The Portrait of Zool

[The Portrait of Zool]

~Brief Description~

 

The Portrait of Zool is without exception remarkable in the fact that it is the only actual portrait in the Piazza of Portraits. A long time fixture at the Pen, he has served in varying capacities as fool, foil, and Friday. He is usually hanging above the grand fireplace of the Cabaret, but has been seen just about everywhere else in the Keep, as need be, carried there by spell or portage by his faithful servant Grimmael. Also, being a portrait, he has no quarters or room he calls his own, often referring to his home if asked as simply "the walls of the Pen". Zool often tells stories, either in narrative, or by actually rendering the story through the illustrative powers of his chromozool paint, filling his entire frame with the visually dramatized tale. In general the enchanted canvas presents an impenetrable barrier between the two and three dimensional realities, though a powerful spell could send an object either way, and the chromozool paint has been known to do strange things on it's own at times.

 

~Appearance~

 

The Portrait of Zool is a massive, gilt framed, full size standing oil portrait of the Archmage Zool, made even larger by the meter high Elvis-ish ducktail hairstyle wig, topped with a flamboyant curl (Sometimes called a 'voobah'). He is ordinarily dressed in black leather boots, pants and jacket, trimmed in red, with one hand resting jauntily on a silver handled walking stick, his other arm bent at the elbow, cradling a rubber chicken. The background is by default an outdoor scene, somewhat foggy and indistinct compared to the sharp detail and bright colors of the portrait himself, but of a low lighting, overcast and greenish, appearing to be the overgrown ruins of an ancient stone castle or fort. He can appear inanimate for long periods, only to suddenly come alive at inexplicable or opportune times.

 

 

~Personality~

 

Zool is equal parts passionate, headstrong, impetuous, impulsive, rash, vain, ambivalent, sentimental, drippy, insecure, simpering, idiotic, and brilliant. When corporeal, his days were marked by one ill-conceived confrontation after another, often disastrous, always in error. Incapable of subtlety, he would often machinate plans so grandiose, and demanding such ardent means, they were doomed from the start. Adept at the plain magic of science, he would often construct great machines, either of simple function (such as a 100 meter high vacume cleaner) or of such circumlocutious intention as to defy intelligible description (such as the 'Nowvator', which Zool himself is still scratching his head over). He was never very good at magic magic, but the Eradication archetype fit him so well that he often was able to succeed through sheer force of personality.

 

 

~History~

 

Zool was an Eradication Mage of Terra Old, transplanted as a permanent fixture of the Pen so long ago it was still just a plank tavern. No one is sure just how he came to be transformed into a portrait, but it is rumored that he somehow so enraged his muse (yet another ill-conceived confrontation) that she abducted the mage from the netherworld he had escaped to at the fall of Terra and took him to a hidden place, where she committed unspeakable acts of retribution upon his person, eventually delivering him to the Pen in his present state where he has resided ever since. In denial to this day, "I was framed," is all he has ever had to say about his ordeal.

 

 

~Skills & Familiars~

 

As with most frauds, his real powers lay not so much in his own skills as in the skills of those around him. Through the years Zool has collected a number of Familiars, which is fortunate as in his portraitured state he is unable to directly interact with the outside world, other than through the few means afforded by his peculiar enchantment.

 

Grimmael: Grimmael isn't actually a familiar, but has been Zool's faithful servant almost since day one. This is a good thing, as Zool is one of those people who really couldn't function for long without a caretaker. In Terra Old, Grimmael ran the household and did his best to keep Zool out of trouble in the first place. Now that Zool is an oil painting, he is charged with dusting and carrying Zool to any place that (Zool feels) demands his presence. Grimmael is of indeterminate age, appears of european descent, and is hideously scarred and impaired on the entire right side of his body (It is just like Zool to demand such aching tasks of such a dreadfully handicapped person). No one is sure why he has bonded to Zool so loyally, how he became so scarred, or what the horrible secret is which causes him to wail from nightmares when he sleeps.

 

The rubber chicken: The rubber chicken also came with him from Terra Old, where they had shared many adventures together, starting with a sword fight with Ozymandias himself. The rubber chicken is a rubber chicken; plucked, stretchy, empty of sinew, bone, or brain, yet somehow capable of great feats of strength and intelligence. Often managing to bail Zool out of the sticky situations he gets himself into, the rubber chicken has also been known to play a trick or two on Zool, which vexes him to no end. The rubber chicken, being made of a very flexible latex rubber, has the ability to go between the two dimensional and three dimensional worlds, making it Zool's only reliable connection to the 'real' world.

 

Matt, the toupee: Everyone needs to make a living, even in Hell. In the days of Terra Old, there were many unemployed Archmages around inbetween incarnations, as you could well imagine. It was during one of Zool's many MANY deaths that he tried a short career as a hairstylist, and even started making a name for himself (as the hairstylist from Hell), especially during a dubious exploration of the 'flaming hair' look. This resulted not only in his own permanent baldness, but also the end of a short (but brilliant!) career in fashion. Deciding to weave the most stylish pretend-pompadour in the history of Terra, he was inspired one day when he spied the long jet-black flowing tresses of a napping demon. The Demon awoke with hair much shorter, but Zool was probably even more surprised when his newly fashioned toupee seemed to have a mind of it's own. Fortunately, the furry familiar is not malevolent, but has been quite helpful, even eventually protective of Zool, on many occasions - though not also without the occasional good natured trick. Matt was a favorite among Zool's friends, as it loves an accepting lap, an appreciative pet, and emits the most soothing purr when happy. Unfortunately, Matt is also unable to leave the confines of the portrait.

 

 

~Capabilities~

 

Being an oil painting, Zool is capable of movement only in a two-dimensional space. The enchantment allows him to speak and move or do anything else as long as it follows the rule that the rendition remain as true to the subject as possible at all times, within the limits of the medium. He needn't manifest as Zool, however, but does have the power to present (or should I say 'represent') anything he can imagine. Disguise is an option, but if anyone looks closely his frame never changes, and there is a brass plate screwed to the bottom of the frame in plain view which reads "The Portrait of Zool". His figure appears to shrink if he walks into his background, though he can only go so far, limited by the resolution of the brush strokes. He can see and hear what is outside of his frame, within the normal capabilities of his eyes and ears on the canvas. He appears to breathe, but of course he does so only in the capacity of remaining a true rendition. If necessary, he can slip from one painting to another, though he dislikes doing that as the portrait's hosts never take kindly to strangers, and there are far too many paintings of great hunts and battles in the keep. Though there is no real substance to them, he has the power of manifesting the image of any object with him in his portrait, which he will often do to make a point or assist in the telling of a tale. Zool has no weapons, and little magic. There are some simple protective spells that protect his portrait itself (e.g. from fire or water), but otherwise, his only defense or offense is what he can say or show from within the confines of his painted prison.