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rafent · 6 months ago

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— 𝐒𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐒 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: 𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐀𝐋

SWORD

LANCE

AXE -> boon

BOW

BRAWLING

REASON -> bane

FAITH -> budding talent

AUTHORITY -> boon

HEAVY ARMOR

RIDING -> bane

FLYING -> bane

◆ 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐒

Axe: Once Nil drops the defenseless act in chapter 5 of the Fell Xenologue, his unit description changes into a Fell Child who 'fights viciously with an axe' and that to me says it all. If you use JPN Rafal to score a finishing blow, if you land a special engaged attack, or if he wins his match in arena, he'll laugh like a maniac with unadulterated joy. Even in his ally profile Rafal has an image where he's swinging Revanche with a smile. He likes being in the thick of the action and that axe in his hand makes him feel alive.

"Inheritor of the blood of the Fell Dragon. Ill-suited for fighting, but reluctantly wields an axe." -> "Inheritor of the blood of the Fell Dragon. His true nature revealed, he fights viciously with an axe."

He prefers axes because they have the capacity to deal excruciating damage and as much of it as possible; they can hack, they can crush, spill guts, decapitate, and break bones. Combining personal (40%) and Fell Child (20%) growth rates tallies him at a hefty 60% over all growth rate in strength. Rafal has the highest strength growth not only among his half-siblings, but among the entire lineup of royals after likewise combining their rates. Some combatants rely on tactics or precision to score kills but Rafal is reliant on brutality, on a weapon that taps into his raw strength, and it gets the job done.

Looking at Rafal's in-game battle model as a Fell Child, his idle posture is confident, loose, and even casually leaned back as opposed to upright, vacant hand reached out in readiness similar to his twin; there's a lot of mixed signals going on here; it speaks to someone who is powerful and knows it, but likely not as concerned with textbook technique even if still disciplined in his own way. Revanche itself is functionally a signature Killer Axe with lighter weight balancing power and wieldiness. If you view him then as a Killer Axe user, someone who seeks out critical hits and inflicts dominating blows that leave his opponents in pieces, 'fights viciously with an axe' is precisely correct.

Authority: Authority has no skill equivalent in Engage so this boon comes from a purely character-based understanding. Rafal's contentious personality didn't affect his ability to successfully organize hundreds upon thousands of Corrupted. It helps that said Corrupted were obligated to serve him, their creator, but other than that they retained their original personalities no matter how troublesome and in some cases even needed to be fielded for it (looking at you Ivy and Fogado). If we're talking upper management, he has both the experience and the patience to commit without losing his cool.

Relevantly, his interaction with the Corrupted archer in the Gregory B-support tells me a bit more about him. Though Rafal is a Fell Child it's made clear that Corrupted soldiers don't obey the will of just everyone who shares in Sombron's blood. They can sense that Rafal is an Other, an anomaly from a different Elyos or an enemy aligned with the Divine One, and so conflate him with humans. Rafal's authority despite his own understanding doesn't reach here; he's disturbed by the absence of it and disgusted by a lowly foot soldier 'daring' to attack him. It's a sense of indignation come from being higher in position. This is someone who is used to being in charge, who has a precedence with giving out orders and having those orders obeyed.

Other derivatives of his relationship with authority exist, too. When speaking to him post-battle at Brodia Castle, he makes a remark that 'wanton destruction is not leadership' and that 'a good ruler should be admired'. This is a likely reflection of his own tastes, but there's an earlier light shed on this perspective when he compliments the reign of his native Divine Dragon during the DLC as Nil. Rafal who makes a show of prioritizing his own comforts and not caring what others think is noticeably interested in public opinion; the parameters of success in rulers and kingdoms.

Another instance of his interest occurs at the post-battle Mountain Settlement where he says, "alas, weak governance breeds banditry, and weak citizens are prone to death by bandits". Over all, he takes note of others with exceptional periods of rule, vocalizes his thoughts on systemic chinks, and knows inherently how promising leaders should behave - even if his way of communicating that is a bit morbid. It's not a stretch to believe that given his understanding, authoritative mannerisms, and natural self-confidence, he can be honed into something resembling a leader, given the opportunity. A diamond in the rough so to speak.

◆ 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐒

Reason: Rafal is the Fell Child with the lowest magic growth rate. Black magic of the wholesale offensive variety isn't writ in his cards. He won't be casting grand spells like Obscurité and Bolganone or taking up the mantle of Gradlon's most powerful sorcerer any time soon. With that said, it's notable to me that Rafal is the Fell Child we see the most out-of-combat and status based magic application from.

From casting tracking and warping spells, to immobilizing prisoners with conditional barriers that eviscerate any limb out of bounds, Rafal's use of petty magic is a separate distinction that falls under the Reason category, but can't be categorized perfectly alongside proper offensive spells. Rafal took Sombron's advice to heart because his magic at a glance is rooted in underhanded schemes as opposed to straightforward devastation. Though I have no doubt he purposed these death traps to useful ends when weeding out his sibling rivals. Practice makes perfect and Rafal had a lot of practice.

When used alone his tools can be duds seen coming from a mile away. However, because he pairs them with coercion or ambush or a carefully manufactured weakling image, there isn't much that his prey can do. Even as a failure, he's a piece of work; a Fell Dragon who played the game through and through, and you can tell. A spider that patiently prepares a web, waiting for the right time and the right place, can be just as dangerous as the wasp that stings you outright. The fact is that you don't expect a failure to catch you off guard or to have such nasty tricks up his sleeve and he takes advantage of that. It's a bit oxymoronic, but utility spells like Warp, Silence, Fracture, etc (the majority of which are in Faith) are what I'm gunning for in order to better flesh out that unique aspect of Rafal.

Riding & Flying: Self-explanatory banes on the basis of being a Fell Dragon with an especially potent aura. Even more explanatory, JPN Rafal's formal character talent is scaring away animals ( 動物を追い払うこと ) which is abridged in the localization as being intimidating. I doubt this is an opt-in feature and it's more about his innate way of being. Everything about his presence screams scary and that glare doesn't play. When predators go into hunt mode and the entire din of the forest dies down from birds to crickets, that's the kind of effect we're talking when he walks by, and Rafal himself is well-aware of it.

Rafal, at Shadowy Moor: "Fear not. Even if more foes are lurking about, they will not dare reveal themselves to me."

He's terrifying enough to his human allies and enemies, so unless they lack a sense of life preservation, there is no animal in the world that is going to let Rafal ride them. Travel by buggy and horseback are virtual impossibilities for him. It's a good thing he can fly faster than any of them can move. Did I mention Rafal starts fresh out of the DLC with a Fell Stone that has cavalry effectiveness and another that can be refined to have flying effectiveness? Animals avoid this dude like the plague. There's a reason why you will never find him loitering at the farm in the Somniel.

◆ 𝐁𝐔𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓

Faith: Hi, Nil. Why do you have a restore staff sitting in your inventory that you can't even use, Nil. I choose to believe that Rafal at one point possessed an interest in faith magic, an avenue separate from his axe that could not only help Nel by lessening her burdens, but also by empowering himself with new purpose. This was undoubtedly a failed venture because the restore staff collected cobwebs in his inventory. His low magic proficiency wasn't about to take him anywhere. A catch, though; after you pour your life force into someone for a thousand years, something about you is probably going to change on a fundamental level. A long span of muscle memory embedded in you, from healing a sister, little by little, each and every day.

His 10% magic growth rate is a pitiful and near obsolete number, unable to be relied on for any concentrated magic build. 10% is just about fumes and more-or-less represents the inalienable Fell Dragon blood in him, but it's better than nothing. Even assuming that "Nil" had no promise in this field, succeeding the DLC he had a millennia of constant patterns and prayers that put its footprint on his body. Lumera when speaking of her identical actions in reviving Alear refers to the process as healing. Rafal has no knack for destructive Fell magic, but what about the strange equivalent to faith magic he has a thousand years worth of history dabbling in? Much to think about.

This last bit is just about pure indulgence on my end, but Rafal is a clearly defined destroyer. Someone who snuffed the life from his own world and took countless innocents over the course of his ambitions. Healing and giving as opposed to taking is diametrically opposed to his dark past, another way of atonement, and a quaint opposite.

#◜ ₊ — 𝓡 ˚ ₊ 𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 ╱ headcanon.#many thoughts were had. and compiled #rafal's riding/flying banes were so easy to suss out #authority and faith on the other hand were boons that were both unexpected but got more interesting/likely the more i thought about them #hitting that light bulb like : oh. lumera DID refer to it as healing ..

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