Player information
Name: Meta
Contact: metathepanda
Are you 18 or over? Yes
Other characters played: N/A

Character information
Name: Micheletto Corella, will answer to Mick, Michael, Michel, Miguel, or variants thereof. Has created many aliases for his various "jobs" as well. He is known in the modern Italian criminal underworld, and to the Sicilian mafia, only as il Boia, which Micheletto took from his historical title as "il boia del Valentino", or Valentino's executioner (i.e. Cesare's personal assassin, when Cesare was still the Duke of Valentinois).
Age: 555
Date of Birth: Some time in 1461; unfortunately neither the historical Micheletto nor the Borgias Micheletto seem to have a birth year, let alone a birth date. This is just my best guess, but I'll say October 18th, 1461, because his mother always wanted him to be a doctor, and that date is the Feast of Saint Luke's, the patron saint of physicians and surgeons.
Canon: The Borgias
Species: Meta Human
Micheletto survives things that no ordinary human should in canon. He and Cesare escape an explosion, several bloodbaths, and at least one full-fledged battle (if not two or three) nearly unscathed. For Cesare as a vampire, it makes sense; for Micheletto it really does not, unless he is something more than human. However, I am interested in perhaps turning him into a vampire later, plot permitting. I would not be averse to keeping him a meta human either.
Role: Cesare Borgia's personal protector, Islington Nest
Micheletto has known Cesare Borgia since they were much younger (somewhere in their actual 20s and 30s). Though they separated long ago (see background), Cesare has found a way to get in touch with him, and he has left his mercenary position in Italy's criminal underworld to see what his old master wants from him.
Rank: 1, since he is just arriving. Also, he's going to try spying on other factions while being secretly with the Islington Nest, so I was hoping to talk to a mod about possibilities re: double agents?

Background: Historical figure and Borgias wiki on Micheletto.
Micheletto's story goes much the same as it did with his original canon, albeit with a few supernatural differences. Firstly, Vanozza made Cesare a vampire near the end of season 3, who then sired Lucrezia also; secondly, Caterina Sforza was a powerful witch from early on in season 1; thirdly, Micheletto's mother Isabella was also a witch, given consent by Caterina to practice within the walls of Forlì, though it was not long before Isabella left Caterina's circle of witches to marry Micheletto's father.

Micheletto was born in Forlì to a farmer who is unnamed, and his mother Isabella. He loved his mother dearly, and would very often watch her practice her magic. She intended for Micheletto, who did not seem to have inherited any of her magical heritage, to become a famous doctor, someday. Micheletto's path changed when his father found out about his mother's witchcraft and told Micheletto he was going to accuse her publicly, so she would burn at the stake. Micheletto, having put up with his father's abuse, drunkenness, and now a threat on his mother, killed his father, then made it look like an accident. After that, he left home on the pretense he would study to be a doctor in Rome, but quickly became an infamous assassin. Soon after that, he got a few jobs killing more difficult things than humans - supernatural beings. From here he flip-flopped between Hunter and Assassin, not really caring whether he was killing a vampire, human, werewolf, or something else... as long as the pay was good. It was about here that his powers began to manifest. He did not know how to use them very well, then, and so his powers could not have prevented the effects of canon from happening.

He met Cesare much the same way as in canon, having been contracted by Orsino Orsini to murder the Borgias when Rodrigo took the papacy. He became Cesare's faithful attendant in much the same way, choosing instead to double his coin and kill Orsini while working for Cesare. Though he was formerly a hunter, he did not care about Vanozza (or later, Cesare) being vampires, his allegiance having been bought by coin and Cesare's trust in him. He did speak to Vanozza at one point early on when he first suspected, and after that would often discreetly get rid of bodies which had been drained of blood when Vanozza fed, often disguising them to look like a drowning accident or a simple murder. Cesare may or may not have known Micheletto was doing this, but he did not stray too far from Cesare's plans and orders. He killed whomever Cesare asked, did whatever Cesare wanted, and protected Cesare's family fiercely. He did warn Cesare, however, that Caterina was a powerful witch and should not be crossed. Cesare did so anyway, which led to Caterina's many plots to destroy the Borgias. This included sending a spy, a handsome youth named Pascal, to seduce Micheletto for information. He discovered Pascal's treachery after a whirlwind romance, and was heartbroken when he had to kill the lad. Despite this, he helped take Caterina down at the last moment during the Siege of Forlì, out of his loyalty to Cesare. He then left Emilia-Romagna and was never seen or heard from again.

Or so history says. Many say he was killed in Milan; others say he was tortured for information about the Borgias. Still others say that he was assassinated himself by Borgia enemies. Only some of it is true. He was tortured for information sometime around 1503, but never gave his torturers anything. In 1508, he was in fact killed in Milan by Borgia opponents, but he awoke to find himself very much alive, looking a little younger than before. Quickly he learned that a new power had manifested: the ability to revive himself, so long as his body was partly intact, to the age of 40. Having learned this, he left for other parts of Italy, so he could begin anew as a gun-for-hire. Micheletto has taken a more traditional approach to the hired assassin, always communicating anonymously and secretly. He still hunts supernatural entities on occasion, but he's mostly been sticking to human targets for the past five hundred years.

Personality: Micheletto is extremely withdrawn, taking great care to either ignore or suppress his emotions, especially when he is killing someone. In that vein, he is remorseless and ruthless, killing his targets and witnesses with callous precision. He has killed altar boys, cardinals, kings and dukes, even his own father, without so much as batting an eye. He also claims to have strangled babies in their cribs, as long as the parents paid him. It seems he is entirely focused on the money it brings him, initially; he only accepts his position at Cesare's side when Cesare offers to pay him double. At first glance Micheletto can seem only beastly and greedy.

However, Micheletto is remarkably loyal once he has earned Cesare and the Borgia family’s trust. He is known as "Cesare's man" within a few episodes, and rarely ever leaves Cesare's side. He carries out a selection of unsavoury acts for Cesare without hesitation, from assisting fratricide to drowning choir boys. Further, when Caterina Sforza's plot for Lucrezia's death is discovered, having been possible due to Micheletto's relationship with Pascal, Micheletto is bereft with grief that he has brought harm to Cesare's loved ones. He requests that Cesare kill him for his failure. Cesare refuses and orders him to kill Pascal instead, and he does so, despite how much Micheletto loves him. Even Micheletto’s last act with Cesare shows his loyalty to the man, when he explains the tunnels beneath Forlì, and offers advice on how to take down the wall.

While Micheletto touts himself to be a remorseless assassin, it is clear that he does indeed feel remarkably strongly, yet does not know how to express his emotions. When he is charged with protecting Lucrezia and her child, he develops a strong attachment to both of them, to the point that he says separating the two of them breaks his heart. However, he explains to Lucrezia before this that some would say he has no heart, and obviously means it. He also has two relationships, and both seem to have been really loving. His relationship with Pascal, while brief, clearly shows Micheletto possessive, jealous, happy, passionate, and heartbroken when Pascal's betrayal is finally revealed. Though he does not know how to act upon any of these emotions, he does feel them strongly ("I have known this feeling all my life", in reference to Pascal's reading of Catallus' 85th poem). He also feels them strongly enough to weep at the thought of killing Pascal for his transgression, though he must do so by Cesare's word.

Micheletto, also, has a habit of looking poorly upon himself. He does not doubt his own skill with weapons, he does not see himself as a member of the Borgia family's world; he often comments that he was born in the shadows and should remain there. He does not like to take the glory for himself, often letting Cesare take it to better his own ends. He does not like to be in the spotlight either, preferring to remain back until he is needed or he spots danger. It is very unlike him to brag about anything except his particular skillset as an assassin. He didn't learn to read or write while he was young, and therefore does not think of himself as very smart, although he certainly is quite clever. (Though I headcanon he has since learned how to write in Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, and English, his handwriting is still atrocious.)

Finally, Micheletto can be surprisingly protective and will do whatever he must to protect them. He has very few relationships to speak of outside his loyal friendship with Cesare and his two affairs. He does, however, have a sort of a mentor relationship with Lucrezia, whom he cares for deeply, and also her child Giovanni. He admits that he would kill for her, and ultimately does so, in order to keep her baby with her in Naples.

His only other strong relationship is the relationship with his mother, whom he really adores, even though he is embarrassed and nervous about her love for him. He feels that he would break her heart as an assassin, and so he lies and says he is studying to be a doctor, to save her the pain. He saves her from the knowledge that he killed his father, too, in the hopes that she will live happily.

In summary, though Micheletto can seem extremely emotionless and frightening in his professionalism, he is still human. He does not think of himself as anything positive, however, and prefers to see himself as a creature beyond god's pity. Despite his intentions, he exhibits the traits of loyalty and love, which shows through his friendly relationships with Cesare and Lucrezia, as well as his familial relationship with his mother, and his sexual relationships, particularly with Pascal.

Living five centuries has reaffirmed many of his prior views. He relies on his shadow powers much more than he did in the past in order to continue to live. As far as his immortality power is concerned, he still has to experience pain, injury, and the psychological consequences of death. However, even in canon he has a very complicated view of death, having been paid to literally smother babies in their cribs and showing no remorse, but having a mental break after he was made to kill Pascal. Death had been meaningless to him long before he lost the ability to die, except in the case of the ones he loves. It's likely that he even counts on his death in his tactics, now, taking mortal blows if it means being able to ensure his targets' deaths.

What has affected him most over the years is the course of human history. He's lived through the French Revolution, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the discovery of America, two World Wars, and many other events besides. As far as he is personally concerned, he's gone from a Catholic world that abhors homosexuality to a secular world which embraces it. He's gone from a world of trebuchets to a world of nuclear weapons, from letters to smartphones. He has had a hard time adjusting to modernity, which is why he relies heavily on his shadow powers to keep him out of the public eye. It's why he's also mostly remained analog, not wanting to leave behind a digital trail when he's spent so much time not leaving a physical one.

Powers & Possessions: For his Meta Human power, I would like some sort of shadow powers, in this instance just hiding in or melding into shadows and possibly teleporting short distances from shadow to shadow. This doesn't explain his ability to survive for 555 years, so I would like to request one final power, that being, reviving whenever he is killed, assuming he has enough of a body to revive from. However, it will take him at least a day to completely revive, much longer for worse wounds, and he will always revive to the age of 40.

As for possessions, he would have a Witch's Amulet, given to him by his mother, Catullus' Carmina which once belonged to Pascal (protected by something, perhaps the help of a mending spell after so many years), and a suitcase that contains mostly weapons and a few changes of clothes (in the event a job gets messy). He will have a wallet with some money in it and a few fake IDs (with matching passports hidden in a liner of the suitcase). He will also have a knife or a gun somewhere on his person pretty much at all times, so that he does not ever get caught unprepared. He always has supernatural ammunition in reserve as a habit from his former Hunter years (silver bullets, wolfsbane, rosemary, rock salt, citrus and chili powder for shapeshifters with strong noses, and so forth). I would also like the item I listed below so that Micheletto could fly in from Rome, if possible - or I would happily take suggestions as to another way he could get into London without setting off every terror watch list, security measure, and INTERPOL cell in the area.

Samples: Sample 1 (UG TDM June/July)

Sample 2
Micheletto's fingers slowly tensed around his armrest as the stewardess locked eyes with him, smiling as she approached. "Is there anything I can do for you before we land, sir?" She asked nonchalantly, but leaned over with rapt attention on him. He shook his head, silently looking away, though he felt the eyes staring at the back of his head as she passed.

A witch. He had no concrete evidence, but he knew she smelled of danger and magick, and that was rarely a good sign in his profession. The only thing he could do was test his theory. And so he waited, quietly, until they landed, awkwardly rifling through a few of the magazines before giving up and pretending to sleep.

The shuffle of people around him was not enough to distract him from the nameless stewardess kindly escorting the rest of the passengers off the plane. After a moment, he carefully rose from his seat, quietly slipping past the few passengers behind him toward the back. Immediately, he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, even as he vanished behind the flight attendant's curtain.

Though she was quick, he was quicker; she had her spell ready on her tongue, but Micheletto's dagger embedded in her shoulder made her cry out in pain instead. He grabbed her and whirled her into the meal cart, slamming her head into it. Dazed, the witch barely stayed on her feet, pulling the dagger out of her shoulder and letting it drop to the floor. He was not quick enough to completely avoid her spell, but the concussive blast of magic did not knock him as far back as the witch had hoped. He lunged, then, grabbing her at the throat and forcing her knees to bend, buckling her to the floor with a well-placed kick before stomping, hard, on her hands. Ignoring her cries of pain, Micheletto knelt down with all his weight, growling, "Your name."

She tried to kick him in the head, the shin, anywhere, but it was useless; Micheletto merely pushed the food cart to block her legs, pinning them between it and the adjoining wall. "Your name," he asked again, his voice growing irritable.

Barely able to speak, she gasped, "Dorothy Thomas," and stopped struggling altogether. Wordlessly, Micheletto picked up his discarded dagger with his free hand, and pressed it against her throat. "G-Genovesi!" She stammered, her natural Italian accent appearing in her fear. "Dorotea Genovesi!"

Micheletto studied her, before replying, "That name... I know it. Riccarda Genovesi, she was your..." He paused, carefully mapping her family tree in his head, "... great-grandmother, she must be. She was a part of Caterina Sforza's Circle, correct? She fled before the attack on Forlì. Are you here to finish her work?"

"No, I'm..." she hissed, her hands attempting to ball into fists under his boot. "... I'm here to stop you. But even your death won't make up for what Cesare Borgia took from my family."

"No, I suppose not," Micheletto mused. "My life is worth no more than my death. But your death sends a message."

Without another word, he slit her throat, blocking the arterial spray by melding into the shadows beneath the food cart. His knife clattered to the floor as she gasped for air, grasping for her wound, but she was dead in minutes.

Dorothy Thomas would be found in the maintenance chute of the plane later the next morning, in Rome, having tragically been crushed to death by the landing gear. Micheletto was already long gone by then, having met up with an old friend...

World building
Locations: Riverside Warehouses - Stretched along from the Tower Hamlets and Lewisham, to Hammersmith & Fultham and Wandworth, are a series of derelict old factories and worn-out warehouses (such as the Lots Road Power Station and the Young's Ram Brewery, to name a few). Though they are decrepit and sometimes literally falling apart, these neutral spots along the river are some of the most discreet places to conduct illegal business, dark magic rituals, secret meetings, or have a hideout of your very own in the event things go south. Either way, just be careful - humans might start tearing the buildings down around you.
(... I'm planning on Micheletto having a secret hideout somewhere along here, okay)
Items: Techno-Transposition Charm - low-mid, arcane/dark spellbooks. Often called a "Human Warranty" Charm, it is usually a small paper or wooden charm, sometimes made out of a fancier material like jade, which is tossed into luggage or bags. Prevents human technological security systems from finding any one item you carry, which is named during the casting of the spell. This includes, but is not limited to metal detectors, wands, or even security guards (who will generally just miss it on an inspection/patdown). For when you really have to get your sacrificial dagger on your 2:00 flight for your 8:00 Witch's Sabbath. Lasts for one year. Multiple charms must be used for each item you wish to be hidden.
Magic: Mundane Mending - low, basic spellbooks. Keeps a non-magical object like new, if one is vigilant about casting it. Can only restore items which have small breaks, tears, or wear from age (a burnt book, a shredded bag, or a pulverized vase would not be mendable with this spell). Metallic items must be mended one break at a time. Magical items can also be mended in this way, but they will lose their magical properties until such a time as they can be re-anointed.