User blog:Wassboss/A Lesson in Light and Dark: Baron Zeppeli vs Solomon Wreath

The old wise mentor is a common trope in media and in today's battle we see two of these teachers go head to head in an extra-curriculum assingment of death. While one teaches his student to harness the power of the sun to defeat the forces of the undead the other teaches the exact opposite, training his protege to harness the power of the darkness. When these two meet it's not just their lives on the line but also a test of whose magical discipline is strongest as;

Baron Zeppeli: Italian Hamon Master, on a mission to destroy the stone mask that has destroyed his life.

takes

Solomon Wreath: Necromancer Cleric, striving to initiate the mysterious ritual known as "the Passage".

Who is Deadliest

Baron Zeppeli


"Courage must know fear and make fear its own! Fear upsets breathing! Conquer fear and your breath will never fail you! Hamon breathing comes from courage! A good human is a brave human! Courage is a marvel of humanity"

- Baron Zeppeli

William A. Zeppeli also known as Baron Zeppeli, is a Hamon master hailing from Italy. After he witness first hand to horrors of the stone mask during his father's voyage to Mexico he travelled the world to find a way to destroy the cursed artifact eventually being taken in by Tibetan Monks who taught him the art of Hamon. He would later train Jonathan Joestar in the art of Hamon in order to defeat Dio.

Powers & Abilities 
 * Ripple: Known as Hamon in the east, Ripple is the usage of energy of sun rays through a special breathing technique which allows the user to harness solar energy as an attack. Mostly used as a way to combat the undead, Ripple will also cause a severe pins & needles feeling before fainting on a normal person. An object, while charged with Ripple energy, will become more dangerous, and its user can perform several techniques that can combine with the warrior's own tactics, to allow for a very flexible fighting style. The biggest weakness of this style is that the user must have controlled breathing in order to use Ripple and if the user cannot properly breathe (aka they were being choked) then it cannot be used. As a Ripple Master, Baron Zeppeli can use the following techniques;
 * Overdrive: Overdrive sends a large pulse of Ripple energy through an object.
 * Ripple Overdrive: Another usage of Overdrive is to channel the Ripple energy through the users arm to perform a powerful chop. This slowly transfers Ripple through the point hit, advancing until it blows up, with enough power to cut through solid bone.
 * Zoom Punch: The Ripple user launches their fist forward and strikes their opponent. This attack involves a ripple breathing technique that dislocates and stretches the joints to extend the arm and give it greater reach while also using the same ripple to dull the pain caused by the move.
 * Ripple Cutter: Zeppeli carries a glass of wine around with him at all times. Zeppeli can infuse this wine with Ripple which hardens it and makes it sharp enough to cut through solid objects as well as deflect other projectiles.
 * Sunlight Yellow Overdrive: A devastating and rapid flurry of Ripple infused punches with power comparable to the sun itself which can completely obliterate the undead.
 * Sendo Wave Kick: A powerful Ripple infused strike with the Knee.
 * Tornado Overdrive: Zeppeli channels Ripple through the lower half of his body and and dive bombs an opponent from above in a spinning motion much like a drill.
 * Healing: Ripple can also be used to heal the user to a certain extent. It can be used to eject poison from the bloodstream and heal broken bones.


 * Skilled Hand to Hand Combatant: On top of his impressive array of Ripple abilities Zeppeli is also a skilled hand to hand fighter able to go toe to toe with zombies and powerful vampires such as Dio Brando.

Solomon Wreath


"From the moment mankind took its first awkward step, it's been a long road to disaster. We hate each other. We fear each other. We're going to kill each other. One of these days, someone's going to go too far and every single one of us will die."

- Solomon Wreath.

Solomon Wreath is a high ranking member of the Necromancy Order and Free Lance detective. Unlike most Necromancers who spend their lives sheltered away inside a temple, Solomon acts as the representative for the Irish branch of the order. He has a bitter rivalry with Skulduggery Pleasant, which stems from an incident during the war when he helped Nefarin Serpine, the man who killed Skulduggery and his family, escape from the Dead Men.

Equipment Powers & Abilities 
 * Cane: Wreath stores his necromancy powers inside a Cane. Despite being made of wood Wreath's cane is incredibly durable able to block a strike from a Cleaver's scythe and if somebody else tries to use his cane then the shadows inside will tighten and crush their bones to dust.
 * Necromancy: Necromancy is a specialist form of Adept magic which is based around death. Necromancers are not well liked in the magical community with many mages considering them a cult as virtually all Necromancers are trained and raised inside various temples around the world. Necromancy mostly consists of manipulating shadows but can also be used to resurrect corpses as zombies and several lethal abilities such as Serpine's Red Hand of Death and Lord Vile's Death Bubble. All Necromancers have to channel their powers through an object of sorts (in Wreath's case his Cane) and if this object is destroyed or not at hand then they cannot call upon their Necromancy. Solomon Wreath can use the following Necromancy abilities;
 * Blades: Wreath can use his shadows to create blades able to cut through human flesh with ease. These blades manifest themselves in several ways from a large spike to jagged shards which can be fired as a projectile.
 * Needles: Wreath has also been shown using his Necromancy to create hundreds of tiny needles to fire at an opponent.
 * Wave of Darkness: A particularly powerful ability involves Wreath summoning up a large amount of shadows and using them in one large concentrated attack able to knock a person off their feet. This wave can also be ridden on the by user as a form of transport.
 * Shadow Walking: Particularly skilled Necromancers such as Wreath can also use a technique called Shadow Walking which acts as a sort of short range teleportation. Essentially the Necromancer creates a wall of shadows and steps into it, appearing somewhere else but only across a distance of less than a mile.
 * Shield: Necromancers can also use their shadows as a shield to block incoming projectiles such as bullets.
 * Tendrils: Shadows can also be used to create tendrils which can bind a person in place or be used as a strangulation device.


 * Skilled Combatant: As well as being a skilled Necromancer Wreath is also well versed in close quarters combat, both hand to hand and using his cane. He has been shown defeating Valkyrie Cain with relative ease and can fight on par with other more powerful mages such as members of the Diablerie.

X Factors
Training: Zeppeli=85/Wreath=85

Both of these men have dedicated their lives to learning their magic. Zeppeli met up Tonpetty as a young man and has gone through decades of rigorous training in the Himalayas to perfect his Hamon. Wreath more that likely grew up either in or near to a necromancer temple and has gone through many years of practical and theoretical learning.

Experience: Zeppeli=75/Wreath=85

Exactly how much experience Zeppeli actually has in combat is unknown as his background only really showed his training. That being said it's highly likely he's fought vampires & zombies in the past as showcased by his proficiency in combat and fought Dio, Tarkus and various other undead creatures during his time with Jonathan. Wreath on the other hand is 400 years old and while Necromancers are neutral in most conflicts he did take part in the War at least once holding off the Dead Men and his job as Temple Representative and Detective means he's out there more than the average Necromancer. Furthermore he's taken part in several battles within the series most notably the Battle of Aranmore Farm.

Determination: Zeppeli=90/Wreath=80

Ever since discovering the dark secret of the Stone Mask Zeppeli has dedicated his life to finding and destroying it. He purposely sought out Tonpetty and the Hamon Monks in order to train himself to fight the undead and scoured the globe for the cursed artefact and is even willing to lay down his life for his cause. Wreath seems mostly dedicated to initiating the Passage but he's much less dogmatic in his faith and even expressed doubts about whether the Passage was even the correct way forward. Wreath is ultimately more concerned with his own preservation than the greater cause.

Brutality: Zeppeli=75/Wreath=83

Zeppeli is certainly merciless toward the undead but it's unknown how brutal he would be towards a enemy human and Hamon itself is not lethal towards humans anyway. Wreath is a bit nicer than most Necromancers but he's still willing the use his magic to kill and has done so many times including against his own Necromancer Brethren.

Voting System/Notes
Battle takes place before Part 1 for Zeppeli and before the first book for Wreath.

In order to be counted in full, votes must be at least 5 lines long or have been done in an edge format.

Anything less than 5 lines but which is competently argued and thought out will be counted as a half vote. I will inform anybody if their vote is considered a half vote and allow them to amend it to bring it up to a full point.

Irrelevant votes will not be counted at all.

I reserve the right to award a vote as half or discount it entirely for reason not mentioned here if I feel it is applicable.