Zabrard Mazel

Character Name: Zabrard Mazel
Gender: Male
Race: Tiefling (Devil)
Class: Warlock (Hellfire Warlock)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Job: Shock and Awe
Age: Unclear, not really important.

Preferred weapon: Fights mostly with his magic, also carries a longsword

Original or Canon : Original

Features:
A man of a most imposing stature, with his height reaching almost four inches over six feet, his baritone voice and broad shoulders, Zabrard Mazel is the kind of tiefling only a few people dare messing up with, even though his horns and the strong reddish hue of his skin leave no doubts on his devilish ancestry.
Taking care of his dissuasive appearance, he has let his red hair develop into a messy mane and has grown an odd beard that actually fits the rest of the face, the circumflex-shaped eyebrows and the bright orange eyes. A caricatured look that has its uses.
When unsheathed, the sword (he has forged himself) hanging in his back reveals a set of red-glowing runes carved in the cold iron. An impressive addition that has the bad habit of glowing in the dark, which is pretty much embarrassing when you're trying to fight in the shade. This, combined with the fact that he can't actually do much with a sword, except hacking and slashing wildly, leads him to keep the weapon in its scabbard most of the time. Other than that, his light leather armor, trousers and hide boots look quite ordinary, yet they are constantly surrounded by strong magical vibrations that reveal major enchantments.
Finally, he wears a small bronze plate that covers his heart; upon it, blue crystals set on an ebony frame draw a magical symbol, some sort of ward. The plate itself radiates with an infernal heat that can be felt from a few meters away (the closer you come, the hotter it gets, though it doesn't seem to annoy Zabrard at all).


Background:
Nobody knows, and he hasn't tell anyone anything. He seems to be a complete stranger in these lands, and yet knows of Neverwinter's situation, Crossroads Keep, and the incoming war, so he must have been around for some time, already. His age remains unclear : wrinkles run across his forehead, but they could be the result of time or just of the tough life he has lead. Even he doesn't know the exact date of his own birth. And to be honest, he doesn't give a damn.
Clear, however, are his bounds with the lower planes; the contracts that have granted him his impressive powers also bind him with the Nine Hells, and (surprisingly) with the Abyss as well. Some of these pacts he regrets, others he is proud of. He says to "have made mistakes in [his] youth" that the powers of the Lower Planes often remind him about. Now he struggles to break free from those shackles, through ways that may seem...obscure. To say the least.
Other than that, despite his obvious lust for power, Zabrard is not a man seeking wealth or material possessions, and his, in fact, poor.

His powers are as visually striking as they are efficient; having specialized in the mastery of Hellfire, he displays a large variety of chicken-roasting spells, and other not fire-related abilities. Like many other warlocks, Zabrard can also charm or curse people, manipulate thoughts and bemuse minds. But also, like any other warlock, he cannot project his will over great distances, meaning that he can cast his spells only in a relatively small area around him.

Personality:
Zabrard is a lonesome man. Traveling, fighting, living alone, he has learned to rely exclusively on himself, a situation that comforts him in his general distrust to others. But this is merely an understandable consequence of being an arrogant, selfish, contemptuous, bitter, cold and cruel man. Not to mention a tiefling and a warlock. (Really, it seems some people see it as a challenge to pile on as many defects as possible !) Well, at least it keeps decent people away, and that's for the best. Alone, Zabrard can follow his own path, answerable to nobody, free from regular folks' moral judgments.
Actually, there is one place where the warlock becomes almost bearable : in combat. Zabrard loves to fight; no matter where, no matter when, no matter why, he'll never miss an opportunity to show off and offer a glimpse of his powers. Gifted with an infallible willpower, he'll charge head-on without hesitation, and fight to the end without mercy. But he'll be happy doing so ! The rare moments when he can smile with something more than scorn, are in battle.
Zabrard isn't a chatty-man, and has little patience for others. But, wherever he may come from, he's an experienced fighter, and will make some efforts to put up with the company of other people if it can serve his interests. Aware of his deep bonds with the Lower Planes, the warlock takes some pleasure in being, from time to time, “good” (if it means anything to him) to the rest of the world. Just to piss them off.


A poorly-done attempt to portray what he could approximately look like. The drawing is far from what I would have wanted it to be, but it gives a good general idea on his appearance.

Nice! I look forward to seeing him in action. You can bring him into Walking Down a Sunlit Path in the middle of the fight if you like. You might want to hurry though before Alex pounces back in or it will all be over. There are lots of bandits to take out

I got into the mode to play with Daz and came up with this image. If you like I can give you the icon for it.

Woow, sweet !

Well, I'm not sure Zabrard is the kind of guy to wear robes, magic staffs and the likes. He's not a "conventional wizard", so to speak, more...fight-oriented perhaps. But that's not important :p

The face is almost perfect !
Could you just have him to look at the viewer with a more dismissive, cold expression on his face ? Oh, and I don't know if it's possible, but if you could add some wrinkles, try to make him look a bit older, that would very nice

Nice shot, thank you !

I can work on that. What kind of clothes would he wear normally?

Well, contrary to his general appearance, he would wear nothing eccentric, just a common leather armor (yup, warlocks can wear light armor :p ). Colours would be quite dull, between dark grey and dark brown perhaps, except for a few parts that would be dyed red, and for the bronze plate over his heart.
He does have a sword, but no shield, and no helmet (damned horns !)

Ok most of that can be done but I'm not sure about the few parts died red or the bronze plate. I'll see what I can do but Daz items are specific. I may be able to tweak a bit.

Amusingly I had started out with a leather outfit but thought hey mage ... oh well

Ok here we go again. I tried to make him look a bit older but it wasn't easy. Stupid wrinkles only go for the forehead with the face I used so it was tricky and I couldn't get much there without it really warping the face. I used the original outfit with a couple extras and changed the colour on the laces and such to red. I couldn't find a plate for over his heart without going with a full chest plate unless you wanted that.

Great !

Just perfect ! even if I understand the software might not be able to do everything, I *really* like those ones ! and with your permission, I'd like to make it my new avatar :p

Many thanks, comrade !

(Oh, and I'll try to see if something can be done to add the plate and the wrinkles with photoshop. Might be tricky though, but worth a try)

It's all yours! I'm glad you like him