[WIP; done on phone so forgive spacing and the like. Please review, constructive criticism welcome] 

Name: Pierre Athene
[img]http://www.filmbuffonline.com/FBOLNewsreel/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/GeoffreyRush.jpg[/img]
Born: 20 February 1977 (age 44)
Residence: Brooklyn, New York
Occupation(s): Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Lobbyist
Religion: Catholic

Brief History (Pre-Incident): The youngest son of wealthy French immigrants whom fled France in the late 1960's to escape the period of civil unrest incited by ardent leftists Pierre was an anomaly; though he never experienced life in the homeland of his ancestors, Pierre realized he could never fully embrace American culture due to his foreign family and thusly remained an outsider observing the ways of his adoptive homeland. Much to the chagrin of his family Pierre recognized at a young age that he possessed an intrinsic ability to manipulate others into carrying out his bidding and derived great joy in pitting his siblings against each other; this antisocial behavior coupled with his intelligence and unbridled ambition was a constant source of strife between young Pierre and his parents (his father in particular, who was under the impression that Pierre's nature pointed to him being a child of an illicit affair). Pierre grew to resented his parents' bourgeois lifestyle not because he believed in wealth disparity, but because his parents squandered their fortune on worldly pursuits and not on buying political influence; by the time he was eighteen his parents' savings was whittled away and they both would die in severe poverty. Allegedly Pierre was secretly siphoning money from his parents accounts for years, but there is no concrete proof of this only rumors. After graduating from Yale with near perfect marks and a degree in Political Science, Pierre entered the free-market determined to gain both wealth and power; he accomplished this by profiting off of various projects his more technically inclined classmates were working on as...he made millions as an investor and is credited as helping bringing the world into the "internet-age" while the true inventors of these ground breaking technologies were relegated to obscurity. His frequent bipartisan lobbying efforts caused the New York Times to nickname him "the shadow-president"; politically he is known to be non-committal on major issues and able to hide his real intentions. Many speculate his philanthropy is a ruse to garnish public goodwill and his efforts to expand Yellowstone National Park have been lauded in the press as a cheap ploy. He is set to make an address at the aforementioned park in order to bring the expansion issue to the so-called "court of public opinion" as legislation related to the matter has stalled in Congress due to debates over government spending. 

Post-Incident: The strange magic that encompasses the earth has transformed Pierre from a politically questionable statesman into a changeling (an insect-like equine) that feeds off of ambient emotions in order avoid starvation and in Pierre's case to also retain his humanoid form; the irony is that his vice of negatively manipulating others emotions to best serve himself has become his curse. A man who once forged a political dynasty from the shadows has become an alien in his own kingdom; once thriving on hate and mistrust, he needs love and compassion to live. 

Abilities, Traits and Powers:

Psychic Navigation - Changelings are natural empaths and therefore can sense the presence of others through their emotions...it is possible that this is an evolutionary trait as Changelings require ambient emotions to survive; it is speculated that a fully nourished high level changeling can locate prey hundreds of miles away. However, Changelings like Pierre can only detected beings in their general vicinity.   

Exoskeleton: Due to its bug-esque  genetic makeup a Changeling's hide is almost triple the thickness of a regular horse's. 

Flight: While in its base form a Changeling can use its wings to fly short distances; longer distances require a Changeling to be fully nourished. 

Emotion Drain: As previously mentioned Changelings feed off of the ambient emotions (Happiness, Joy, Love and so on) produced by other sentient creature. While it is not particularly dangerous if a Changeling feeds off of your emotions for a short period of time, long term (or if one allows a Changeling uninterrupted feeding over the span of a few hours) it can be detrimental to one's health.  The side effects of short term feeding range from a brief period of nausea to unpleasant thoughts and/or dreams; the effects of long term (or uninterrupted) feeding are crippling depression, suicidal thoughts, a strange feeling of hollowness, loss of energy, and eventually a permanent paralyzation that results in one's death. Some report developing a dependency on the emotional draining process and required outside assistance to save them from and untimely demise. Certain types of magic can be effective in blocking a Changeling from feeding on you; for the non-magically inclined it is suggested that one attempt to quickly incapacitate the Changeling either through a surprise attack or by severing the horn of the creature. Individuals who have regulated their emotions through years of stoic rituals (ex. meditation) are less likely to be incapacitated by this process and can in some cases mentally ward off a Changeling. 

Shapeshifting: This is the trait Changelings are most know for and obviously where the species name derives from; Changeling's can take the form of any individual they have seen in order to blend into a foreign population. Keeping up a guise drains a lot of energy and it is not practical for a Changeling to stay out of base form for long.