Hyde Desjardins

"Je suis désolé monsieur, but dis may hurt a bit. But ahm sure it ain't gonna hurt as bad as dis here gator bite....."

- Hyde, talking to a patient while healing an infection. Hyde Desjardins is a guildless mage who acts as a magical medicine man and creator of charms in between bounties for cash. He is a practitioner of Swamp Witchdoctor Magic.

Appearance
Standing at about 5'11" with a sturdy stature, Hyde is a well built man with a strong upper body. With his blond hair held back in a ponytail, his dark violet eyes have a confident gaze to them. He usually dresses in simple yet elegant attire, wearing a light teal dress shirt unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up, a vibrant lavender sash, and a dark purple coat with lavender trims along with a pair of grey slacks secured by a dark brown belt, two additional belts decorated with straw and burlap dolls resting on his hips and cutting across his chest. No matter whatever he wears or wherever he goes, he always seems to have mud and straw on the bottom of his thick black boots. The mud is usually dry unless he has used magic recently. He also wears a small teal/lavender banana decorated with gold, ebony and ivory carved beads.

As a traveler from a rather distant location, he has a thick foreign accent. When he speaks, he speaks with a deep Creole accent, often inserting french phrases in between southern slang.

Personality
Hyde usually has a very relaxed demeanor. He speaks with a calm, mellow tone and deep Creole accent, often inserting french phrases in between southern slang. He has a very laid-back nature, taking time to smell the swamp flowers. In some cases, this can greatly aggravate others as he dawdles around.

Although he grew up very used to living in a quiet bayou town, he has a deep fondness for big cities, games, entertainment and large social gatherings. He is a compulsive gambler and drinker, finding risk thrilling and winning even more exciting.

Hyde is normally very kind and helpful, his laid-back personality often serving to calm down others and allowing him to focus on assisting them. He uses his Witchdoctor magic to create good-luck dolls or other beneficial charms that he sells or gives away as gifts.

In combat, he adores a challenge, often making playful bets in the middle of combat. If the battle looks grim, he will drop his mellow demeanor and adopt a dark, stern, and sadistic personality. His sadistic and hedonistic tendencies stem from his friendship with his possessed axe, Satchmo.

Bayou Swamp Witchdoctor Magic:
Hyde learned Witchdoctor magic as a young kid from a traveling herb salesman in his home town. Although the teacher was a Mountain Terrain Shaman, Hyde adopted the magic of his home town in the Bayou. As he came from a very superstitious village, his variety of Witchdoctor magic often takes the form of masks and human or beastly figures and utilizes straw, mud, moss and thorns. Hyde knows the following Witchdoctor spells:

Bayou Venom Toxin: Although not lasting long, this Toxin burns painfully and forms hideous black splotches along the point of infection. The splotches last longer than the actual Toxin and are extremely sensitive. The slightest touch can send the afflicted into agony. When used as an Antidote, it acts as a powerful pain killer.

Bayou Fever Toxin: The afflicted's eyes grow milky white, causing the target to hallucinate and suffer severe heat flashes. This unfortunately does not prevent the afflicted from being effected by Eye Magics such as Hyde's Noxious Eyes. When uses as an Antidote, it can be used to sober up those under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Bayou Night Toxin: The afflicted is lulled into exhaustion, eventually falling asleep within the space of one hour. If used in conjunction with the Bayou Fever Toxin, the afflicted will suffer horrific nightmares. When used as an Antidote, it can prevent night terrors.

Bayou Jinx Toxin: A unique Toxin to Hyde, the afflicted is plagued with bad luck. When used in conjunction with Voodoo Magic, the target takes the reflective damage of Voodoo Magic, regardless if they were the cause of it. When used as an Antidote, it can prevent bad luck.

Bayou Facade: A blackish purple flame erupts from Hyde's hands as a glowing outline of a mask rests against his face. Although looking like fire magic, it is actually swamp moss that burns with a phosphorescent purple glow. The mask appears differently when the spell is cast with Toxins.

Bayou Masquerade: Several figures and silhouettes of party-goers made from mud, brier, moss and straw emerge from the ground, circling Hyde before surging forward, "dancing" and striking out at anyone in their path. The figures all wear elaborate wooden masks, the masks varying if the spell is cast with a Toxin.

Hyde knows less combat oriented spells, but makes up for it using his toxins. Hyde primarily casts a toxin on his hands, on his dolls, or on Satchmo and attacks head on, occasionally using Maskfire to single out a person or if melee is too dangerous. He often uses his magic to make effigies as good luck charms or as hexing materials.

Human Possession
The Traveling Salesman Hyde learned his first magic from was capable of Seith Magic. Inspired by his mentor, Hyde decided to study Human Posession on his own. His grasp of soul manipulation is limited to commanding the souls to attack or act as shield as he primarily uses his magic energy for his Witchdoctor magic. He usually binds about four or more souls to straw or canvas dolls, arming them with pins, giving them Toxins and hurling them at enemies. Although simple and somewhat fragile, his dolls and souls are disturbingly fast and persistent. He can also temporarily bind souls to full-sized, stationary scarecrows he makes by hand or by using his Witchdoctor Control spell, having them serve as traps, sentries, or companions.

Possession Binding Ritual: From his learnings, Hyde stumbled across an old ritual to permenantly bind a soul to an object. When his mentor died, he performed the ritual to bind his mentor's soul into an axe. The new axe, who he calls Satchmo, had adopted his mentor's envy, determination, and sadistic nature. Hyde's new companion also began teaching him all the magic spells he had refused to teach him before, including his Eye Magic. However, he also imprinted his sadistic tendencies to his student.

Voodoo Magic
In order to defend himself, Hyde also pursued the study of Voodoo Magic. He has learned to use Voodoo Magic in a symbiotic usage with his other magics: He will use Human Possession to animate the dolls he spawns, and will use the Bayou Jinx Toxin to specifically target one person with the magic.

Noxious Eyes:
Satchmo taught Hyde the basics of his own Eye Magic spell, allowing Hyde to change it to his liking. Hyde altered the spell to echo and synergize with his Witchdoctor magic, allowing him to inflict a disturbing sickness with just a glance. Despite taking on the same energy and aesthetics of his Bayou Magic, he cannot apply Toxins to this spell.