Karnak Mander-Azur
 Shatterer |
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| Karnak (Scenesys ID: 4444) | |||
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| Profile | |||
| Name: | Karnak Mander-Azur | ||
| Superalias: | Shatterer | ||
| Gender: | Male | ||
| Species: | Inhuman | ||
| Occupation: | Magister | ||
| Citizenship: | Attilan | ||
| Residence: | Attilan | ||
| Education: | Attilanese university | ||
| Theme: | Marvel (FC) | ||
| Groups: | Spaaaace!, Secret Warriors | ||
| Details | |||
| Apparent Age: | 103 | Actual Age: | 103 |
| Date of Birth | 6 January 1919 | Played By | Mark Dacascos |
| Height: | 6'0" | Weight: | 180 lb |
| Hair Color: | Bald | Eye Color: | Blue |
| Twitter: | @CatFacts | ||
| Theme Song: | Wrath of the Champions--Jorge Quintero | ||
Contents
Character Info
Profile
Karnak serves as a Magister of the Tower of Wisdom, responsible for training generations of Inhumans in martial arts, tactics, and mastering their powers. His is the first face that many see emerging from terrigenesis. He and his order guard the living memories and spiritual lore of the hidden civilization of Attilan. With greater reluctance, he serves as the chief tactician and planner for the Royal Court, having personally tutored the king to control his devastating powers and ensuring his companions are armed against the inevitability of war. A man of philosophy and study, he is the first to stand when violence threatens the natural order.
Timeline
Timeline:
* 1919: Karnak is born to Inhuman priest Azur and his wife, Mander, a renowned scholar of Atlantis.
* 1925: Karnak enters the Temple of Wisdom as a novitiate, intending to follow his father as a priest.
* 1929: The Genetic Council selects Karnak for terrigenesis on recommendation of a Magister. Mander and Azur reject the request.
* 1933: Karnak officially rejects the first test of terrigenesis offered by the Tower of Wisdom. His brother, Triton, begs him to reconsider.
* 1937: Karnak graduates from the Temple of Wisdom as an anointed monk, and begins his apprenticeship in the Records of Law library.
* 1941: Triton is injured by an Atlantean-era relic recovered from the deep sea. Karnak, unable to help his brother, requests training at the Attilan Health Sciences Institute.
* 1951: Mander petitions the Genetic Council to remove Karnak's name from terrigenesis candidates, appealing when they initially deny her.
* 1951: After the Magister of Training retires, the Tower of Wisdom invites Karnak to train the latest class of Inhumans exposed to terrigenesis. After he saves a young man from incinerating a building and trains a "lost cause" Inhuman with a deadly gaseous breath, many families request his tutelage. After 10 years, he becomes the senior trainer.
* 1964: The Genetic Council requests Karnak and Azur's input on tutoring Blackagar Boltagon in self-control and martial arts as tools to prepare him for life.
* 1984: He is attached to the Royal Court to shadow Blackagar at Rynda's request. Initially resentful, Karnak presumes he'll return to his Tower duties after 6 months. He is wrong.
* 1988: During a Kree attack to expose Attilan, Karnak plays an integral role in trapping the fleeing spy. He cannot prevent Agon and Rynda's deaths, or others, and resigns his post. His resignation is refused.
* 1997: Medusa and Karnak butt heads over the conditions of Alpha Primitives, terrestrial Inhumans, and reorganizing society. Karnak sides with progressive policies, creating friction in the Royal Court.
* 2003: Karnak is appointed a Magister in full when his father steps back from his duties.
* 2000s: Karnak continues to train the Royal Court in martial arts in anticipation of social upheavals. He suspects Maximus' plotting. Maximus avoids Karnak under a guise of house arrest.
* 2021: The Genetic Council quarrels over exposing Inhumans to public knowledge. Karnak firmly supports revealing themselves.
* 2022: When human refugees, Afterlife Inhuman refugees and others come to the Moon, Karnak leads the Tower of Wisdom in advising support for them. A traditionalist faction splits away and declares themselves the True Tower of Wisdom. The majority declare they are the Second Tower of Wisdom, and the division remains a bitter thorn in Karnak's side.
IC Journal
{{{ICJournal}}}
Personality
Compassionate:
Karnak sees the weak points in everything. The experience hasn't left him jaded or depressed. He instead shows a deep level of compassion because everyone and everything is flawed, but also capable of surpassing those weaknesses as people so frequently do. He genuinely cares about people, from the lowliest novitiate up to his king. Even Maximus, flawed and traitorous as he is, receives this benefit. Karnak doesn't let his compassion divert from acting as he thinks is best, but he cares about the mental and physical well-being of those around him far more than he might ever let on. Until someone needs him -- then it becomes clear as day.
Prepared:
Karnak is the man who has six plans drawn up in the eventuality of almost every situation, even the absurd ones. He feels most comfortable when he has a failsafe to fall back on. History is a cruel but fair teacher, and Inhumans have suffered when they lacked preparations to retreat, deal with enemies or seize opportunities as they came. Better to proactively consider a situation from all angles, then extrapolate a course of action. As a result, he seems very methodical and analytical in his approach to life. That is true, but so too does he prize the occasional unexpected event and enjoy successes just as much as everyone else. Karnak simply doesn't show extremes of emotion, expressing himself in more subtle ways as an example of his mastery over himself.
Rational:
Karnak is a rational, methodical thinker rather than someone who acts entirely on intuition or feeling. He reacts on a cerebral level, having trained himself to forego the immediate emotional response to a situation. He is a proponent of Occam's Razor, always searching for the likely outcome rather than fantastical, unlikely causes unless every other probability has been exhausted.
Spiritual:
Karnak is a monk, a priest, a philosopher. Faith shapes his outlook in the world, a personalized belief that assigns value to living beings, meaning to their actions, and a strong sense of self. He doesn't ascribe to any particular religion, but tenets that many would recognize. He is a servant to those around him, striving to elevate their condition. He aims to improve his community and himself. He avoids completely selfish acts because the corrosive nature of selfishness leads to much greater harm in himself and others. He is someone who is at peace, mostly, with what he is and what form his life takes. That grants him much comfort and a moral direction.
Character Sheet
Powers
Autonomic Control:
Through years of meditation, Karnak can control many of his autonomous bodily functions. He can adapt his heart rate, oxygenation levels, and breathing to a point he may seem nearly catatonic, while retaining his consciousness. Meditation usually serves as his focus to depress or enhance his sensory awareness, dampening the pain or biofeedback received from his extremities. With effort, he can block the pain from broken bones, stab wounds or burns, though he must receive medical attention. He can even control his own bleeding or swelling to some degree, though more serious injuries will only be lessened and not halted in this manner. Karnak's abilities are on par with those attributed to ascetics like Buddhist priests, Hindu gurus, and Zen masters.
Inhuman:
Karnak is a full-blooded Inhuman subjected to terrigenesis in childhood. He has the amplified abilities of his race. He has the physical abilities exceeding those of a super soldier, like Captain America. He can run for hours or exert himself strenuously without experiencing fatigue. His flexibility and agility exceeds the finest Olympian, allowing him to perform physical feats like running across narrow ledges or leaping effortlessly between buildings. He is strong enough to throw a car or hold up two tons unsupported. His reaction times are similarly enhanced to superhuman levels, though far from a speedster or Spider-person's skills.
Inhuman Potential:
Karnak does not have traditional Inhuman powers that evolve from terrigenesis. His latent abilities emerged after an intense regimen of meditation throughout his life. If he were to undergo terrigenesis, it's likely his ability to detect weak points would expand or he may gain another power entirely. The potential is there.
Weak Point Awareness:
Karnak maintains a constant awareness for weak points in objects and people within his line of sight. This insight into weakness extends to the physical flaws in an object that would cause it to fracture, collapse or lose cohesion. He perceives stress points in raw material or finished items, like the linchpin likely to fail on an engine, the hidden weak spot in a block of marble that might destroy a sculpture, or a hidden flaw in a metal plate that could sink a large ship. When dealing with a living subject, he can determine physical or psychological weakness based on direct observation. He cannot assume more than general weaknesses due to physiology without seeing a person. When he can observe interactions, he can identify limitations in the body, possible illnesses, mental health issues or other psychological drawbacks. These must be documented on the target's +sheet.
Magical shielding, telepathic veils or shape-shifting can deceive Karnak to some degree when dealing with living objects. Longer term exposure to a subject gives him a deeper insight to their psychology and personality, with exploits thereof.
If Karnak senses a weakness in a physical object, he can break or destroy it by pinpoint strikes delivered to the weak point. In this way, he can collapse buildings, disable vehicles or wreck invaluable art. He can choose how much force he uses, but he cannot totally control the outcome. Disabling a car engine may not be repairable.
When used against a person, Karnak's primary advantages are debilitating strikes that stun or injure by hitting the body where it is weak. He can cause a much stronger opponent to lose feeling in a limb or drop to the ground. He might interrupt focus or an attack physically or by saying the right thing to prey on a person's weakness. If he can identify a phobia, he may act on that knowledge. However knowing someone is afraid of dogs isn't useful in a location without dogs.
OOC: This ability requires player consent when used on a person.
Skills
Acrobatics:
Acrobatics is an essential component of many martial ones. Those which Karnak has mastered make heavy use of flexibility, balance, and movement. He is excellent at tumbling, gymnastics, and other sport approaches to augment his fighting style. He can run through buildings, turning vertical or diagonal surfaces into flat ones with great ease.
Combat:
Karnak is a top-tier martial artist to compensate for his lack of terrigenesis. He is a master several times over of styles comparable to Krav Maga, jeet kun do, taekwondo, and judo. He's an all-around excellent fighter who can use pressure point strikes on nerves and other weak points to undermine substantially larger, stronger empowered opponents. He does not like to fight with weapons, though he certainly can do so, and has baseline training in wielding firearms to complement his hand-to-hand fighting skills.
Computers:
Karnak can use computers with moderate ability, since the Tower of Wisdom's systems are far more elaborate than anything commonly encountered on Earth. He is best at locating information from databases and pinpointing weaknesses in any system, as long as he understands how it operates.
Linguistics:
Karnak can communicate in the Attilan sign language used among the Royal Court of Attilan. He also can speak Mandarin, Hindi, and Sanskrit; Kree; and Atlantean.
Medicine:
Karnak holds a first-rank degree in medicine, which makes him par with a practicing MD or DO on Earth. He can diagnose symptoms and prescribe a course of treatment for most humanoids, particularly Inhumans, humans or similar races. He has a deep understanding for the nervous system and its lesser-understood functions, particularly as relates to pain, relaxation, and weakness. He most frequently uses his medical insights to patch up students, treat people on the battlefield, or ease discomforts. His expertise is often called on by the royal court for matters involving the Genetic Council or terrigenesis.
Meditation:
Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges.
-- Bryant McGill
The Tower of Wisdom teaches meditation for understanding and self-control. Karnak practiced this mastery of his thoughts, emotions, and actions since childhood. Meditative practice on a daily basis makes it much harder to influence his emotions or rouse him to irrational actions. He can maintain calm despite feeling great passion or horror, like the coup against the royal court. His focus is paramount to use his abilities to detect weak points, identify the best strategy, and not fall to utter despair at his entropic view of the world. With strict meditation lasting at least half an hour, Karnak can greatly enhance his resistance to mind-controlling powers (like Maximus' ability or offensive telepathic probing).
Philosophy:
Karnak is a master of philosophy. His decades of study about faith and belief systems provide a deep grounding. He has not restricted himself to Inhuman philosophy, but widely studied human cultures and other civilizations known to the Inhumans. He enjoys intellectual conversations with his peers, particularly Blackagar, and always has time to walk through existential concerns or crises with an interested audience.
Stealth:
The art of surprise is taught to the students of the Tower of Wisdom. Every eventuality can fail if the enemy spots you. Karnak is very good at getting the drop on people, even those with super senses, by using his environment, cover of darkness, and distractions to get where he needs to be without anyone the wiser.
Tactics:
Karnak is the foremost tactician of his generation in Attilan. He may be among the best on Earth or the Moon, if anyone bothered to gather such information. He pores over battlefield plans from generals new and old, examining conflicts to devise new strategies, and tests scenarios or simulations to achieve excellence. He can rival Scott Summers for his degree of planning and forward-thinking about how to protect his people, take advantage of a bad situation, and have strategies for attack, defense, routs, and everything between. Combined with his unique gifts, there are incredibly few situations Karnak hasn't considered and even fewer he can't devise an immediate set of strategies for.
Teaching:
Karnak is an excellent teacher. He can help students overcome their difficulties grasping a concept through different styles of training, and he is very good at assisting those with superhuman powers to master their abilities even if he doesn't possess them. His experience is invaluable at helping someone understand themselves.
Terrigenesis:
Karnak has trained generations of Inhumans in the use of their powers after terrigenesis. He has witnessed the process of selecting a candidate, identifying likely outcomes, and the process of terrigenesis end-to-end countless times. This wealth of knowledge has practical and theoretical purposes, especially in helping an Inhuman control or understand their powers. He also knows the history of primagen, terrigen, and other substances related to terrigenesis.
Resources
Ancient Texts:
The Tower of Wisdom houses part of the Attilan library where ancient texts from the time of Atlantis, the Kree, and ancient civilizations are digitized and housed. Long after the originals may have crumbled to dust, the Tower maintains copies faithful to the originals. Karnak can access these documents, as a Magister, though he still must have permission from the senior Archivists to do so.
Contacts:
Karnak has, at one time or another, trained the younger generation of Inhumans in their powers. He knows their names, their flaws, and their potential. He can reliably bring to mind these facts or access them from the Tower of Wisdom's archives. In Attilan society, few people are better connected.
Royal Court:
Karnak serves the royal house of Attilan as its chief strategist and de facto priest. He receives considerable respect from the Royal Court and members of the Genetic Council for his impartial service. His role officially grants him the protection of the royal guard, a handsome income, and resources for reasonable requests. However, he almost never makes use of these benefits save to assist others.
Tower of Wisdom:
Karnak is a magister, equivalent to a master in the philosophical monastic order of Attilan. He has a small, unremarkable room in the Tower of Wisdom and commands the respect of disciples, initiates, and faithful visitors. He teaches students and tests terrigen-modified Inhumans in safely contained walls. The Tower of Wisdom serves as a seminary for priests and priestesses of Inhuman faith, a repository of lore and recordings of Attilan's history, and foremost a training centre for Inhumans to master their powers. Karnak has access to all these locations, benefiting him in research. Further, he can bar even the Royal Court from the Tower, though any other Magister can overrule him.
Weaknesses
Code of Conduct:
Karnak does not kill if he can do so. Life is precious. He holds sacrosanct the right for someone to be part of life, and he must exhaust all other methods before he considers ending someone's life. The guilt for the deaths he was responsible for directly throughout his life will never leave him. He reflects on plans and actions with a goal to minimize damage. He could take the easy road, but that is not his way.
Control:
Karnak is a man who controls himself to the utmost degree. He is mindful of his actions, words, and deeds at all times. Perfect control maintained over himself is part of his ascetic ethos, and fundamental to his emergent abilities. Unfortunately, the Shatterer can slip. When he does, the situation is dire, foremost because he isn't used to dealing with his emotions running high or uncontrolled. His powers are based on his mental state, meaning he is far more likely to unleash physical destruction on a scale greater than he intended. He must be careful. He must master himself, and dread the control he doesn't have.
Family:
Karnak would do a great deal to keep his elder brother, Triton, safe and well. They have a strong bond despite the subdued facade that Karnak keeps in place as a protective measure. He also feels deep loyalty to the Royal Court, except Maximus. Enemies of the Shatterer need look no further than the Azur-Mander family to find his weakness, and he would be hard pressed to overlook a direct assault on those he cares most for.
Inhuman:
Karnak, like all Inhumans, has unique genetics distorted by Kree tampering millennia ago. This creates multiple weaknesses:
* Kree Enmity: The Kree hate their creations, and the feeling is mutual. They're likely to attack him on site.
* Pollution Sensitivity: He is heavily affected by prolonged exposure to pollution. If he's in a badly contaminated area longer than a day, he will start to feel ill, like he has a bad flu. After a week, he will be in real danger. In a normal city like New York, it takes him a month to feel problematic effects. He needs to spend at least two days in a rural area or the Moon to purge the pollutants from his body.
Isolated:
Karnak stands apart from the Royal Court of Attilan as a Magister, but he keeps his closest friends and family at arm's reach out of necessity. His powers derive from a persistent meditative state that requires spiritual and mental equilibrium. Allowing events to draw him into the drama and high conflict of Attilan's politics puts the Royal Court directly at risk from him losing his focus (see +wea Control). It's not that he wants to stay away from their concerns, he simply cannot afford to stay in the thick of it without his powers surging uncontrollably or simply not functioning at all. For a man who lacks the benefits of terrigenesis, this would be a humiliation and a source of despair. Karnak believes his value to the Royal Court is already diminished by his apparent selfishness. This is not a reconciled situation for him, and one painfully exposed in times of joy and crisis alike.
Terrigenesis:
Azur's line contains more unpredictable genetic material than most Inhumans. Karnak was never fully exposed to the Terrigen Mists due to the pleas of his parents. If he ever does undergo terrigenesis, there is the strong chance his latent mutations could have dangerous and permanent side effects impacting his quality of life.
Role-Play
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