Prior Ekmed

Full Name: Wanjack Ekmed
Nickname(s): Ekmed On High, Zydon Behind the Curtain
Codename: Prior
Alias(es): Prior Ekmed
Age: 67
Classification: Zydon (Alien)
Affiliation: The Priorhood, Zydon Army
Alignment: Lawful Evil




Hair Color: White
Eye Color: Green
Gender Male
Height: 5'7”
Weight: 143lbs
Other Traits: Whenever preaching or on Priorhood business, Wanjack wears the ceremonial robe complete with leather breastplate which has nuggets of Nth Metal embedded inside. He also dons a mask of mourning in remembrance of the vow he made to disown his family. When his hood is down, his hair can be seen.




Powers: Psionic Manipulation – The power to control or manipulate the psionics produced by another. This ability allows Wanjack to dominate or at least tamper with the brain-waves of advanced sentients.  This includes combating telekinesis, telepathy, other forms of ESP, and non-magical manipulations of the elements. Since this ability stems from the same genetic engineering that grant Elects their powers, Wanjack's control works best against Zydons, in many cases able to override them utterly. Against other psionic beings, he is able to disrupt their control, but rarely capable of establishing complete dominance. Disruption entails concentration loss, obfuscation, redirection, and delay.

It also allows him to sense psionic energy and thus beings within 292 metres. After tapping into psionic energy, Wanjack can cause it to adapt in ways not previously possible. For example, an Elect can only use their pyrokinesis to create fireballs, but under Wanjack, that fire may redirect, halt, or disperse into tendrils and form new shapes. Beings with the power of telepathy or psionic illusion may find those illusions turned against them. In a similar fashion, he is immune to any mental attack he is aware of. Should he encounter telekinesis, that telekinesis is only capable of lifting as much as it could lift before. To use another example; Elects can levitate themselves but not much else, therefore controlling such a telekinesis would allow Ekmed to lift average body weight.

When large groups of psionic beings are around who willingly allow Wanjack access, he is capable of one or two things further. First is intuition, able to discern basic information about a person such as their name. Second is dousing, able to locate nearby hidden objects or water bodies without scientific apparatus. Third is prophecy, able to garner vague impressions of the future after hours of meditation. And finally the ability to fire a psionic beam. If it hits, this beam is capable of causing the victim great mental anguish.

Magician Mastery – An expert magician, skilled in slight of hand, concealment, optic illusion, and camouflage. He knows an array of smoke concoctions, chemical reactions, light tricks, and similar techniques. Ordinary people are unable to ascertain how he achieves the majority of these feats. If someone should guess, there are many tricks Wanjack has multiple methods of performing, which may throw the person off the scent.

Nth-Metal – Embedded into a leather breastplate which Wanjack usually wears upon his ceremonial robe, these small nuggets of Nth Metal afford him some feats. The most obvious of these is flight. Ekmed is able to float up to 500 metres off the ground and fly at 10mph for up to half an hour. Next, Nth metal affords him some resistance to magic primarily. He will also have a greater tolerance to radiation, fundamental forces, and extremes of temperature, though these last few are barely discernible.

Skills:
- An expert magician and illusionist.
- Can recite half the Book of Temporance by memory alone.
- Gifted rhetor.
- Talented theologist.

Weaknesses:
- Since he is only of one mind, there is a limit to how much Wanjack can control with his psionic manipulation. When psionic beings allow him access, this control can extend to as many as ten. When he is wrestling for control, however, then he is restricted to two. And dividing his attention makes failure significantly more likely.
- Many of his powers stem from the proximity of other psionic beings. For this reason Ekmed employs Elite acolytes. When these acolytes are lost or incapacitated, then his capabilities are reduced.
- Furthermore, if there are no psionic beings around his ability is useless, for he cannot create psionic energy himself. This would reduce him to sleight of hand and Nth Metal for defence.
- Normal people have no psionic abilities with which to tamper, and are thus unaffected by psionic manipulation.
- Other psionic beings have a chance to fight him for control, they may overpower him mentally.
- What he can divine through intuition is restricted to someone's name, age, classification, affiliation, general alignment, lineage, birth place, predominant personality traits, nickname, and relationship status. He never learns a person's powers or possible weaknesses.
- Dousing only allows him to locate hidden items that are in the immediate area.
- Only after of hours of meditation with his acolytes can Wanjack obtain vague impressions of the future.
- His psionic beams are visible and can be dodged or blocked.
- Although masterful in his illusions, another magician, else those with heightened or sixth senses, will be able to see through his subterfuge.
- His collection of Nth Metal is only small. This leaves him unprotected against moderate to strong magic.

Equipment:
- Holographic Projector – able to project his own form in real time or a number of pre-recorded images for various occasions.
- Ambient Light Manipulator – able to dim or brighten nearby light to help create atmosphere.
- Showman's Staff – a staff with its interior compartmentalised into a series of chambers; hidden switches open these chambers and can unleash gouts of smoke.
- Other Smoke Applicants – an array of smoke bombs, potions, and powder residues that when unleashed create varied smoke effects which can induce exaggerated shadows, vague mirages, reduce visibility, or just simply form shapes and change colour.



Personality: The greatest trick Ekmed ever pulled was fooling himself. At one time he knew full well he was fleecing a populous to his own advantage. Nowadays his mind is an amalgam of personal benefit and higher purpose. He believes the Voids want him to continue with his corrupt and crooked ways, mistaking them for a good that is beyond mortal comprehension. He sees himself a saint, a prophet, the chosen one, he who is destined for eternal award in paradise for acts others were too blind and squeamish to perform.

This primarily manifests in his persecutions. Ekmed develops various intolerances against certain people. He believes true magic threatens the authority of the Priorhood. He is also convinced that the Humans intentionally caused the Great Plague as a way to undermine his people's faith. All such groups are dispatched without conscience.

Otherwise, Ekmed is a great rhetor. He has been known to command a crowd, get the masses frenzied, incite riot and rebellion with his passionate sermons as easily as swinging his staff. He has a great memory for reciting passages of holy text. His interpretations of them, however, are many times hypocritical, and he will select the message he wants people to derive from the stories on a case by case basis. Ekmed thinks nothing of twisting these tales which were written with the intention of spreading love and goodwill. It will all go to serve the greater plan.

Strengths:
- A good judge of character.
- Can fake devotedness and purity.
- Plays to the masses.

Interests/Habits:
- The correct term of endearment for Ekmed is 'Ekmed On High', which he insists the commoners address him as; it is akin to 'Your Eminence'.
- He has taken a vow of chastity and a vow of disownment (renouncing his family ties).
- Eager to uphold the many ceremonies and traditions of his faith.




Family Members:
Kartuish Ekmed (father)
Frarity Ekmed (mother)

Place of Origin: Zydon Homeworld

History: The way Wanjack tells it, he was a misguided and corrupt youth whose boundless folly and restricted perceptions set him on the path to perdition. Mercifully, he was spared this fate and able to redeem himself. Whilst cruising on the outer reaches of space, he came across a derelict ship. A deep thrum echoed from within its empty chambers. Wanjack knew this to be impossible for there is no sound in space. He docked his salvage vessel to investigate.

What he saw changed him. The presence of a great galactic void in its infancy. As his people's religion taught, these great entities were deities fallen from High. The infant voids would seek out a star to inhabit and struggle with said star for control of its vast power. If the deity won, it would be transformed into a magnificent black hole. This struggle could last millions of years. These voids then held open a pathway to High through which mortal souls may enter and thus come to know paradise.

So it came to pass, that Wanjack was overcome with awe and did repent the error of his ways. In return he was imbibed with the knowledge of universal wonders, how to live a good and righteous existence in servitude to the Voids. As prophet he would return, his calling in life finally realised.

The reality is a little more sordid. Trapped by a society that valued its warriors and scientists above all else, and talented in neither, Wanjack sought the only profession which would allow him power. The Priorhood became subject to his ambitions. Once a relatively unknown religious sect among the Zydons, Wanjack helped transform it into their sole theology.

After attaining power, the Priorhood set about renouncing all forms of magic as wicked. Wanjack claimed that only his own enchantments were true, given to him by the Voids. In reality Ekmed was just a talented illusionist. His trickery was complete when the Priorhood came into possession of Nth Metal. They used this unique element to make real magic fail in a televised display. Magic could not levitate the sacred nugget whilst the Priors proved able. Thus proving to the masses the superiority of their parlour tricks one and for all. Magic was henceforth outlawed in Zydon society.

Since then Wanjack has sought to consolidate his power and wield his authority. Most noticeably he was a vocal opponent of the Black Wing Monks, denouncing their Ki as sacrilegious, which ultimately ended in their deportation. Since the Great Plague his influence has wavered, many disillusioned at his failure to summon a cure. Wanjack sought a way to distract the remaining masses from their misery. He found it in war. When the Zydon Emperor announced an attack against Earth, Prior Ekmed immediately declared a holy crusade against humans.

The initial assault met with a standstill. As the months stretched on the Prior began to obtain an interest in this docile little backwater planet. The surface was rife with heathens practising magic, something that helped convince his followers that Humans were evil. However, there was rumour that Nth metal trinkets were scattered across the globe far in excess to what the Priorhood possessed. Wanjack wanted them. He has since declared that he will enter this war himself, backed up by a unit of Elect acolytes.

Claimed. Expect awesomeness shortly.

-Dar