Overview[]

Ex-Tyrannical Warlord (Drawn by Antonio Guamil, Jr.--TojiX on DeviantArt)


File:Balor Sealed.jpg
Drawn by Antonio Guamil, Jr.--TojiX on DeviantArt
Name:	Balor of the Evil Eye
AKA:	None
Codename:	Breandan Lalor
Age:	Over 4,000--appears 13
Race:	Fomorian
Role:	Anti-Hero
Type:	Game Feature Character
Registration:	Unregistered

Breandan Lalor

Balor is an ancient god of death, from the Celtic myths of the Fomorians. He is known as a cruel and destructive tyrant who would do anything to hold on to and expand his power...and also known for the deadly might of his Evil Eye. Selfish and absolutely evil, he slew any he wished without remorse. Now, he's apparently trying to atone.

Breandan Lalor is a 13-year-old spoiled brat rich kid from a somewhat shady family that people whisper might have ties to the Irish Mob. He always wears an eyepatch. He really, really loves video games. People say he has a very active imagination and likes to go by the nickname "Balor"--probably because of his supposedly-missing eye.

File:Balor Gokiru.jpg

Drawn by Gokiru on DeviantArt

Sheet[]

Character Sheet

Abilities: Divine

Ageless, Agility: 3/5/5, Aura Sight, Durability: 4/6/9, Endurance: 2/4/8, Healing: 4/4/5, Senses: 5, Strength: 4/7/8

Abilities: Evil Eye

Death Beam: 3-6/6-9, Evil Eye, Healing Surge: 10, Soul Devour: 6, Spirit Interaction

Abilities: Knowledge

Fomorian Lore: 7

Abilities: Mental

Clever: 3 Unyielding: 7

Abilities: Sealed

Forms Revival

Abilities: Skill

Warrior: 7

Advantages: Aiden Lalor, Blind Fighting, Gear, Government

Flaws: Bound, Call of Evil, Flung Stone, Personality, Reputation, Soul-Mark

Languages: Ancient-Norse, English, Gaelic, and Welsh

Abilities

Divine: Ageless

Balor is ageless. He will not change in age except by the freeing or sealing of his own powers and is utterly immune to any effects that would cause any changes in aging.

Divine: Agility (3/5/5)

Balor's ability is enhanced by his Fomorian nature and the power of his Evil Eye. In Superhuman form, he's actually still within the normal human realm...just more agile than his appearance might at first suggest (rank 3). In Half-Fomorian or Fomorian forms, though, he becomes faster and more agile than any human could be (rank 5).

Divine: Aura Sight

In all forms except Human (see flaws), Balor is capable of seeing the "aura" of beings of high spiritual might, including divine (or divine-linked beings), notable mages or psychics, or even just humans with impressively high spiritual strength (such as people of great faith, fearless warriors, or highly disciplined martial artists). He can interpret the auras to a degree, allowing him to understand if he's facing a god, a mage, or just a very impressive normal human. However, those with the capability of hiding their power can do so without great difficulty--indeed, for those without actual "powers" linked to their spirit, all it takes is adopting a different mental "attitude" and concentrating on dampening that spirit. Those with actual powers must be able to shield them somehow, but Balor is not good at all at getting past such shields and will generally miss powers in that case. This is mostly an instinctive ability--he has very little training in using it.

Divine: Durability (4/6/9)

Weakness: Flung Stone: Balor's Toughness is weaker against attacks tied strongly to the manner of his death. If an attack involves consciously throwing something made completely or mostly of stone at him, he is treated as one form lower for durability. If the stone is actually fired from a sling or slingshot, he is treated as though he were in human form! This counts for stone and stone-like materials such as concrete or gems, but not other earthly materials such as metals. The stone must be launched at him by a person or tool, not an indirect result of another action.

Balor is supernaturally hardy, able to take more punishment than any human could. In his Superhuman form, he is just above the possible level of humanity, able to resist small arms fire (rank 4). In his Half-Fomorian form, he becomes able to go up against military weaponry (rank 6) as his Evil Eye's energies are able to further enhance his body. In his Fomorian form, he could take on even some nuclear weapons without going down (rank 9) as his freed Fomorian form interacts with the Evil Eye to drastically enhance his hardiness.

Divine: Endurance (2/4/8)

Balor's endurance is well above that of mere mortals. Even in only his Superhuman form, he can continue fighting for a full half a day without a moment's break (rank 2). When his powers are freed, they keep him going even longer--he can go a full 2 days without rest (rank 4) in Half-Fomorian form, and if fully freed, he could fight legendary battles for over half a week (rank 8) in Fomorian form as the Evil Eye sustains his already-considerable endurance.

Divine: Healing (4/4/5)

Balor's healing is greatly enhanced over that of mortals. In superhuman or Half-Fomorian forms, he has Healing rank 4. In Fomorian form, he has healing rank 5.

Divine: Senses (5)

Enhancement: Sight and hearing at twice human level.

Balor is a little more perceptive than most, having spent most of his life in situations where noticing small details quickly mattered quite a bit, from political struggles to military ones. However, more notably, his eyesight and hearing are quite a bit better than those of mortals. He can see at a farther distance, and in more detail, and can hear things that are quieter or quite a bit further away with more clarity. His enhanced senses and his habit of paying attention quite well make Balor more perceptive in general than other people, capable of picking up on small details, finding evidence, and searching an area very capably.

Divine: Strength (4/7/8)

Leaping: Balor's level of strength allows him to also travel great distances with leaps in his Half-Fomorian and Fomorian forms. In Half-Fomorian form he can travel for a mile at a leap this way (rank 2), and in Fomorian form, up to 10 miles at a leap (rank 4).

Balor's strength is enhanced by his Fomorian nature, always at some level of superhuman ability. In his Superhuman form, he's just above the peak human level (resting at rank 4). In his Half-Fomorian form, he gets considerably stronger (reaching rank 7) as the power of the Evil Eye is freed to enhance his body. In his Fomorian form, he reaches his legendary level of strength (rank 8), as the might of the Evil Eye is allowed to interact with his fully-unsealed Fomorian form, granting him both his natural Fomorian might and the enhancing power of the evil energies within him.

Evil Eye: Death Beam (3-6/6-9)

Size: The beam covers a diameter of about one yard.

Range: 1 to 100 yards in a straight line

Defense: The /higher/ of Physical or Mental/Spiritual Defenses. In the case of physical defenses, armor /does/ benefit due to the power of belief in armor.

Spiritual: This attack can harm spiritual or ethereal beings in addition to physical ones. This includes dead spirits such as ghosts. In the case of possessed persons, Balor cannot select which soul in a body to hurt...it's all or none.

Inanimates: Balor cannot do damage to inanimate objects with this power. The target must have a living body and/or a soul in order to take damage. However, inanimate objects (other than armor worn by a target) offer no protection against the power either--it passes right through.

Variable: In Half-Fomorian form, Balor can use the power at any level from 3 to 6. In Fomorian form, he can use it at any level from 6 to 9.

Drain: Firing the beam at highest available level is a severe drain on Balor. After one firing at max level in a given form, all his physical abilities should be treated as one form lower. After a second firing at maximum level, he reverts to human form (see flaw). If Balor uses Soul Devour to devour an evil spirit after one max-rank firing, his reserves of evil energy are restored and he recovers from this effect.

When he wills it, Balor's Evil Eye is capable of firing out a beam of death energies. This is not a kinetic attack--it is linked to the very force of life itself, and bears several unusual properties as a result.

Evil Eye: Evil Eye

Unsettling: When the eye is uncovered, all living beings within its sight feel a strange, continuous but very minor illness due to its connection with death energies. This is generally merely for color and should not affect anyone in any meaningful way unless the intent is that the character's body and soul are both extremely weak.

Balor of the Evil Eye was known for the dark magics held within his eye, which could slay with a glance. Legend had it that if it was unleashed fully, the Evil Eye could have destroyed the land entirely. The reborn Balor still possesses that horrific eye, but its effects have been lessened--the source of the eye's power was the evil spirits Balor had devoured with it, and upon his death many of those escaped. It still has the potential for high levels of destruction, but can't sustain those like it could in the past. The eye is ordinarily covered and powerless. When Balor receives authorization, the ivory symbol sealing the eyepatch unlocks and he may remove the patch. This has two effects: it changes him into his Half-Fomorian form, and it frees the eye's powers (all powers beginning with "Evil Eye"). Some of the Eye's powers grow stronger when Balor is in his Fomorian form.

Should Balor wish, he can block the powers of his Evil Eye with his own body, by blocking it with a hand or such (the Evil Eye has no eyelid, so he can't just close it). This still leaves him in Half-Fomorian or Fomorian form, but stops the various harmful effects of the Evil Eye.

Evil Eye: Healing Surge (10)

If Balor uses Soul Devour to consume an evil spirit of notable power, he temporarily gains massively enhanced healing: Healing rank 10 for a single round. (Effectively, an instant single heal of +2 Condition). Balor is not, however, capable of regenerating limbs: this is standard healing, just at a higher rate. Injuries which are chancy to heal for a human would be very likely to heal for him, but injuries which would be impossible to heal for a human would be impossible for him. (However, see "Revival.")

Evil Eye: Soul Devour (6)

An additional power of Balor's Evil Eye is the ability to eat spirits. He cannot eat the soul in a body--only disembodied spirits. Balor may only actually devour a spirit once it is weakened. A devoured spirit is absorbed into Balor's Evil Eye. Evil spirits of notable power devoured this way grant Balor power, restoring his energy reserves for his Death Beam if they have been drained, as well as supercharging his healing for one round (see Healing Surge) and restoring his endurance.

Evil Eye: Spirit Interaction

In all forms except Human (see flaws), Balor is able to touch spirits and affect them with personal attacks. Treat his attacks as attacks against Willpower at his Strength. Balor can be attacked in return--treated as "physical" attacks against his Toughness.

In all forms except Human, Balor can see and hear (and be seen and heard by) ghosts, within his normal range of sight and hearing. Balor can also sense the presence of spirits within 1 mile, and if a spirit is notably evil, his Eye will react and notify Balor (note that the alignment sense is an instinctive ability and easy to hide from with willpower or mystic defenses).

Knowledge: Fomorian Lore (7)

Focus: Celtic lore is his primary talent. Outside Celtic lore, this skill should be rated at 3-5 depending on closeness of culture.

Balor was the son of his tribe's shaman, and followed in his father's footsteps, becoming quite a skilled magic-user in his own right. He was capable of great feats of magic, from the laying of curses to the changing of his form...but that doesn't entirely matter now. His actual /use/ of these powers is bound from him by a force so great that even unleashing his Fomorian form does not permit it (see Bound flaw). What /does/ matter is that he has quite an impressive array of knowledge when it comes to such matters. He has great knowledge of the lore connected to Celtic gods and monsters, to curses, to potions, and to spells of a Celtic origin. His knowledge related to other mystical fields is lesser, but is still impressive--Balor doesn't slack off in his studying when he feels like something will benefit him.

Mental: Clever (3)

Balor's no super-genius...but he's smarter than most would give him credit for. He's got a nasty sort of cleverness and is quite sly. He picks up concepts pretty quickly--something that's benefiting him in the modern world--and is a good planner. He can't be called a true tactician, and there's people that can run rings around him mentally, but he's no fool...you don't get to lead and stay in power by strength alone, after all. When he feels confident about a situation he has a tendency to leap before looking, but when he knows something's going to be a problem (or has gotten himself in trouble), he has a good head for analysis and plans and is a quick thinker.

It should be noted briefly that Balor is actually pretty familiar with the modern world and modern technology already, despite his brief time here so far. He's a quick learner and in fact is fascinated by modern technology (he's a huge video game fan, for one thing, and is already amassing a huge collection). He's not educated above the level you'd expect for a youth his apparent age in this regard, but what's notable is that he /is/ educated to the level you'd expect for a youth of his apparent age in this regard, and he reached that level in only a short time.

Mental: Unyielding (7)

Balor was an evil, manipulative, violent warlord...but he was also brave, extraordinarily so. Regarded as a cursed being even by his monstrous people, he dragged himself up from the bottom ranks all the way to the leadership of his tribe by sheer force of will. No matter what form he is in, Balor's will is nearly indomitable. He is not utterly fearless...but he will never admit defeat, and never stop fighting even if the fight is against fate. He will not let fear rule him and cause him to cower...he will use it to push him on to fight all the harder. If death is certain...no matter--he'll keep fighting out of sheer spite. In the past, this has led him to acts of true evil. In the present...perhaps it will serve a nobler cause. And the one who tries to manipulate him or control him...they will find an incredible resistance.

Sealed: Forms

Authorization: Using Half-Fomorian or Fomorian forms requires Authorization from Aiden Lalor (the latter in fact requires an unsealing ceremony). Whether Balor gets authorization or gets unsealed when he requests it is entirely under the judgment of the person running the scene. I will not be in control of his transformations except in scenes that I run--in other scenes, I will ask the person running the scene to determine the answer when Balor requests authorization/unsealing. Thus, the level of power Balor is permitted to use is in the control of the person running the scene/plot.

Balor possesses three primary forms, which allow him to operate on three different tiers depending on the demands of the situation. He must have authorization to act in the two higher forms.

Superhuman: Balor's "superhuman" form is his standard form. In this form, he appears as a 13-year-old boy with bold red hair and one exposed green eye, the other being covered by an eyepatch. In this form, his physical abilities are mostly of superhuman level--he is stronger and hardier than even adult humans could possibly be, but is at the lower end of the superhuman scale. He does not have access to his Evil Eye powers. Agility 3, Strength 4, Toughness 4, Endurance 2.

Half-Fomorian: This is Balor's second form, and is achieved when he is granted authorization to remove his eyepatch. When Balor takes the patch off, he changes appearance--still immature, but obviously supernatural. In this form, Balor's physical abilities reach the middle of the superhuman range and he becomes able to use his Evil Eye. Agility 5, Strength 7, Toughness 6, Endurance 4.

Fomorian: This is Balor's fully-powered form, achieved by being completely unsealed via a mystic ceremony known to Aiden Lalor. Balor matures in appearance and becomes a large man with reddish skin with blood-red lines of power running through it, a wild mane and beard of blood-red hair, and only a single eye akin to a cyclops. He becomes even more powerful, reaching the upper levels of the superhuman range. His Evil Eye becomes stronger as well. Agility 5, Strength 8, Toughness 9, Endurance 8.

Sealed: Revival

Should Balor actually be slain, Aiden Lalor has the ability to once again pull him back from the grave. This will destroy Balor's old body and return him in a new, identical one (thus also removing any crippling injuries he has attained). The revived Balor will be stuck in human form (see flaws) until Aiden goes through the proper ceremonies to re-bind him to his myth. This normally takes about a week, conducted in independent sessions.

Skill: Warrior (7)

Style: Balor's preferred styles are unarmed or wielding two-handed swords. With axes or clubs, he is rank 6. With slings, thrown axes, or spears, he is rank 4. With bows, rank 3, and with modern ranged weapons, rank 2.

Balor's life often depended not only on being the biggest and strongest guy around, but also the best fighter...so that's what he aimed to become. He's not on the level of the greatest of all time...but combined with his supernatural physical abilities, he was more than good enough for just about everything he ever came across without even having to use the Evil Eye. He has actually had some time with modern weaponry as well, but only enough to use it at an average level.

Notably, Balor fights /dirty/. Honor in combat means nothing to him, and he'll gladly use every trick in the book to win. Glory from battle means nothing if your guts got spilled across the ground. Better to cheat to win...then, if you really want to claim the full glory, you just silence all the witnesses of your cheating by any means necessary, and lie.

Advantages

Advantage: Aiden Lalor

The last remaining member of the Caipín na Súile (literally, Lid of the Eye or Eyelid) order, an ancient sect descended from Druidic traditions who have been tracking the evil spirits released by Balor's death and trying to keep humanity safe from them. Aiden is a capable man with a background in intelligence work. He's a good investigator and has a talent for ferreting out information on mundane--if unusual--events, and is also quite good at covering things up if he needs to. From his time in the Order, he also has a good knowledge of lore--though he pales in comparison to Balor himself. He's a reasonably skilled combatant armed and unarmed, in melee and ranged combat, but is in his 50s and starting to feel the effects of age. He has a disciplined mind and some resistance to mental or spiritual domination or more mundane methods of control.

Aiden poses as Balor's uncle, who took the boy in after an accident supposedly robbed him of his parents and his eye (a cover story Balor routinely ignores). He is sympathetic to Balor and tries to lead him down the right path. If Balor is in extreme danger, Aiden will do whatever is necessary to save him...even if it means compromising his own mission.

Though the Caipín na Súile sect is gone, Aiden himself has some resources--he is moderately wealthy and able to maintain a good lifestyle for Balor and finance his own work in tracking down threats for Balor to face. He also maintains a small staff of "bodyguards" for Balor on rotation--ordinary people who are clued in to an extent on what Balor is (but have no other mystic knowledge), and have enough training to handle themselves in mundane danger and get out of the way when things get particularly nasty. They're there not so much to guard Balor as to keep an eye on him and make sure he's behaving.

Aiden was able to restore Balor with the aid of the Lords of Order, and these mystic beings continue to watch over the situation to be sure that Balor doesn't run wild.

Advantage: Blind Fighting

In his first life, Balor's cyclopean form had only one eye...and if he didn't want to kill someone, he had to keep it shut. He was effectively blind--and thus, he learned to fight blind to a high degree of capability. Even now that he has two eyes and can see without laying waste to those around him, he has kept his ability to move and fight without being dependent on sight. His abilities aren't enough to allow him to, say, investigate a place and find clues, but they're more than good enough to let him navigate an environment in utter darkness, use his full combat skills in melee, and deal with ranged attacks against him so long as his other senses can pick up any signs of what's going on.

As a side effect of this (and, again, his former life as a Fomorian with one eye), Balor is quite adept at dealing with the lack of depth perception presented by having one eye covered. He has no difficulties whatsoever from seeing through only one eye aside from a lack of peripheral vision on one side making it possible that he could miss a threat from that angle.

Advantage: Gear

Balor, in his work with Aiden, has access to minor but useful bits of gear. He can generally take a communication earbud, grappling hook and rope, zip ties, bugs, and miniature cameras with him if he wishes (along with his ever-present high-quality--but consumer-level--smartphone, which while not a spy tool per se can always be useful as a camera, recording device, research aid, and so on. Balor has no super-secret spy apps, though).

Advantage: Government

Aiden took Balor to the local registration office with a recognized and registered authority on the divine shortly after he arrived. The government knows about Balor. He is considered however to be an unregistered hero in terms of legal powers--he has no power of arrest. That said, he can use his government connections in situation dealing with evil spirits, mythic beings, or other severe situations he might have to face--a call to the registration office will get police out of his way or at times have them cordon off an area to keep civilians out while he faces off against something nasty.

Flaws

Flaw: Bound

Balor's powers are bound. He rests normally in his "superhuman" form, at a low level of superhuman ability. He may only reach his "half-Fomorian" and "Fomorian" forms--higher levels--with the authorization of Aiden Lalor. In the case of the "half-Fomorian" form, this requires only an understood and intentional message of authorization, which can be visual or auditory and can even come over a comlink or live video feed. In the case of the full Fomorian form, however, Aiden Lalor must actually be on site and utilize an unsealing ritual. Restoring Balor to superhuman form is much the same--a simple word or message from Aiden from half-Fomorian, or a full-fledged ritual with Aiden on site from Fomorian. Understandably, then, Aiden is /reluctant/ to allow Balor to enter full Fomorian form unless the threat absolutely requires it. Additionally, Balor may be returned from Half-Fomorian form by simply strapping the eyepatch back on (but it must be strapped on, not just held over the eye). This will not work for Fomorian form because Balor is unsealed.

There is one more possible form for Balor: Human form. In this form, Balor lacks /all/ of his Evil Eye and Divine powers (except Ageless). Powers in Knowledge, Mental, Sealed, and Skill categories remain (though "Forms" may be blocked from use depending on the reason he reverted). His physical traits are those of an average athletic 13-year-old, his appearance is totally human, and he is no longer bound to the eyepatch. His Warrior skill drops to 5. Balor can be placed in human form by draining his Evil Eye's powers too much, by dying and being resurrected, or by a mage or spiritualist of high skill using ceremonies to unbind him from his myth. If draining is the cause he can recover after a few hours, but in the case of death or unbinding he will require a week's worth of ceremonies from Aiden to restore him.

Finally, it should be noted that while Balor has considerable knowledge of curses, hexes, spells, potions, and ceremonies, especially of a Celtic and Fomorian origin (see Fomorian Lore), he cannot actually use this knowledge to cause effects as these powers were bound from him. He could guide another mage in using a certain spell or other effect, but cannot actually use them himself. He can take the actions, but nothing will happen.

Flaw: Call of Evil

Balor possesses a large collection of evil spirits in his Evil Eye...and such a thing calls out to other evil spirits and mythic entities pretty much constantly. Many will come, called by the siren's song of similar power. Others will come of their own will and seek to claim Balor's eye for themselves. In any case, Balor is an attracting force for supernatural evil. In part, this is good--he was sent to hunt these things, after all, so having them come to him from time to time is a good thing. But it is also quite bad in that Balor doesn't get to choose when he's attracting evil...it's calling all the time, and if something comes while he's hurt or tired or among things he'd rather not have hurt, too bad.

Note: This flaw is intended as a scene or plot-starter and will not be used to derail existing scenes or plots.

Flaw: Flung Stone

Balor died when Lugh of the Long Hand shot a stone from a sling into his Evil Eye. Symbolism and references are important when dealing with mythic beings. Thus, if an attack on Balor involves consciously throwing stone at him, his Toughness is reduced against that attack by one form (so his Fomorian form had toughness as his Half-Fomorian form, and Half-Fomorian had toughness as superhuman, and superhuman as human). If the stone is instead fired from a sling or slingshot, Balor is treated as though he were in human form! Holding so closely to the myth calls strongly to his ancient fate. If he is already in human form, there is no further effect. This counts for stone and sufficiently stone-like material such as concrete or gems, but not for other earthly materials such as iron or metals. Whatever is thrown/slung must be primarily stone--if it is a mostly gold statue with a stone base, for instance, that does not count (but ripping the base off and throwing that would). Again, this must be a conscious and direct attack with the stone--if a building is damaged as part of an attack and stone falls at Balor, that doesn't fulfill the conditions, even if that was the plan all along. The stone itself must be launched at him, not an indirect result of another action.

Flaw: Personality

Balor is trying to be a better person, but he's got a long way to go. He's amoral for the most part, tends to do whatever he feels he must to resolve a situation and have some fun doing it, doesn't much care about collateral damage or endangering innocents (though he's forced to protect Aiden's hired help to stay on /Aiden's/ good side), and sees theft, intimidation, torture, and murder as means to an end. As the government is aware of him, he tends to toe the line rather than step over it.

He's also quite childish and selfish. He cares about himself, and puts himself first. He also has a tendency to look before he leaps when he feels confident, and just generally seems to act his apparent age--it's not that his mental faculties have been reduced, it's that he never really matured in the first place.

Balor does have regrets, though: there are deeds he's done that he thought necessary--or even thought nothing of at all--in his first life (notably, the imprisonment of his daughter and the killing of his grandsons) that he now recognizes as wrong on some level. Guilt might be too strong a word, but he is uncomfortable thinking about his darkest deeds, and bringing them up can give him pause and make him question his methods. It might make him pull back from something else that feels harsh, and might put him in danger if his moment of self-analysis comes at the wrong time.

Finally, though he's quite brave, Balor is also a Fatalist. He fought once with everything in him to escape fate, only for it to catch him. When fate appears to come into a situation, he'll still fight, but a part of him will strongly doubt the possibility of success against it.

Flaw: Reputation

Balor's reputation is...not good. He was a vile, tyrannical warlord in his time who would do anything--absolutely anything--to hold on to and expand his power. Now he's trying to do better, but it's highly unlikely that anyone much will just trust him right off. There are far too many nasty legends about him. Anyone in the know about legends and lore will likely regard Balor as someone not to be trusted in the least, and while his Soul Mark attests to him being under the control of the proper divine authorities, those who know him are unlikely to be particularly pleased with his presence in the region.

The cover for Aiden's operations--the Lalor family--is also regarded as a tad shady. Aiden and "Breandan" are moderately wealthy but somewhat of a mystery, and that leads to all sorts of rumors. There are suspicions that the family might have ties to the Irish Mob or other criminal organizations. Balor's cover ID is still better than his regular ID, but there are still cases where people might not be that open around Balor, and cops or other officials might look into the Lalor and make things a bit difficult. He's registered, but just being a registered hero of sorts doesn't protect someone from being investigated for mob ties.

Flaw: Soul-Mark

Balor's soul is marked. Though this has no negative effects on him, the mark can be seen by anyone of divine origin or heritage or with a notable divine connection (powers from gods, ownership of divine artifacts). It is also visible to those with notable spiritual powers even if they cannot normally see spiritual creatures and such. The mark is quite literally a label: it reveals that this is Balor, and that he is revived with permission of the relevant authorities on a sort of mythical parole program. The purpose of the mark is twofold--to prevent a god from recognizing Balor by some other means and just outright smashing his face in, and to enlist other divine figures to keep an eye on him. Those who see the mark will recognize that Balor is back but under someone's control and presumably back to do some good--but they will probably still not trust him, given his history.

Of note: Balor knows the mark exists, and what conditions are for someone being able to see it. Thus, if you see the mark and make the fact that you see it known to Balor, that will be considered consent for him to know that you have some form of divine connection or spiritual power even if it is otherwise hidden. (Obviously this is only if Balor knows you have seen the mark--if you see it and show no reaction, he has no way of knowing you saw it.)

History[]

In the early days of history, a child was born among the Fomorian people--a child that would become known as "Balor." The son of the tribe's shaman, Balor learned the lore of his father and seemed set to follow his footsteps...until one day, while his father worked on a great and terrible curse with his magic, Balor looked upon the ceremony out of curiosity. Unprotected from the dark powers his father called upon, Balor was open to them...and the evil spirits streamed into his body, taking up residence in one of his eyes.

From that day forward, he was Balor of the Evil Eye, a cursed being that was no longer welcome among his people, whose eye brought weakness and even death to those around him. He was insulted, spat upon, beaten, and hated. The only thing that saved him was the fear that people had of his father, the shaman...and it was clear that would only last so long. Balor knew he could not hope to live for long...so, when still a young boy, he decided that if he would not be accepted, he would be feared. He allowed the power of the spirits into him fully, accepting them, and began to use it willingly.

With the power the evil inside him granted him, Balor became feared not for what he might accidentally do, but for what he intended to do. Those who insulted him died. Those who struck him died. Those who spat on him died. Those who hated him...well, most everyone hated him, but they cowered in fear. Before he was considered a man, Balor was the effective leader of his tribe, an unstoppable force whether he used his horrible gaze or battled by more traditional means--for he recognized that fighting with only one method was a recipe for disaster. He eventually grew tired of the old chief trying to maintain his power, and at an age when most would consider him still just a boy, he slew the old chief in personal combat and formally took control of the tribe.

What followed was a whirlwind life of battle and raids, as Balor progressed from a tribal chief to a true warlord. He went from being feared by his own people to being feared by all in the Celtic lands. He took what he wanted, and eliminated any threats to his power, by any means necessary...any means at all. When he heard of a fate...that he would be destroyed by his grandson, he took action against it...first by imprisoning his daughter, and then, when that did not work, by having his grandsons slain. He was utterly unstoppable, and had grown in power such that armies would fall before him.

When Bres, the ousted king of the Tuatha de Danaan, appeared before him to ask his help regaining the crown...he agreed, of course. Bres was nothing to him...just the excuse for going to war. When the Tuatha were beaten, he would stamp out those loyal to Bres as well, and then slay Bres and take the throne himself...another land and more riches for the one who could never have enough of them. But it didn't go as planned. A danger he thought he had destroyed--his grandson, Lugh of the Long Hand--surfaced in the battle, and the great Balor was slain, unable to escape a fate he thought he had avoided. His own army fell victim to the power of his Evil Eye, and he passed into myth.

Thousands of years passed, and Balor's spirit was bound in a place he knew nothing about. Every day, he sat in silence and darkness, bound in chains. It was a dreary existence, a horrible existence. He would rather it had ended entirely, but...it never did. A lesser man would have gone mad. Balor...thought. He had a lot of time to think. He thought about how he had gotten to this place...how he had been laid low by the one he thought he had dealt with...how he had been hated by everyone. On some level, he began to realize that something had gone wrong. He remembered his earliest days...the days when people had spoken to him not in hate, or fear, but...as a person. He wondered for a long time why the rest of his life hadn't been that way. One day, he got his answer.

His spirit was summoned before a man and a woman--Lords of Order, they called themselves. All around stared at the mighty Balor, the feared warlord of legend. The questions the man and woman asked, though, surprised him.

"Were you satisfied with your life?" the man asked.

"I wasn't," Balor said, taken aback such that he forgot his defiance and answered honestly. "I had power...I was great...but I remember having something else."

"Do you know why you lost what you had?" the woman asked.

"I don't," Balor said.

"They began to hate you, so you hated them back," the woman said. "You cared for no one but yourself...and everyone knew it."

"When a tyrant rules, a hero will rise," the man said. "That is the way of myths and legends, and you are as bound by those rules as any other."

"I am no myth," Balor said.

"That is all you are, now," the woman said. "But you could be more, again."

They explained it to him, then...how long, how very long had passed, and how he and all his people had faded into lore. They explained why he had been summoned...that the people of the world needed something, needed help that /he/ was suited to give. It was a threat born from him, they explained...upon his death, the spirits that made up his eye had been released, and over the years they had caused troubles within the world. Now...now they had begun to gather again, and it was growing worse. The conquerer, the warlord...they wanted him to become a savior and give of himself for others. They hoped it would save him, as well.

Anything was better than this bleak eternity. Balor agreed.

He didn't remember anything after that. The next time he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a dark room. A moment of panic was broken as he noticed more...a circle of stones, and an older man standing before him, with eyes a mix of worry and...sympathy?

Days passed before Balor could properly move again...days in which he was cared for by the man, and taught to control a body again. A much smaller body...for Balor noted to his displeasure that certain parts of his arrangement with the man and woman had been...hidden. Gradually, the older man--Aiden--explained things to him--the binding, the Order--or what was left of it--he now served, the mission that lay before him...and then, when he was ready, Aiden brought him to the circle of stones once more. One more ceremony...he had been returned to the world as a human, but he wouldn't be able to serve that way. No...he had to be a myth once more. Balor of the Evil Eye, in truth. Aiden had gathered many of the evil spirits...and with those, he were able to bind Balor to his myth once more.

He thought, for a moment, to attack Aiden...to use his restored power and take what he wanted once more. But...that was how he got to his end last time. If he decided to kill Aiden one day, it'd be easy to do that whenever he wanted. Instead...maybe he'd give it a shot and try to work with this man. He submitted, and agreed to serve the cause. It became...easier, then. Gradually, Aiden taught him what he needed to know, and when it was time for him to go out into the world, he had a guide and...not a friend, but someone he could trust. Together with Aiden, Balor went out into the world to reclaim the evil spirits that had wandered from him, and save the mortals he would have once sought to rule.

Logs[]

The following logs feature Balor:

News[]

The following news stories feature Balor:

No news stories currently listed.

Associations[]

File:Balor.jpg

link={{{link}}}

Aiden Lalor

Supposedly Breandan Lalor's uncle. In secret, last of the Caipín na Súile order, a sect dedicated to hunting down and capturing the evil spirits that had once inhabited Balor's eye and were--in part--freed upon his death in days of legend. Takes care of Balor in his new life and honestly wishes for his redemption.

File:Thor Odinson.jpg

link={{{link}}}

Thor Odinson

Encountered Balor and was somewhat disturbed to find that such a monster had been allowed free upon the Earth...however, after a conversation, appears willing to give Balor a chance. Balor, for his part, doesn't really understand why Thor values mortals so highly yet, and seems to take pleasure in at least occasionally trying to push the Thunderer's buttons.

File:Daimon Hellstrom.jpg

link={{{link}}}

Daimon Hellstrom

Balor has a like/hate...no, not quite accurate. Balor has a tolerate/hate relationship with Daimon. They're alike in a lot of ways, which is probably why they get on each other's nerves a lot. Daimon seems to enjoy tweaking Balor's temper regarding his situation in life, and Balor seems to enjoy mocking Daimon whenever anything bad happens to him. Somehow they're both actually willing to converse with each other. Probably has to do with the video game bribes Daimon regularly gives Balor.

File:Kurenai Kagemaru.jpg

link={{{link}}}

Kurenai Kagemaru

Balor first met Kurenai when she tagged along while he was hunting an evil spirit. He found her difficult, but he rather liked her (very destructive) fighting style. Anyone who causes as much property damage as she tends to is fine by him, so he's offered to continue hunting together from time to time.

Wanted[]

File:Wanted.jpg

Balor's Wanted List