Strodes Cain

Strodes Cain is the proclaimed Scion of Envy.

Cain is arguably even more indecisive than the Scion of Sloth, Alyss. He takes on the demeanor of someone who is in a constant state of longing, occasionally melodramatically, though most often it simply rests in a melancholic state, his eyes wandering into the distance and watching the world as it goes by.

His goal in life is to obtain, or have within reach, everything the world has to offer, though he has left this meaning ambiguous.

Riddled with envy, he believes that once he has everything that he will truly achieve happiness, something that has evaded him thus far in li

He was one of the original three members of the Scions, prior to the actual creation of it and while the idea of rebelling and leaving their homeland was still in the works alongside Starfall Nyx and Starfall Hecate, and he finds himself in a position of authority of most of the other members of the newly-formed Apocryphon Pirates because of this, something that was unspoken during the activity of The Scions group, however has seemingly become more and more official, especially with the allowance for expansion within their ranks after transitioning to a pirate group.

## Appearance

Cain stands at average height, and sports short, white hair. He always carries himself with a rather melancholic demeanor, as if he always feels as if his life just isn't going the way he wants it to.

He wears a necklace with tags on it, the meaning of them marking him as a certain title within Horon society, and especially within the Aokoto Faith.

Cain holding his tagsCain looking down
## Personality

Cain is a very jealous person, and grows depressed very easily when there's something he wants that he doesn't yet have, which is all the time, incidentally. He conversely enjoys being with others, though, and when alone he gets even more depressed. While his near-allies know of his constant state of jealousy, it would not be obvious to someone who didn't know him, who might just see him as depressed.

He does enjoy being around others, but he'll become reclusive after too much social strain. This isn't because he's introverted, but rather because he feels as if he's just less than the people around him. It's a strange inferiority complex, as he can only see in others what he doesn't yet have.

However his method of speaking, often perceived as slow and melancholic, is not a result of his personality itself, but instead a traumatic event that occurred during his childhood. He occasionally breaks free from these tendencies, become hyperactive, however in this state his stamina diminishes extremely quickly, and thus he must get the help of Starfall Hecate to cool it down when this occurs.

## Relationships

Cain desires and flourishes in the presence of strong bonds, and has a deep loyalty to those he can consider his 'friends,' being the former members of the Scions and the current members of the Apcryphon Pirates. To strangers he doesn't make an active, or rather visible, effort to garner friendly relations, however on the inside he craves it, simply unable to express himself.

Raine Lilith - Cain and Lilith spend an excessive amount of time together, almost always being tasked together on missions. They fight well and in synergy with each other, however their greatest strength regarding one another is that they have come to intrinsically understand each other's personalities and desires. Cain also enjoys listening to Lilith rant on in conversation, letting her do the talking, which she takes pleasure in, and nodding along, sometimes even with a smile creeping onto his face.

Entia Sharaz - Cain has a love/hate relationship with Sharaz. He adores Sharaz's personality, him seeing it as one of confidence borne through effort, though he loathes the devil fruit Sharaz ate, as it represents the epitome of something that Cain himself strives to be, one who can have anything and everything of themselves.

Starfall Nyx - Cain is unwaveringly loyal to Nyx, as well as her sister, and was one of the three original members that took part in planning the creation of the Scions alongside them. The three have a very long history, and they've known each other for the majority of their lives. Cain and Nyx has respect for each others' temperaments and demeanors, and they appreciate each others' company whenever it comes by. Nyx is also one of the few people Cain opens up to about his angers sparked from his jealousy, and the two vent to each other sometimes if given the chance. Prior to Nyx's obtainment of her devil fruit, she and Cain had developed a series of synergistic combat moves, though these have been seen less and less in the wake of Nyx's newfound power.

Starfall Hecate - Like with Nyx, Hecate and Cain easily open up to each other as well, and share the same long history as the aforementioned. Something that only Cain. Nyx, Hecate, and Lilith know is that Cain was part of the Sword Saint Candidate program during his stay within the Aokoto temple, and because of this he spent a lot of time with Hecate during his earlier years, even more than Hecate spent with her own sister, and the two were made to spar frequently with each other as well. In the toxic social environment that as the Sword Saint Candidate program, the two formed a tight bond, watching each others' backs and spending much time together when possible.

Skarlow Enya - Cain and Enya don't have the best relationship, but to be fair Enya doesn't have the best relationship with anyone, being quick to anger and having excessively violent. That said, the two can tolerate each other, and Cain makes an effort to be friendly with Enya whenever he can, hoping to be able to confidently call her a friend.

## Abilities & Powers

**Creative Vision:**

Cain has a brilliant mind, and is extremely creative in both applications of himself, and of his devil fruit as well. It's a trait that once defined him, and he used to be an eccentric and enthusiastic person in his younger years, often drawing beautiful and unique paintings, thinking up solutions that could help improve the lives of other, him coming from a nation rife with inequality, and singing freely to his own personal tune. He was cheerful, and everyone knew it. He was smart and special in a way that saw him coming up with solutions many wouldn't have even thought about, though this put him in bad word with the authorities back home, who didn't like change. He still is able to come up with unique solutions to work out problems, however he is now completely silent regarding them. A dull haze has shrouded his eyes, and while he still holds many of the same talents and ideas as he once had, they are sequestered now within his mind, rarely seeing the light of day. He does still find some cool things to use his devil fruit ability for, though.

**Way of The Sword:**

Cain is extremely proficient with the sword, having trained from a young age with it, notably alongside Starfall Hecate. He is naturally talented, and extremely creative in his swordplay, though this meant nothing to the cut and dry teachings of the Aokoto Sword Saint Candidate program, which he was a member of, also alongside Starfall Hecate. The two sparred often with each other, both for fun and forced, and Cain tutored Hecate with some of his own special moves, though he himself rarely uses them nowadays. Within the Sword Saint Candidacy, Cain was named to be the successor to the third Sword Saint position, being recognized as a prodigy in swordplay, however this transition never occurred, with the Scions being formed and him escaping the nation before this came to fruition. While he is extremely skilled with the sword, he, since leaving the Horon Empire, has not once used his blade that yet resides on his hip, it being attached to a dark memory from his past.

**Walls of Glass:**

Cain has a strange and powerful ability that gives him an unnatural level of observation. While not physically being able to see past objects, he can often tell exactly what and how many of something resides just beyond what the eyes can see, and often finds himself correct in his deductions. While he has multiple other methods of detection, this is completely unaided, and it is as if he can feel the presences and souls of those around him themselves, unbarred by obstacles between them.

### Physical Prowess

**Speed and Agility:** Cain is both athletic and acrobatic, and is a strong athlete overall, able to run at fast speeds, in both bursts and duration, and can maneuver around obstacles without too much trouble, though the less static they are the harder is obviously become. He has great evasive reaction time, almost as if he has a sixth sense telling him to dodge before he consciously perceives what he needs to dodge from himself. Lilith once referred jokingly as this being a "bootleg version of Whispers of the Wind," which is an Aokoto technique known by the foremost masters and Sword Saints of the art who have an uncanny ability of "hearing" an incoming attack subconsciously to a supernatural degree.

**Strength:** Can is naturally powerful, however he almost never exerts his full strength capacity. He has been seen lifting massive amounts of weight when by himself or when its regarding things of either utmost importance or no importance at all, he seemingly loses this reserve when only moderately focused on it, it being restrained by some mental block that strays in his mind when he fights. This has led him to losing fights that, sheerly by physicality and ability, he should have won, though he finds himself able to harness his full strength for others in their time of need.

**Endurance:** Cain's body, just as with all of his comrades from the Horon Empire, is extremely tough, subjected to years of battering, pain, and damage. His skin can work as a shield enough by itself often times against weak blades, and the points of spears might shatter on impact. He has absolutely no resistance to any form of poison or chemical aside from agents that focus on mind-alteration, though makes up for this with his immense durability when it comes to purely physical strikes. He additionally has a very high tolerance/resistance for fire, which is a substance that he found himself in frequent contact with in his younger years.

### Fighting Style

Cain has been trained in the martial art of Aokoto, and thus has an extremely high durability due to the activities that came alongside the education. He was designated as one of the Sword Saint Candidates of the Horon Empire, and thus has additionally trained his offensive prowess with the sword as well, though it doesn't fully translate to raw power when unarmed. He practiced Aokoto for 13 years, and notably trained alongside both Starfall Nyx and Starfall Hecate for nearly the entirety of this duration.

Cain is able to use a spawn-conduit, which is a rare conduit add-on that allows a student of Aokoto to alter the shape of their designated standard conduit, similar, but not the same, as what can be seen with Changeling Blades. Cain's conduit is his sword, which becomes encased with a light blue and green aura when activated. It's spawn-feature is that anything that the sword touches/connects with in this state will be marked with the color of the aura. The sword then finds itself repelled by a mark spot, being completely unable to touch it, sliding off frictionless on impact. Marks can be consciously made to not appear on a target, and marks can be willfully removed by Cain. While this technique doesn't seem intuitive at first, it can allow Cain to glide his sword past enemy blades, piercing opponents unexpectedly as their resistance can be rendered null.

Within Aokoto, Cain has mastered the following techniques:

* **Kasha:** The user closes their eyes, and upon re-opening them they become null to any sensation of pain that has managed to bypass their natural defense, however without neutralizing their own ability to act, as what might occur through numbing.

* **Aberin:** The user taps various points on their body, priming them with immobility and tough skin. If utilized correctly, these points can be used as a mode of armor even when the user finds themselves without any physical armaments.
* **Dore:** The user taps their eyelids with their fingers, shifting energy from their hands to their eyes. This immediately weapons the raw strength/power output of the user, however it drastically improves vision, allowing the user to see in multiple magnifications, as well as alternate waves of light such as infrared and ultraviolet.
* **Sora:** The user punches/slashes/hits the air in a direction. For so long as the air maintains its shape, the user can literally jump onto the air, and ride it in a manner similar to a surfboard, though alterations in direction require additional gusts to be made.

Within Aokoto, Cain has also learned the following techniques reserved only for those who are Sword Saint Candidates:

* **Bell:** The user slashes the air with their blade, sending a gust of razor sharp wind in the exact pattern and shape they slashed in the direction they slashed at, travelling, if unobstructed by air patterns, until it collides with a liquid or solid state of matter. (Or near-either) On impact it will deal roughly 60% of the slashing damage the blade would if it connected itself.
* **Klink:** The user "rings" the air like a bell, actuating themselves and allowing them to naturally detect motion within a short radius, and subsequently subconsciously/naturally react to unknown, or designated stimuli.
* **Panner:** The user slashes in a direction and rescinds their blade along the exact path it just took. This causes their blade's appearance to distort in the air within the exact trajectory they just slashed in, making it hard to discern the exact location of the blade. Upon moving, this effect dissipates. (When user moves)
* **Form - Third Leaf:** The user's blades become surrounded by beautiful, yet deadly razor sharp leaves. These leaves are created under two conditions: The first is when the user's blades clash with another, which will cause the leaves to passively spawn, hovering and shooting out from around the user's sword. The second is by the user swiping their hand across the flat side of their blade, which sees it become sheathed in razor sharp leaves. When slashing, slicing, or doing any other motion with the sword, all nearby leaves will shoot along this same path, potentially being used as a projectile weapon however being proficient most in close combat, as the attacks from the leaves becomes hard to dodge. This technique is reserved for Sword Saint Candidates slated to be strong enough to enter the ranks of the Arch Saints. Additionally, it can only be used by a sword designated as the user's conduit.

Within Aokoto, Cain has developed the following conduit techniques:

* **August/Water:** Cain's blade becomes hot to the touch, though the hilt remains a normal temperature. Upon connecting with biotic matter (people, grass, etc) the blade will send a hot sensation to the target on impact, and then will immediately send another sensation, this one being freezing cold. This attack can see a sharp pain against the skin due to the rapid and polar shift in temperature in the strike.
* **Shen Sharra:** Cain angles his blade to parry an oncoming attack. When the attack reaches within his range, he parries, and angles it in a fashion that his blade does not shoot forwards towards his opponent, but rather his opponent's mode of attack itself turns around in direction, being sent back at them. Depending on the opponent and what is reversed, this technique can either be deadly or completely useless.

Within Aokoto, Cain has developed the following spawn-conduit technique:

**North Pole:** Cain marks a location with his sword on contact. He can control whether or not this mark remains active or is removed, and for so long as it remains his sword will become frictionless when entering in contact with the marked spot, gliding past it yet still remains with friction if the marked spot applies force upon the sword, still allowing it to effectively block. Marks when North Pole is active shine a dim bright blue.

**South Pole:** Cain marks a location with his sword on contact. It functions similar to above, however rather than being unable to hit the marked spot, his sword becomes only able to hit the marked spot, and his blade will consciously change it's trajectory so that it hits the marked spot when in range. Marks when South Pole is active shine a dim green.

## Equipment

Cain carries a multipurpose knife in his pocket at all times, and can be seen with a sword resting at his hip. However, he has not wielded his sword in combat since joining the Scions, and further the Apocryphon Pirates, refusing to draw his blade for unknown reasons.

Cain's sword's name is **Gale**.

He tends to rely solely on his devil fruit in combat, though as they are versatile and diverse, this has not posed any significant problems thus far.