Pluviosa Application

[alabaster_erudite]

OOC Information
Name/handle: Avnas, also go by Canvas
Discord contact: Avnas
Other contact: plurk
Pronouns: cycling between he/him, she/her, they/them honestly so any of those is all good
Permissions link: Lookie
Other characters played: N/A for now (Ratio's got my hands full)
Do you have a reserve for this character?: No

IC Information
Canon: Honkai Star Rail
Character: Veritas Ratio
Canon point: Post 2.1
Canon intensity: Teens and above; definitely touches on the concept of ethics and morality in the academic research field which can have more mature and controversial themes to them ie large scale humanitarian crises, unethical experimentation, and (self) destructive tendencies in the pursuit of knowledge in regards to the Genius Society and to some degree the IPC/Intellegestia Guild. Lightly touches on the concept of academic trauma.
World information: Honkai Star Rail is a sci-fi fantasy setting with advanced technology that he is adeptly familiar with being a researcher and engineer himself, designing anti-planetary weapons and generators that helped solved a planet's energy crisis. With his connection to the Intellgentsia Guild, an affiliate of the IPC that follows the path of Erudition as a vendor of knowledge placing a price on the exchange of information, he can access a wealth of resources to even travel across galaxies and visit worlds with varying customs and biology.

There exists beings with godly domains called Aeons that exert their influence onto the universe by simply existing, granting power to those who happen to walk the same path and methodology that mirrors their domain and values, or by directly granting certain individuals who walk closely on their path the status of Emanators, allowing them greater mastery over the path domain they stride upon (willingly or unwillingly). Veritas happens to be a pathstrider of the Hunt, Lan, the aeon of single minded, targeted salvation to their followers or destruction of their mortal enemy, but he is more closely aligned with Erudition, Nous, that deals with the drive to understand and solve the mysteries of the universe through thoughtful and strategic actions. The statuses of aeons can vary, some having been mortal or an inorganic life form before rising to aeonhood, others simply existed and still exist to this day, and others having died or have been subsumed into other aeons. In light of such exalted beings, there are those who either follow or deny the aeons as part of their belief system and/or their life mission. Other than aeons, there are plenty of nonhuman/humanoid species in the universe that Veritas has most likely run into and is familiar with including energy lifeforms like the heliobus and fire demons.

Character biofacts:
Gender: Male
Age: Early thirties, around 32 years old to give an estimate
Height: 5'11"
About the character: Veritas Ratio was a learned scholar, genius even, at a young age. He gained accommodations to attend university as a high school student with the support of his teacher who ardently advocated for Veritas' higher education and his affluent family that allowed this academic interest to foster and then went on to gain eight doctorates at Veritas Prime University including: mathematics, physics, philosophy, natural theology, computer science, engineering, medicine, and biology. He went on to gather numerous research achievements under his belt. With all of his published papers, he found himself heralded as a genius of his homeworld and rose to a prestigious honors degree in Veritas Prime University with high praises and fame at his heels, leaving many to try and demystify the man of outstanding accomplishments through many documentaries and memoirs.

In a world with aeons, one of Veritas's academic opinion of these aeons happens to be one of nontheism, reducing aeons to their effects on the universes as natural phenomenons; however, knowledge is never set in stone, and he always has thoughts about the concept of aeons and the people that follow them, how they fit in this grand universe of theirs.

With his prominence in society after his stellar achievements, many had assumed that Veritas Ratio would surely beget Nous's gaze and be accepted into his ranks as a member of the Genius Society, the galaxy's brightest and wisest minds. When no such thing occurred, many felt aggrieved on his behalf. In Veritas' heart, he too had wished for Nous' gaze to turn his way. How could he not? All his life he had worked hard to come as far as he did with a meticulous, disciplined regimen, labeled a genius by many around him which both praised and isolated him from many, and made many sacrifices to healing the universe with his breakthroughs. Yet Nous's gaze eluded him and that fallacy known as conceit was his first lesson in recognizing the foolishness in him. It was a lesson hard earned, Veritas will recall, yet the heart does not always come up to speed with the mind's logic even after years of disappointment and disillusionment with the so called ivory tower geniuses that Nous gathers.

Perhaps that is why he took a shine to teaching because early in his learning days, there were many vapid peers who sought to coast off the coattails of having a "genius" in their class. Only few were wise enough to recognize the flaws in their thinking and ask for Vertias's counsel earning his recognition. It was only later, upon accomplishment after accomplishment, did he realize that rather than exploring the frontiers of science, he found more value in the pursuit of curing people's foolishness with knowledge. And what better way to do that than to disseminate knowledge as a teacher?

He was granted the ability to teach in a tenured position at the university he graduated with honors from thanks to his merits, and out of 52 advanced courses he taught, only 3% of his students passed. Those who passed and make it through to the end went on to be experts in their field, showing both talent and diligence which Veritas highly values especially in the upper echelons of academia and research where indolence and thoughtlessness are not excused in his eyes. Many call him the strictest professor they have ever met. He is well aware not everyone is suited for the rigor of academia. That is not a failing on the individual's part as different people have different talents and interests and not everyone is suited for the intense pursuit of truth and knowledge through academics, but for those who attend his highly advanced courses, he can only see it as an important filtering process to ensure that ignorance is rooted out at its source.

After the successful firing of the anti-planetary weapon he worked on for years, Veritas received an letter from the Interastral Peace Corporation (IPC) and later a formal invitation to the Intelligentsia Guild. Needless to say, he found the sentiment ironic. To not receive the aeon of Erudition's gaze, but instead align with its ordinary scholars, congregating together with their network and resources in hopes of surpassing the likes of geniuses and their perceived limitations as individuals. Their creed was that knowledge must flow like currency therefore when the purchaser is willing to buy the information shared, a price is set. Despite such ideals, Veritas is a firm believer that knowledge and wealth are not mutually exclusive, nor should said geniuses (nor the IPC and the Intelligestia Guild) be the sole proprietor of knowledge.

His position within the school of Candelagraphos only proves to further his goals and beliefs, supporting the sharing of wisdom and knowledge through publications and research based on altruism rather than selfishness. While his mission may run contrary to the organization he aligns with, Veritas is not above using its immense resources to help him in his demanding and enormous effort into curing the universe of ignorance.

Just as much as Veritas Ratio is a scholar, he is also a doctor, and he strictly holds himself to the same code of ethics that promises to do no harm in his passionate pursuit. And a doctor understands that he cannot save everyone, that sometimes he can only save those who want to save themselves. Veritas Ratio understands this too, far too well with his monumentally grand goals. Though it doesn't mean he's heartlessly picking who he can and can't save, only that he must triage and grapple with the consequences of that. Of course that never stops the good doctor from trying to save as many as he can. He prides himself on being efficient at multitasking after all.

As for why Veritas Ratio has never been graced with Nous's gaze, the main philosophy of the Genius Society is the solitary and relentless search for knowledge with no concern for its endpoint. Only when these geniuses acknowledge that "the answer to the universe is beyond the limits of mortal wisdom" and break free from the shackles of worldly curiosity can they become true members of the Genius Society. And how can Veritas Ratio ever acknowledge that? That humanity and mortals alike cannot hope to understand and comprehend the beauty of truth in the universe and rid itself from the disease called ignorance? Worldly curiosity is a virtue that he would applaud in his students. He could never reduce humanity's potential like that. For all the mediocrity and idiocy that plagues his sight, he believes that the mediocre, himself included, should they wish deserve a right to prove themselves worthy of innovation and understanding and lift each other out from the depths of meaninglessness and incompetence.
Abilities: Dr. Ratio is a doctor and a scholar first and foremost. While he can confidently handle himself in physical altercations such as wrestling or brawling as a form of "debate", he is no seasoned fighter. He has an unorthodox application of his powers that can easily confound others, but he is nothing less than proud and surprisingly efficient with what he has on hand.

As a Pathstrider of the Hunt, he can wield and master Imaginary energy in precise, targeted fashion. What exactly Imaginary energy is depends on the user while masterless imaginary energy floating in the spaces between worlds continues to elude researchers to this day. In Veritas' hands, he can use Imaginary energy to summon constructs in his own image to distract low intelligence enemies into mistaking it for him for a minute or two. Not to say he can't use it on smarter foes, he has found that switching himself instantaneously with a statue as he moves to a safe distance is a tactic he can easily employ should the need arises. He gets immensely creative with his ability to create these decoy statues. Typically, he summons them one at a time since one is more than enough, but he has employed multiple statues at once in order to manipulate the field. Outside of that, he can conjure constructs using Imaginary energy that come naturally to him like his tools of trade: chalk, stone masonry tools, and things related to his interests that aren't particularly complicated to make. He has an extremely good throwing arm and precise aiming, so more often than not, his shots will ring true and hit hard.

Other than his decoy statue, his unorthodox weaponry extends to improvised thrown projectiles. Normally, he uses a mechanical stylus shaped like a triangular chalk (the horrendous realization I had watching his Keeping Up With Star Rail vid fr) as a conduit to manifest equations, calculating a weakness through stress patterns in the structural design of the world around him only he can see and actualizing its targeted destruction in reality, but it's not a necessity, just a force of habit. He's more than capable of running those processes and visualizing structural weaknesses in his head with nothing but his mind and line of sight and maybe something he can chuck really hard at the problem.

Personally, I do like to imagine that Ratio has good spatial awareness and intelligence in order to navigate or peacefully exist in spaces while he's lost in thought. He can probably get a good lay of the area in a short amount of time and be able to navigate it with his eyes closed.

Noteworthy items: Alabaster bust headgear, box of high quality chalk, contact lens travel case
Mixed gender room ok?: Yes, go for it.
Player content notes/squicks: Hand mutilation specifically I will disengage from. I am also slightly romance repulsed, so it's better to ask me to plan out a potential romantic development rather than determining it IC. I tend to bring an aroace vibe to relationships that make it difficult for me to categorize things as solely romantic or solely platonic, so it would be easier on the both of us if these things were clarified OOC on the chance that there's a goal in mind beyond say IC flirting or such. Other than that, I am good with most things.
Anything else: Hmm, I'm a big whump fan, so I am really excited to throw Ratio into situations he is poorly equipped for. I'm especially looking to explore some loss of humanity shenanigans with the boat in order to simulate Ratio's (lack of a) relationship to Nous and the alienation of being labeled a Genius by people yet also being barred from the Genius Society and some compassion fatigue symptoms from Ratio too. The good doctor cares far too much for his own good in his own way, and it would be fun to see him learn a few lessons himself along the way.
Voice samples:
Alhaitham and Ratio on a boat trying to figure out how to move forward in the most efficient way possible
Aventurine and Ratio, the dream team lol
Can the good doctor help a ghost? Tune in next time—
An encounter with a Masked Fool