Iosepp (Crossroads)

Early Life
''A child comes to life in Waset&mdash;a large city of the vast New Kingdom of Egypt, The New Kingdom of Egypt or First Egyptian Empire was the geographical entity that separated the Second and Third Intermediate Periods of Egypt chronologically, which saw the rise of the greatest pharaohs and story of Ancient Egypt but also the start of its downfall. This period was established by the pharaoh 'Ahmose I (Jˁḥ-ms(j.w),) Nebpehtire Ahmose Aakheperu Tutmesut Tjestawy (The Lord of Strength is Rê, Born of 'Aah, Great of Developments, Perfect of Birth, He who Knots Together the Two Lands) of his full regal title, he is known for having reunited both Egypts and its subjects under a single ruler, and for having initiated a massive construction and administrative reorganization program that made Egypt the strongest it's ever been as an independent sovereign state until 1922; it also led to the construction of the last pyramid built by native Egyptian rulers. The period ended with the pharaoh Ramesses XI (Rˁ-msj-sw,) Menmaatre Setepenptah Ramesses Khaemwaset Meriamun Netjerheqaiunu Kanakht Merire Userkhepesh Hedhefenu Werpehtisankhtawy Ityankhwedjaseneb Seheribmaat Seheteptawy (The justice of Rê is enduring, the chosen one of Ptah, Rê fashioned him, he appears in Waset, beloved of Amun, divine ruler of Iunu, Strong bull, beloved of Rê, He whose blow is powerful, he whose attacks are countless, He whose power is great, he gives new life to the two lands, life, prosperity, health, he reconciles the two lands under the majesty of Ma'at) of his full regal title, he is known for his very long, yet very passive reign, where nothing notable happened until his death where Egypt was once again divided in two, hence leaving it to the hands of Smendes (nsw-b3-nb-ḏdt, Nesbanebdjed,) Hedjkheperre Setepenre Nesbanebdjed Meriamun Kanakht Merire Suseramunkhepesheferseqaimaat Sekhempehti Hureqiufbehatuf Hepetem [...] khesefdenden (Radiant manifestation of Rê, the chosen one of Rê, He of the Ba' ram, lord of Mendes, beloved of Amun, Strong bull, beloved of Rê, Amun empowers his strike to reinforce the Ma'at, Mighty of power, he who beats his opponents, they flee before him, [he] encircles [...] wards off the wrath) of his full regal title in Lower Egypt and Herihor, Hemnetjertepenamun Hérihor Siamun (First Priest of Amun, Horus is Raised, Son of Amun) of his full regal title in Upper Egypt. Hérihor did not rule as King, but as Priest. under the ruler Seti II Seti II (Stẖj,) Userkheperure Setepenre Seti Meryenptah Kanakht Werpehti Nakhtkhepeshderpedjut-9 Aaneruemtawnebu (Powerful are the manifestations of Rê, the chosen one of Rê, Set, beloved of Ptah, Strong bull, great of strength, He who strikes victoriously the 9 bows, He whose victories are great in all the lands) of his full regal title, is known for his tumultous reign, both in history and historiography, for the dates surrounding his reign are not sure, but also for his rivalry with his half-brother and contestant at the throne 'Amenmesse (Jmn-msj-sw,) Menmire Setepenre Amenmesse Heqawaset Kanakht Merimaat Shementawy Werbiaytemipetsut Aa...[ipetsut?] (Eternal like Rê, the chosen one of Rê, Fashioned by Amun, ruler of Waset, Strong bull, beloved of Ma'at, he who strengthen the two lands, He who is great of miracles in Ipet'sut, Great of [... Ipet'sut?]) of his full regal title, thought to have usurped the throne of his brother and plotted against him to promote another pharaoh, disputed to be either 'Amenesse's or Seti's son, and also rumored to have ruled in 1197 BC, Siptah (s3-Ptḥ,) Sekhaienre Meriamun Ramesses-Siptah Kanakht Merihapi Sankhtanebemkafraneb Saaiunu [...] mi Itefre (He whom Rê causes to appear, beloved of Amun, Rê fashioned him, son of Ptah, Strong bull, beloved of Hapi, who causes the whole land to live by means of his Ka' every day, Made great in Iunu [...] like his father Rê) of his full regal title, who is rumored to be 'Amenesse's son or protégé for he wasn't the crown prince yet became Pharaoh, but he's thought to be of Seti's descendency for when he assumed kingship, it was Tawosret (T3-wsr.t,) Sitre Meriamun Tausret Setepenmut Kanakht Merimaat Kanakht Merimaat Nebanemnisutmiitum Geregkemet Wafkhasut (Daughter of Rê, beloved of Amun, Mighty Lady, chosen of Mut, Strong bull, beloved of Ma'at, Strong bull, beloved of Ma'at, Lord beautiful of kingship, like Atum, Founder of Egypt, who vainquishes foreign countries) of her full regal title, royal consort of Seti II, who acted as his regent until his solitary reign, where his only notable action was to execute Chancellor Bay who brandished a seemingly too obnoxious swagger about having a role in Siptah's ascension to the throne, before dying in his second (or sixth) regnal year, making Tawosret the new, and last pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, making her queen, regent and pharaoh of Egypt&mdash;reminding of Gorgo, who, seven centuries later would be the daughter, consort, mother and co-queen of a Spartan king&mdash;Tawosret's reign ended in a civil war leading to the rise of Setnakht (stẖ-nxt(w)) Userkhaure Setepenre Setnakht Meriamunra Kanakht Werpehti Tutkhaumitatjenen Sekhemkhepeshderkheruef (Powerful are the forms of Rê, Chosen of Rê, Set is victorious, Beloved of Amun-Rê, Strong bull, of great valiance, He whose apparitions are as beautiful as Tatenen's, Powerful force, who pushes back the insurgents) of his full regal title, hence founding the twentieth Egyptian dynasty and ultimate one to rule the New Kingdom. &mdash;son of two fellow Nubians; his father a blacksmith, master in bending and crafting memorabilia for the ages to come out of noble materials such as bronze or meteoric iron, but also a kind and loyal servitor of his kin; his mother a weaver, manipulating the fabric of comfort and luxury to create joy amongst her clientele, a talented musician too, skilled of her soft and gentle usage of the ney and kanun, the same characteristics applied also to her matronage thanks to which this family was united for as long as possible. Such has led the childhood and upbringing of this child to come into play once he'd matured.''

Time came for him to leave and concretize a new life: Manf, capital of the kingdom, opened its arms for him, thus he joined it in rejoice, passing from an Egypt to another, Hor-Narmer-Tjai (Ḥr-nˁr-mr-ṯ3j, Fierce catfish of Horus,) last Pharaoh of the Semainean phase of the Naqada culture, is known for having unified both Egypts into one kingdom, thus becoming the first king of the First Dynasty of Egypt. Narmer is also consensually reported to be identified as Menes (Mnj, He who endures,) the lack of archæological evidence suggesting it may be a burial name in the glory of Narmer, (a name also considered to have possibly been associated with Hor-Ka and the King Scorpion) though it is also believed it may have a link with Hor-Aha (Ḥr-ˁḥ3, Horus, the fighter,) successor of Narmer (or Menes?) and known for having consolidated the throne of Egypt, so the remains dilemma between who Narmer, Menes and Hor-Aha are, if they are not the one and same individual. As Iosepp gradually integrates human history himself, going back to things he has not witnessed shows his imperfection, which does not gain any meaning until later on in his story, where he seems to acheive borderline godly feats, these limits allow him to still be human at heart, but to break them with sheer perseverance&mdash;that is, it does work as well a an introductive metaphor of the past as one of the future: Him moving up in the world, literally by going north ontowards his destiny, and figuratively by going to the capital of the kingdom, and down in Egypt, literally for Lower Egypt is north of Upper Egypt, and figuratively by, once again, moving ontowards his destiny, which mostly unravels out of Egypt, is a play on the downfall of Egypt, and on the constant pushing of the boundaries; Iosepp's boundaries; humanity's boundaries; what this metaphor does is giving a situation, a context to be exploited and pushed to the extreme and ever further, which also has significant meaning that is to be explored later on in this story. a land of a thousand and one possibilities. Although educated, he was raised in humility and respect, which made for a certain lack of ambition, hence his settling in the city as a simple farmer, then blacksmith, but he took upon his father's values to make a name for himself in his neighbourhood, and upon his mother's curiosity to soon become proficient in the interests and occupations of his kinfolk; when he wasn't producing and dealing in goods, he then charitably took place as an embalmer, out of both respect for the dead and fascination for the humankind. In deed, he learned much in terms of science by studying closely the bodies of the fallen but much in terms of relationship by working as closely with his colleagues.

His most notorious would also be his closest and farthest&mdash;unlike names, lives and much else, they would exchange knowledge, experience, feeling. In not knowing much of each other they still worked as if in symbiosis, as none prevailed between the ideas of the rookie and the technique of the expert; a priest's habitual benediction aside, the embalmers would not know any disruption in their insightful labour and discussion, the latter of which being a very flexible variable, as one could be unrecognizable... But never misunderstood. The apprentice would carefully note and apply his colleague's wise words without much attention for the reciprocity of it, nor for the future, simply perfecting this occupation and interest of his.

This seemed to work nicely for the two until the expert started gradually losing his touch, and engaging in fits of intense pain that would incapacitate him, leaving his apprentice to it. Until one day, where he would simply collapse in the middle of the priest's visit, lifeless, leaving the two witnesses in shock and confuse as to what to do next in the face of this event. Later&mdash;when embalming his colleague&mdash;upon removing the left kidney he would find small, gravelly, sand-coloured rock-like objects inside of it, which he thought could have been the cause of his coworker's pain; inspiring his curiosity, he spent some time examining it. In his precipitation and carelessness the stone fell in the jar where used water is stored, prompting that he recovers it at the bottom. Upon extracting the unscathed material out of the jar, he stands back up to see his fully awakened colleague look at him straight in the eye, but he fainted out of shock soon after, which left time for his cut to be closed and his kidney to be dried and jarred for him to take after waking up.

But the smith was to be called upon by higher officials to focus as the unrest in Canaan was looking to become a problem in the near future, which it very soon did; convoys from the capital to Syria arrived hastily and went as fast as they had comen, with soldiers and weapons, incessantly... Until it did stop. He had kept forging but none came. He decided to traverse the Nile and deliver the cargo by himself, using a spear to guide himself whilst attaching a rope to his shoulders in order to drag it all efficiently. In order to reduce the amount of effort put into hauling the cargo he would drop it in a boat so that the flow of the Nile could facilitate the process, and, thus, he went. Within three days of following the Nile northwards, stricken with heat and dehydratation, he was taken aback, shocked by what he seemed to see; two belligerents fighting merciless against one another, the blood spilt and the unreasonable and ever-increasing tension, it seemed surreal from afar, but getting closer, the snapback into reality was instant as both parties raced towards the weapons&mdash;even with a palpable fatigue, he took up arms to defend his cargo and comrades, efficiently using one of his own manufactures to slash through and divide the opposing flock, though as his own had reapprovisionned it left him behind as they were trying to hit the enemy's back, which led to him having to defend helplessly until defeat, as he fell into the river and his cargo was pushed into it as well, effectively pouring the remaining weapons and their fainting smith into the Mediterranean sea, where he regained his boat and crossed into Yam's territory, before falling asleep to the wind's gentle cradling.

Physical Appearance
Arguably the first thing to note about Iosepp is his size; indeed, in spite of his weak structure and slender form, his tallness and straight posture can be enough to turn many away from his equally uncomforting face of which the mildly dark colour contours the rugged surface upon which are placed remarkable features, such as a high-bridged curvaceous yet strong nose connecting with deep almond brown eyes of which the faint gaze conveys myths of its own when not described and counted with his large mouth through which echoed screams of pain and through which were heeded creeds, deeds, and myriads of warnings as numerous and olden as the arm-long hair swaying all the way to his chest, where it meets with his equally voluminous beard.

Even though not especially beefy, Iosepp does have a rather wide thorax and shoulders upon which rest long arms with especially notable veins and discoloured spots, punctuated with hands scraped and damaged by their usage, and equally discoloured fingertips and short nails, much unlike his legs, tried and fined by walking over distances of Biblical proportion.

His vestimentary customs are, comparatively, timely: he adapts to the technology of the epoch without really following any trends other than his own traditional choice&mdash;his clothing is generally very rudimentary apart from unique pieces and memorabilia that hold significant importance or that convey a specific idea, thus developing his own idiomatic subculture rather than agregating others together.

Powers
The most sacred gift and curse of the Holy Grail, eternal life; which guarantees that any of its beneficiaries won't die in their bed, it greatly impacts Iosepp's personality as he is now bound to experience everyone he will ever know begone and everything that he will ever live will keep repeating until the end of time, but he can be freed of it by dying of an unnatural death or by having someone take it from him by drinking from the chalice instead. From the Holy Grail's ability stems a completion of one's physiological needs, in other words, none may then need to ever eat, drink, sleep or breath again whilst under the effect of the cup's essence, nevertheless they may do so, but there would be no rhyme or reason to it. By definition, the Grail thus allows for one's immune system to be strong enough to be free of any diseases&mdash;there are no known limits to the extent of this immunity, but it has no effect on poisons or toxins. The aforementioned abilities make for a superhuman level of concentration, which, over centuries of meditation, left Iosepp lost in his own mind, where he has personnificated his own soul, filled with the remorse, the suffering, the anger of his tortured existence, that feeds off all memories, happenings and possibilities of torment from his psyche. To refrain it from suddenly bursting and assuming control over him, Iosepp must relax, meditate, or, sometimes, collaborate with it. It may appear as an intangible, black, humanoid smoke and only in rapid successions, it is not a separate being but an extension of Iosepp himself, it may also trick opponents into seeing Iosepp where he is not. It may also briefly manifest physical activity such as attacks or mecanical movements, hereby delivering consequent force itself. The extended awareness of his environment permits for an almost precognitive reaction to his surroundings&mdash;a pedestrian's steps, a driver's blinks, an enemy's blows, these and much more may be perceived almost instantly and procurate a deeper insight on the outcome of what may happen next - only through deduction. Through meditation or trial, Iosepp may embrace and channel a number of fluctuating feelings in order to bestow more power unto himself. It allows him to overcome himself constantly; the energies that define him are the following: Patience. Concentration being the main pillar here, time must not be a concern, in order to focus only on what matters, this also make his trials more spiritual than physical or psychological. Anger. The most primitive and overwhelming sentiment that's taken place over the years, that he uses to feed his unsatiable alter ego, whom he may come to arms with to unleash a rarely-seen wrath. Combat. An experience, a trial on all scales, a perfect manifestation of all that really constitutes Iosepp, whose chivalrous attitude brings him to it more than often; it pushes him to a state of trance that allows for the spiritual process to take place much faster. Age. Throughout the years, he simply starts understanding his situation, he acknowledges his power, which allows him to reach new steps. The continuously flowing water of the Holy Grail in his body helps him recover from most wounds, though he may not regain a lost limb or survive a wound that is too grave, his healing factor is slightly enhanced but it is not derisory either. The blessing of the Holy Grail and constant training allow for Iosepp to not be affected by his own age, and to not be damaged in any way by the passing of time, which pauses his aging where he drank from the cup.
 * Immortality
 * Self-Sustenance
 * Disease Immunity
 * Alternate Form
 * Super Reflexes
 * Empowerment
 * Regeneration
 * Geriatric Perfection

Abilities
Iosepp fought for almost as long as he exists, and given his aforementioned powers, it is only logical that his training and experience allow for a much higher resistance to any obstacle. From the deceitfully hot and dry weather of the Sahara to the cripplingly cold and harsh winters of Siberia, Iosepp has seen it all and is capable of handling such climates. Though, if placed underwater or out of the atmosphere, he will probably die. He's not invincible. Iosepp always had the reputation to be silent and observant, and it's no lie&mdash;he is capable of examining his surroundings like very few others can, but his major flaw is that he collects a lot of crime evidence for the simple reason that “he likes them,” making the job harder for detectives alike, not that he cares about evading competition. His experience also makes him able to track any person or beast without the use of forensics, just by using deduction and previously found evidence. His important stature by itself plays a lot in the art of intimidation, but over the years, Iosepp has witnessed a tremendous amount of mentalities, and knows the psychological flaws to exploit over every one of his opponents, friend or foe. His alternate form also plays a big part in there. Iosepp is also capable of concentrating to achieve a state of trance; meditation takes a long time to master, but having all the time in the world and the next at his disposal, that is not a problem. It allowed him to embrace every single one of his powers and abilities and increase his capacity in all fields. As such, he is able to enter a state of slow thinking in order to examinate any type of situation, threatening or not, it notably allows him to predict a next move or to use his environment at will. Which he is very able to do, because even with his stature, he is stil relatively slender, and trained enough to keep a certain level of flexibility, allowing him to conquer most obstacles and move more freely. Iosepp is a very proficient martial artist, who can easily understand an art's precepts within, making him into a very powerful man, capable of beating even hordes of trained opponents, whilst using his alternate form as a suppport. His fighting style is a mix of many martial arts, and respects its own precepts. Iosepp can use his surroundings as a weapon remarkably well; his analysis makes him able to render any element in his fighting ground lethal, and as long as there's a ground to fight on, there's still something to be scared of. Even though common objects might be funny to use, real weapons still are necessary yet they require a certain amount of skill to use, which Iosepp has: Firearms, blades, artillery, there is none to can't be used against an enemy.
 * Enhanced Durability
 * Climatic Adaptation
 * Investigation
 * Tracking
 * Intimidation
 * Meditation
 * Tactical Analysis
 * Gymnastics
 * Fighting
 * Weapon Improvisation
 * Weapon Proficiency

12th Century BC

 * c. 1197 BC: Iosepp is born.
 * c. 1197-1182 BC: Iosepp's upbringing.
 * c. 1182 BC: Iosepp moves to Memphis, capital of the New Kingdom.
 * c. 1182-1177 BC: Iosepp's life on Memphis.
 * c. 1177 BC: Iosepp is involved in the Battle of the Delta, resulting in an Egyptian victory, and Iosepp leaving the New Kingdom, with his boat named “Iosep,” which later wrecked upon the shores of Philistia, where he meets Orpah, who accompanies him to Ashdod, then the City of David, where he will then live.
 * c. 1174 BC: Iosepp declares his love for Orpah, is accused of witchcraft, tortured as such and escapes, killing his offenders and fleeing with his wife, through the Sinai peninsula, to Ethiopia.
 * c. 1173 BC: Orpah dies delivering their son, Iosepp finds the Holy Grail, gains its powers, names his son Yered, and swears to make a good man out of him, after embalming and burying the child's mother.
 * c. 1173-1143 BC: Iosepp raises Yered, and builds a temple dedicated to his blood legacy.
 * c. 1143 BC: Iosepp leaves Axum, walks to the Mediterranean shores.
 * c. 1111 BC: Iosepp waits.

5th Century AD

 * c. 476/481: Iosepp emerges, moves to Nicæa.

Author's Note
Finally, I'm resurrecting this project which I held very dearly for a long time&mdash;my hommage to the team of Comic Crossroads, and with it my work of autofiction; it will be hard for me not to following the traces of my past work, but I shall try my best to get to a result I like. I don't want to disappoint anyone, but many points in the story of the first Iosepp will probably be reused here as well - speaking of which, I'm very happy to be able to use ideas I had previously scrapped, they ended up being very useful to the development of my character, and I hope my passion will be the same, if not greater. I would also like to restore my word on the older version as well, so, for those who haven't seen the first version, here's what you need to know of it.


 * “As you might already have noticed, this page means a lot to me, it's evident. First, it is a work of autofiction, which I have never tried, but you can easily understand how easy it is to get inspired when you talk about yourself, in a way. Secondly, Crossroads is a project I've been working on for a long time, actually, way before the Weekly Frenchy Talk, which is a fucking disaster, by the way. And I think what blows my mind about it is that I like to share knowledge with people, I just find that the best experience I can possibly have, and this is basically years of personal research, and thousands of years of human history that populates this page, and I don't think there's any way for me to be more proud of this concept. So, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, or are at least satisfied, I sadly can't write as good as I'd like to. You may also see some references to pages that do not exist yet. That is also normal, years of planning also mean loads of writing.”

What I like about this character is that allows me to express thoughts I've had for years, and to share something, share my understanding of culture and history, in a way, and because it makes me more able to speak freely and personally without delving too far either. I didn't want to write autofiction to boost myself, or to tell my uninteresting life, I'm trying to create something out of a real sentiment and out of a real passion for what I'm doing. Obviously, I may not do the better choices, and my execution probably won't change much from the older version, but know that even though it may seem a little redundant, or unsatisfying, I'm at least trying my best to not repeat myself. So, to whomever sees this; I hope I can share my feelings with you. &mdash; FrenchTouch

If any of you have any questions about what I'm going to do this time, feel free to ask them, I will answer those here.

Trivia

 * Iosepp is a work of autofiction, meaning it is referential to its own author, in this case, FrenchTouch.
 * The idea of making autofiction was inspired by RoninTheMasterless' first Knight Owl.

Questions
The first version of Iosepp relied too much on the fanfiction in which the entire Crossroads series was anchored, and I've deleted it hot-headedly and thus, without thinking much about it, but as I look back at it, I can see how I could have potentially ported it to an original universe, but I decided to re-do it entirely, and I frankly don't regret it - to be fair, I already view this version as much superior than any other work of mine here. That's not a question. you unpolite snotwad I have to admit my rambling about it in the references' section isn't very great, so here's a more concise definition: Quantum philosophy is a branch of philosophy involving “impossible” debates, dilemmas, and other principles that can be submitted, transmitted, and discussed without directly confronting it, it's concretely the study of philosophical elements otherwise inexplicable or forever-ongoing in common philosophy. The reason why I call it quantum philosophy is because it's basically the same principle as quantum mechanics. Note that it's something I've made up and that has not been recognized by anyone in the thinking community, so it holds no technical weight, but it's the best way I can describe it. I can understand the possible complaint about that&mdash;after all, Iosepp is pretty invincible and there are arguments going against autofiction as a whole, so I do imagine that it might not be for everyone to read about a character like that. Personally though, I think that being inspired by yourself leads to pretty interesting outcomes, for example, I don't think I could have ever come up with half the shit in his History if I didn't have a link with these fields before. Not to mention I'm also inspired by what I am not, a thing that Iosepp represents as well, indeed, I'm trying to write him as I would write anybody else, and I think I'm doing a commendable job at it, of course, if you know me a little, you're gonna recognize the similarities between him and I, but he also has similarities with a lot of people, and is even inspired by a lot of people, legends, and other various shit, but since the base of the character is based on myself, it can be a little disorientating, I recognize that. So, to answer concretely to the question, I don't really know, but I'm trying my best to please my public. Yeah, it was. I read way too much Templar history. Also played way too much Indiana Jones on DOS. Aside from that, I thought it would be a very interesting thing to implement in a story&mdash;the idea came to me while I was studying the historical and religious patrimony in the Alpes-Maritimes. It's one of the most popular names and has the most variants. I couldn't find any name that was original but still made sense, so I went with that, which makes sense from an historical point of view, which is nice. There are two answers to this questions&mdash;one completes the other, so here goes it: These references are there to give supplementary information to be understood in order to fully appreciate what I'm writing, for example if you don't know how social classes are like in Ancient Egypt you're gonna have as bad a time to understand as I will to write something you can understand, so instead of excessively focusing on these details, I'm leaving the facts out there to be read up on, whilst on a comic book format you can always show with images, but here I can't so I have to make sure that what you imagine, even if proper to you, follows at least the skeleton of the story. All in all I feel that a good paraphrase would be that these references do not only complete the character but also construct your own perception of him, I would see that physically work out as a light beam, a timeline, a quill's sway, a seemingly endless one at that, shining through a prism, the story, which breaks the light down and refracts it into other prisms, all of these prisms, these characters, these events, happenings, bits of reality, they all refract this signal differently and in all directions, but they would be positioned in such a way that the point where all of these prisms' effects join is Iosepp, a spherical mirror inside of which resides a bleeding heart, the reflection that is only a part of him is what you will see more about him, him and every other human, actually, your brain is hard-wired to think that way, yet it's only so few of what he is&mdash;but it is still him.
 * Why a new version of Iosepp?
 * It sucks shit.
 * What is quantum philosophy?
 * Isn't making such a character very pretentious?
 * Wasn't the Ancient Egypt idea scrapped?
 * Why the Holy Grail?
 * Why Joseph?
 * Why so many external references?

Commentary
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