Beritoad

**Beritoad** was a wraith who lived in Torcia Tower. Stuck in the form of a toad following the Battle of Horaga Cave, he manipulated Hank Fieron, as well as his "daughters" later on, into torturing victims at the tower so he could use their suffering to restore his magical power.

## History

### Early Life

Due to deriving power from the negative emotions of others, Beritoad began killing humans to become stronger, earning the opposition of both humans and wraiths. He soon after founded the organization Père Noël, leading its members to kidnap people for the wraith to torture and gain more power from. Him and his organization members were later confronted by the royal army at their base in Horaga Cave; during the conflict, Beritoad cast bolts of lightning from the top of a hill, setting fire to nearby trees and causing a cave-in that trapped many of the soldiers on either side.

At some point, Beritoad influenced one of his victims, Selma Atwood, into going insane, also getting her pregnant with a son, Raymond. Eventually, the wraith was defeated by the military commanders Hank Fieron and Romalius, forcibly drained of his power by the latter and reverting to a weaker, toad-like form.

Newly powerless, Beritoad hid within Torcia Tower to regain his strength, having Hank torture war prisoners for this purpose. He also worked with the man to eliminate any survivors of the battle to prevent anyone from knowing where he was. Five years later, he discussed recent developments with Hank as they tortured another victim, the trumpeter Marco; they also brought up how Selma, Romalius, and Hargain Crossrosier had all survived the battle. Later on, Beritoad learned from Rabiah that Hank had been murdered by Raymond.

### The Torture Sisters

Roughly twenty-five years later, Beritoad told Gibbet, Rack, and Maiden that they were the torture instruments of Hank Fieron, and that they needed to torture and kill people so that they could increase the wraith's power and bring back their "father". Sometime later, he informed Gibbet that intruders had entered the tower, saying that one of them had attempted to touch the Pot of Basuzu.

On a later date, after talking with Gibbet about a strange dream she had, he noticed three intruders to the tower. Recognizing one of them as Raymond, he ordered Maiden to kill them immediately; he was later disappointed when Raymond managed to escape from their clutches.

When Raymond returned a week later, Beritoad invited him to the chapel on the top floor and the two discussed Raymond's birth and Beritoad's plans to kill Romalius and regain his former strength. Before the former could attack, Rack entered the room and interrupted the two. Beritoad then hopped on Rack's shoulder as she attacked Raymond, remaining unharmed after she was eventually defeated. As Gibbet hesitated to kill him, Beritoad angrily told her that he had killed their father, resulting in Rack transforming into the form of a giant wolf and stepping on the wraith.

### Trials with Crossrosier

Half a year later, Beritoad expressed frustation at noticing Raymond entering the tower, along with Tsukumo and Liam Highland, telling Rack and Maiden to deal with them. After Raymond made it to the chapel, Beritoad asked him about Tsukumo, watching as Liam prevented both sides from killing each other. The trio then kidnapped Beritoad and brought him to the Crossrosier Mansion.

There, he was placed inside a tube in the mansion's lab and interrogated by Hargain Crossrosier about the "Ending Records" he possessed. Later, Hargain also vivisected him and studied his powers of alchemy. When Rabiah and the three sisters went to rescue him, he watched the fight outside with minimal interest; noting alound that Tsukumo's powers seemed to resemble Hargain's own, he listened as the sorcerer explained how the girl got her powers.

Soon after, Hargain died from overusing his powers. When the three sisters found him, Beritoad explained Tsukumo's powers to them, only for them and Liam to suddenly leave to go find Raymond. Realizing he was now free, Beritoad hopped out of the tank he was in, expressing disappoint that Hargain had died without expriencing any fear. Later on, back at Torcia Tower, Beritoad and Rabiah discussed Gibbet's existence; as the girl in question arrived to report on an incident, Beritoad her to have Rabiah investigate it.

### Siege of the Tower

At some point, Beritoad conversed with Rack and Maiden about the history of the tower and the outside world, before getting bored and telling the sisters to get back to work. Several days later, Beritoad senses the craftsman Garness Elsebert climbing the side of the tower, though not perceiving him as a threat. As the two banter, Garness reveals that he had come there to fix a defect in Maiden's design and Beritoad lets him be off. When he was finished, Beritoad tried to get him to stay, but the craftsman refused, before hinting that he knew Rack's "true identity" and then escaping when Beritoad ordered the sisters to kill him.

Weeks after this, Beritoad watched as a small army of people broke into the tower; as several of them are killed off, the wraith absorbs their suffering and empowers himself with them. During this, when asked by Gibbet about who she really is, he produces an octahedron gemstone that contains her memories. He then continued their conversation after she had viewed these memories, asking her what she wanted to do and be now. Suddenly, the two are attacked by Isaac, who was sent by the Père Noël Brotherhood to kill Beritoad; however, having regained his full power and changing into his original form, Beritoad blasts him away with a bolt of lightning.

Following the destruction of Torcia Tower, Beritoad escaped from the rubble along with the Rack-Karaum hybrid; the two then began fighting as they followed their instincts caused by the "rules" of the "new era". As Beritoad is slowly burned more and more, his wings are eventually compromised and he falls to the ground, begging Raymond for help. Working together with him and Tsukumo, they manage to defeat the hybrid after some initial difficulty.

### Rebirth of Torcia Tower

After the battle ended, Raymond attempted to kill Beritoad, who had returned to his toad form after using up the majority of his power, but was stopped by Rabiah swooping in and taking the wraith away to the north. The two partners then traveled to Melbiland Village, where they encountered Raymond and Tsukumo at the grave of the former's mother. After conversing with the two mourners, Beritoad traveled overseas to the east with Rabiah. Taking over an abandoned tower, Beritoad turned it into his new base of operations along with the three torture sisters, where they would continue torturing people for the sake of empowering the wraith.

## Skills and Abilities

Beritoad was one of the more powerful wraiths, possessing the ability to use alchemy, summon bolts of lightning, and even see the future. Additionally, he fed off the negative emotions of those around him, making it easier for him to accumulate large amounts of power with ease. Despite this, he could be weakened through having his power absorbed. This would cause him to revert to his animal form, rendering him a significantly weaker threat. Along with this, his clairvoyance was not completely foolproof, and he would occasionally interpret what he saw in the wrong way.

## Character Connections

Hank Fieron: Beritoad's enemy and later ally. Originally at odds with the military commander, Beritoad eventually allied with him to use him as a way to regain his lost power.

Gibbet: Beritoad's servant. Manipulating her for his own gains, he falsely told her that she was the "daughter" of Hank Fieron and that she needed to sacrifice the lives of people to resurrect him. He then named her "Gibbet" after the torture instrument that she was supposedly born from.

Rack: Beritoad's servant. Manipulating her for his own gains, he falsely told her that she was the "daughter" of Hank Fieron and that she needed to sacrifice the lives of people to resurrect him. He then named her "Rack" after the torture instrument that she was supposedly born from.

Maiden: Beritoad's servant. Manipulating her for his own gains, he falsely told her that she was the "daughter" of Hank Fieron and that she needed to sacrifice the lives of people to resurrect him. He then named her "Maiden" after the torture instrument that she was supposedly born from.

Raymond Atwood: Beritoad's son and later enemy. Though they haad a familial connection, the two were always at odds due to the wraith having driven Raymond's mother insane. Despite this, Beritoad could rarely work together with his son to defeat a common enemy, such as with the hybrid "Rack-Karaum".