ᴋᴀʀʟ •ʟᴀᴡ ᴏꜰ ᴛᴀʟᴏꜱ•

Name: Karl. (No surname) Age: Unknown, but is assumed to be somewhere between his early and mid twenties. Sex: Male. Speices: A living (animate) humanoid statue. Appearance: 5’10" | Fair skin | has a mesomorph and ectomorph mixed body type | Has fluffy golden blonde hair tied up in a ponytail (Similar to Valentines ponytail from Skullgirls) with a yellow bandana with black vertical stripes wrapped around the top of his head with the hem of the bandana being black, along with a singular, thick and large strand of hair hanging in front of the left side of his face which pokes out from underneath his bandana (some sort of bangs) with two other thicker and fluffy strands of hair framing his face | Black coloured iris’ | The paint on his left eye is scratched off, leaving behind three singular scratch marks over his eye, along with a scratched off painted eyepatch, leaving behind a grey shape/silhouette on his eye of where the eyepatch used to be. Outfit: Wears a white, long sleeved and open collared pirate blouse with a skull pirate drawing on the back of his shirt saying ‘Pirate Island’ with a knee-length, opened, orange coloured, sleeveless trench coat with the bottom left part of the coat having some fabric torn off, along with a darker orange coloured lapel. Wears a belt but the paint has been scratched off, revealing the grey cement of his body. Also wears dark brown, mid-length, wide pants with orange and white striped socks on his right leg, with the same exact socks but the paint has been scratched off on his leg, along with ankle length, dark brown boots. The paint on his right hand has been scratched off, up until his wrist. Character Lore: Used to be a decorative statue in an amusement park called ‘The Castle Of Nations’ as a pirate. Specifically in the ‘Pirate Cave’ / ‘Pirate Island’. (A pirate-themed inspired area within the amusement park). He was close friends with a human girl called Rachel who taught him how to play the violin. One day Rachel said to Karl that he could not love her as she already had a fiancé. Rachels fiancé appears and then shoots off Karls right hand. Karl eventually kills Rachels fiancé and steals his orange trench coat, and might’ve possibly killed Rachel too. (Rachel was a kind-mannered and polite young human woman with fair skin, waist length, red curly hair with side swept bangs and black eyes. She wore a white, puffy long-sleeved blouse with a knee-length, black, A-line skirt, along with a pair of white tights and black mary jane shoes). Karl has a magical crow companion named ‘Arma’ with ruby red eyes who apparently keeps Karl alive since he’s not exactly human. Since Arma is magical, she can shapeshift into any weapon which Karl can use (most commonly melee weapons but even if she shapeshifts she still keeps her black colour) and most likely doesn’t feel pain, but does in-fact inflict pain. Karl entered the tournament because he wanted to wish for an infinite energy source, so that he would never run out of energy and be free from the Castle’s control. He also wanted to prove himself as the strongest and most superior being in existence. (He would NEVER admit any of this, not out loud anyway.) During his time in the tournament he has fought and won. with a contestant named Mizuno who wasn’t a human but instead a fish-human hybrid with baggy brown clothes, but could control water, violently manhandled and threw/destroyed a mech with two inventor kids inside Steffi and Benzene (they got thrown out) all because Steffi shot off a bit of Karl’s collar. He was not happy. He was also chasing another competitor named ‘Chimbley’, a victorian chimney sweeper orphan child, in plans to fight him. Karl encountered an iron support on top of a building which led to another building. However being so high up caused him to crouch down on the iron support and hold onto it, keeping his smug attitude. Personality: Smug, a bit cocky, teasing, playful, manipulative, psychotic, insane, sadistic and ruthless, decisive, a bit of a masochist, cheerful, charismatic, tactician, merciless, deceptive, subterfuge, persistent, tenacious, heinous, sly and swift, selfish, violent, haughty, sneaky, mischievous, cheerful, gleeful, flirty. He doesn’t tend to take thinks seriously and is quite the liar. Abilities: Can regenerate lost limbs (only when alone and it takes some time) but they regenerate with a their original cement colour since the paint has obviously been removed/lost, Super strength and speed, good reflexes, good at melee armed combat, has good agility and has high pain tolerance. (cannot feel pain since he’s a statue. However he trys to avoid hand-to-hand contact as it may make his limbs crack. Remember, hes made of cement). Occupations: A decoration of the Pirates Cave (a part of the area in the Castle of Nations), a spy, informer and assassin in his spare time. He likes to gather information about his enemies before confronting them directly. This gives him a chance to find weaknesses and use them to his advantage. Likes: The violin and can play it well (Most likely classical songs, like Tchaikovsky and Bach), Arma, starry nights, challenges, chaos and destruction. Dislikes: Humans (apparently because to him they’re selfish, traitorous, self-centred and ill mannered. Mostly selfish tho), mirrors (or any surface with a good reflection), high places, taking situations seriously, anything affecting his ability to play the violin (for example, his collar which he rests his violin on getting chipped). Other information: -gets really annoyed when referred to as a pirate since it reminds him of his past in the Pirate Cave. -back in his past within the Pirate Cave, he and his comrades were allegedly on an assassination mission when the amusement park was closed, and during that mission they had seemingly failed and a cat had scratched Karl’s eye, catching him off guard and the cause of his current scar. -he isn’t afraid of mirrors, he just doesn’t like looking into them as he can see his scar (The one over his eye as it reminds him of the past, and he will try to cover it with his hand. -if he uses too much of his energy he becomes extremely weak and sometimes passes out -afraid of heights (most likely because he’ll shatter if he falls and hits the ground) -doesn’t like guns or heavy weapons due to them being easily able to destroy materials similar to what a statue is made out of, such as cement, clay, concrete, etc (basically he’ll break/get injured easily in a fight against those things) -VERY heavy. (cannot swim in water so he requires Arma’s help to get him out) -Whenever feeling anger or fear, he always has his signature smug smirk on his face, and always keeps up his smug and teasing attitude to mask his true feelings. (NEVER shows his true feelings.) -Whenever “surprised” he always starts his sentences with ‘Deary me’. Of course he doesn’t mean it, it’s just his stupid smug and playful personality.

• very slightly speaks in a fancy way -Loves to fight -Almost always smirks -Acts deceptively nice and curious when meeting another competitor. When they’ve seemingly grown comfortable or trusting of him, he will suddenly/without warning attack/fight them. If they’re a woman, man or child, he still won’t hesitate to beat them.

BACKGROUND/ WORLD LORE: (Summarised - a tournament has been held to build a wishing machine as the prize)

The grand city of Taitle, once bustling with life and thought and steam-powered inventions, stands deserted save for the stray passing inventor salvaging scrap metal from its workings and a stubborn old man who has lived on the same plot of land his ancestors have all his life. He didn’t mind the old abandoned buildings, the winding Victorian architecture that was crumbling in places, or the almost rhythmic release of steam from street vents. No one knew where the vents went, or why they were there, or even how to properly begin to repair the city’s maze of architecture to make it living again, but the vents are there, leading to nowhere, and the city is there, and had, at one point, worked for the people in it. All it works for now, other than the old man, were the little robots, left behind by careless people passing through and repaired by the old man, set free to wander the city and make their own homes for themselves. The city itself is like a time capsule, fallen into disrepair but stuck in this era of steam-powered technology, stuck in the same culture it has been since it was last bustling with signs of the lives of its citizens because of the influence of a strange new physical law, dubbed Law of Talos by its discoverer, the old man.

The city functions only on steam power, despite its neighbors having modern technology already. Said technology stops working within the city grounds, and there is a presence that is nothign short of magical in the air. The Law of Talos has been around ever since the first person had set foot in the city, it seemed, even while it was bustling with the life of its inhabitants, before it was abandoned. Since then, the city has been unpopulated. That is, until now. Now the town is overrun by people scouring every inch of the city for all the broilers and gas tanks and engine parts that have been left lying around, and building high glass domes on metal stilts. All in preparation. The town was going to be alive again, but not for its usual purpose. It would live for a tournament. The stubborn old man had finally done it. In his workshop stood the world’s first, and, indeed, only wishing machine.

Steam and smoke poured out of the contraption, and things spun at seemingly random times, and a small gauge on the front, going from 1 to 10, was now pointing at 1. Whatever it was that was making the machine work (for the old man wasn’t sure of it himself. When pressed, he'd simply answer "Oh, it must simply be a use of the Law of Talos, but of course," but never expands on said law.) was allowing for one more wish. And the stubborn, but nice and friendly old man, had decided that now since he had hair again and had his fun wishing, it was time to give the last wish, however big or small it may be, to someone who is willing to go to any length to prove he/she deserves it. And it was his nephew, hanging around the shop one day, who suggested the idea of a tournament. So the city had become alive once again, bustling with the sound of workers preparing for said tournament, ready to welcome the competitors and building observation domes for the spectators at either end of the city. Because, as the nephew pointed out, a little monetary profit never hurt anyone. The idea was simple. People who heard of this machine, be it by technology like the internet or carrier pigeons, were told to gather in the city if they were interested.

Bring yourselves, it said. Bring courage and the will to win. And bring your greatest desire, because fulfilling it is your prize. Once it starts, step outside Taitle, and you’re out. Be defeated by your set opponent and you’re out. And when you’re out, you forfeit everything you have collected over the course of the tournament to the winner of your match. Since it wouldn’t be a proper tournament in the old man’s eyes if it didn’t allow for some inventiveness, he will give each contestant a set of tools, the most unique and important of these being the boiler, the gas tank, and the engine parts. Metal, pipes, chimneys, everything else could be scavenged. But those parts you could only get by defeating your opponent, and it is with those parts that you can build bigger things, or many small things, whichever you prefer. And it is those parts you forfeit when you lose a match. Do you have to use the kit? No, of course not. The old man simply wanted to give everyone the fair option to. Just keep those vital parts close, because even if you don’t want them, leaving them would give a huge advantage to whoever finds them. The goal is to be the last one standing, brought in front of the wishing machine and given the chance to make your deepest desire come true.

PROCESS OF THE TOURNAMENT: Contestants will arrive in the city, at which point they will discover that any technology they may have that isn't steam-based (or, at least, after the steam era) does not work in the city itself, due to the Law of Talos's influence. Therefore, they must enter city grounds on foot in designated areas, passing the ring of tournament officials around it making sure that the contestants stay inside the city. Once contestants enter the city, they will be handed a basic kit by a tournament official. The kit will contain a decently-sized boiler, a full gas tank and several sturdy pipes needed to link the two cylindrical objects. Those are the most important pieces, because they cannot be found anywhere else in the city - except in the hands of another contestant. The rest of the kit is rudimentary engine supplies, governors, water tanks, valves, insulation, gears, pieces of metal and bolts, safety goggles and basic tools.

Everything, aside from the boiler and the gas tank, can be dug up in various places in the city. Old factories that would make metal still have scraps of it lying around. Gears are in no short supply, big or small. There are several big pieces of machinery abandoned, no fuel supplies to speak of, but working pipes and wheels/treads. Even the buildings themselves can serve as supplies as needed, with their high ledges and tall spires, working chimneys and wooden planks. Once the kit is received, regardless if you want it or not, you are officially a contestant, and are to assume that anyone you meet in the city wandering freely is also a contestant. You are not required to use the kits, but you are required to keep the boiler and gas tanks safe (be it with you in a machine or in a safe hiding place), which you only part with if you lose a match, and surrender them to the winner. If you are defeated, you will be escorted to the modernized and out-of-place observation deck, from which you are not technically allowed to move for your and other's safety, as freely wandering people are assumed to be contestants (though if you listen to the rules or not is entirely up to you). However Karl doesn’t care about any of this and is only “participating” in this tournament just to fight people and possibly for amusement (he wouldn’t say this so obviously but his actions clearly show that)