Jade Curtiss

CHARACTER'S NAME: Jade Curtiss

FANDOM: Tales of the Abyss

CANON PERSONALITY: Jade is quite the conundrum. He’s premier trait is honesty; brutal, unrelenting honesty that can make him come off as harsh, or very often even cruel and tactless. He is frequently apologetic for the harm this causes those who don’t know him well enough to ‘get it’, but otherwise, somewhat indifferent beyond the quick apology. Jade may also come off as boastful and arrogant at times due to this honesty; he is quick to point out when he is better suited for a job, if he is more intelligent, or a more developed, be it as a warrior or a scholar. This, again, stems from an ingrained honesty. Jade is, in fact, rather humbled by his past experiences, and inwardly modest, filled with regrets and the inability to lick his own wounds. He is not prideful in the least, for he knows that pride is almost as dangerous as ignorance. With the ability to be calm, quick, deathly serious, frighteningly morbid and unfeeling also comes Jade’s more tolerable side… well, that’s a matter of opinion. The Colonel (or, Commander now) revels in teasing, in twisting words and manipulating situations. It’s usually rather obvious when he is joking, though sometimes it can take an eerie turn. He can be falsely cheerful at the drop of a hat, and does enjoy gauging people’s reactions and having a bit of fun on his own terms. Slightly sadistic, very attentive, able to be both assertive and passive, Jade always acts according to situation.

"ESPALION" BACKGROUND: Jade grew up in a northern outskirt of Epsilon, on the far reaches of the island Empire, in a place slow, sleepy, and remote. Due to its local, the village itself was thought of as the perfect hiding nook for younger members of the royal family during times of political strife. Thus, the perfect place to shelter a young heir to a vast fortune, Peony IX. Peony would be one of few friends that Jade Balfour acquired as a child; being somewhat quiet, morose, and “demonic”, it was power that fascinated Jade, rather than companionship. Nonetheless, during his years in his hometown, he would be induced into a small group of playmates that consisted of Saphir (a younger boy who was somewhat like Jade’s unwanted pet), Peony, and his own elder sister, Nephry. It would be Nephry who raised Jade for the most part, giving him an unspoken soft spot for the girl, and a brotherly protective streak. Despite his closet affections, though, Nephry found her sibling somewhat disturbing. Though this was likely due to the way Jade spent his time as a child. The boy’s unique and malicious tastes created a distance between them, a fear and a sympathy on her end, and a feeling of rejection and oddity on his.

Jade discovered his attraction lay in two aspects of discovery rather early on in his timeline. The boy enjoyed alchemy—books of magic and science, and all other forms of heresy. He reveled in mastering particularly difficult texts, surpassing adults in the field of study with his theorems. Alchemy, however, was his secondary obsession. A slight hint of sadism blended with an expert curiosity gave way to his fascination with anatomy. A scientist at heart, the child often murdered harmless animals for his own entertainment, or else, to conduct ‘alchemic experiments’ on. Jade did not understand what it meant to die, but he was preoccupied with what it meant to be alive. This is why it became his ultimate goal to gain a job in the field of autopsy. To investigate the inner human body with which he had such a vested interest.

Unfortunately, a blend of two features would soon bring the child tragedy. The first was that, despite Jade’s impressive talent in the area of alchemy, he had no access to laboratories, due to his young age, and the rarity of the study. Slightly precocious, unable to quite accept outside forces stemming his growth, Jade respected and envied adults who studied science and ‘magic’. The second element was that same lack of understanding about ‘death’. After filling his head with nonsense and fairy tales, Jade believed that death itself could be surpassed, if only one was intelligent enough to know how…

Professor Nebilim his life around the time Jade was eight or so years of age. A former military strategist, Nebilim was a prestigious scholar who gave up her military lifestyle due to moral objection. Instead, she became the teacher of Jade, Nephry, and Saphir (Peony also snuck out of his manor for her lessons). Jade developed an instant liking and respect for her, a woman who was both powerful and kind, and strove to be her favoured pupil. His fondness for Nebilim went deeper than it ever had with any other person, and is generally believed to have even developed into his first ‘puppy crush’.

In other lessons, however, more private lessons, the former Militia woman taught Jade more on the subjects of science, alchemy, and mechanics. Jade was in Nebilim’s home the night he got the harrowing idea to try to use some of the chemicals she had loitering in her lab, despite his lack of practice. Predictably, the mixture he created was toxic. Highly flammable, it ended up setting Nebilim’s house aflame. In the woman’s rush to stop and protect him, she ended up giving her own life.

When Saphir and Jade pulled her from the smoking wreckage, she was still just barely alive. They laid her on the snowy ground, and Jade had and proposal for saving her; ‘Fomicry’. ‘Fomicry’ was the scientific process developed by Jade at nine years of age whereby which he took old alchemic practices and lore about a philosopher’s stone and combined it with the science and mechanics of the human body.

It was this tragedy that pointed Jade in the direction that the rest of his life was to take.

Jade made a fitful promise with Saphir; that they would refine Fomicry, and bring Nebilim back to life. Saphir, innocent and trusting, believed Jade, and saw this as a perfect opportunity to grow close to Jade, perhaps even closer than his hated Peony, who was Jade’s best friend at this point. The young scholar was scooped up by the Military at this point, which promised him funds and laboratory equipment in exchange for his genius. Jade became a doctor rather quickly—and he and Saphir did indeed refine the art. Saphir built a machines based on Jade’s formulas that should have brought Nebilim back from the dead… instead, it resurrected a monstrosity of sorts, a 'replica human' or homunculus, hell-bent on revenge and bloodshed.

By the time Jade was adopted into the Curtiss Military Family (and with the noble last name of ‘Curtiss’ to replace his commoner’s name of ‘Balfour’, was allowed to raise quickly in the ranks to Commander), Jade had seen the devastating results fomicry could produce. The human experimentation refining it required was both heinous and amoral. When Peony came of age, Jade abandoned Saphir, and his research, using Peony’s favour to outlaw Fomicry as a practice of heresy, and burnt his notations on it. He then devoted his life to the navy, vastly loyal to those in charge.

Jade never aspired to raise from the rank of Commander; he found it too troublesome. Instead, he continued to practice the sciences. A formidable warrior with a shady past and a record in past battles for being ruthless, cunning, and successful in battle, Jade attained the nickname the ‘Necromancer’; rumored to raise the bodies of fallen soldiers from the dead to conduct experiments on their bodies. Whether or not this is true remains yet to be seen, however, it is doubtful. Nonetheless, it is a reason that Jade spends much of his life ducking from would-be assassins who hold grudges against him for his misdeeds.

It is also important to note that Jade is a brilliant warrior; relentless with a spear and in possession of difficult magiks he terms ‘Artes’, he makes for a formidable opponent.

ALIGNMENT: Mezieres Navy, Commander of the Misericordia

Advertisement

Advertisement