(Approved by LadyElvenarcher)
Name: Cadenza Vega Madrigal-Seraph (pronounced: kuh-DEN-zuh mah-dree-gal vuh-lent-ia) (formerly Madrigal-Valentia)
Age: just recently 30
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Hair: After the body and eyes, the next thing men tend to notice about Cadenza is her gorgeous hair. Soft, raven-colored tresses flow free past her shoulders, swirling into luxuriant black curls—but for practicality’s sake, some of the luscious locks are tied back in a loose bun for a “half-ponytail” style, because well… it’s a bit embarrassing to get your hair snagged in a fence in the middle of a street fight. It’s the sort of beautiful, full, flowing hair you wouldn’t expect a person stabbing you in the gut to have. Her hair is parted to the left, and straight, side-swept bangs cover part of her forehead. Three royal purple peacock feathers with sharpened tips are pinned at an angle into the bun, and are the most outstanding sign of her identity as a gypsy, provided you have enough brain cells to make the connection. The woman’s hair is shiny, clean, and silky in its great health and beauty.
Eyes: A brilliant, deep blue that’s dark enough to almost hide the pupils in most light. The striking color conveys a sense of beauty, mystery, and intensity--and many men, in fact, do consider where all their other thoughts went a mystery when they finally manage to stop looking into her eyes. It’s the sort of blue you might call a “midnight blue”, if you go in for the poetic stuff, and it stands out in contrast to her warm-colored tan skin.
Weight: 122 pounds
Height: 5’5”
Theme Songs: Kelas (Let's Dance) (Fullmetal Alchemist), Requiem (Fullmetal Alchemist), This Night (Black Lab), Tamacun (Rodrigo y Gabriela), Got Nuffin' (Spoon), Diem (Rodrigo y Gabriela)
Known Family:
Paris Valentia – ex-husband (only legally deceased)
Galliard Madrigal – father
Sonya Navarre-Madrigal – mother (deceased)
Vivace Madrigal-Dionne – eldest sister (deceased)
Anton Dionne – brother-in-law (deceased)
Algretta Madrigal – second eldest sister
Luminari Madrigal – third eldest sister
Arietta Madrigal – fourth eldest sister
Alessandra Dionne – niece
Katherine "Kate" Anne Seraph – adoptive daughter
Rain Seraph – husband
Jessica “Jessi” Seraphim-Black – adoptive daughter
Raisha Seraph - sister-in-law
Homeplace: Santa Mariela, Rubato, South Cordelia, Earth (city, country, continent, world)
Languages: Gaian (English, her world's global language) spoken with a Latina accent, Old Rubatoian (a mix of Spanish, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese), Gardenian (Italian), Castillian (Spanish), Magellan (Portuguese), a touch of Stuttgartian (German, very broken and with a strong accent), a touch of Zhenghese (Mandarin Chinese, also very broken and with a strong accent), Romani (can speak it better than she can read or write it)
Vehicles: Cadenza drives a dark gray Lamborghini Reventón, and a red Vespa scooter
Items: Cadenza carries many things with her as reminders that people are protecting her—the amulet from Johnny Bones that’s never far from her, which looks out for her energy and health needs even when she’s not looking out for them so well herself, the armor crafted by Omar Vargas, which coats her body in a defensive layer to support her when he can’t be there to support her himself with his friendship, and the bow from her father Galliard, which can shoot down her fears and worries when the man can’t be there to do it himself, now that she’s no longer a little child.
Below, these items and others she carries are described.
Weapons:
- Bow and arrows: Retired save for the simplest, most ordinary jobs is Cadenza’s old lightweight, purple-colored bow. It’s made of a carbon material half the length of the gypsy’s arm-span and its inner curve is reinforced with steel. The durable bowstring is made from the whiskers of tigers, and the grip with fine, black leather. Compared to her other weapons, the bow’s more so kept around for sentimental purposes than anything else, as it was handmade for her by her very own dad—but nevertheless, the thing’s seen her out of many a tight situation in the past. Steel-tipped arrows with white wooden shafts and purple and black guide-feathers are carried in a silver-rimmed, black leather quiver for whenever the bow might be needed. If Cadenza ever runs out of arrows, she may use the peacock feathers in her hair as a sort of makeshift ammunition.
-Daggers: For the quick and dirty jobs, Cadenza has a small, steel dagger that she uses when simple punches are not quite enough—some people need a blade in their gut to take the hint. It’s said that the dagger she favors is a trophy she won off some pirates in Bellavista before she had much in the way of magical strength—and the silver handle, encrusted with priceless rubies and sapphires, seems to prove the weapon came from someone with wealth, whether it be stolen or earned.
When a simple kick doesn’t seem to suffice, the gypsy has two smaller, retractable daggers hidden in the heels of her boots. They flare out when she gives a forceful kick and give her foes a nice, pointy surprise. They also serve her well in climbing and other tasks. They have been painted with a special mixture of a matte black coating by Omar Vargas to avoid being detected by a gleam in light, while still not dulling the cutting edge or piercing tip of the blades.
Other daggers are rumored to be hidden in various places on the shadows of the mage’s body, which she can draw out without much conscious effort through magic and use to attack surreptitiously. This has not, as one can imagine, helped improve her image of being… less than cuddly. These daggers are treated with Vargas’ matte black blend as well.
-Conquistatore da Luz (Conqueror of the Light): From the moment the Conquistatore da Luz appeared to Cadenza, moments before her encounter with shadow master Tsuukai Ita in “The Shadows' Favored”, it was clear that this sword was not just another chunk of metal. This weapon had abilities, and an agenda—there was something more that made this blade up. As she’d find later, this sword was a sort of tangible form the gypsy Spirit of Shadow took on, all in order to siphon magic away from Cadenza and reassume control of the shadow element in their world. But, in “Chinatown Rush”, she would prove to have too much power for the Spirit to absorb—a side effect of her exposure to the Dome and its many worlds, from which shadow magic was drawn to her—and with some help, she trounced the Spirit and the sword was left to her as a sign of her victory and her new position as her world’s reigning Spirit of Shadow.
Enough of the spiritual, for a moment—step back for now and examine the sword as it is. It’s a purely black cutlass, made of some substance as hard as adamant, with a basket-shaped crossguard for protecting the wielder’s hand. It glows darkly, like a shine but in reverse, gleaming with a black sort of energy that only those with magical awareness can see. Light doesn’t affect it as one might think—instead, the sword absorbs it, eats it up without being harmed in the least. It can break down barriers and penetrate force fields with considerable ease. Presently, the sword’s capacity for containing shadow magic seems to be equal to that of the old Spirit of Shadow before Cadenza—put simply, this basically means that it cannot hold all the power that flows into it when Cadenza uses it. The excess magic therefore rides off the blade in waves (see “Blade Wave” under “Other skills” for more description.)
When not in use, the sword melds into the shadows on the gypsy’s dagger sheathe—it helps if you think of those as very deep magical pockets, of a sort. It can only be drawn out of the shadows and wielded by Cadenza herself.
-Gunblade: It started off as a sketch in chalk by the blacksmith Omar Vargas, on a lazy afternoon where he was, as usual, pondering over the feasibility of combining a long-range weapon with the shorter range of a sword. There were a lot of problems in the design—finding a force strong enough to maintain the integrity of the blade while still allowing it to be hollow for the gun’s barrel, finding a material strong enough to do the same, and perhaps the most worrying of all for him…finding someone who could use it effectively and responsibly. There was, he thought, no point in forging a weapon of this caliber just to let it lay forgotten and unused in his “finished” heaps. It’d be boring, for one. And people would talk about the wasted potential too, he figured.
Then his friend, Cadenza Madrigal, happened upon his sketch. She smiled, and made some small, jokingly disparaging comment about how Omar’s mind worked, but Vargas knew his friend well enough to see that she was interested. The next day, two tons of fine adamant, some notes from technological experts of other worlds, and some strange bullets, marked only by a label bearing the seal of the Dome, were all piled up in a giant, packaged heap outside of his workshop on the Sereia docks. He didn’t need to read the note to know who they were from, or why they were there. The man just grinned, and got to work on the gunblade before the red morning sun crested the last sand dune on the Rubato horizon.
Finally, his work came to fruition in "The Chain of Pursuit". He handed the finished weapon over to the gypsy proudly, and even after seeing all of his amazing accomplishments over the years, she felt he had outdone himself this time.
The gunblade is a marvel; adamant-hard, and dark blue in color, it is, at face value, similar to an arming sword in that it has a straight blade, is double-edged, and can be wielded using just one hand. (Very rough MS Paint sketch of the gunblade found here, which should be helpful in understanding the following description.) Trace your hand down from the tip of the blade, however, and you’ll find there is a thin line in the metalwork—merely a sliver—where the blade is divided from cutting edge-to-edge but bonded together by a force stronger than the most powerful magnetic or gravitational attraction. It is when this opens, and tip/the half of the blade further from the hilt swings away as if on a hinge, an action that is controlled by magic or the grip Cadenza takes on the hilt, that the gun-part is revealed within the other half and is brought to bear. The trigger extends from the crossguard to the handle, and the safety catch is on whenever the mouth of the gunblade is shut, or if Cadenza turns it on otherwise. The kind of bullets the gunblade takes are unknown, and are provided by a special supplier in the Dome.
When not in use, the gunblade is kept in a burgundy sheathe carried on Cadenza’s back.
Armor: She wears a suit of white mythril full-body armor underneath her clothing (see weaknesses for details on its defensive strength.) There’s a layer of insulation underneath the mythril now that prevents the metal from chafing the skin or conducting any electrical attacks aimed at the woman, but still keeps the lightweight quality to the armor and does not restrict motion. Gauntlet-like cuffs of black leather padding are strapped around her forearms to protect them from backlash from the bowstring. On her hands, she wears black, fingerless leather gloves with a layer of very light mythril between the leather.
Other items:
-The Amulet of Choros: Once it slumbered deep within the Altari Mountains, but it was found by Cadenza, Kellson, Jhans Frenn, and TDC on a Dome assignment, and until Kellson’s death, belonged to him. His friend Spiny Norman passed it on to the gypsy when Johnny Bones ascended to Heaven.
The amulet was described in the ancient books of the Dome’s main library as, “An amulet that bestows upon its wearer unlimited energy so long as they wear it, destroying the need for sleep or rest.” It’s a source of seemingly limitless stamina; but the wear and tear on the human body as it’s pushed through its energy limits and out the other side make extended, continual use without a break dangerous to one’s health. Pain still takes its toll. Cadenza wears it frequently to forgo her need to eat or sleep, and to nullify the effects of alcohol on her liver, so that she can be ever-alert. She’s aware that this much use can be slightly self-destructive…but continues on anyway, knowing that it’s keeping another threat at bay (see bio for details.)
As far as looks go, the Amulet of Choros is an icy blue, with a small but nicely cut sapphire set in the middle. It hangs from a finely-wrought golden chain, which, despite its age, still gleams brilliantly in the sun.
Strengths: Ridiculously fast, Cadenza sometimes likes to jokingly credit her speed to all the running she did from angry old ladies that she used to pilfer things from at market when she was younger—and there might actually be more truth to that than she realizes. But for all the natural agility and speed that’s brought, magic, training, and far more serious experiences have risen the woman’s speed to a level that can only possibly be fathomed in terms of dizzying math equations, whether you’re human or not. She moves with a finesse and nimbleness a gymnast or dancer could only dream of—again, partly because of her own natural advantages, and partly because of the magic that runs so strongly in her veins. Training and that wealth of magical energy have elevated her strength and stamina to levels far beyond that of a normal human as well.
Fighting comes instinctively to Cadenza—and her instincts have been finely-honed in various forms of martial arts, and in the effective (but not always fair) use of swords, daggers, knives, guns, magic, and bows. She’s described her style of fighting like this: “my first thought upon hearing the term ‘unarmed combat’ is the improvised, reckless fighting on the streets of Santa Mariela; and then comes the ‘unarmed combat’ from months of martial arts training in Zhenghe and Tokogawa, where concepts like ‘form’ and ‘discipline’, and ‘breathe this way before you pop that guy in the face’ apply.
Eventually, my unarmed fighting style became sort of a mix, where you can't really tell if I'm just a rumbler on the streets with a lot of technique, or a martial artist who skipped the days where we went over pacing or discipline. Usually, you didn't have enough time to try to distinguish between the two before you were lying on the pavement with a shattered nose.”
In regards to magic, her abilities and potential are just about unrivaled. If you said she was born with a gift for agility, then you’d have to think up a whole new term for the wealth of magical energy she naturally possesses. Shadows bend to her will. The only spell of hers that is affected in the slightest by light is Crescendo. Dark and shadow magics are ineffective against her, and other elements (including light) are merely neutral at best.
After spending the majority of her life in the desert that is Rubato, Cadenza has built up a tolerance and almost preference for high temperatures and harsh dry weather. Her clever mind and beautiful appearance have also proven to be some of her key survival traits over the years.
Weaknesses: Without her trademark array of peacock feathers, the gypsy’s left without any back-up ammo should she choose to use her bow, and she’s also out of luck when it comes to casting some of her spells. Attempts to use other items as catalysts for her magic have resulted in explosions and the transforming of people and things into pure shadows—only the feathers seem able to handle the level of energy being used.
Her mythril armor, crafted and refined again and again by Omar Vargas, is able to repel bullets, the brunt of the force--if not all of the force--from most magic, attacks from all earthy metals, and hits from most magical metals as well, but it can eventually be damaged by repeated, powerful blows from some of the strongest magical metals known. Taking Cadenza’s speed into consideration, however, this is a nigh-impossible feat. The only other shortcoming of the armor is that it does not offer protection to the woman’s head, neck, feet, or hands.
While it doesn’t actually harm her any more than a normal human, Cadenza intensely dislikes cold and humidity and prefers to leave those conditions as soon as she can.
Skills/Magic: Cadenza was first an archer, with excellent aim when given a little time to calculate her shots, and has since then gained skill in martial arts and other methods of combat. She has amazing power with her shadow magic, and possesses superhuman speed and great strength.
~Spells:
Enchantment- Cadenza removes the trio of peacock feathers from her hair and spreads them out like a fan, as she begins an incantation. The sounds of the chant, when filtered through her mystic feathers, appear to be a beautiful melody, lulling foes into a false sense of peace. Once Cadenza finishes, she swings the fan at her opponent with a flourish, putting them under her spell, which paralyzes most enemies for upwards to 5 minutes when successful. Spell takes 1-2 minutes to complete.
Mesmerize- Mesmerize is a stronger version of Enchantment, and is executed in the same fashion. The spell, however, requires a longer incantation, and drains far more energy. The incantation takes 5-7 minutes to complete and necessitates complete concentration. Most enemies are paralyzed up to 20 minutes when successful. Cadenza is often severely drained after finishing the spell, unless she is in peak condition and has expended very little of her energy beforehand.
Premonition- Cadenza begins a different incantation, often closing her eyes to concentrate. A purple aura appears around her as the chant draws to a close, shielding her as she views a glimpse of the future. Shield lasts upwards to 2 minutes when successful, length of visions vary. Spell takes 1-2 minutes to complete.
Crescendo- A shroud of shadow magic engulfs an enemy or enemies, gradually increasing the pressure underneath the shroud at Cadenza’s will, or just naturally if she leaves it to take its course. If trapped underneath for a certain length of time (generally 5-8 minutes for a human) the pressure can reach lethal levels. If not trapped long enough to be killed, the pressure may damage eardrums and other sensitive membranes. Incantation takes 3-5 minutes to complete. Spell lasts until Cadenza is sapped of energy, calls off the spell, or the foe breaks out of the shroud (using extremely intense light or similar means.)
Void- Discs of shadow magic nullify light (both magic and regular light waves) and can redirect it back elsewhere (at an opponent, or simply a different location.) Effectiveness of spell and the amount of Cadenza’s energy consumed depends on the intensity of the light. Discs are shot from the palm of the hands or the fingertips. No incantation needed.
Staccato Burst Shadow- Hurls short, intensified bursts of pure shadow magic at an enemy, requiring no chant or preparation time. Blasts may be fired until Cadenza is completely drained of energy. Blasts are fired from the palm of the hand or fingertips.
*Shade Fist- Developed while training with both magic and martial arts, this technique allows Cadenza to use the pure and potent shadow magic energy of her Staccato Burst Shadow spell to back a punch with raw magical power. She merely needs to summon the magic for Staccato Burst, creating an orb in the palm of her hand, and then focus it to surround her fist--all of this takes less than seconds, occurring automatically without any real conscious effort from Cadenza aside from the will to punch something. The resulting blow is countless times more powerful than her normal punches, but saps a bit more energy than a normal Staccato Burst attack.
This same concept can be applied to kicks, and other strikes, at will.
*Sharpshooter- This technique allows Cadenza to shoot dart-shaped projectiles of pure shadow magic that can pierce an enemy’s flesh and ravage their insides with magic or damage armor. Similar to her Shade Fist attack, the gypsy first needs to summon the magic for Staccato Burst, but instead she then creates orbs upon her fingertips, focusing to form them into needle-sharp darts--all of this takes less than seconds, occurring automatically without any real conscious effort from Cadenza aside from the will to perform the attack. The spell is stronger than a Staccato Burst, but saps a bit more energy than the normal attack itself.
Dark Shield- Around Cadenza forms a domed shield constructed of shadow magic that lasts for as long as Cadenza has energy, or until she willingly calls the spell off on her own. A short incantation taking 1-2 minutes is required to incite the spell.
*Dark Shield Mobile- Cadenza casts her regular Dark Shield spell, but with a slightly longer incantation that allows her to create a mobile, circular barrier of the same strength as the original spell around her body. Like Dark Shield, this technique lasts for as long as Cadenza has energy, or until she willingly calls the spell off on her own. The incantation takes 2-3 minutes to complete.
Noir Armor- As the name suggests, this skill allows Cadenza to form a suit of full-body, ebony-hued armor constructed of pure shadow magic to guard herself. The armor disperses any and all forms of energy used to attack her, scattering the particles harmlessly off its surface, and it can absorb magical energy in order to replenish the gypsy’s own reserves. The armor lasts for upwards to 10 minutes, or until she willingly calls the spell off herself, and requires an incantation of 2-3 minutes to create. It drains significantly more energy than either form of her Dark Shield skill.
Dance of the Shadows- Cadenza begins this attack by singing the first few measures of a song with magical qualities, which was specially composed for her by Louis Fritz's protégé and musical prodigy, Melody Ferrier. As the last few notes ring out, human-sized figures of pure shadow magic appear on all sides of an enemy, and collide erratically and forcefully into the foe as they dance and careen around. The masses of energy move to keep up with their target, so they can't miss. The attack ends when Cadenza calls it off or is sapped of energy. The spell has sometimes been nicknamed the “Bloody Ballet” by those who have seen it in action.
Revoada das Sombras (lit: “Flight of a Flock of Shadows”)- Literally called “flight of a flock of shadows”, this spell begins when Cadenza sings the first few measures of a song with magical qualities; but unlike the tune of Dance of the Shadows composed for her by Melody Ferrier, the lyrics are entirely in the old Rubatoian language, and draw upon the gypsy’s own, more potent magical energies rather than a bond with the girl prodigy. As the last few words are sung, pure shadow magic materializes in the form of a flock of beastly dragons, who divebomb at their target in wild, unpredictable patterns and mind-boggling speeds. Like in the Dance, the masses of energy move to keep up with their target, so they can never miss—but unlike the Dance, the dragon-sized figures can attack aerial foes with greater ease, and have a far more intense and destructive concentration of magical power behind their attacks. The spell, which drains more energy than the Dance, concludes when Cadenza calls it off or is sapped of energy.
Silhouette of Stealth- Learned during training with shadow magic-user contacts in Rubato (after "Her Rebellion"), this spell allows Cadenza to meld into any nearby shadows (or shadow magic), disappearing into them completely without a trace. She can freely move through any space where the shadows or spells themselves are cast--along walls, through windows, etc. for as long as she has energy. No incantation is needed--the spell only necessitates energy and shadows within range.
*Drain- When Silhouette of Stealth is in effect, the gypsy may use a short incantation to grant herself the ability to drag a foe or foes down into the shadows with her—gradually draining them of their energy and giving it to Cadenza every second they are in the gloomy depths. The incantation takes 15-20 seconds to complete, and the attack lasts until Cadenza calls it off or the opponent manages to break away.
*Saber- When Silhouette of Stealth is in effect, Cadenza may create a short sword constructed of shadow magic to attack persons and objects outside of the depths of the shadows she travels in. The blade cuts much like metal, but can be formed or dispelled like magic. The sword disappears when Cadenza calls it off or is sapped of energy.
*Missile- When Silhouette of Stealth is in effect, Cadenza may send an attack or other weapon/person/object through the shadows rather than herself. A predetermined destination point can be chosen before the item/attack enters the shadows, or it may be chosen while the item/attack is still in transit. The destination is flexible and can be changed as long as Cadenza can see the travel path of the item/attack.
*Breakaway- Gained after overcoming the former gypsy Spirit of Shadow. When Silhouette of Stealth is in effect, Cadenza travel outside of the shadows, appearing as a circular silhouette on the surface where she goes; this allows her to slide through even in direct light. This skill, however, drains more energy, unless shadows are used as a starting-off point.
*Cast- Upon becoming the Spirit of Shadow, Cadenza gained the ability to create shadows, or “cast” them, so to speak, wherever she needs them to jump into or to drop something else into. This ability is linked to “Breakaway”, in that it makes it much easier.
*Shade Touch- With Silhouette of Stealth in effect, Cadenza may send force through the shadows, instead of sending herself. The skill, as described to King Olmo in "The Chain of Pursuit", works as follows: "a new way to send force—to send kinetic energy—through shadows. Using this, I could just tap the armrest here…' and Cadenza drummed lightly on the crimson padding to illustrate, '..and by touching the shadows there, I could poke out your eye, by sending the force through the shadows on your eyeball. It would be as if had I just jammed my thumb into your eye—only from a comfortable distance here, where I don’t need to avoid any flailing, defensive arms, or gnashing teeth that could bite my arm before I got the chance. All I have to do is see what I want to touch or harm—and use the shadows near me to do so.'
This skill allows the woman to punch people from a distance (by, for example, punching a shadow in the palm of her hand), redirect bullets, move things even when her hands are restrained, and much more. She’s yet to fully explore all the possibilities of this ability.
Healing Sonata- Cadenza starts this spell by singing the first few measures of a song with magical qualities, which was specially composed for her and Louis Fritz by the minstrel’s own protégé, Melody Ferrier. As the melody flows, energy gathers at the gypsy’s feet, and rises in bright rings until it has traversed her whole body, healing any non-lethal injuries, internal or external, as it goes. Melody’s flute can be heard echoing in unison with the song when the spell is cast.
*Inner Melody- If ever impaired vocally or otherwise not in a state to sing, Cadenza may merely think the melody of Healing Sonata to herself, holding her hand over a specific wound to heal it with the same effects.
Gloom Tornado- By surrounding herself with a veil of pure shadow magic to draw upon, Cadenza can run on pure magical energy, increasing her already impressive speed fivefold and creating twisters of shadow power in her wake. These twisters trail after her, engulfing any foe she passes and damaging them with both forceful shadow magic and fierce winds. The technique requires no incantation, but consumes a considerable amount of magical energy, leaving Cadenza somewhat drained afterwards.
Weaker tornadoes of the same kind may follow after the gypsy when she runs at certain speeds, similar to the waves in “Blade Wave” (see “other skills” for details.)
Razorfeathers- By enchanting one of the peacock feathers in her hair with magic, Cadenza can toss the feather into the air to incite an attack quicker than the eye. Once the tossed feather dissolves, a downpour of razor-sharp feathers made of dark magic flutter down, unable to be deflected, and then all at once, they abruptly slash in countless different places on their target, cutting deeper than a knife without warning. The attack causes both great blood loss and significant magical damage. As Cadenza only carries three feathers that can serve this purpose, this attack can only be used three times; once for each feather. Mysteriously, the feathers she uses rematerialize after a day.
Shadow Golem- After an incantation of 6-8 minutes, a great deal of the shadow energy from within Cadenza rises to the surface in a visible form, and manifests itself around the woman’s body in a destructively powerful giant of pure magic. In this form, Cadenza retains her impressive speed, but commands far greater physical and magical power and defense (increased by at least 15-fold, depending on how much magic is used to form the giant) within the golem’s dark, semi-transparent form. Her Void ability, Dark Shield (and related skills), Staccato Burst Shadow (and related skills), and Silhouette of Stealth (and related skills) can all still be used when in this form. The spell lasts for as long as Cadenza has energy, or until she willingly calls it off herself. The energy used will absorb back into her afterwards, but she is still considerably drained after the spell in most cases (just how much depending on how long she maintained the golem form.)
Shadow’s Blessing- Gained after overcoming the gypsy spirit of shadow. Cadenza may grant one shadow spell of her own (not removing the ability to perform the spell from herself) to any living being for a single day.
Harmony- After years of being excluded from its circle, this spell has finally been granted to Cadenza, as it has been to her sisters. She simply chants an incantation taking 1-2 minutes, and then, through a bond of gypsy magic, is allowed to call upon a spell from one of her sisters. Unlike when they use the spell, however, the proximity of the other women is irrelevant to the skill’s strength, thanks to the Cadenza’s own intense training. (See sisters’ profiles for list of possible spells.)
Soul’s Flare- Learning Harmony has opened upon the world of Rubatoian magics to the gypsy, where the spells draw upon not only the user’s own energies, but other sources like emotion, the soul, or bonds with others. Cadenza began learning these skills under the tutelage of various mages countrywide, and this training has come to fruition in the first of the gypsy’s spells in this vein of magic.
By focusing these newly-tapped energies, she’s able to release invisible shockwaves of magical energy whose effect differ depending on her emotions. Anger brings a devastating magical attack that can bypass barriers of any kind; happiness a burst of energy that restores her reserves and heals her wounds; sadness a crippling blow that paralyzes targets until they’re released or can break free from the extremely strong grip of the spell. Other, more complex emotions have yet to be explored, but many are thought to fall under the three broader categories. The attacks can be charged with her own innate shadow element by will.
*Holy Blast- Through her old bond with Johnny Bones, the holy magic for this attack has been left to Cadenza. She feels as though the energy is radiating from the man’s amulet when she uses it, but even without wearing it, the spell still functions. All it requires is that she draw a quick cross in the air, before whatever her target is, and a blast of whiteish-gold energy emerges from the center, with the cross image still shimmering faintly in leftover magical light.
The blast is typically a short-range attack, since the need to draw a cross makes aiming a little tricky from longer distances.
Fumo de Crepuscolo (lit: “Smoke of Dusk”)- After an incantation of 1-2 minutes, this spell will fill the area with dark, thick smoke which emits from all shadows within a certain radius. The smoke will continue to be produced unless Cadenza willingly calls off the spell, or is several miles away from the point where she cast it.
Pendants of the Setting Sun- Learned while training in Zhenghe, this spell sends a pocket of Cadenza’s innate shadow magic, or if she wills it, multiple pockets, enough to fill the target’s entire body, into the deepest parts of their body, behind the bones, and underneath the flesh. At first, they will only feel a twinge of unexplained pain—the pockets are not seen or perceived otherwise—but as time goes on, the pockets expand, and the pain grows more and more severe. It’s almost like a tumor—because this grows, and expands, the shadows getting deeper and darker. The target’s strength starts to go first—then, their consciousness. Left in long enough, the “pendant” or pendants brings death. Healing magic does not affect them—it cannot even detect them. Holes are slowly bored into the target’s bones and organs.
This spell is slow in nature—and drains Cadenza more and more, depending on how many “pendants” she uses. Because the spell is, as a rule, based on the setting and rising of the sun, its effects will be stronger and quicker at night then during the day.
Phantasmagoria- Loosely related to “Enchantment” and “Mesmerize”, this spell uses the same type of magical energies to intoxicate its target(s), numbing their senses and reaction time, and causing them to see hallucinations, such as this dancing before their eyes. How long the effects lasts for depends mainly on the person targeted themselves, but it typically lasts for upwards to 20 minutes when successful.
Ritmo Globale (lit: “Global Rhythm”)- This spell will change Cadenza’s surroundings, depending on how the song that acts as an incantation is sung—if she sings it quickly, her surroundings will speed up in response, making them move faster as she moves through them at normal pace. If she sings it slowly, the surrounding area is also slowed, so that she moves through them as if time has almost stopped, a blur amongst all the sluggishly moving world. Whether the spell can have other effects if sung in other ways, the gypsy has yet to discover.
Song of the Madrigal- A lyrical song written in Old Rubatoian for Cadenza and her four sisters by their mother Sonya, the song of the Madrigal is a chant that allows one sister in a desperate situation to bind the magic of another sister, or send her own power to that sister, whichever she chooses. Each sister has another that is their contrast, and is the one they have the power to bind; for Vivace with her fire, there is Algretta with water; for Luminari with light, there is Cadenza with shadow. Arietta with wind is their mother's contrast, for earth, and serves as a balance; when she sings the spell, whatever the other sisters may have changed is returned to normal, and powers are restored.
The spell has only been used once so far, by Cadenza, in Let's Start Anew, when she sang it to bind her sister Luminari's powers in order to purge the Spirit of Light from her. Cadenza's lyrics begin as:
"Esta é a canção do Madrigal;
Uma canção cantada por muitos, cantado agora por uma.
Eu sou a cadência; o ritmo;
Esse que mantem a canção unida."
("This is the song of the Madrigal;
A song sung by many, now sung by one.
I am the cadence; the rhythm;
The one that holds the song together.")
It is unknown what might have happened had all five sisters ever sung the song together, but with Vivace's death, it will never be learned.
~Other skills:
Worldly Exchange- Gained after overcoming the gypsy spirit of shadow. Cadenza is able to draw shadow magic energy from any nearby shadows when her own natural magical resources are depleted to a certain extent.
Blade Wave- As of "Between Darkness and Light", whenever Cadenza slashes or moves her cutlass, the Conquistatore da Luz, waves of shadow energy will ride off the cutting edge and crash into anything they touch. This takes no conscious thought on Cadenza's part--it's simply a result of her shadow power flowing into the blade, and being more than the sword can contain within itself. Thusly, to give off the excess energy, it releases these devastating waves. This consumes no more energy than a normal swing of a sword would--it's just the product of a transfer of magic like blood flowing through a body.
Further description of the waves from their first appearance can be found here:
The room was filled with a series of clanging noises for a long while, like the working chambers of a blacksmith, blades striking blades with sounds just like hammers beating metal into shape. But then, a wobbly, wave-like sound, like thin cardboard being moved like ocean tides from hand to hand (poor children have few things to entertain themselves with, okay?) entered the ears--and I blinked, and Zorlo blinked, and we looked at the Conquistatore da Luz as the weird little noise came again. Shadows seemed to rise off the blade, like steam, and formed this wave, like a shock wave, or an ocean current, that rode off from the edge and ran out in the direction the sword's cutting side was pointed in until it crashed into something. Like thin, wavering, bending walls of energy, they rushed out. Considering the battle from a bird's eye-view, it might have looked as if I were dancing, and these giant ribbons of shadow were flying out from the cutting edge of my blade.
Luisa’s Arrow- This is a another skill of the Conquistatore da Luz that Cadenza has only just learned of--its power comes from the fact that the former Spirit of Shadow, once a human named Luisa, still has her soul entwined in a way with the blade. Even though her spirit is dormant, she lends the ability to fire magical, arrow-shaped energy blasts to the blade, which can curve and travel through solid objects at Cadenza's will. The blasts are fired from the tip of the curved sword, but so far, the woman has only been able to call upon them in desperate situations.
Dead of Night- By shrouding herself in shadows, Cadenza can become invisible to the eyes, to technological devices, and to the senses of even those able to trace people through magic, aura, or other energies. This skill makes a cloak, of sorts, appear around her, so that she seems to have just become a black blur, and fades into the background, out of sight and attention. It can last for as long as Cadenza has energy.
Shadow Skip- A movement skill where Cadenza manipulates the magic within her to accelerate her body and sprint, leap, etc. so quickly that she will appear to vanish and then flicker into existence briefly again as a faint shadow before once again disappearing.
Extrasensory- With the aid of magic, this skill heightens Cadenza's perceptions, allowing her to sense magical presences and other disturbances and oddities more clearly and accurately.
Steel Crows- Like the spell Razorfeathers, this attack moves quicker than the eye--but there's no enchantment or prep time necessary. Cadenza needs to simply summon up all the daggers hidden in the shadows on her--which is as easy as deciding to clear out your pockets, and focus to arrange them in a circle, like a flock of crows or vultures hovering before their prey. This takes less than a second of effort, being done by mostly will. Then, without warning, all the daggers will dart towards their target, like diving birds, to pierce into them, often leaving very bloody results.
Appearance: Cadenza is a slender, petite Latina woman, with a very fit, curvaceous figure that can’t even be hidden completely when in a baggy cloak. While some women only have beauty in face or in body, she also has a very lovely, “heart-shaped” face with gentle, Latin features, olive-tan skin, and large, almond-shaped, dark eyes in addition to her attractive figure. Her raven-colored hair complements her features, gently curling down past her shoulders, nearly to her waist. The lips that form her melodious-sounding words are soft, and full, and of a wine-kissed color, although they have a reputation of saying some pretty rough, not-so-kind things you wouldn’t expect from them. She sometimes wears a little peach-colored blush, or mascara, to complement her natural beauty, but you’ll just as often see her without when she’s had little time to take care of herself like that for days of traveling or other things.
Cadenza prefers to wear a soft, white cotton turtleneck blouse, which hugs her curvy figure closely aside from the looser sleeves, and towards the bottom of the blouse. Those looser sleeves are generally rolled up to make room for the black leather gauntlets over her forearms, aside from the rare times where she goes without the extra armor. A short, tight, finely-tailored brown leather vest is buttoned over top of her blouse, with the large collar always folded down. On the lower half of her body, the gypsy wears a pair of dark brown tights and comfortable, stylish, easy-to-maneuver-in tan-colored shorts, cinched at the waist by a dark brown leather belt from which the sheathe to her dagger hangs. As for footwear, she favors a pair of brown leather boots that come to about mid-calf, and have tough, durable soles that can withstand all the running and walking she does. She places a good deal of value in well-made, reliable boots—they’d be the last superficial item she’d be willing to give up, most of the time.
She carries any possessions or supplies she might need in a tan leather duffel bag, which she wears along with her sword sheathe and quiver with the straps going diagonally over her shoulder and across her chest. When traveling in Rubato, she’ll sometimes wear a sand-colored cloak over her clothes to protect herself from the harsh conditions.
Pictures:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/sailormichiru/denzaphotomanip.png
(original photo from fmd.com)
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7408/denzanew3colorvereditsccj8.png
Personality: Her friend Louis Fritz once said to her, in what will always be remembered as a brave move:
“The purest hearts sometimes need to put up the thickest, darkest walls if they’re going to make it through this life. I’m convinced that’s who you are.
“I know your mother chose, as much as she undoubtedly regrets it, the cigarette over you and your sisters, and you’ve fought with the loneliness ever since. Her choice hurt you—I understand. You were close to your father—he was betrayed in his time of need and sent to prison for thirteen long years. You loved your Paris Valentia with all your heart, milady, and he was shot down in war, leaving you all alone again. It was at this point that your sister Vivace made you her pawn in crime and her little plan, and effectively distanced you from any shot at a normal life you had…and what remained of your family.
“You were sent to the Dome—you met Prince Merridale, who looked so much like Paris. He reminded you again of what you had lost. You made mostly passing friendships and relationships then, always keeping to yourself, and two or three odd confidants. Then, Johnny Bones pushed his way into your life. You tried to ignore him, but couldn’t. He made you laugh… he made you happy again—you two ended up together. But then, he was taken from you too, to Heaven, where you convinced yourself he was far happier being…”
It was at this point that the woman slammed down her drink, told Fritz to “shut the hell up”, and walked out.
While he considered himself lucky to make it out of that conversation with all his teeth still intact, he had to reflect on the fact that when his friend was faced with an uncomfortable truth—something that made her feel vulnerable, she’d get quiet, yell like she just had, or punch you.
Cadenza is a self-proclaimed cynic, pessimist, and realist. Ask her what she pictures her own future to be like in a year, and she’ll give it to you straight—“if I’m not dead by then, then there will be even more people who will sure as hell want me to be.” She places very little trust in most people she meets, always trying to figure out their motives if they’re being kind, or just being rudely dismissive of them altogether. A kind gesture is seen as a favor—and a favor is one of the worst things someone can do for you, because that means you’re in debt to them. She’s a habitual liar, and will deceive and trick and slither her way out of any bad situation when possible. She’s been known to act or at least think in a self-defeating way when a hopeful or seemingly “too-good-to-be-true” situation presents itself.
Even with all her magic and abilities, she accepts that deep down, she’s human—and anyone who tries to act like they’re not just because they’ve got some fancy powers up their sleeve bothers her. She’ll generally shoot down the notions of any idealist who rambles on to her long enough—but, she knows, some small part of her envies their innocence and optimism and wishes she could still think that way. In times where she’s openly sad, this becomes more obvious. Music is her way of expressing the kinds of feelings she otherwise wouldn’t show. Alcohol’s increasingly become her way of repressing them—assuming they aren’t just masked by anger and rudeness.
She’s usually displays a somewhat black, disrespectful sense of humor, and tends to speak sarcastically or insultingly to most people. Her musical, Latin-accented voice almost always seems to have a slightly annoyed edge to it, and she’s known for not having the best of tempers or greatest amount of patience. Her insecurities with herself may sometimes shine through in her words or jokes, but she’ll mask it again with a lie if she realizes someone has noticed it. She’s proud of her “tough” image, and generally tries to uphold it.
Although everything ultimately boils down to the individual she’s dealing with themself, there are some kinds of people Cadenza likes and hates based purely off principle and past experiences. She’s got a long-standing grudge towards cops and other law enforcers, vampires, and Cernilians, more or less in that order. Male chauvinism and pompousness, when meant seriously, anger her greatly. She’s got a soft spot for soldiers, children, orphans, and widows, and also shows mercy on the very old. She has a reputation for having just about zero patience for lackeys and mindless underling-types, especially those that the Dome sends to her. If you’re an authority figure, or just someone who’s trying to restrain her freedom, chances are, she’ll have some problem with you.
As a fighter, she’s calm, ruthless, determined, and calculating when survival or some other serious matter is on the line. Otherwise, she takes fights lightly at first—she’ll poke fun at anyone who’s extremely zealous and no-nonsense about the whole thing. Fighting for her, early on in life, became about surviving—anything went so long as you came out on top. Even with all her training, where such instincts are civilized or driven out completely, she retains that—she’ll fight dirty and cleverly, even if it’s not “fair”. While she admittedly likes the thrill of a battle sometimes, often she’d just as well prefer being elsewhere, playing a guitar or relaxing. Cadenza finds that, in some specific situations, you can do more with the threat of a punch than a punch itself—and so in these situations, she exudes all the fierceness and danger of a Rubato sand panther to intimidate someone into submission.
Biography: (See old profile for earlier information.)
Life is a string of memories, knotted together. Think back to one, and it just naturally leads you to another. As I was explaining to Omar how I’d shown up to his workshop in such a bloodied, breathless state, the past day’s events came rushing back…
Two days ago::
She woke up to Death standing at her bedside.
There were two problems with this situation—one she knew she’d have to address very soon, but first there was the little matter of the fact that she had needed to wake up to begin with. The Amulet of Choros should’ve kept her from needing any sleep at all, shouldn’t it? That’s when the gears started clicking into place, and neurons were roused from their alcohol induced-slumber and forced to clock into work, no hangover excuses accepted.
It was gone, her brain finally told her, once it had managed to get itself into some semblance of working order. The amulet Spiny Norman, Johnny’s old pet, had given her that day…it wasn’t around her neck. That was why she had fallen asleep. Her eyes shot to the bedside table, where the story of the night before could be traced in spilled tequila and broken glass…some vague recollection of a barfight came to her. Did she lose it then?
A gentle, polite tinkling brought her back to the all-too-absurd present she had been trying desperately to ignore. Death, apparently, was holding the amulet—holding it by the last link of its chain, away from himself in the way a small girl might hold away a paper she’d just crushed a bug in. He captured that image astonishingly well for someone who didn’t exactly have the right facial features…or any real facial features at all, for that matter…to scrunch his face up in disgust.
A gleam from the amulet reminded her of why he was avoiding it so--the energy in the thing was like a little bead of radiant life. She wanted to reach out for it…be assured that she was still fully alive—but that little shine seemed so far away…
“You’ve been cheating,” he said. His voice was like an echo in a tomb.
“Not successfully, it seems. I can see you. The real you. That means I’m close to death, doesn’t it? And I don’t just mean literally, har har.”
If Death had lips, Cadenza thought he might have smirked. Instead, he canted his skull to the side. “Nothing gets by you, does it? Well, that includes Death. You can’t run from this one. Everyone dies.”
“Even the Spirit of Life?”
“Exception that proves the rule. And don’t you dare point out the logical fallacy. I know you would. ‘There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.’ ”
Death had a way of cutting people off before they could even begin to protest. Cadenza found herself wanting to jam a stick of dynamite up his eyesocket every time he did it. She knew he’d probably just reassemble himself after the explosion, but the visual of his bones being blasted apart like a Mister Potatohead doll being hurled at a wall managed to get a laugh out of her every time.
When she glanced at the specter again, he was looking at the mess of tequila bottles on her nightstand and shaking his head disappointedly. She half-expected a round of “tsk tsk”s to follow.
“Perhaps I didn’t even have to come here, eh? You’ll drink yourself to our Meeting yet. Haven’t you ever been told--‘Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy’? Maybe now it’s already too late for that advice…”
Death might not have had a face for disgust, but he did admonition quite well. Something about the clicking of the bones as he shook his head stuck in your mind. It could make you feel so guilty that, well…Cadenza found herself wanting to go back to the earlier conversation.
“Why are you here?” she demanded. Few people could be so bold as to make a demand to Death. He often delivered…but rarely in the way they had wanted.
“My Gods, must I have a specified reason? ‘To the wicked, everything serves as pretext.’ Why can’t I just be here? Because I am Death?”
“Quit spewing quotes at me and get serious. You killed the guy you’ve been quoting too. No one’s special--we’ve made that clear. So if you’re here, it’s because you’re on business.”
“Ah, but ‘the secret of being a bore... is to--’ ”
Under Cadenza’s glare, Death felt he now knew what human men were complaining about. That kind of look was discomforting--even to him. He knew when to cut his losses and go on.
“--all right. I think you’re well aware of your situation by now. You’re the Spirit of Shadow—but to fully fill the role, you must be dead like all the other Spirits, yes? Except for Life--hush, we know.” He cleared his throat pointedly when he saw the roll of the eyes from the gypsy. “Anyway--your physical body impedes you. You know you must leave it—but you refuse to. And that is why, obviously, I am here. To…expedite the process. The problem is, you’re awake. And you’re about to…bloody hell.”
The last words were left to only echo throughout the room unheard. Cadenza might have been hung-over and half-asleep, but as soon as someone says something like “expedite the process”, and they’re holding a scythe sharp enough to shave the sparkle off a diamond, you don’t stick around to hear them finish the thought.
She found, as she dropped down onto the floor of the first level of the Realm of Shadows, that she wasn’t actually all that angry. The Spirits were too dumb to get a good rage going towards—who was stupid enough to warn someone and even provide reasons why before they killed them? Someone who never was very successful in killing anyone, she thought. But still…Death was hard to avoid—that being an understatement if she had ever heard one. And he had the amulet. That meant she was going to have to go back to eating and sleeping normally for a while. Eliminating those basic human needs had really freed up her budget—the Lamborghini and Vespa were getting washes, waxes, and detailing every week, and her dad was so occupied with the new gadgets she kept buying him that he was often too distracted to dwell and grieve about her mother’s recent death. The amulet had even helped take some of the strain off her magic when protecting her liver from shriveling up like a prune pickled in alcohol. That was all gone right now--unless she could get the amulet back. Godsdamn that skeletal bastard…why can’t he just go be a bloody Halloween decoration somewhere?
Going back to the Dome seemed out of the question. It was too sedentary of a lifestyle—yeah, she traveled from world to world, but she always came back to that place, and back to her room. There was somewhere to lie in wait for her--and that didn’t sound like a game plan for survival. No…if she was going to keep a job anywhere, it was going to have to be a job that took her, well…anywhere.
She strolled down the endless hall of the Realm, realizing that she was hearing something other than her own footsteps echoing in the back of her mind. That wasn’t right—aside from her, everyone else only appeared as a mere “shade” in the Realm; an immaterial, violet-blackish copy of themselves, like phantoms floating blindly through a haunted house. None of them could make noise—so what was this little watery gloop! gloop! she kept hearing in the distance?
The gypsy broke out into a run. And when you say Cadenza ran, you don’t just mean the sort of run that forty-something-year old women go do on a Saturday morning in their sweats and Nikes around their neighborhood—you mean the sort of run that’s like a force of nature ripping by you, something that cuts through the air and makes you feel like you just had a few years shaved off your life and you don’t even know why. It leaves you breathless and confused—it’s that kind of run. And all the while, there was this enigmatic little gloop, gloop, gloop…
The featureless hall trailed off to somewhere less…featureless. That is to say, rather than being the usual uniform violet-black hallway, it had distinctive characteristics. The ground had softened down to this little, squishy mess, like mud, and there were what appeared to be cattails and dandelions sprouting up from the shadowy floor, in all defiance of the fact that there was no dirt.
Someone was changing the nature of the Realm. Cadenza was, as you can imagine, pissed.
She walked at a much more deliberate pace along the mud path until it trailed off to what, her eyes seemed to assert despite all logic and memory arguing against it, appeared to be a lake in the shadows. Angry and determined, she continued down round the curve of the body of water, glaring at it like it’d hide if it knew she was mad at it for being there, and spotted something sitting on the edge of the lakebed some meters away.
The something was a little old man, holding a fishing pole and swinging his legs in the breeze. Yes, suddenly, there was a breeze. The gypsy was not happy about this.
She fixed him with the kind of bewildered look a mother gives when she goes upstairs expecting to find her son’s room cleaned, and instead finds a wild squirrel chittering in a pile of his junk—only, she would’ve hit you for saying that. Partly for using such a long metaphor. When the man didn’t react, she sucked her teeth in a meaningful way and cleared her throat loud enough to scare the fish.
Wait…there are fish?
“Who in the blue hell are you?” she said, realizing it was probably not wise to expect this guy to pick up on any nonverbal hints.
“Fisherman,” he shot back casually.
“All right…well, why are you here?”
The old man gave her a knowing little wink. “For you, friend. You’re on the edge of a precipice, teetering between life and that…not life…thing.”
A look all-too-common on Cadenza’s face assumed its usual position then. Whoever you were, it made sure it let you know that you generally had all the brain cells of a papaya, and that your IQ was probably a number not too far off room temperature. “…You’re a magnificently articulate bastard, aren’t you?”
The frail little man seemed undaunted. “It’s a nice place you’ve got here,” he said. “Lucky for you, too—you’ll be spending a lot of time here soon.”
Cadenza didn’t like where this was going—she got that feeling that creeps up on you slowly, when you feel like you’re about to be revealed as the target of a particularly nasty prank…
She took a deep breath—
--and woke up with a gasp.
The first sensation that came to her was that of a stinging cheek—Arietta had been standing over her apparently, trying to smack her to her senses. The worst part was, now her sister thought it had worked. Slaps were going to become a common wake-up tool…
“Cadenza, you’re awake! Oh, thank the Gods you’re awake…”
The younger gypsy felt very much like she had just slept through half of a movie, and was waking up in the middle of the good part confused, while everyone else was breaking out into joyful tears. The sobbing, tight hug from Arietta only served to strengthen this feeling.
“What happened…?” she mumbled, finding her voice much groggier than she’d expected. Her sister was still acting as the world’s most constricting and affectionate scarf.
A doctor launched into an explanation, but Cadenza was finding it hard to stay…well, lucid. The room kept coming in and out of focus—and all the while, there was this strange feeling of déjà vu…
…how much of those events she’d seen had been a dream?
“…and so finally, we had to take your amulet for a while so you could be put into a state of recuperative stasis. Understand?” the doctor said.
The gypsy nodded vaguely, hoping in the back of her mind that Arietta would brief her on the main points later. Right now, she just couldn’t get over the fact that the smell of tequila was overwhelmingly strong on her, even though she couldn’t remember drinking…
You might think that after all she and Johnny Bones had seen of House MD and Sam Vimes of Discworld, and what those characters had gone through with substance abuse, she would have learned her lesson—but that sadly just wasn’t the reality. If she had drunk herself incoherent last night, it wouldn’t serve as much of a clue to anything out of the ordinary…
…Cadenza suddenly fell backwards into bed. Monitors wailed. Arietta gasped. When her eyes shut again, she could hear the name run through her thoughts: “Soul Fisher”…
Pounding in her ears were the sounds of sand roaring by in a distant hourglass, time winding down…
…I survived that, narrowly. I’d always known I was in danger—the Spirits couldn’t just leave me alone, the magical problems that was causing were getting out of hand, but I’d never thought they’d take such an active stance. I can’t trust to close my eyes to sleep…
Room at the Dome: A dark violet door leads to a room that is hexagonal, and deceptively small. Strange incense placed there by unknown forces burns in each of the six corners, and is rumored to incite hallucinations of one’s worst fears. These visions are said to be seen playing across the six mirror walls. The only person known to be immune to the incense is the room’s occupant, teacher Cadenza Madrigal, who has adapted to the smoke since first moving in. Some believe that she developed the resistance as a result of the Dome considering her to have coped with all of her fears—or at least, those which it feels it would be wise to interfere with. This implies that the Dome placed the incense in the room in order to help Madrigal overcome her fears. Nowadays the smoke more so functions as a security measure to keep intruders out of the teacher’s quarters.
In the main room, aside from the mirrors and incense, there is a wooden bar that one might use for ballet stretches, which runs the length of the wall opposite the door. In the center of the antechamber, there also lies an oval-shaped bed with a curved headboard and footboard, which is generally made up with lavish purple sheets and pillows with silver tassels, and a small cherry wood bureau that is often locked. On the floor, near the foot of the bed, there’s a plush violet pillow on which the dragon Avello slumbers.
In contrast to earlier days, each of the six mirror walls has now been split up, with two mirrors making up each wall instead of just one. Behind every mirror is a hallway that leads either to a newer room of Cadenza’s, or to somewhere else in the Dome. Of the twelve doors, it is known that one leads to a luxuriant full bathroom, one to a kitchenette, one to a guest bedroom, one to a library, one to a training room, and one to a sauna. At least one door leads to the outside of the Dome, but it’s only accessible from inside the gypsy’s quarters, and not from the outside. Another’s ultimate destination is said to shift about, following the nature of the Dome. And the last that anything is known about is said to lead to a place directly adjacent to the door to Florheim, the main connection between the Dome and Madrigal’s Earth.
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Awards:
Most Powerful Character - Fall BA 2007
Most Attractive Female Character - Fall BA 2007
Best Battle (Chinatown Rush) - Fall BA 2007 and ZU Winter 2007-2008
Best BA Character - ZU Winter 2007-2008
Character with the Most Angsty Backstory - EH Summer 2008
Most Attractive Female Character - EH Summer 2008
Best Romance (with Johnny Bones) - EH Summer 2008
Best Battle (Knockin' on Heaven's Door) - Fall BA 2009
Best NPC character (Cadenza's family) - Fall BA 2009
Best Romance (with Rain) - Fall BA 2009
Most Mystically Strong Character - Fall BA 2009
The Person Award (Most Developed Character) - Fall BA 2009
Funniest Character - Spring BA 2010
Most Attractive Female Character - Spring BA 2010
Most Mystically Strong Character - Spring BA 2010
The Person Award (Most Developed Character) - Spring BA 2010
Best Quote: "You try to run again and I'm stapling your bloody trousers to a chair. Got that?" by Cadenza Madrigal to Zorlo, in "Can I Really Help Anyone?" - Spring BA 2010
Best RP: "Fashion Police" - Spring BA 2010
Best Romance (with Johnny Bones) - Spring BA 2010
RP Timeline located here: http://aikies.blogspot.com/2010/05/cadenzas-rough-zu-timeline.html
Past Profiles:
Cadenza Madrigal 1.0
http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/...haracters.html
