Plague

Plague, about to dissect some Wraiths

### Relatives

Elliot Cardigan (stepson/adopted son), Unnamed ex-wife (deceased), Unnamed parents, Unnamed siblings

## Backstory

*He never really wanted much in life.*

*Sometimes, when he closes his eyes, Plague would often envision what it would've been like if he had been born into a different circumstance than the one he got. He envisioned having a loving family, one who would care for him, try their best to understand and support, and just be there for him. He imagined that he would settle down with a nice lady or fellow and they would have two amazing children to care for and love. He would often daydream about having a group of friends, each with their own skills and flaws but the one constant being their loyalty to each-other. A life that seems so peaceful, so blissful. A life that seemed perfect.*

*But then he would open his eyes to the cruelty of reality. His family doesn't love him, his so-called "friends" were nothing more than parasites, and the person that he hoped to build a life with has departed from this world too soon.*

*From the moment he took his breath of life, the world was out to make him suffer. Growing up, his family was poor and desperate, obsessed with wealth and luxury and willing to do anything to get it. He was taught from a young age that everyone is your enemy, including your family. Plague would spend his days wandering the streets, scamming and pickpocketing without discrimination and spend his nights hiding his earnings from the others of his family. Sometimes he would wander the streets and catch glimpses of other families and how they would treat each-other. No distrust, no loathing, nothing but kindness and love and joy. Those were the people he hated most back in his childhood. Why couldn't he have what they have? Why couldn't his family love him unconditionally? What made others more privileged than him to experience what happiness is like?*

*In his adulthood, he eventually lost all hope that he can ever know what happiness was like. Lost his sense of innocence to the sickness of the reality that not everyone is born with a loving family.*

*One day, after another successful morning of pickpocketing, Plague arrived home to something strange. Something that was unnatural and should not be possible in his family. His parents had greeted him warmly, with smiles and hugs. They had treated him kindly.*

*That immediately set off many red flags inside of his mind.*

*Plague had thought that he was possibly hallucinating, that maybe one of the wallets he stole was drugged or something. And yet, his parents continued to showering him with love and kindness. To his shock, the rest of his family was doing the same thing, often asking things like "how was your day?" or "did you sleep well?" and so on. There had actually been a few times where he thought he finally lost his mind but he endured. He knew there was no way his selfish family would suddenly take interest in him unless they wanted something from him or some God took pity on him and forced them to treat him like this.*

*Soon enough, he was right. Earlier that week, his parents had come across an article stating that the Cardigan family, a very wealthy and influential name, was looking for suitors to marry their eldest daughter and to help raise her son, Elliot. His family put together a scheme afterwards: Plague would be introduced to the family as a suitor for the daughter and slowly gain their trust and then marry into their family so that they could drain them of all the wealth that they had. Despite his hatred for his family, Plague agreed to the plan only because he had his own scheme of betraying his family and leaving them with nothing by the end of it.*

*When he first met the family, he was taken aback by how kindly they treated him despite not knowing much about him yet. They welcomed him into their mansion, let him settled into one of the guest room and made sure he was well-fed each day. He didn't understand. He knew that not all people were like his family, being capable of compassion and selflessness but these people were **rich**. They could have anything and everything they could ever want. He could not process how these people could be so genuine with their kindness without any ulterior motives. Kindness and richness are two things that should never be paired together!*

*As the months flew by, Plague began to doubt himself for the first time in years. Back on the street, he would not think twice before stealing someone's wallet and yet he was hesitating to deceive a family whose wealth would be a guaranteed shortcut to the good life. Deep down he knew why. He had grown attached to these people. The parents, who had already begun seeing him as their own son. The daughter, whom he shared mutual attraction towards. And finally Elliot, who would look at him with such admiration and wonder that it physically suffocated him with guilt over tricking him. He kept the charade going, slowly descending deeper into self-loathing until he finally snapped.*

*It had been his birthday, a day that he greatly hated since his family barely cared enough to mention it. There would be no cakes, no birthday cards, not even a single "have a nice day" whenever it came up so he stopped caring. With the Cardigan family, it was the complete opposite. They would wish him a happy birthday, take him out to shop for gifts, and then they ended dinner that night with a 10-foot tall birthday cake for dessert. Plague finally couldn't take the guilt anymore and confessed his family's plan and how he doesn't deserve their kindness for all the lies he's been telling.*

*Eyes closed and ready for his punishment, Plague was left surprised once more when the family admitted to having known the whole time. The daughter, his fiancee, explained how they knew of his family's plot but saw that he wasn't like them, that he wasn't completely willing to what they were planning. Processing what they had said, Plague felt something else that he hasn't felt in a long time.*

*Relief.*

*Relief that he didn't need to steal, relief that he didn't need to lie, relief that he was finally free.*

*The very next day, Plague officially married into the family and adopted the last name Cardigan, disowning any connection to his former family and caused their plan to completely crash down. Despite his newfound happiness and life, Plague still felt guilt over his lying and decided to get a job to repay his new family for everything they had spent money on for him. They insisted on paying for his education but he denied it, claiming that he wanted to take responsibility of where his decisions might take him and not cause more problem for the Cardigans. What he had not expected was how difficult it would be to find and keep a position in the work force.*

*Job after job, failure after failure, Plague was forced to fall back on old habits as he stole and pickpocket people that he would find on the streets. Whenever his family called him, he would lie and say how he was currently working at various places and saving up money to study at a medical school. This continued for another four months until tragedy struck. He came home to his apartment after another day of successful steals when his father-in-law called and informed that his wife died in a shooting. He felt his world fall apart that day. His wife, one of first people to show him unconditional love, was gone.*

*In his despair, he came to another realization. Elliot was now left motherless and with a thief for a father. He knew that things might not have went differently but part of him wondered if he had not left, if he had not lied, then maybe she would've lived and Elliot would have both parents.*

*Swallowing his pride, Plague asked his family to help pay for his tuition and started taking his studies seriously. Unfortunately, despite excelling in his work, he was expelled due to behavioral issues. This did not deter him as he would often sneak in during lectures and hide from sight, taking notes on the topic and then leave. One day, he came across a group of criminals who came back from a heist. Several of their members were injured and he was taken hostage since he saw them leave the scene. Knowing that he would likely die if he did nothing, Plague lied about how he was a back alley doctor and is willing to tend to their friends' injuries and keep his silence in exchange for his freedom. This worked and he soon parted ways with criminal when he kept his end of the deal.*

*Unfortunately for him, word spread through the underground about him and soon enough, more and more people would go to him to deal with illnesses and wounds. Plague wisely did what he was told, knowing that they would kill him if he didn't and also because the pay was huge. Each month he would send the money he gained to help repay his in-laws and for Elliot's education, even though he didn't want his son's future to be financed with blood money. A year or two later, he caught word from one of his patients that their gang was planning to infiltrate and raid a rich family's mansion but he dismissed it initially since there were countless rich families and mansion where they lived. It wasn't until he got a panicked call from his mother-in-law did he realize that they were going after his family.*

*Yet again, it was his fault that everything he loved was endangered. He chose to help those monsters just because they had stacks of flimsy green paper. He was a coward who was too afraid to know when to say no, and now he was about to pay for that mistake. Not even thinking of the consequences, Plague raced to his family's rescue.*

*They were good people.*

*They didn't deserve this. They didn't deserve him coming into their lives and ruining it.*

*Memories of how they had cared for him, taught him how to live instead of exist, how they had **freed** him made him abandoned all desires to run and hide. These people were more than family to him. They were his whole world and he would be damned if he lost them.*

*He was so caught up in his rush that he did not noticed something was following him. Something that was prepared and patiently waiting for the moment when Plague called upon its power.*

## Bio

Plague is a curious individual. Despite his polite appearance, everything he does is primarily self-centered, only working for himself and his son Elliot, whom he dotes on excessively. Another thing surprising about him is how young he looks despite almost entering his 30's. Outside of Masketeer work, he is a popular novel writer under the alias of Curious Cardigan.

As a Masketeer, he often treats Wraiths as patients who need "to be cure," i.e. exterminated. he also likes to make doctor related quotes, likely as a result of his other occupation. He recently moved to Lasoa City with his son as a break from writing, but sadly he couldn't get a break from Masketeer work.

## Basic Info

* Code Name: Plague
* Real Name: Ridley Cardigan
* Affiliation: Lasoa City Masketeers
* Gender: Male
* Age: 29
* Sexual Orientation: Bisexual with a female preference.
* Birthday: October 13th
* Hair Color: Blonde
* Eye Color: Grey
* Blood Type: AB
* Height: 6'02
* Weight: 200 lbs.
* Unique Features: His pupils occasionally become slits, similar to that of a cat. This mainly happens when he is stressed or feeling any negative emotions.
* Spirit Animal: Rat
* Color Associated: Black and shades of Orange
* Motivation/Inspiration: To ensure his son has a successful and happy future.
* Weapon: Scythe and Syringes

* Ultimate: Wraith's Respite- All Masketeers will take no damage from Wraiths for 5 seconds but will lose 5% of their HP per second. If 5 or more Wraiths were killed during this period, all Masketeers will have their Damage, attack speed, and dodge chance increased by 40% for 10 seconds. If less than 5 Wraiths were killed during this period, all Masketeers will immediately be reduced to 5% of their HP.

#### Talents

Tier 1:

* **Damage Boost**
* **Health Boost**

Tier 2:

* **Prescription Shot**- When an enemy dies, all surviving enemies have their attack speed lowered by 30% and will take 30% more damage for 10 seconds. (Max upgrade)
* **Doctor's Note**- While Plague is alive, all Masketeers have their revival time reduced by 25%. (Max upgrade)

Tier 3:

* **Curious Poison**- At the beginning of each wave, Plague will have a 50% chance to throw syringes at 3 random enemies, dealing 150% damage and also inflicting Burn, Freeze, or Static on them for 10 seconds. (Max upgrade)
* **Daunting Pulse**- Masketeers under 75% of their HP have their critical chance increased by 5% and dodge chance increased by 30%. (Max upgrade)

Tier 4:

* **Doctor's Oath**- Wraith's Respite duration is increased by 3 seconds. Masketeers have their Damage, attack speed, and dodge chance by 60% or HP reduced to 20% instead if the right conditions are met. (Max upgrade)
* **Proper Burial**- While Plague's ultimate is active, all Masketeers have their critical chance increased by 10% and their auto-attacks can steal 20% Sparks. (Max upgrade)

Tier 5:

* **Curious Hex**- Masketeers that have barrier while Plague's ultimate is active will instead heal 5% of their HP per second. Enemies that are debuffed or inflicted with an elemental status effect have their attack speed and accuracy lowered by 40% while Plague's ultimate is active. (Max upgrade)

#### Orb Skills

* **Scalpel I**- Deals 120% damage.
* **Scalpel II**- Deals 150% damage.
* **Scalpel III**- Deals 140% damage to all enemies. All Masketeers lose 5% of their HP but have their critical chance increased by 5% for 10 seconds.
* **Scalpel IV**- Deals 160% damage to all enemies. All Masketeers lose 10% of their HP but have their critical chance increased by 10% for 10 seconds.
* **Scalpel V**- Deals 200% damage to all enemies. All Masketeers lose 15% of their HP but have their critical chance increased by 15% for 10 seconds. Their auto-attacks also steal 20% Sparks for 10 seconds.

#### Notable Personality Traits

* Has abandonment issues.
* Has a hard time trusting people. Especially people who remind him of himself and his past.
* Depression at one point in his life but he managed to cope.
* Likes to make medical references while talking.
* Is extremely good at dancing and playing instruments. Especially the piano.
* Is normally calm unless something bad happens to his son or in-laws.
* Has massive Chaotic-Neutral energy.
* He laughs whenever he sees a villain, both real-life and fiction, loses and/or dies.
* Sympathizes with homeless and poor people and would slip them money. Mostly gives either 10 or 20 bucks. Occasionally might give more.
* He is ambidextrous.
* Learned hacking from his time as a back-alley doctor, mainly so he could protect his private information.
* Obsessed with butterscotch.
* Likes playing video games in his free time. He livestreams during weekends.

#### Likes/Dislikes

Likes:

* His son, Elliot.
* His son being happy.
* His in-laws.
* Writing books.
* Nighttime walks.
* Playing the piano.
* Bitter coffee.
* Helping others (if it benefits him).
* Cleanliness.

Dislikes:

* Elliot being upset or angry.
* Elliot getting hurt.
* Caramel (he had a traumatic incident involving it).
* Wraiths.
* Grammatical errors.
* Uncleanliness.
* His birth family.
* Being reminded of his past.
* Helping others (if it doesn't benefit him).
* His part-time "job."
* Optimistic people (except for Elliot).
* Abandonment.

## Trivia

* Despite being 29, he's actually pretty youthful in appearance.
* His scythe is named "Scalpel."
* Is very fascinated with Wisps and has considered experimenting on them a few times.
	+ On another note, Wisps tend to avoid him.
* A big fan of classic music but is open-minded to any kind of genre.
* He reads fanfics. Partially because he likes it, but mainly so he can critique how well-written they are.
* Ridley had his bisexual awakening during his brief time studying in college.
	+ He had a no-strings attached relationship with both his (now former) roommates.