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Centuriel - Contest Entry

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Description

Name: Centuriel
Culture: Roman

Design Notes: Centuriel is a chimeric entity that represents both Rome's ancient past and theological present. The creature is both a organic fusion of symbolic animals and a statuesque icon of civilization. Represented in in its form are: man, horse, lion, wolf, fish, snake, ram, and bull. The armor is actually a shell that is animated from the inside by a cluster wolf headed hydras that make up the entire 'torso' of the armored colossus. However Centuriel naturally does not wish to reveal this inner monstrosity and so it wears an armored chassis to both rein in it's inner brutality and to make more effective use of its resources. Among those resources being the support of the people it dutifully serves and protects. The shield is an aegis that because of the advent of Christianity had removed the once prominent gorgon and replaced it with an iconography of the Christ. It's primary weapon is a Gladius. The shield carries an Omega symbol while the Gladius has an Alpha symbol over its pommel. The helmet is the primary dwelling of the main 'immortal' head but is otherwise obscured in its cavernous depths.

Goals and Personality:


 Centuriel has a three fold task of rebuilding the Roman Empire to even greater heights than it climbed in the past, spreading the Christian faith, in particular the Roman Catholic version and finally to defend all Romans from outside threats. The centaur like kaiju has pride and a sense of purpose that is overwhelming and carries a natural charisma that makes it a dominant leader and protector of men. It views hostility or refusal to submit as a sporting challenge that it must overcome. Like Rome's great conquerors Centuriel sees the act of conquest as 'glorious' and is always seeking to expand it's already considerable territory. It does not begrudge a worthy foe and will actively seek out such forces. Centuriel's primary objective in such forays is not to utterly obliterate his foes but add their strength to his own as a ruined land and people only create more enemies, slow down the march of civilization and the reformation of the empire it seeks to build. He would much rather assimilate, annex and outright conquer his foes than brutally humilate them.He will however honor the conviction of one willing to fight to the death. Centuriel however has little paitence or tolerance for errant savagery and paganism, seeking to convert or nullify these influences wherever they are found as it's theological dogma demands of it's own people. While Centuriel is tolerant of faiths that build civilizations and support them, it proclaims all faiths that deconstruct civilization or keep it primal as 'heresy' and refuses to acknowledge their legitimacy. Centuriel values people as its greatest resource and views any attack upon his people as a personal attack on himself, going to great lengths to defend them regardless of the cost. This 'heroic civility' however can deteriorate if Centuriel is pressed. If rendered without his armor and weapons or a too many of his forces or people have perished Centuriel effectively loses all sense of composure and becomes a ruthless monster, fully revealing the full monstrosity hidden beneath. At this point only the opponent's total eradication can pacify the monster enough to reclaim and recreate his armory. The revelation of this 'personal sin' is Centuriel's sole source of shame. As such, knowledge of it is extremely dangerous.

Abilities:


Armory: Powered by the collective faith and support of his people, Centuriel can manifest armor and weapons akin to that of ancient Roman Centurions. The Gladius 'Longinus' is a massive war blade that functions under the principle of 'unstoppable force'. It is capable of cutting through nearly any base material and can penetrate the densest of kaiju armors. What it cannot cut, it smashes out of the way. As it is always in a state of 'beginning', it does not stop and thus cannot be blocked. The blade seems to even oscillate faintly with a strong frequency showing that it is never truly at rest. Longinus can also extend it's handle three times over to form become a spear which can be thrown with monumental force. The shield 'Crucifixus' bears the Omega symbol and is always in a state of 'ending'. As such it can effectively stop any force and what it can't outright nullify it reflects. This makes it the bane of projectiles and ranged attacks. Physical attacks upon it redirect all kinetic force back upon the attacker, stunning them and often inflicting great harm. It's armor ranges from being incredibly resilient to being little better than stone. The strength of the armor is dependent on the faith and support of the people and forces Centuriel brings to bear or has available.

Legion: Inside Centuriel's armor are Centuriel's real heads; a collection of wolf headed serpentine necks. Each one crowned with numbered horns. The largest and longest of which is the Immortal Head who controls the others. Each head breathes a cone of burning hot acid that bursts into flame on air contact. The heads if cut off will double each time though extra heads beyond the original seven will burn up and wither away after a day. The Immortal head differs in that it's rate of regeneration is so fast that wounds seem to disappear the instant they are inflicted. At that point only the destruction of the body can stop it. The heads can also constrict and bite though often only to immobilize an opponent.

Weaknesses:

Rome Needs Faith Badly - Centuriel is highly dependent on his people/army to provide the necessary personal energy to create his Armory. The less of this there is, the more fragile and primitive his armor and the harder it is to manifest his weapons. In effect, his people are his power which is why he is always in need of more.

Revelation of the Dragon - Centuriel without his armor and weapons is a berserk and ruthless monster that indulges in excessive carnage, pain and death. While this form has a formidable and overwhelming arsenal of primal power, it represents the decline of Centuriel's dream and really all reason he might possess otherwise. Recovering from one of these episodes requires a period of 'atonement' which may take several days to a week.

Unstable Axis - Centuriel's arsenal of Longinus and Crucifixus are extremely powerful...providing they are used in concert. if Centuriel loses one of these weapons or can only manifest one, it destabilizes the other significantly. The sword by itself is unwieldy as it basically slings its wielder behind it with unchecked momentum. This means that Centuriel can't even stop himself or his wildly out of control swings while wielding Longinus by itself. The shield meanwhile severely hampers Centuriel's movement if used alone. It becomes supremely difficult to move if Crucifixus is the only part of the arsenal. Both situations severely hamper Centuriel's ability to properly manage his offense and defense, let alone his tactical mobility.

Story:

Rome has had a long and varied history. Being the seat of an emerging democracy to an empire that conquered much of the known world to finally the cradle of one of the three major Abrahamic faiths. The culture's rebirth in the midst of the total deterioration of mankind was a beacon of hope to many. This beacon was ultimately traced to to a mighty chimeric colossus who rose from the ancient soil of the great Colosseum like a mighty war god. But the 'kaiju' as they came to be called did not wish to be worshiped unto itself. Instead it wished to spread the faith of the Roman Catholic church, a religion that had gained ground within the very empire that sought to bury it so long ago. The kaiju, known as Centuriel, carried the weight and knowledge of Rome's great history upon it's shoulders. A history it wished to use as a catalyst in which to inspire new legends and build an empire even greater than before. More importantly, it wanted to build it's people back up again and many couldn't help but be swept up in the grandeur of the kaiju's vision. Many wished to be Centuriel's chosen human champion but the kaiju was looking for something specific. Someone who would have the courage to ride into battle with him as opposed to simply standing by in his wake. Few would take up the challenge, fewer still could survive what lay beneath the armor for long. There was one however, a boy who was incredibly intelligent but simply didn't have the talent or self confidence to pursue success. The boy threw everything into this final task in large part of spite the bishop he worked under for destroying his work on the grounds of it being outside church doctrine. However, the boy avowed himself to Centuriel without the Bishop's knowledge and the kaiju took the application seriously. The Bishop attempted to confront the boy during this perilous test and saw what was beneath the armor, screaming in terror. He was promptly chastised for having such little actual faith enough to persevere before him and the bishop was sent away, unable to speak of what he had seen. The boy however while having little faith in himself had much greater faith in things greater than himself and this gave him the stability to stand among the 'Legion' without devolving into blind panic. As such, Centuriel could safely carry the boy in the depths of his armor into battle when warranted. Since that day the boy and Centuriel have gone on many conquests to slowly but surely rebuild the legacy of Rome. Between the boy's brains and Centuriel's power, there are few things that can stand before them.
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Comments16
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Ravensaurs-Rex's avatar
Sorry this took so long for me to comment on, just needed to sit down and read it. Anywho, this is an extremely interesting idea for a monster, both utterly powerful and at the same time self destructive to the extreme. Balanced in some very imaginative ways and set to a tone that it hard to work with normally. Also, I can't help but chuckle that the 'Bringer of Faith' has a little boy for his partner. Oh god the jokes!