User Profile

Character's Name: Asher Beil.
Birthdate: April 4th.
Age: Unknown. 26 at time of death.
Race: "New Fayth," human.
Gender: Male.
Dress Sphere: Time Mage.

Appearance: TIMEMAGE.JPG ; a rough character sketch of Asher Beil.

Asher is a tall, lanky person who seldom stands at his full height; he usually sits hunched over, when he's not dozing off someplace. His skin is slightly tanned, but not dark, and his hair, platinum blonde in color, is closely cropped and disheveled. Features like arms, legs and fingers are bony and elongated, which would give an almost delicate impression if he didn't cover it up with bulky clothing. He sees the world through wide, grey-blue eyes. (He is occasionally confused for an Al Bhed, although he is not.)

Asher's clothing suggests that he came from a time when the city of Zanarkand flourished. His clothes, while they might be a bit flashy, have a streamlined look to them that Spirans have recently revived after the final fall of Sin. The most important item of his outfit is the leather coat; stopping just below the knees, it pulls in tight around the upper body and flares out on the way down. His coat is primarily white, but it also features various shades of green and is trimmed in gold. It is comprised of a high, emerald green collar with a thick gold zipper (the zipper pull of which is, in fact, a small clock). The zipper stops at the end of the collar, and the coat opens up in an ovular shape around the chest. Here, we see a tight mesh shirt that holds a large golden clock in place. The coat closes again, over a pendulum dangling from the clock on his shirt, and is fastened by two gold snaps. It opens up again below the hips, exposing the long pendulum, pants and shoes. Asher wears two pants; the first is a pair of tight-fitting leggings in a dark, hunter green. The second, which goes over these pants, is a pair of flare-legged leather pants that have large holes on the sides. The outer side of these pants is white, the inner a green to match the decoration on his coat. Asher wears dark green thick-soled boots which stop mid-calf. The soles give him an extra five inches in height and have small clocks set in the front.

Personality: Asher is by no means an easy person to get to know. Like the pendulum on an old clock, he's there one minute and elsewhere the next. Likewise, his personality tends to fluctuate between that of an absent-minded, apathetic individual to a deadly serious fighter. Normally he seems very spaced-out and listless, often picking a secluded area to sit and think about everything and nothing. He meditates on time, and if you try to strike up a conversation he will ask you many questions on the subject. He sits around and watches things for hours at a time, and his only hobby is to count the seconds on his clock as they tick away. (Most people consider him something of a "creep" ; he just smiles a rather hollow, eerie smile and continues counting.) He wanders aimlessly with a blank expression on his face, and it seems he simply can't be bothered to care. The impression he gives others is that of a haphazard, lazy, careless individual, and he makes no attempt to do anything about it.

If he considers you a friend he's a bit more personable, though he's still far from a conversationalist. He allows you to sit with him. He spares you the trouble of answering his questions. He permits himself to smile and attempts to stay awake in your presence. As a pendulum would, he is swayed easily. Asher knows kindness when he sees it and would not take it for granted. You could say he is one of the "bad guys" now, but it wouldn't take much persuasion to change his mind, though he is a bit indecisive. He is, as he always has been, a man very set in his ways. When he finds himself in a certain routine, he sticks to it, and it becomes like clockwork to him. His indecision and traditional nature often clash, though it should be noted that Asher was never like this in his day.

His other half is fiercely loyal and devoted to the people he cares about. Asher does not have many friends, but if you happen to be one he would do anything to protect you. He is by no means a strong person; his magic is not offensive and (if he can help it) neither is he. But although he doesn't seem like it, the time mage is actually quite well-versed and intelligent; when he's in one of his more serious moods, he'd likely win a battle of wits. Asher says little, but when if he says anything at all, he means it. One can only imagine what he must have been like when he was alive, but unfortunately now he's little more than a shadow of his former self.

Background: To this day, Asher Beil is the only known Time Mage to have lived in Spira. This, of course, is an exaggeration; surely there were people who could cast time-related spells before him. Perhaps the only reason he receives any mention (if at all; his name is not well-known amongst the people of Spira) is because of his marriage to a young summoner who practiced her faith in Bevelle.

This was all a little under a millenium ago, mind; much has changed in the past nine-hundred years, and he's still trying to adjust. But at the time, he was the only Time Mage, and in some circles he was quite well known for his talent. Unfortunately, to the more devout followers of Yevon, these powers were as much a curse as they were a blessing, and until he met his future wife, they all kept their distance. Though he took to travelling in his youth, he was originally from Zanarkand, and after their marriage he decided to settle down in Bevelle. The two of them had three children.

Unfortunately, the time spent with those children was short. A year after the birth of their third child, his wife completed her training as a summoner, with every intention of defeating Sin. Though at first he didn't approve of the idea, he knew it was what she really wanted; she kept insisting that she wanted her children to live in a world without Sin, where they could be happy. It took some convincing, but after a while he finally agreed to become her guardian. The children were left in the care of another acolyte, and Asher and his wife made their pilgrimage to Zanarkand. Neither of them knew that the sacrifices they were about to make were far greater than leaving their beloved children behind.

Asher's wife knew something that he did not: upon reaching Zanarkand, the summoner would have to choose a guardian to be the fayth for their Final Summoning, and that neither of them were going to live. Being her only guardian, Asher had no choice but to become that fayth. The two died defeating Sin, but after the brief Calm that followed, it returned with a vengeance. Now, Asher himself was Sin.

He was defeated, of course, by another summoner. But not before having attacked and decimated an area in which his then-teenage children were staying, killing them instantly. Surely Asher had no control over what he was doing, nor any idea that he was doing it. If he remembers any of his time as Sin - or anything after Zanarkand, even - he hasn't made any mention of it. In fact, he rarely talks about his life at all.

Weapon(s): Asher uses a flail of sorts. For the most part, his weapon looks like a simple, metallic green rod. At the end is a spherical, gold-plated clock, to which a long, matching pendulum is attached. The end of the pendulum is weighted to be more painful during an attack, but unless he casts haste on himself the attack is quite easy to dodge.

Abilities: Based off of the TIME MAGE from Final Fantasy Tactics. Asher has an expert command of time and space. His magic is very strong, but unfortunately much of it is non-offensive attacks. He is physically a bit weak and is slow to evade during battle. He most often uses the spells haste, slow, and stop, which speed up, slow down or stop time altogether. Another spell is don't move, which is more effective and can freeze only selected targets in place. He has a good grasp on float and reflect, which either raise a certain target off of the ground or reflect magic attacks, respectively. His space-related attacks include demi and meteor.

Other abilities outside of his spells include his ability to teleport and, when in critical health, his movements and attacks become much faster without the use of haste.

Affiliation: The Sphere-Hunting Group, Penance.