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The Paladin has a slender but deceptively strong build. He is average to attractive, without being distinctive in any way, although his trained silent footsteps speak of a lifetime of practice. He is seemingly harmless, but proficient in martial arts. However, he doesn't feel in full uniform without (at least) 14 different weapons.
Basically, he's very easy to get along with after you understand his stinging sense of humor. If he makes fun of you, it's usually just a joke (he'll tell you when he's serious). When he's working on a mission, don't be surprised to hear his icy cold (and deadly) voice when he picks you up by the scruff of the neck if you interfere (except for women; as the name suggests, he does have a bit of chivalry). This is twice valid when he's angry; fortunately, his sense of humor gives him quite a long fuse.
Due to the nature of his skills and training (which will be explained below), he dresses in a loose-fitting black silk shirt, covered with a jet-black tunic with silk black leggings tucked into his black boots. Surrounding this is a dark red cloak (with hood hanging), clipped together with a Carnelian pin. Though less threatening than it sounds, weapons are concealed within every hidden pocket, loop and slit of his uniform.
Blowgun with 20 2" needles
3 birchwood throwing knives
3 daggers (undecorated)
1 Carnelian pommelled dagger
9 vials of various interesting chemicals
1 Drop FoilTM (really a fencing saber, not a foil)
1 set of lockpicks
1 pair of tiger claws
1 folding crossbow with 20 enchanted arrows
30 throwing X-Cards (explosive or poisoned)
1 magical grappling ball with black silk rope
1 small hand mirror
1 garotte
1 crimson-hilted shortsword
5 pouches of various chemical powders and herbs
2 slim-shaft 6" darts
Trained in assassinship.
Trained in fencing with all three swords: foil, epee, and saber.
BalefireTM
ShadowslipTM
Internal FireTM
Immune to many poisons due to assassinship (he can stand up to 10 times the amount to kill a strong man before they have any effect)
"Never miss" curse/blessing (he always hits something)
Crimson CloakTM. When the hood is up, the wearer becomes invisible to electronic/magical/normal sight, casting no shadow.
Fairly competent mage.
Although he can consume cyanide, blowfish toxin and other poisons, he still falls easily under the spell of the grape or hop (i.e. wine and beer). These liquids, when consumed, significantly lower the efficiency of breaking a neck or snapping a spine. It also dims the FireTM.
Cannot ShadowslipTM during the day, or use BalefireTM during the night.
The Crimson CloakTM leaves indelible magic scarlet silhouettes of the wearer if he is in one position for too long, but while moving, normal sight might spot slight red flashes for the cloak as it changes color to maintain invisibility.
"Never miss" curse/blessing is exactly as it sounds; although handy, it can also hurt a friend (or even Red Paladin himself). A thrown dagger or fired weapon (not a firearm, though) will rebound forever until it finds something it can bite into (i.e. flesh).
FireTM:
It is a deep fire that knows neither good nor evil, but only the target and the path to it. It is the source of most of Red Paladin's power. It is part of his being and can be summoned when needed. As an instinctive reflex, it rushes through him, giving him seemingly endless strength, increased focus, relentlessness, and immunity from its faintest glow to the steady raging inferno driving him almost beyond his flesh and bone. The closest thing for a normal person is an adrenaline rush; this is like that, except it is a hundred-fold more exhilarating. He feels as if he could take on the world. Mere flesh wounds mean nothing to him in this condition; his healing process quickens a bit and, as he's been told, his eyes burn with a light that's pure shadow.
BalefireTM:
As the name implies, this is a type of magical fire, but unlike the kind of CyberPyro or Centurion Ashur Galand of W.E.D.J.E.E., which only burns spongies to ashes (or worse), Red Paladin's BalefireTM burns them out of existance. For example:
"The Paladin drew deeply from the magic in the universe and deftly wove complex weaves of five elements: Earth, Fire, Air, Water and Spirit. Suddenly, bars of golden liquid fire shot out from his hands, engulfing the small army of spongin that had almost destroyed his society. The army had done much damage, but that would change as the burning continued, beyond the present and into the past. When the Paladin finally stopped (and collapsed), it was as if the army had never come; that's because they never did. Not even atoms of their being remained. Those killed by them gradually awakened, not knowing what they were doing lying on the ground." As you can see, the longer the object is burned, the farther into the past they go, so that any damage done up to that point never happened. Similarly, people killed by it are seemingly resurrected. Obviously, more energy must be expended to go even further back.
ShadowslippingTM:
Yes, it does have to do with shadows. It is a very useful tool for an assassin to have in his/her repertoire. Both thieves and assassins share a set of skills that facilitate their business. The wearing of dark clothing, a certain way of walking, a certain way of breathing, and even a certain way of thinking combine to allow one to seem to disappear into the shadows of a scene, not so much invisible as unnoticeable, a protective camouflage with roots older and stranger than most know. Beyond the shadow, there is another realm, and this is how he found it:
"Four I could take, but six burly guards with only one exit was suicide. I hid myself under a bed, willing my body to match to the bed's shadow's stillness, blending into the shadows and wrapping them around me. Suddenly, I could see the shadows as they were and moved through them, like a dive into cool water. I fell up and landed on my feet. The shadow I had stepped through faded to a light grey as the bed was upturned in their search for the person who had just ripped out the heart of a fellow guard who had been trying to rape a girl. Relief flooded through me as I realized that I had escaped. Only then did I begin to survey the landscape of unearthly beauty. Surrounding me was soft grey nothingness, swirling with possibility. All around me, as far as I could see, were irregular patches of black. Shadows flickered as they were casted from the real world. I could distinguish differences in the depth betwene shadows. Some were shallow black, too well lit to be true gateways, and were only dimmer possibilities of the deepest shadows. I also noted several very dark shadows, thick and deep. Moving through the walls is a breeze, as they don't exist here. Stepping into one of the solid patches of blackness, I noticed a subtle difference between a room with an open window and one with a closed one. I could now appear anywhere with a deep enough shadow."
Drop FoilTM:
This weapon is probably the most high-tech of all of Red Paladin's weapons. The ejector is strapped to his right bicep and is activated in the following way: He straightens his arm sideways as if straightening a cuff, then brings his arm down on the side. The next set of actions happen in 2-3 seconds. A red rod 6" long and 1/2" in diameter appears in his hands; it is heavier than it looks. He squeezes it, and suddenly, a thin, razor-sharp blade extens from one end at the same time as a conical hand-guard appears covering Red's hand. As he said, the sword is actually a fencing saber. This allows him the option of thrusting and slashing. This miracle weapon is a work of nanotechnological art. The blade's edge is a mere thousand atoms thick and made of a plastic alloy enhanced with JihaddiumTM.
X-CardsTM:
X-CardsTM are like the Bloody CardTM used in Op: Phoenix by P-Chan. These, however, are more like flat metal squares (2"x2"x1/8") with sharpened edges. They come in two varieties: poisoned (for single kills) or explosive (for a larger number of kills), which are mainly self-explanatory.