Frank "Ravenhand" Magnus

"Agere et pati fortia. To do and suffer great things."

These are the words Frank does and has lived by. They define his many experiences. As replicated in his magical ability, Frank is a man of great emotion, when he chooses to - or cannot do anything but - show it. He believes with all his heart that if you cannot be great, if you cannot be everything you can be, if you cannot change the world, why be anything at all? He has long thought - and considered the sanity of such a thought - that if there is not a reason for his existence, then surely that means he should not exist? And thus his existence has always been searching for that meaning, searching for a reason not to just lay down and die.

Lineage
"'Blood is how we fight them. Blood is how we follow them. Blood is how we survive them. If you break that chain, you let them win.'"

Frank's family follows a long and convoluted line through the history and hierarchy of the Templars, the records coming to a natural stopping point at the once living personification of the Templars' once vast power: Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor. In fact, his father was named Charles after that ancestor. But as is typical among Old Templar families, the Secret is not one passed around lightly, and the Duty is only delivered with Death. In most cases. But after a curse took the life of Frank's mother and his two sisters were kidnapped and killed by Illuminati agents Charles could no longer "protect" his two sons from the Secret. To discover that a father, adored and revered throughout his life was a former killer in a power struggle, of all things, was a devastating blow. To know that it was this trivial occupation that engendered the death of his mother and two sisters, that, was unbearable.

But while Frank retreated, his brother advanced. Like Frank, a character of strong ethics created by their father "the hired killer", Axel could not tolerate this revelation. But he did not cower, trying to justify or deal with this information. Instead he attacked, seeking the way to most hurt the father that, as far as he was concerned, killed half his family. He found and became one with the Dragon. And so Frank was left alone with him. Left alone with the responsibility to perpetuate a legacy that had persisted for more than a millenia. But he would not. He could not. He could not become one with an organisation manipulating the world while fighting a futile, secret war. That is until Frank held his dying father in his arms, looking into those glassy green eyes which read the pages of Grimm's Tales that so paradoxically set him sound asleep. He could do naught but make a promise that he begs a memory every day could be broken.

Ravenhand
There was more sacrifice to be made. They told him nothing of why, but with almost nothing but dead faces in his dearest memories, Frank was numb to reasoning. He was numb to the pain as they chopped off his little finger. Somehow he had never noticed that same finger missing on his father's hand. It was how their ancestor, the first "Ravenhand" gained his name, but other than the enigmatic traditions of the Templars, there appears to be no reason why one would have to their finger severed in the same manner. Stranger still, it has never crossed Frank's mind. There is something dark and untold about that missing finger, made more dangerous by the fact that something undiscernible prevents Frank from being prepared for it.

Power
"'He is like an unexploded bomb, so decayed and dilapidated the slightest breeze falling upon him could destroy all life for miles around: including himself.'"

It is unclear what exactly suppressed Frank's powers until he was burdened with The Secret, and his Duty, but prior to that point he showed not a spark of magical potential. What makes this so surprising is the nature Frank's magical abilities. After being fully initiated into the Templars Frank was given basic weapons training which he passed through application, rather than talent. He had utterly no drive to succeed among the Templars, his presence only persisting due to a promise and responsibility. He excelled at nothing and exhibited no magical powers, but the Templars, bound by their tradition and loyalty to their precious "Old Blood" caused his persistence as part of the unit. His superiors thought he might grow into the role, especially considering the aptitude his father showed for all forms of combat, mystical and mundane.

Consequently a stress test was devised. Except that "test" is an erroneous word, these conditions were not controlled at all, simply intended. As his first mission Frank was sent to hunt down a creature far too dangerous for his training to have prepared him for in order to force him to - the Templars surreptitiously borrowing an Illuminati adage - "sink or swim". Except neither would be an appropriate description for the result of this "test". Confronted in the Aldwych sewers by a Filth-corrupted Wendigo, Frank was put on the edge of death. So he reached through the veil, and brought some back with him. He erupted with such a cataclysmic magical explosion it left a section of the sewer in rubble, Frank trapped underneath, and the Wendigo utterly obliterated.

The only reason that the damage was not greater even than the explosion - explained away as a "terrorist attack" - was that Frank took a large amount of energy in on himself. In truth, Frank was lucky to survive that day...and is fortunate to have survived every day since then. "an unexploded bomb", was his most frequent description, but the Templars have always had a way to deal with unexploded bombs, both literal and, in this case, metaphorical. A ritual - of which Frank was an unwilling participant - resulted in a magical seal being implanted in his soul - and its physical manifestation in his abdomen - locking away the vast majority of his power. The trainers said that it would be "far too dangerous" to even attempt to train him to use power of that magnitude, but Frank also suspects that someone who has expressed such "negative sentiment" could not be allowed to go wandering around with such power.

Abilities
Even with the magical seal, Frank's powers - whether it is through an inability, an unwillingness or simply lack of training - are still extremely volatile and difficult to control. They are almost exclusively destructive; mostly because the uncontrolled release of Anima tends to be just that. However, despite their tumultuous nature, the Templar trainers have carefully identified and categorised the specific characterisations or "schools" of Frank's magic; at least by the names with which the secret societies most commonly identify them. Specifically, Frank's power draws upon what is known as Elementalism, a magic of creation: that is to call upon, manipulate and generally multiply the elements of nature; it is accompanied in virtually identical magnitude with, almost uniquely, the magic that is most antithetical to that of Elementalism - where Elementalism creates and manipulates in coexistence with nature, this twists, corrupts and breaks in defiance of nature - of course, what is most frequently called: Chaos Magic.

Chaos
The diversity, complexity and multifarious nature of Chaos Magic is vast; many a warlock has lost his mind attempting to discover the limits of its abyssal power. However, Frank's mastery of Chaos Magic is not at all diverse, complex or multifarious. It is very much slow, sluggish, imprecise and limited, like wielding a single-edged claymore. Specifically, Frank's Chaos Magic is limited to - while the most dangerous and powerful, also the least disciplined aspect - rending great holes in time and space. He has, from the beginning of his training been able to perform the technique advanced Chaos Theorists refer to as the "Black Hole" - its similarity to the actual spacial anomaly passing at best - but anything more precise than that has been shown to be mostly beyond him.

Lately however, in an attempt to subvert the depressing - to him - nature of his almost purely destructive powers, he has been slowly gaining proficiency in the slightly more precise application of bending light and thought, the splinter most commonly referred to as "Illusionism". However, this is currently confined to a testing environment where he can have absolute calm and concentration as his aptitude for controlling his powers is still extremely limited.

Elementalism
Despite the fact that the magnitude of the power behind Frank's Elementalism and Chaos Magic is almost identical, Frank excels in the use of Elementalism more than the other. Why? It is simply the nature of the magic. Chaos is a tool of precision and focus, Elementalism is almost exclusively the expulsion of raw energy. Once one has mastered the intention with which one expels that energy, Elementalism is easy to master, as long as you have the correct amount of power behind you. That said, there are a few key areas of Elementalism in which Frank's powers are limited. Firstly, he is incapable of what is referred to as a "manifestation", that is a spirit or persistent conjuration of a particular element; the focus required in creating and maintaining such a thing is outside of Frank's abilities currently. Secondly, the smaller, more controlled expulsions of energy are painful for Frank to use frequently, as typically he has to pull part of the release of energy in upon himself to prevent it from getting out of control.

Yet Frank prefers the use of Elementalism for a key reason. Unlike Chaos Magic, Elementalism is a magic of creation and positive energy, it has a much closer and more intuitive relationship with Anima, or lifeforce. It is through this close relationship that Frank has begun to understand and study the device and magic that limits his current lifeforce. Specifically, Frank has become able to temporarily harness a sudden burst of destructive energy by tapping into that sealed lifeforce in order to expel his most powerful abilities instantly.

Destiny
"“There are winds of destiny that blow when we least expect them. Sometimes they gust with the fury of a hurricane, sometimes they barely fan one’s cheek. But the winds cannot be denied, bringing as they often do a future that is impossible to ignore.”"

Frank's lack of motivation, reliability and discipline lead his first few missions - group, so he could be watched - to waver towards disaster. Combine this with his capability of a combatant being limited - he will likely blow away any opponent with great ease, but in the process cause a great deal of damage to himself and those around him; and just the kind of the loud, mystical sounds that those in the secret world do not like - and he shows himself to be nothing but a liability. Frank remains silent on whether these failures were in fact intentional, one might argue that they were, considering that they certainly seem to have turned out to be beneficial. He currently exists as a free agent that no one is enthusiastic to employ. This freedom, and the resources of the Templars have allowed him to spend most of the past two years chasing a ghost.

Since his brother left on the day of his father's revelation Frank has neither seen nor heard of him. The suddenness of his disappearance removed the opportunity for the Templars to pursue him. Only whispered intelligence revealed that he had joined the Dragon. While the Templars and the Dragon may be opposed, Frank's bond with his brother surpassed blood, they were two sides of the same coin, they would have died for one another. Frank has no doubt in his heart that their brotherhood is stronger than any loyalty either of them could have to any simple organisation, entity or ethic. He does not know what he will do when and if he finds him, but there is no fear in that anticipation.

The Buzzing
''Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see.

TRANSMIT – initiate archaic signal – RECEIVE – initiate labyrinth frequency – DOWNLOAD – initiate empty shadow wavelength – PRODUCED BY – the Eye and the Cross – GUEST STARRING – the Venice void – unleash the rogue factor – WITNESS – Ravenhand.

Initiate the secret dawn. Corridors of power were disorder. Walk in them in ancient days and know chaos and fear. Societies are buds, yet to grow into deadly parasitic vines choking the life out of you.

LISTEN. The cacophonous voices seek order in the uncontrolled, arcane miasma. The many seek the mighty. Echoed pleas reverberate across lost continents, seeking powerful ears. They hear and they come, the mightiest fall under the Eye. WITNESS – Cervyn.

Unfold the procedures of man and vermin and watch them collapse. Betrayal, aberrant act, misdemeanour, knowledge lost to us through nefarious means or insignificance is such. RESOLUTION - the Eye seek to destroy Cervyn.

The sand shakes and ripples beneath your feet. Your gaze darts desperately about. Sweat pours. You sink. You are strong, but they are many. Naught does not fall under the Eye in archaic sands. There are two escapes and you do not favour one. The other. ENTER - the Cross.

Your hands are soaked with their blood as you beg at their door for refuge. They present a bargain and unfold two choices once more. Death. Or fealty or death. Blood is spilled for blood is spilled for blood is spilled...extrapolate the endless cycle of humanity...

Cervyn submits a flesh offering. Their power is stolen. A curse written in Damoclean headgear. Ravenhand is born. He dies and they name another REPEAT.

The hatchet falls. The hatchet falls. The hatchet falls. The hatchet falls. The hatchet falls. The hatchet f-

The cancerous, pus-filled, mutated, gory stump is abused for millenia. Ravenhand is fractured. Watch as they flow outwards like glass shards raining into the water tank of an orphanage. He will shatter. Watch him. Give him time. ''