Ari Rosenberg

From Familia Niveum

Ari Rosenberg, Philosophy's Pawn

Ari the Half-Dead

Ari Rosenberg was once a solemn Noble who had found delight in finding Truth, even if he was dissatisfied with the state of his domain. He sacrificed his body in order to defeat an Excrucian shard, and his spirit was barely preserved: now, he is barely a presence--the flutter of air, the sound of beating wings, no more.

Contents 1 Personal Code 2 Design 3 Miraculous Abilities 4 Gifts 4.1 Arcane Philosophy 4.2 Perfect Timing 5 Limits 5.1 Dead 5.2 Light Touch 5.3 Windows of the Soul 6 Restrictions 6.1 Personal Imperator Property: Corrupted Mystery Cult 7 Bonds 8 Sample Miracles 9 Estate Correspondences 10 Personality 11 History 12 Anchors 12.1 William Pryce 12.2 Kali Waona 12.3 Zhao Zheng 12.4 Sister Frances 12.5 Leo Cohen 13 Notable friends and Enemies 14 Goals and Motivations

Personal Code

Ari follows the code of the Light.

1. Humanity must live, and live forever.
2. What must be done ought be done cleanly.
3. Humans must be protected, particularly from themselves.

Design

A white circle on black; within it and connecting to it is the flower of Thought, irregular petals curling inwards

Miraculous Abilities

• Aspect 3
  • 8 Permanent Miracle Points
• Domain 0
  • 5 Permanent Miracle Points
• Realm 0
  • 5 Permanent Miracle Points
• Spirit 5
  • 10 Permanent Miracle Points

Gifts

Arcane Philosophy

Ari has learned--and has a talent for--mortal magic, a topic he began to study as a mortal and mastered as a Power. (1 point)

Perfect Timing

In his spirit state, Ari can be present--but not embodied!--where and when he needs to be. He is also particularily sensitive to his Anchors: if it is possible for him to be by one when it is necessary, he will never fail to be there, and he can flit from Anchor to Anchor with great speed. (2 points)

Limits

Dead

A limit of Aspect (+3 AMP)

Ari Rosenberg has lost his physical form: he is a spirit cut free from its body. His direct control over his domain and his chancel exist only with the use of miracles. His spirit, however, rages brightly within him, and is eager to infuse the bodies of his Anchors.

Light Touch

A limit of Spirit (+5 SMP)

Ari has always believed that binding an Anchor is enough of a transgression without imposing one's will on them: furthermore, he has lost what power he once had to do so, that power sacrificed to maintain his existence.

Windows of the Soul

As with all of Nashira's Powers, Ari's eyes--whenever he possesses one of his anchors--are palpably those of a Noble. The eyes of any anchor Ari possesses keep their color, but always seem to belong to one deeply lost in thought.

Restrictions

Personal Imperator Property: Corrupted Mystery Cult

A restriction of ??? (+1 MP when appropriate)

There is a cult of mortal sorcerers who style themselves alchemists and misguidedly worship the Power of Philosophy; Ari finds them distateful, and their actions occasionally require his attention

Bonds

• Kali Waona, his Anchor: 5
• The sanctity of his Estate: 4
• Leo Cohen, his Anchor: 3
• Zhao Zhen, his Anchor: 2
• Philosophy as an accepted course of study: 2
• Philosophy based on Reason: 2
• Egalitarianism of all forms, and the philosophies attached thereto: 2

Sample Miracles

Estate Correspondences

Personality

Ari was a bitter man, prone to dark moods in which he did his best work; passionate and restless, he spent his life searching for Truth and did not find it until his enNoblement. He grew more content, then, although he lamented the state of Philosophy, and how far his Estate had fallen. Then he lost his body and almost his soul in the fight against an Excrucian shard, and grew bitter once more--however, this is mitigated by the joy of experiencing flesh when he enters an Anchor. Despite any personal brooding and dissatisfaction, he is committed to furthering (and improving) his Estate and the Valde Bellum.

History

An immigrant from the Old Country, Ari's family fled the anti-Semitism rising in Poland during the 1940s; Ari, a poet then as now, entered university and eventually emerged with a doctorate of philosophy. A curious combination of pragmatist and intellectual, Ari rejected his family's Orthodox Judaism for a more secular view of the world, and at the same time bemoaned Philosophy's fall from what it once had been: the Natural Philosophy of the past had become Science, and been replaced by idle musings. He became a Power when the previous Power of Philosophy perished; the Angel Nashira chose him. He supposes he had the qualities desired; he has never known for certain. Knowledge of the true nature of reality, the ability to work divinations of Philosophy, settled his spirit, and he took well to his new post--well enough to do what he thought was giving his life to complete a victory over an Excrucian shard. He survived, though his body did not: he found himself a spirit, and it took him days before he regained the strength to enter one of his Anchors and contact his Familia. Now, at least one of his anchors commonly resides within the Chancel--the ones who have the fewest qualms about surrendering their body to him. Those Anchors have seen far more than even most others like them: they have watched magics splatter off of the Auctoritas of the Power possessing them, and gazed from the back of their own minds into the falling-star fields that are Excrucian eyes.

Anchors

William Pryce

William Pryce was a petty sorcerer and a prominent member of the false Philosopher's Cult; he was the first whose existence Ari discovered, and that discovery brought about a deep enough wellspring of loathing for Ari to bind him--and to take advantage of his fanatical state. Of all of Ari's Anchors, William is the most eager to surrender his body: indeed, he sees it as his duty, and revels in the feeling of power it provides.

Kali Waona

A woman--older than she appears--from the Cote D'Ivoire, Kali is the daughter of a trickster Power, and she inherited her father's playful nature and a measure of his skill at and proclivity towards theft. She is a traveler and a dabbler, dabbling in philosophy as much as gambling for fun, and she struck up a brief but fiery romance with Ari when he was still mortal: he drew her, but the darkness in hin would have dissuaded her from committing seriously even if she were the committing sort. He loved her, though, truly and deeply--and upon his enNoblement, bound her to him.

Zhao Zheng

Zhao is the most talented student of Shi De Li--the Martial Abbot of the most prominent Shaolin monastery in China. Despite his martial skill, he is of a contemplative bent, as true a Buddhist as any: he has renounced much of desire, and maintained the serenity and calm philosophic nature that got him Anchored even after the event (and its revelations).

Sister Frances

A nun and a prominent Catholic apologist whom Ari despises for what he sees as writings that mistreat both philosophy and logic. He published rebuttals to her writings during his mortal life; now, he uses her under the guise of being God's messenger. The Excrucians she considers demons, and she allows the "angel" Ari pretends to be into her body when it is called for.

Leo Cohen

A former conservative rabbi (and another person Ari wrote rebuttals to), Leo delighted Ari by rediscovering himself as a particularily liberal Unitarian minister, all the while retaining the core of his philosophy and (at least his secular) Jewish identity.

Ari has yet to bind a sixth and final Anchor.

Notable friends and Enemies

Goals and Motivations