Well, here I am, with my take on the character sheet
Feedback on it, of course, is appreciated (in particular, regarding the familiar idea I've had, to see if it requires balancing).
Name: Patchouli Knowledge
Personality: Towards humans and outsiders of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, cold and uncaring, sometimes even ruthless, but deep inside, she's calm, collected, and caring towards her friends, espicially Remilia Scarlet. She's also calcuating, curious, and always approaches problems with facts and logic.
Brief backstory:Patchouli, the currently 600 years old "One-Week Witch", was born in a Gensokyo village, a birth which was certainly both gifted and cursed alike. As a natural born Magician, she's immortal, has no need for necessities like food, and, of course, has a great affinity with magic : able to cast and learn a wide variety of magic types, though she has chosen to utilize the Chinese Wu Xin magic, which focuses on the five phases of the world : fire, water, earth, wood and metal, along with the Sun and the Moon, which also correlate to the days of a week, hence her nickname, the "One-Week Witch". However, she has also gained a bad reputation in and around her village, thanks to people viewing her as a wicked witch, and this turned her cold and reclusive towards humans. Apart from that, she also has been and still is in bad physical shape, so much so that her magic potential is way beyond what her phsyical body can handle.
Since a young age, Patchouli always had a fascination of reading and writing books, and learning new things. Over the centuries, she quickly learned most of what Gensokyo had to offer, and she has written a tremendous amount of books, which has earned her the title of "The Great Unmoving Library". She has also learnt a lot about the Outside World, among others, the major points of human history and culture, from Ancient China to the Renaissance, to modern-day events and folklore. Her plans of studying the world outside Gensokyo in greater detail came to a near-standstill when the Great Hakurei Barrier was created, sealing off Gensokyo from the Outside World.
Despite this, however, nothing could stop Patchouli from her goal of always bettering herself, and the wisdom and knowledge she has amassed over time have become practically unmatched. While the Barrier was certainly an obstacle in her way of further learning, Remilia Scarlet, a vampire, eventually arrived in Gensokyo with her mansion, an event which would prove to be a turning point in Patchouli's life. From smaller conversations, the two of them eventually built a close and lasting friendship, and Patchouli was given the offer to move into the mansion, where she could live her life in peace and quiet. She agreed, bringing her collection of books into the mansion's library : the Voile Library, adding her own knowledge to the mansion's already great collection of books, turning it into a practically infinite source of material for humans. One human, in particular, the self-proclaimed Ordinary Magician, Marisa Kirisame, has most certainly noticed the vast selection of books the library had to offer, and ever since, she has been "borrowing" books without returning them, or returning them late, with this course of action being frowned upon by Patchouli, but due to her condition, she isn't able to do much about it. Still, the walls of the mansion, as well as the friendships with the mansion residents, espicially Remilia and Sakuya Izayoi, the human maid, have allowed her to maintain her composure and to study in calm and peace, like she has always wanted to.
Now in her six-hundredth year, Patchouli feels that she has learned pretty much everything that Gensokyo had to offer : from the residence to the geography and its history. However, it's not enough. The barrier is seperating her from a vast world out there, and potentially even unsearched dimensions! She refused to just let it go, to stay in the dark like this. Thus, enlisting the help of Alice, a fellow human who has since ascended to become a Magician just like her, and, reluctantly, Marisa, she has begun to work on a spell that would, with permission, breach the barrier to allow further travels without actually damaging it. It's going to be a hard task, for sure, espicially with Marisa around, but the reward of getting to know even more would be well worth it.
Knowing that such a journey would be long and not without its dangers, Patchouli has also begun to work on a second project, keeping it a secret to herself, Remilia and Sakuya only, the only two people she could trust enough with it. Nicknaming it "Muteki", the Japanese word for "invincible", and taking some inspiration from Alice's dolls, it is designed to be a summonable familiar, taking on the form of a flaming energy sphere with the color(s) of the magic phase(s) Patchouli is currently using, that can act like an anchor point for Patchouli's spells, In essence, she could cast spells on Muteki, and then have it cast them or redirect them at Patchouli's intended target/location, allowing her to use magic and do attacks from angles not possible otherwise. It is also able to shield Patchouli from the five-phase spells she uses, should a foe turn such spells against them, but it can't take much damage before being forced to retreat, and thanks to it still being in a primordial stage, its capacity is way below her middle-level spells, which means that it's really frail and easily neutralized. However, smart usage of it could prove to be really beneficial in the long run.
With Muteki as an option, and with Alice and Marisa helping with the main project, the breaching spell, she's tirelessly working on it, eager to see what lies beyond the boundary.
Motive:The main motivation is knowledge, of course. While Gensokyo has had its fair share of knowledge to offer, Patchouli knows that there is way more than that to learn out there. And, while it's a long stretch, she might be able to find a way to better her physical health, or at least improve her spellcasting capability.
Quotes:"Is there anything else you want to say? No? Good. Now, let me get back to my studying. This is really important."
"Are you humans always so... foolhardy? No wonder conflicts among your kind are everyday occurences."
"What I lack in physical capability, I more than make up for with my magic. Don't judge me by my looks alone."
