Solomon Wreath (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
peacefullywreathed) wrote2014-04-28 05:50 pm
peacefullywreathed) wrote2014-04-28 05:50 pm
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tushanshu application
Player Information:
Name: Pur
Age: 26
Contact:
AIM: purplejabberwock
Journal:purple_drake
Game Cast: None!
Please note: headcanon will be marked in purple text.
Character Information:
Name: Solomon Wreath
Canon: Skulduggery Pleasant
Canon Point: The end of The Faceless Ones, during the battle of Aranmore Farm.
Age: Canon never specifies Solomon’s age, and though the fan-resource wiki states his age is 393, this age hasn’t been confirmed by the author or updated in five-years’ worth of canon. However, his interactions with Skulduggery imply they’re of a similar age, and I headcanon him as being eight years younger than Skulduggery, which means he was born in 1591 if Skulduggery was born in 1583 (as per Amaraq’s application for Skulduggery).
Reference: This is the fan-wiki page for Solomon, but as this wiki is fan-run there are subjective conjectures and assertions displayed as fact, and anyone is capable of editing the pages. I regard its information with a grain of salt.
Setting: The Skulduggery Pleasant universe is, in most ways, similar to our own. The differences are secret in a manner similar to the Harry Potter universe, and therefore not immediately visible. Public history and most political events will be the same. However, there is an underlying magical presence and a very definite worldwide magical community, as well as a number of magical beings. Magical folk call themselves ‘sorcerers’ and can live up to 800 or 1000 years, and refer to non-magical people as ‘mortals’.
Magic
Magic in SPverse is a latent force nearly everywhere. It collects in geographic ‘Cradles’—Ireland, Africa, Australia and China—which make the residents of those nations more magically powerful than others.
Within individuals magic takes the form of two overarching branches of magic: Elementals and Adepts. Elementals can influence the four elements: fire, water, air and earth (though for most, influencing earth is a one-way ticket to becoming a statue for an indeterminate period of time). Adepts encompass everything else. They usually either choose a single discipline (like Necromancy) or a subset of connected magics (like the Sensitivities of future-sight and contacting the dead). Some are ‘natural-born’ and have a talent in a particular magic which usually stays with them all their life, but most can use any sort of magic in their childhood. At their age of majority, between 18 and 21, they undertake their Surge, whereupon their magic becomes more powerful but limited to their chosen discipline.
Names are highly important in magical society due to the fact that any sorcerer with a minor amount of skill can control a person using their name. Everyone has three names: the name they’re given at birth, the name they take for themselves, and their true name, which is the source of all their magic (or lack thereof). A taken name casts a seal of magic over a given name, thus preventing someone from being controlled. One’s true name goes a step further. Controlling a given name controls a person’s actions; controlling a true name controls their very identity. If a sorcerer ever discovers their true name, they must seal it with sigils to prevent others from ever controlling it.
The language of magic occurs in sigils. While a possible discipline on its own, sigils can be used by anyone, even mortals, and many sorcerers use them as a support for their usual practices.
While Skulduggery implies that most legends have been true in some fashion, given the rarity of most non-humans it’s clear magical humans are the majority. Vampires are the most common non-human; although they appear as ordinary people in the daytime, unaffected by daylight or conventional vampire weapons, at night they tear off their skins and become bloodthirsty animals. They are, however, the exception. Werewolves no longer exist. A type of giant, sentient insect-looking species, the crenga, are all but extinct. There are various other characters said to be non-human (such as Springheeled Jack and Black Anise) but canon never specifies what they are except to state they are extremely rare.
Politics
The magical communities are governed by a council of elders consisting of two Elders and one Grand Mage. The seat of their power is called the Sanctuary, which controls the daily running of the magical nations. However, a great deal of political power still rests with the most powerful and prominent sorcerers of any given nation, who can elect or depose a leader through popular vote. Canon implies that while Sanctuaries have been around for a while, the current method of governing through the councils is relatively new establishment, likely formed after the last magical war—which ended in the early twentieth century.
Individual Sanctuaries maintain diplomatic connections in a manner very similar to the mortal world, albeit through magical means of communications. The Cradles are those nations which hold the most political power while simultaneously being regarded warily due to the amount of magical power they possess. When the magical world undergoes a tumult, chances are it’s a Cradle that caused it.
Most of the time Sanctuaries enforce laws within their own borders, but later in canon many other nations begin to pressure Ireland to allow them access in order to ‘stabilise’ the nation. Given the various reactions, this sort of international policing is new, and therefore the magical communities are far more nationally insular than their mortal counterparts.
There are some organisations and peoples which remain apart from their national Sanctuaries. Within the nations, many sorcerers seem to define their communities by the magic they use, such as the Necromancers and the Children of the Spider, and as such consider themselves beyond Sanctuary policing. Warlocks, while human and magical, utilise their magic in a manner which sets them apart—by choice—from the rest of magical society. While Necromancers deal with magical society, Warlocks disdain them. The various cultures of witches react in much the same manner, and remain reclusive and aloof.
History
The most relevant history is the most recent magical war involving the struggle against an evil Elemental known as Mevolent. Mevolent was a worshipper of dark gods known as the Faceless Ones, who once existed in canon’s reality before being ejected by a previous race of magical humans called Ancients. The Faceless Ones were so powerful that simply looking directly upon them drove people insane. Mevolent’s intent was to bring them back, and began a war in order to secure the world in the name of his gods.
Mevolent’s most trusted allies were the Three Generals. Baron Vengeous was a man of faith known for his brutality to both allies and enemies. Nefarian Serpine was known for his cruelty and his talent for ‘picking up’ magics, most especially the Red Hand. Lord Vile was a massively powerful Necromancer in a suit of black armour who was only active for five years, but was known to be unstoppable in that time.
On the rebels’ side was Eachan Meritorious, the charismatic Irish elder who alone survived Mevolent’s ambush on the rebellion’s leaders. Corrival Deuce was one of his foremost generals, so highly respected that long after the war was over he was asked to become Grand Mage. The Dead Men were a group of Irish special-ops combatants who became known for their ability to survive suicide missions; this group included Skulduggery Pleasant.
The war began in Ireland, but such was Mevolent’s charisma and reach that it spread to the whole world. The rebellion against him was led by Eachan Meritorious, and initially included many peoples of Ireland, including the Necromancers. As Mevolent’s reach spread, Meritorious allied with other nations to stop Mevolent, but he also lost support from some factions. Prejudice still existed within the magical community, and some groups were not well received or acknowledged by those in command of the war-effort. The Necromancers were among those; while they were allied with the rebellion early on in the war, over time they grew bitter by their treatment and collectively became a neutral party.
Canon specifies no exact timeline for the war, but it does say that Mevolent was killed about a century before canon and the war proper ended about eighty years before canon—when Baron Vengeous was arrested. A Truce was struck with Serpine to grant him and the remains of Mevolent’s forces amnesty in order to avoid a continuation of the conflict. Afterward, the magical nations were left to rebuild, but they had lost much in the way of infrastructure and the manner in which minorities had been treated left them embittered.
In Ireland, at least, the overwhelming undertone was compromise to avoid conflict at all costs. Unfortunately this led to the tension which began canon, in which Serpine used the Sanctuary’s complacency to renew the conflict on a localised level. While Serpine was stopped, his murder of the council of elders marked the beginning of an era of instability for Ireland.
Necromancers
While Necromancy is a discipline in and of itself, it is also a widespread cultist faith stated to include other kinds of sorcerers. There is a ranking structure within each Temple; there are acolytes, clerics, high clerics and the High Priest. Most Necromancers live in national Temples, where they train and work toward what they call the Passage—to that end, they each have their own job within the Temple. Some, like Solomon, act as the Temples’ public face to the world outside, but this is very rare; many Necromancers do not leave the Temple (at least until book six).
The Necromancers’ faith revolves around stopping death through a saviour known as the Death Bringer—a Necromancer of sufficient power to cause the Passage. They believe that all dimensions and worlds are a part of a great river called the lifestream, into which all deceased souls pass before being reincarnated in another dimension. The Passage is the event by which the Death Bringer uses the souls of half the inhabitants of the planet to block the world off from the lifestream, thereby stopping birth and death, and rendering the remains of humanity immortal. Knowledge of what the Passage entails is limited, and those who know view it as the means by which to save humanity.
Since the Necromancers have an overwhelming goal for which they strive, they have a tendency to disdain or dismiss anything which does not work toward it. It would be for that reason that certain techniques, like the Red Hand, are considered failed attempts to cause a Passage or outright contrary to it.
The Necromancers essentially seek to save humanity by any means possible. This means they don’t entertain a conventional morality. They recognise the morality to which most people adhere; they just find no place for it in their search for immortality. At its root, their faith is about fear—their own fear of death. This fact makes them extremely selfish in practice, and while they view one another as ‘brothers and sisters’, this view is only in search of a common goal. In reality, the Temples are frequently rife with internal power-mongering, and most clerics may not even like each other. They view comfort, good-will, comradeship and the lives of others, even those they know, as necessary sacrifices to their cause.
Personality: Solomon is difficult to define in terms of his past due to how little background we receive about him from canon; all we get are implications regarding the nature of his history with Skulduggery, and even then nothing is confirmed. Therefore all my perceptions of Solomon’s personality have come from moments in canon, rather than how he developed due to past experiences. Solomon is a far more complicated man than most of his peers in the Temple. His core attributes are faith, fear, intelligence and practicality, but he is also self-assured, witty, sophisticated, self-sacrificing, protective and possesses an element of ethical awareness that his brethren lack.
The characteristics which drive most of Solomon’s motives and actions are faith and fear. He believes wholly in the drive to save humanity, in spite of the impracticalities or illogic involved with doing so. His faith defines why he chooses the courses of action he does, such as offering to train Valkyrie, and makes him an active pursuer of his goals. Yet later canon displays evidence that while he depends on faith, the exact manner of that faith has been defined by fear. He admits outright that Necromancers are creatures of fear, and most of them are more concerned with their own survival than the survival of humanity at large; the Passage is intended to immortalise ‘the chosen’ specifically, and naturally, all Necromancers consider themselves chosen. Solomon, in contrast, genuinely believes in the Passage as a means by which as much of humanity as possible might be saved, rather than specifically his own survival (although that is certainly included). Solomon’s faith is real, but he distinguishes between faith in his goal and faith in the institution of the Temple, which indicates that his faith is far more fluid than he knows and implies that his fear of death is the contributing factor to where he has chosen to place it. In the end, however, his faith is the driving force behind his personality, and when pushed it will drive him to desperate acts that contravene his other beliefs.
This sort of complete faith runs almost counter to the sort of intelligence Solomon possesses. As the Irish Temple’s detective, he ensures the Temple maintains its face to the rest of the magical world; this means he has frequently matched wits with Skulduggery Pleasant and held his own, as evidenced by their interactions and unspoken history. In the third book, he has information Skulduggery does not due to an independent investigation. The Irish High Priest regards Solomon warily due to that intelligence, both appreciating his advice and declining to utilise it even when he should. Solomon thinks ahead and makes long-term plans, but is cognizant enough to sacrifice plans in favour of opportunity. It is because of his intelligence that Solomon finds it difficult to accept many Temple policies blindly; he refuses to adhere to the dress-code (finding it counter-intuitive to expect people to work well while freezing-cold in thin robes), maintains a house outside the Temple (though all a cleric’s resources should be funnelled into the Temple) and is generally regarded as eccentric by his peers due to his interest in the outside world.
A great part of that interest is also a result of Solomon’s practicality. He recognises that the Temple is not as detached from society as it wishes it was, and that events which affect the world at large will affect the Temple too. It’s for this reason that he offers to help Skulduggery against the Diablerie in spite of their bad history and the fact that the Temple disapproves of his interference. While most Necromancers are highly selfish and self-serving, Solomon is able to and in fact frequently sacrifices reputation and safety for the sake of being practical in terms of achieving his goals—whether they relate to helping someone he doesn’t like save the world or involve the Passage itself. It is thanks to this practicality that he’s managed to achieve such a position within the Temple in spite of the fact that he disagrees with nearly all its policies; he is one of the High Priest’s most trusted advisors.
Solomon’s self-assurance is rooted in his security of faith, but it is displayed in the manner by which he conducts himself. He is aware that Necromancers are disliked, and makes no apology for being one. His self-assurance in his abilities allows him to break the Temple rules without much concern for the fact that he is; he gets the job done, and allows himself the leeway to do so, knowing that it will be worthwhile. Because of this, and because of his intelligence, he has a sort of dry wit he isn’t afraid to use on anyone except those who hold direct power over him (the Irish High Priest, most notably). His sophistication is shown primarily in his mannerisms and his dress—he appreciates fine suits, and little luxuries, and carries himself like a gentleman more suited to the century of his birth.
In spite of the selfishness of his faith, Solomon is unexpectedly self-sacrificing in the manner of his aid, and this combined with his practicality grants him a sort of integrity most Necromancers lack. He acted behind-the-scenes in the first book to control Serpine’s White Cleaver, and thus directly helped Skulduggery and Valkyrie. In the third book, he outright joins the fight against the Faceless Ones in spite of the risk to life and sanity. He is willing to give up any sort of reputation he might have among the only people who might potentially care about him—his brethren at the Temple—in order to do what must be done. In the sixth book, he outright betrays the Irish Temple because he believes they are headed down the wrong path in pursuit of the Passage, and thereby makes himself a fugitive to both Sanctuary and Temple.
Solomon isn’t unaware of others in the course of his goals. While he does consider nearly everything worth sacrificing, including others, he has a fondness for his students. When the Temple is attacked in the sixth book, one of his first thoughts is ensuring the younger acolytes emerge alive, and he specifically asks Skulduggery for amnesty on their behalf. Solomon’s a zealot, but he would rather use means which lessen violence or pain to the innocent, even though he is very good at justifying and utilising means which don’t. This sort of choice reveals the fact that he is more rooted in a moral compass than most Necromancers are. He is aware of the value of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’; it’s simply that he prizes saving humanity so highly that he has been willing to compromise that value, again and again, in a desperate search for misplaced purpose.
Appearance: Solomon is tall but not quite six feet, and slender. He has ‘bright eyes’ and dark hair that curls at the ends. He wears warm tailored suits, unlike most of his brothers in the Temple, who wear robes. In fact, he has presence, but only as he chooses. As a Necromancer he knows how to hide in shadows, but otherwise carries himself like a man confident in himself, his abilities and his beliefs, or like a man unafraid of being seen as different.
He’s Irish, so he speaks with a mild Irish accent.
I also have a couple of official reference pictures.
Abilities: Solomon is an Adept Necromancer, which means that he can control shadows and death. Solomon is a leading cleric of the Irish Temple, so he’s very powerful, and can be assumed to have most of the Necromantic abilities presented in canon. Specific powers have been listed below.
Necromantic item
All Necromancers who appear or are referenced in canon use specially-forged items to channel and control their magic, though canon also states that this is a preference unique to Necromancers rather than a necessity of their magic. A Necromantic item cannot be touched without permission from its owner, or else the person who touches it will be consumed by the magic within. Solomon’s usual item is a cane, but he will not have it when he arrives in-game.
Shadow-manipulation
This is the bread-and-butter of Necromancy. It’s how Necromancers fight—by summoning shadows from nearby and making them physical in various forms. Solomon has been noted in canon using everything from shadowy spears to riding a wave of shadows to move quickly over short distances. It can also be used for practical things; ropes, for instance.
Shadow-walking
An offshoot of shadow-manipulation, shadow-walking is much more difficult, and it’s implied that only decently powerful clerics become truly proficient at it. It’s a form of near-instant transportation using shadows, but more limited in range than Teleportation—likely not more than a kilometre. It can transport a number of people at once, but this facet is dependent upon collective mass and the power of shadows nearby.
Death-sensing/empowerment
Really as simple as sensing death. In canon Valkyrie’s ring grows cold when there’s a corpse nearby. As a much more experienced Necromancer, Solomon can sense more details and has a greater range in his sensing. In his debut scene within a house, he’s able to pinpoint the exact number of deaths, in which rooms they occurred, and whether they were violent or peaceful—some of them from a decade ago. This same scene indicates a limit on his physical range, but not what that limit is. Necromancers grow more powerful when in the presence of death, which is why their items react to it.
Raising zombies
In the fourth book this technique is performed by a non-Necromancer, so it stands to reason that a Necromancer could do so as well, more thoroughly, and while creating longer-lived zombies. Solomon also canonically overcomes another’s control of an undead Cleaver—a magically empowered and effectively immortal soldier. The Cleaver then serves him without failing in his abilities, unlike the ordinary zombie, which become progressively decayed. The highest form of zombie are those under control but still magically capable; however, the only canonical examples were raised by Vile, due to Vile’s raw power. Solomon could potentially learn to do the same, but only if he were willing to make the necessary sacrifices for his training and magic—which, theoretically, he is not.
The Red Hand
The Red Hand is a technique which kills people with agony using a skinless hand. It was used by Serpine in the first book, but it’s a Necromantic technique taught to him by a Necromancer, and he’s the only known person to have used it in centuries. This implies that, among Necromancers, the Red Hand is taboo—or else they might be using themselves. While Solomon can’t use this technique, it’s only because he isn’t willing to perform the proper preparation; he is otherwise powerful enough to do so.
Death-aura
The death-aura is the mark of the Death Bringer, and it’s used by Melancholia in the sixth book and Lord Vile throughout his appearances. It is a method of extending one’s soul to encompass the souls of those around the Necromancer and then absorb them, adding them to the Necromancer’s power more directly than simply by being in the presence of death. Those souls can be returned within an unspecified timeframe, whereupon the victims awaken as if from a deep sleep. Solomon has not displayed this talent in canon, but he reacts badly to its use in the sixth book. I headcanon that he’s used it exactly once, when terrified beyond all comprehension, to fight off Vile, which means he’s capable of it but declines the necessary training.
Blood-magic
The forging of Necromantic items involves creating a blood-bond between the item and its user by including blood in the forging. This allows items to remain loyal to their owner. Solomon, while not a smith, is still aware of the manner in which items are forged, including the basic precepts of blood-magic. This is primarily relevant because Solomon will be arriving in the game without his cane, and will seek to forge a new item.
Controlling names
Canon says that any sorcerer worth their salt can control a person using their name, but as it doesn’t happen all the time even to mortals it is obviously something that takes enough effort to dissuade people from its common use. Solomon is more than powerful enough to use it ordinarily, but due to how his magic first manifested he finds it easier than most, and due to previous experiences makes every effort to avoid its use. If the potential for this magic ever arises in threads, I will contact players on a case-by-case basis to confirm their preference.
Using sigils
While Solomon isn’t an expert in the use of sigils, he knows enough to use them as a support when necessary, such as in wards or keys.
Suitability: Tailored. Bespoke-tailored. That, believe you me, is a well-tailored fit for anything. Solomon is from a canon in which a man is graphically and magically dissolved in water in the very first book. He himself is a character of dubious morals, and canon implies he’s killed people for his own ends or that of the Temple. He was alive and likely served briefly in the rebellion against Mevolent, which means he’s seen war at its worst. At his canonpoint he also just witnessed a dimensional rip, so he’s familiar with the concept of multiple worlds.
Inventory: Phone, wallet and all the paraphernalia within (including some money, bank-cards and ‘fake’ ID), keys.
Suite: Solomon displays a regular taste for finery and elegance in his suits and mannerisms. He views simplicity as a difficult necessity more than a reflection of faith, as most of his colleagues do. For that reason he would be most comfortable in the Fire Sector. He would be annoyed by the impracticality of a three-floor suite for one man, but has been forced to make do with the small rooms available in the Temple. Therefore, he would appreciate a two-floor suite the most. (If possible, his being Skulduggery's next-door neighbour would be wonderful too.)
In-Character Samples:
Third Person: Solomon’s head rang. The sound faded in and out from his ears, and when he rolled over, the ground tilted alarmingly. Distantly, he could hear screaming. He could hear flames. He lifted his head and out of the corner of his eye saw a fragmented twisting of the air, like the fabric of reality had snapped. Like a prism, shifting and towering and striding across the land.
He saw something else, too. He saw Baritone standing in the field, staring up at that immense impossibility with his flintlock loose in his hand and his jaw slack. Solomon couldn’t see his colleague’s eyes, but he could imagine that glassy look of catatonia. The being, the Faceless One, wasn’t paying any attention. Baritone wasn’t a threat.
Solomon forced himself to look away from one of very few of his colleagues he might have called ‘friend’, forced himself upright in spite of his unsteady equilibrium. Reality bent ahead of him, preceding the Faceless One coming his way. He couldn’t tell if it was pursuing him in particular—or if he simply happened to be in its path. He didn’t dare turn to look. He drew shadows up around him and reached out for a location nearby, and felt an instant of sweet, soothing coolness before he emerged back onto the farm.
He was underneath the trees, close to where he and the others had broken through the line of Hollow Men defending the farm. Even from here, he could see the shimmer of fractures over the tree-tops, but still turned his gaze away. His heart pounded, his body seizing with a sort of visceral terror he hadn’t felt in a long while. These were dark gods. Evil gods. A vestige of childhood faith whispered—the nearest things in existence to demons.
The field was dotted with bursts of magic, like springs, where others had recently died. There was a snap of ozone and one of the Faceless Ones vanished, and another spring of deathly power bloomed.
Solomon spared a few moments to breathe, and then shadow-walked back onto the field, taking cover near the farmhouse’s broken walls. The combatants had scattered—even the Diablerie. Bliss’s twisted corpse lay in the grass. Solomon reached out for his death and let it fill him up, and then shadow-walked into the trees toward the bubble of controlled Necromantic power.
The shadows receded and then swept toward him, and he swept up his cane to parry them with a shield. Pandemona flicked her cloak aside to make the shadows fade, and it settled across her shoulders. “Apologies.”
“Don’t mention it.” She looked pale. So, Solomon suspected, did he. They’d failed. The Faceless Ones were invading. Even though the portal had closed, three Faceless Ones—he was fairly sure he had only seen three towering impossibilities—were more than enough to destroy the world.
“We need to retreat,” she said.
“No,” he said. He felt calm. The shock had worn off and the grim numbness of purpose was settling in. “If the Faceless Ones leave the farm, it’s over. There’s no time to reach the Temple and get reinforcements, even if they should believe us this time. This is it.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “Very well. Adrian?”
A lesser man would have hesitated. Necromancers didn’t approve of permanent relationships, but Pandemona and Baritone had been subtly attached for years. Solomon didn’t like telling the few people he actually liked bad things, but there was no point in lying about it. He looked her in the eye and said, “Looking upon the Faceless Ones drove him insane. He’s gone.”
She went grey, and still, and for a moment stared past him. Then she looked at him again, and there was something cold in her gaze. “Then let us ensure they advance no further.”
She flicked her cloak and the shadows swallowed her up, and Solomon took command of them and followed.
Network: [The man in this broadcast is composed, even calm, sitting upright in front of the screen. The astute will notice that he’s paler than he should be, and as controlled as he is, his face is lined with pain and his voice is a tad strained. The even more astute will notice that the way he’s seated isn’t exactly as refined as his bearing—he’s sitting sideways on the chair, as if to make room for his legs.]
I don’t suppose anyone here is capable of expedited healing? Broken bones, specifically. I am unfortunately a new arrival to the … turtle … but I’m quite sure I can find some manner in which to pay you.
Name: Pur
Age: 26
Contact:
AIM: purplejabberwock
Journal:
purple_drakeGame Cast: None!
Please note: headcanon will be marked in purple text.
Character Information:
Name: Solomon Wreath
Canon: Skulduggery Pleasant
Canon Point: The end of The Faceless Ones, during the battle of Aranmore Farm.
Age: Canon never specifies Solomon’s age, and though the fan-resource wiki states his age is 393, this age hasn’t been confirmed by the author or updated in five-years’ worth of canon. However, his interactions with Skulduggery imply they’re of a similar age, and I headcanon him as being eight years younger than Skulduggery, which means he was born in 1591 if Skulduggery was born in 1583 (as per Amaraq’s application for Skulduggery).
Reference: This is the fan-wiki page for Solomon, but as this wiki is fan-run there are subjective conjectures and assertions displayed as fact, and anyone is capable of editing the pages. I regard its information with a grain of salt.
Setting: The Skulduggery Pleasant universe is, in most ways, similar to our own. The differences are secret in a manner similar to the Harry Potter universe, and therefore not immediately visible. Public history and most political events will be the same. However, there is an underlying magical presence and a very definite worldwide magical community, as well as a number of magical beings. Magical folk call themselves ‘sorcerers’ and can live up to 800 or 1000 years, and refer to non-magical people as ‘mortals’.
Magic
Magic in SPverse is a latent force nearly everywhere. It collects in geographic ‘Cradles’—Ireland, Africa, Australia and China—which make the residents of those nations more magically powerful than others.
Within individuals magic takes the form of two overarching branches of magic: Elementals and Adepts. Elementals can influence the four elements: fire, water, air and earth (though for most, influencing earth is a one-way ticket to becoming a statue for an indeterminate period of time). Adepts encompass everything else. They usually either choose a single discipline (like Necromancy) or a subset of connected magics (like the Sensitivities of future-sight and contacting the dead). Some are ‘natural-born’ and have a talent in a particular magic which usually stays with them all their life, but most can use any sort of magic in their childhood. At their age of majority, between 18 and 21, they undertake their Surge, whereupon their magic becomes more powerful but limited to their chosen discipline.
Names are highly important in magical society due to the fact that any sorcerer with a minor amount of skill can control a person using their name. Everyone has three names: the name they’re given at birth, the name they take for themselves, and their true name, which is the source of all their magic (or lack thereof). A taken name casts a seal of magic over a given name, thus preventing someone from being controlled. One’s true name goes a step further. Controlling a given name controls a person’s actions; controlling a true name controls their very identity. If a sorcerer ever discovers their true name, they must seal it with sigils to prevent others from ever controlling it.
The language of magic occurs in sigils. While a possible discipline on its own, sigils can be used by anyone, even mortals, and many sorcerers use them as a support for their usual practices.
While Skulduggery implies that most legends have been true in some fashion, given the rarity of most non-humans it’s clear magical humans are the majority. Vampires are the most common non-human; although they appear as ordinary people in the daytime, unaffected by daylight or conventional vampire weapons, at night they tear off their skins and become bloodthirsty animals. They are, however, the exception. Werewolves no longer exist. A type of giant, sentient insect-looking species, the crenga, are all but extinct. There are various other characters said to be non-human (such as Springheeled Jack and Black Anise) but canon never specifies what they are except to state they are extremely rare.
Politics
The magical communities are governed by a council of elders consisting of two Elders and one Grand Mage. The seat of their power is called the Sanctuary, which controls the daily running of the magical nations. However, a great deal of political power still rests with the most powerful and prominent sorcerers of any given nation, who can elect or depose a leader through popular vote. Canon implies that while Sanctuaries have been around for a while, the current method of governing through the councils is relatively new establishment, likely formed after the last magical war—which ended in the early twentieth century.
Individual Sanctuaries maintain diplomatic connections in a manner very similar to the mortal world, albeit through magical means of communications. The Cradles are those nations which hold the most political power while simultaneously being regarded warily due to the amount of magical power they possess. When the magical world undergoes a tumult, chances are it’s a Cradle that caused it.
Most of the time Sanctuaries enforce laws within their own borders, but later in canon many other nations begin to pressure Ireland to allow them access in order to ‘stabilise’ the nation. Given the various reactions, this sort of international policing is new, and therefore the magical communities are far more nationally insular than their mortal counterparts.
There are some organisations and peoples which remain apart from their national Sanctuaries. Within the nations, many sorcerers seem to define their communities by the magic they use, such as the Necromancers and the Children of the Spider, and as such consider themselves beyond Sanctuary policing. Warlocks, while human and magical, utilise their magic in a manner which sets them apart—by choice—from the rest of magical society. While Necromancers deal with magical society, Warlocks disdain them. The various cultures of witches react in much the same manner, and remain reclusive and aloof.
History
The most relevant history is the most recent magical war involving the struggle against an evil Elemental known as Mevolent. Mevolent was a worshipper of dark gods known as the Faceless Ones, who once existed in canon’s reality before being ejected by a previous race of magical humans called Ancients. The Faceless Ones were so powerful that simply looking directly upon them drove people insane. Mevolent’s intent was to bring them back, and began a war in order to secure the world in the name of his gods.
Mevolent’s most trusted allies were the Three Generals. Baron Vengeous was a man of faith known for his brutality to both allies and enemies. Nefarian Serpine was known for his cruelty and his talent for ‘picking up’ magics, most especially the Red Hand. Lord Vile was a massively powerful Necromancer in a suit of black armour who was only active for five years, but was known to be unstoppable in that time.
On the rebels’ side was Eachan Meritorious, the charismatic Irish elder who alone survived Mevolent’s ambush on the rebellion’s leaders. Corrival Deuce was one of his foremost generals, so highly respected that long after the war was over he was asked to become Grand Mage. The Dead Men were a group of Irish special-ops combatants who became known for their ability to survive suicide missions; this group included Skulduggery Pleasant.
The war began in Ireland, but such was Mevolent’s charisma and reach that it spread to the whole world. The rebellion against him was led by Eachan Meritorious, and initially included many peoples of Ireland, including the Necromancers. As Mevolent’s reach spread, Meritorious allied with other nations to stop Mevolent, but he also lost support from some factions. Prejudice still existed within the magical community, and some groups were not well received or acknowledged by those in command of the war-effort. The Necromancers were among those; while they were allied with the rebellion early on in the war, over time they grew bitter by their treatment and collectively became a neutral party.
Canon specifies no exact timeline for the war, but it does say that Mevolent was killed about a century before canon and the war proper ended about eighty years before canon—when Baron Vengeous was arrested. A Truce was struck with Serpine to grant him and the remains of Mevolent’s forces amnesty in order to avoid a continuation of the conflict. Afterward, the magical nations were left to rebuild, but they had lost much in the way of infrastructure and the manner in which minorities had been treated left them embittered.
In Ireland, at least, the overwhelming undertone was compromise to avoid conflict at all costs. Unfortunately this led to the tension which began canon, in which Serpine used the Sanctuary’s complacency to renew the conflict on a localised level. While Serpine was stopped, his murder of the council of elders marked the beginning of an era of instability for Ireland.
Necromancers
While Necromancy is a discipline in and of itself, it is also a widespread cultist faith stated to include other kinds of sorcerers. There is a ranking structure within each Temple; there are acolytes, clerics, high clerics and the High Priest. Most Necromancers live in national Temples, where they train and work toward what they call the Passage—to that end, they each have their own job within the Temple. Some, like Solomon, act as the Temples’ public face to the world outside, but this is very rare; many Necromancers do not leave the Temple (at least until book six).
The Necromancers’ faith revolves around stopping death through a saviour known as the Death Bringer—a Necromancer of sufficient power to cause the Passage. They believe that all dimensions and worlds are a part of a great river called the lifestream, into which all deceased souls pass before being reincarnated in another dimension. The Passage is the event by which the Death Bringer uses the souls of half the inhabitants of the planet to block the world off from the lifestream, thereby stopping birth and death, and rendering the remains of humanity immortal. Knowledge of what the Passage entails is limited, and those who know view it as the means by which to save humanity.
Since the Necromancers have an overwhelming goal for which they strive, they have a tendency to disdain or dismiss anything which does not work toward it. It would be for that reason that certain techniques, like the Red Hand, are considered failed attempts to cause a Passage or outright contrary to it.
The Necromancers essentially seek to save humanity by any means possible. This means they don’t entertain a conventional morality. They recognise the morality to which most people adhere; they just find no place for it in their search for immortality. At its root, their faith is about fear—their own fear of death. This fact makes them extremely selfish in practice, and while they view one another as ‘brothers and sisters’, this view is only in search of a common goal. In reality, the Temples are frequently rife with internal power-mongering, and most clerics may not even like each other. They view comfort, good-will, comradeship and the lives of others, even those they know, as necessary sacrifices to their cause.
Personality: Solomon is difficult to define in terms of his past due to how little background we receive about him from canon; all we get are implications regarding the nature of his history with Skulduggery, and even then nothing is confirmed. Therefore all my perceptions of Solomon’s personality have come from moments in canon, rather than how he developed due to past experiences. Solomon is a far more complicated man than most of his peers in the Temple. His core attributes are faith, fear, intelligence and practicality, but he is also self-assured, witty, sophisticated, self-sacrificing, protective and possesses an element of ethical awareness that his brethren lack.
The characteristics which drive most of Solomon’s motives and actions are faith and fear. He believes wholly in the drive to save humanity, in spite of the impracticalities or illogic involved with doing so. His faith defines why he chooses the courses of action he does, such as offering to train Valkyrie, and makes him an active pursuer of his goals. Yet later canon displays evidence that while he depends on faith, the exact manner of that faith has been defined by fear. He admits outright that Necromancers are creatures of fear, and most of them are more concerned with their own survival than the survival of humanity at large; the Passage is intended to immortalise ‘the chosen’ specifically, and naturally, all Necromancers consider themselves chosen. Solomon, in contrast, genuinely believes in the Passage as a means by which as much of humanity as possible might be saved, rather than specifically his own survival (although that is certainly included). Solomon’s faith is real, but he distinguishes between faith in his goal and faith in the institution of the Temple, which indicates that his faith is far more fluid than he knows and implies that his fear of death is the contributing factor to where he has chosen to place it. In the end, however, his faith is the driving force behind his personality, and when pushed it will drive him to desperate acts that contravene his other beliefs.
This sort of complete faith runs almost counter to the sort of intelligence Solomon possesses. As the Irish Temple’s detective, he ensures the Temple maintains its face to the rest of the magical world; this means he has frequently matched wits with Skulduggery Pleasant and held his own, as evidenced by their interactions and unspoken history. In the third book, he has information Skulduggery does not due to an independent investigation. The Irish High Priest regards Solomon warily due to that intelligence, both appreciating his advice and declining to utilise it even when he should. Solomon thinks ahead and makes long-term plans, but is cognizant enough to sacrifice plans in favour of opportunity. It is because of his intelligence that Solomon finds it difficult to accept many Temple policies blindly; he refuses to adhere to the dress-code (finding it counter-intuitive to expect people to work well while freezing-cold in thin robes), maintains a house outside the Temple (though all a cleric’s resources should be funnelled into the Temple) and is generally regarded as eccentric by his peers due to his interest in the outside world.
A great part of that interest is also a result of Solomon’s practicality. He recognises that the Temple is not as detached from society as it wishes it was, and that events which affect the world at large will affect the Temple too. It’s for this reason that he offers to help Skulduggery against the Diablerie in spite of their bad history and the fact that the Temple disapproves of his interference. While most Necromancers are highly selfish and self-serving, Solomon is able to and in fact frequently sacrifices reputation and safety for the sake of being practical in terms of achieving his goals—whether they relate to helping someone he doesn’t like save the world or involve the Passage itself. It is thanks to this practicality that he’s managed to achieve such a position within the Temple in spite of the fact that he disagrees with nearly all its policies; he is one of the High Priest’s most trusted advisors.
Solomon’s self-assurance is rooted in his security of faith, but it is displayed in the manner by which he conducts himself. He is aware that Necromancers are disliked, and makes no apology for being one. His self-assurance in his abilities allows him to break the Temple rules without much concern for the fact that he is; he gets the job done, and allows himself the leeway to do so, knowing that it will be worthwhile. Because of this, and because of his intelligence, he has a sort of dry wit he isn’t afraid to use on anyone except those who hold direct power over him (the Irish High Priest, most notably). His sophistication is shown primarily in his mannerisms and his dress—he appreciates fine suits, and little luxuries, and carries himself like a gentleman more suited to the century of his birth.
In spite of the selfishness of his faith, Solomon is unexpectedly self-sacrificing in the manner of his aid, and this combined with his practicality grants him a sort of integrity most Necromancers lack. He acted behind-the-scenes in the first book to control Serpine’s White Cleaver, and thus directly helped Skulduggery and Valkyrie. In the third book, he outright joins the fight against the Faceless Ones in spite of the risk to life and sanity. He is willing to give up any sort of reputation he might have among the only people who might potentially care about him—his brethren at the Temple—in order to do what must be done. In the sixth book, he outright betrays the Irish Temple because he believes they are headed down the wrong path in pursuit of the Passage, and thereby makes himself a fugitive to both Sanctuary and Temple.
Solomon isn’t unaware of others in the course of his goals. While he does consider nearly everything worth sacrificing, including others, he has a fondness for his students. When the Temple is attacked in the sixth book, one of his first thoughts is ensuring the younger acolytes emerge alive, and he specifically asks Skulduggery for amnesty on their behalf. Solomon’s a zealot, but he would rather use means which lessen violence or pain to the innocent, even though he is very good at justifying and utilising means which don’t. This sort of choice reveals the fact that he is more rooted in a moral compass than most Necromancers are. He is aware of the value of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’; it’s simply that he prizes saving humanity so highly that he has been willing to compromise that value, again and again, in a desperate search for misplaced purpose.
Appearance: Solomon is tall but not quite six feet, and slender. He has ‘bright eyes’ and dark hair that curls at the ends. He wears warm tailored suits, unlike most of his brothers in the Temple, who wear robes. In fact, he has presence, but only as he chooses. As a Necromancer he knows how to hide in shadows, but otherwise carries himself like a man confident in himself, his abilities and his beliefs, or like a man unafraid of being seen as different.
He’s Irish, so he speaks with a mild Irish accent.
I also have a couple of official reference pictures.
Abilities: Solomon is an Adept Necromancer, which means that he can control shadows and death. Solomon is a leading cleric of the Irish Temple, so he’s very powerful, and can be assumed to have most of the Necromantic abilities presented in canon. Specific powers have been listed below.
Necromantic item
All Necromancers who appear or are referenced in canon use specially-forged items to channel and control their magic, though canon also states that this is a preference unique to Necromancers rather than a necessity of their magic. A Necromantic item cannot be touched without permission from its owner, or else the person who touches it will be consumed by the magic within. Solomon’s usual item is a cane, but he will not have it when he arrives in-game.
Shadow-manipulation
This is the bread-and-butter of Necromancy. It’s how Necromancers fight—by summoning shadows from nearby and making them physical in various forms. Solomon has been noted in canon using everything from shadowy spears to riding a wave of shadows to move quickly over short distances. It can also be used for practical things; ropes, for instance.
Shadow-walking
An offshoot of shadow-manipulation, shadow-walking is much more difficult, and it’s implied that only decently powerful clerics become truly proficient at it. It’s a form of near-instant transportation using shadows, but more limited in range than Teleportation—likely not more than a kilometre. It can transport a number of people at once, but this facet is dependent upon collective mass and the power of shadows nearby.
Death-sensing/empowerment
Really as simple as sensing death. In canon Valkyrie’s ring grows cold when there’s a corpse nearby. As a much more experienced Necromancer, Solomon can sense more details and has a greater range in his sensing. In his debut scene within a house, he’s able to pinpoint the exact number of deaths, in which rooms they occurred, and whether they were violent or peaceful—some of them from a decade ago. This same scene indicates a limit on his physical range, but not what that limit is. Necromancers grow more powerful when in the presence of death, which is why their items react to it.
Raising zombies
In the fourth book this technique is performed by a non-Necromancer, so it stands to reason that a Necromancer could do so as well, more thoroughly, and while creating longer-lived zombies. Solomon also canonically overcomes another’s control of an undead Cleaver—a magically empowered and effectively immortal soldier. The Cleaver then serves him without failing in his abilities, unlike the ordinary zombie, which become progressively decayed. The highest form of zombie are those under control but still magically capable; however, the only canonical examples were raised by Vile, due to Vile’s raw power. Solomon could potentially learn to do the same, but only if he were willing to make the necessary sacrifices for his training and magic—which, theoretically, he is not.
The Red Hand
The Red Hand is a technique which kills people with agony using a skinless hand. It was used by Serpine in the first book, but it’s a Necromantic technique taught to him by a Necromancer, and he’s the only known person to have used it in centuries. This implies that, among Necromancers, the Red Hand is taboo—or else they might be using themselves. While Solomon can’t use this technique, it’s only because he isn’t willing to perform the proper preparation; he is otherwise powerful enough to do so.
Death-aura
The death-aura is the mark of the Death Bringer, and it’s used by Melancholia in the sixth book and Lord Vile throughout his appearances. It is a method of extending one’s soul to encompass the souls of those around the Necromancer and then absorb them, adding them to the Necromancer’s power more directly than simply by being in the presence of death. Those souls can be returned within an unspecified timeframe, whereupon the victims awaken as if from a deep sleep. Solomon has not displayed this talent in canon, but he reacts badly to its use in the sixth book. I headcanon that he’s used it exactly once, when terrified beyond all comprehension, to fight off Vile, which means he’s capable of it but declines the necessary training.
Blood-magic
The forging of Necromantic items involves creating a blood-bond between the item and its user by including blood in the forging. This allows items to remain loyal to their owner. Solomon, while not a smith, is still aware of the manner in which items are forged, including the basic precepts of blood-magic. This is primarily relevant because Solomon will be arriving in the game without his cane, and will seek to forge a new item.
Controlling names
Canon says that any sorcerer worth their salt can control a person using their name, but as it doesn’t happen all the time even to mortals it is obviously something that takes enough effort to dissuade people from its common use. Solomon is more than powerful enough to use it ordinarily, but due to how his magic first manifested he finds it easier than most, and due to previous experiences makes every effort to avoid its use. If the potential for this magic ever arises in threads, I will contact players on a case-by-case basis to confirm their preference.
Using sigils
While Solomon isn’t an expert in the use of sigils, he knows enough to use them as a support when necessary, such as in wards or keys.
Suitability: Tailored. Bespoke-tailored. That, believe you me, is a well-tailored fit for anything. Solomon is from a canon in which a man is graphically and magically dissolved in water in the very first book. He himself is a character of dubious morals, and canon implies he’s killed people for his own ends or that of the Temple. He was alive and likely served briefly in the rebellion against Mevolent, which means he’s seen war at its worst. At his canonpoint he also just witnessed a dimensional rip, so he’s familiar with the concept of multiple worlds.
Inventory: Phone, wallet and all the paraphernalia within (including some money, bank-cards and ‘fake’ ID), keys.
Suite: Solomon displays a regular taste for finery and elegance in his suits and mannerisms. He views simplicity as a difficult necessity more than a reflection of faith, as most of his colleagues do. For that reason he would be most comfortable in the Fire Sector. He would be annoyed by the impracticality of a three-floor suite for one man, but has been forced to make do with the small rooms available in the Temple. Therefore, he would appreciate a two-floor suite the most. (If possible, his being Skulduggery's next-door neighbour would be wonderful too.)
In-Character Samples:
Third Person: Solomon’s head rang. The sound faded in and out from his ears, and when he rolled over, the ground tilted alarmingly. Distantly, he could hear screaming. He could hear flames. He lifted his head and out of the corner of his eye saw a fragmented twisting of the air, like the fabric of reality had snapped. Like a prism, shifting and towering and striding across the land.
He saw something else, too. He saw Baritone standing in the field, staring up at that immense impossibility with his flintlock loose in his hand and his jaw slack. Solomon couldn’t see his colleague’s eyes, but he could imagine that glassy look of catatonia. The being, the Faceless One, wasn’t paying any attention. Baritone wasn’t a threat.
Solomon forced himself to look away from one of very few of his colleagues he might have called ‘friend’, forced himself upright in spite of his unsteady equilibrium. Reality bent ahead of him, preceding the Faceless One coming his way. He couldn’t tell if it was pursuing him in particular—or if he simply happened to be in its path. He didn’t dare turn to look. He drew shadows up around him and reached out for a location nearby, and felt an instant of sweet, soothing coolness before he emerged back onto the farm.
He was underneath the trees, close to where he and the others had broken through the line of Hollow Men defending the farm. Even from here, he could see the shimmer of fractures over the tree-tops, but still turned his gaze away. His heart pounded, his body seizing with a sort of visceral terror he hadn’t felt in a long while. These were dark gods. Evil gods. A vestige of childhood faith whispered—the nearest things in existence to demons.
The field was dotted with bursts of magic, like springs, where others had recently died. There was a snap of ozone and one of the Faceless Ones vanished, and another spring of deathly power bloomed.
Solomon spared a few moments to breathe, and then shadow-walked back onto the field, taking cover near the farmhouse’s broken walls. The combatants had scattered—even the Diablerie. Bliss’s twisted corpse lay in the grass. Solomon reached out for his death and let it fill him up, and then shadow-walked into the trees toward the bubble of controlled Necromantic power.
The shadows receded and then swept toward him, and he swept up his cane to parry them with a shield. Pandemona flicked her cloak aside to make the shadows fade, and it settled across her shoulders. “Apologies.”
“Don’t mention it.” She looked pale. So, Solomon suspected, did he. They’d failed. The Faceless Ones were invading. Even though the portal had closed, three Faceless Ones—he was fairly sure he had only seen three towering impossibilities—were more than enough to destroy the world.
“We need to retreat,” she said.
“No,” he said. He felt calm. The shock had worn off and the grim numbness of purpose was settling in. “If the Faceless Ones leave the farm, it’s over. There’s no time to reach the Temple and get reinforcements, even if they should believe us this time. This is it.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “Very well. Adrian?”
A lesser man would have hesitated. Necromancers didn’t approve of permanent relationships, but Pandemona and Baritone had been subtly attached for years. Solomon didn’t like telling the few people he actually liked bad things, but there was no point in lying about it. He looked her in the eye and said, “Looking upon the Faceless Ones drove him insane. He’s gone.”
She went grey, and still, and for a moment stared past him. Then she looked at him again, and there was something cold in her gaze. “Then let us ensure they advance no further.”
She flicked her cloak and the shadows swallowed her up, and Solomon took command of them and followed.
Network: [The man in this broadcast is composed, even calm, sitting upright in front of the screen. The astute will notice that he’s paler than he should be, and as controlled as he is, his face is lined with pain and his voice is a tad strained. The even more astute will notice that the way he’s seated isn’t exactly as refined as his bearing—he’s sitting sideways on the chair, as if to make room for his legs.]
I don’t suppose anyone here is capable of expedited healing? Broken bones, specifically. I am unfortunately a new arrival to the … turtle … but I’m quite sure I can find some manner in which to pay you.