Orias - Baron of the Stars

Got another badass character design for you, coming straight from the hand of God himself, MWTX!

Today's character is Orias, the Baron of the Stars.

Orias is a very unique character even in the universe of Cryopod. While other demons, angels, heroes, and so on rely on Mana to fuel their powers, Orias uses a different resource which gives him a massive, diverse array of powers.

Gemstones.

Embedded in Orias's body are dozens, if not hundreds of precious jewels. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and many more! By holding a gem in his hand and snapping his fingers, Orias can temporarily awaken its latent powers. Rubies give him control of fire magic, diamonds give him diamond-skin, and so on. The size and purity of each gem affects its power output, so digging for the finest quality gems is one of Orias's lifelong hobbies.

And that's really what separates Orias from the other demons. He doesn't grow gems naturally on his body, but instead has to mine them himself. Because of this, he is something of a recluse, choosing instead to dig away in mines on various worlds, hunting for the finest, rarest, most precious gems he can get his hands on. The petty quabbles of other demons and the constant fight to reach higher levels of demonhood mean nothing to him. If Orias were a human, he would be a shut-in playing games online all day long.

Even so, Orias is no slouch. Much like how Uriel was by any measurement one of the mightiest Archangels, Orias as a Baron possesses powers that nearly reach the level of Emperor. Embedded in his forehead is a mighty gem, one he forged himself, which he calls "The Beauteous One"! Multicolored and massive, this gem temporarily gives him divine powers when activated, but at the cost of exhausting his entire body and threatening to kill him.

Perhaps, if Orias were to reach the rank of Duke or Emperor, his Beauteous One might prove more potent, thanks to his body's enhanced durability.

...

Now, as an aside, I would like to say that I think Orias, in the early parts of Refresh, was a bit of a missed opportunity. I would very much like to go back and edit his early appearances, since I didn't come up with his current incarnation until halfway into the Ancient Era. The idea of him using gems wasn't a thing until I decided he needed to be fleshed out, somewhere around Part 120-130ish.

Even from the start of Refresh, I imagined Orias to use something flashy, like he could call down the power of the stars to guide him, or something. I imagined him as more of an ascetic shaman, or something. However, his powers never really "worked" in my head. He was going to be something like Dazzler from X-men, but I could think of a way to make his powers unique and interesting. I gave him the title Baron of the Stars, but decided to elaborate on it in the future.

The person who came up with his gem-powers was, of course, Kratsas. You see, I was trying to think of some way to make "Baron of the Stars" related to a different powerset, but I couldn't think of anything. Kratsas mentioned something to the effect of, "Well, stars are shiny. What else is shiny? Gems!" and that spark led me on a chase for powers related to gems. I finally honed the idea down to a point that I was proud with it on my own, but Krat's initial spark is what really gave Orias his unique moveset.

Another interesting thing involves his clothes and personality. Why is he a hermit who keeps to himself? Because, with a power as awesome as Gem Activation, where he can manipulate all the elements, it didn't make sense for him to stay out of the fight against Barbatos when Belial told him to leave. Surely, with all his awesome powers, he could have contributed, right? I made the decision to retroactively explain those changes by giving him something of a hermetic personality, making him disinterested in stuff like battling others unless necessary.

It's funny how a lot of changes in Cryopod Refresh came as a result of retroactive lampshading, but I'm really happy with how he's ended up. I won't spoil the future of Refresh, but I will say that Orias is going to be an important, if not pivotal figure in Season 3 of Refresh. Expect to see more of him after the Ancient Era!

Oh, and don't forget about his pupil from the Ancient Era... Davook. Who? Oh, just some nobody. He's probably not going to be important or anything...

Thanks for reading!