught!
My brethren are legion!
Let shadows form from my will alone!
Come, Nabriales!
Tremble and fall to the ground before me!
Emerge, Lahabrea! Rise, Igeyorhm!
Let fire and ice cleanse you of your mortal turpitude!
Our plea transcends the very boundaries of the soul!
At last, you are one! Let the profundity of your soul crush all who would defy us!
Your meager convictions will crumble before our might!

Unburden your sleeping souls, my brethren...
I shall bear every hope, every dream, every prayer!
The future of this star shall be shaped by my hands!
I shall be raised up by the prayers of my fallen brethren!
Behold, a sorcerer of eld! Tremble before my glory!

Remember, my brethren!
Yearn, my brethren!
My brethren! Let our will be as one!

Drown in despair!
My dormant brethren, dream now of a dark tomorrow...
By our gathered might must we reclaim these vain reflections.
In Zodiark's name, I beseech you!

Has the Wardens' Light won free!? No...
Damn you... Damn your wretched blessing!

No... This is not the end...
We are the blessed! We are the chosen!

Let the darkness consume you!
This star is ours, and ours alone! We will not relinquish it to the likes of you!
Be scattered and strewn like dust!

For you, who never should have been, this is the end!"
dialogue from "The Dying Gasp (extreme)"

lyrics to "Invincible"
"Lasciate
Ogne speranza
These memories ache with the weight of fate
Ever we fight
Never we fly
Ever we fall
Forever we fall
Now breathe deep of the darkness beneath the flood
Where all of the proud angels drink to their deeds of blood
Their lies, twisted and torn, into dreams they're spun
Yet ever we still stand tall
Invincible
Never we fall"
MUSIC
Music