Name: McKenzi Bishop.
Appearance:


Bio: McKenzi Bishop, daughter of Alexander Bishop and his deceased wife Maurie Bishop. She grew up the only child of man whose wife died in childbirth bringing her into the world. He was a cold scientist, and having idolized him, she followed quickly in his footsteps, emulating him where possible. At home, growing up, the two were close, and only shared open emotions with one another. Outside they did their best to contain and downplay their emotions, acting strictly on logic and reason, and ignoring frivolities and trivial gimmicks. Still, Alexander was a busy man, and a man of wild theories, and soon after his daughter moved out of his home and began her trek throughout the world on her own, he disappeared from the urban life, keeping only minimal contact.

This, however, didn't bother Bishop much, as she was pursuing theoretical sciences, just as her father did. In a laboratory one night, while experimenting with the concept of holders and spirits, she discovered that she was a dormant holder. Intrigued, she decided to seek out a spirit in the cold heart of the laboratory. What she got was something she did not expect. A being of immense power, a being, that could dominate the minds of others, who had lived through hundreds before her. His name, even, still a mystery to this day. Bishop decided on his name after she saw his form for the first time, a Jester, or a Trickster, whether you believe her version of the story or his.

She quickly joined The Library as a researcher, and when her potent powers of mind control and invisibility were discovered, she was sent out into the field on her first mission. The mission was a disaster in terms of casualties, and while she succeeded in bringing in the target that had killed one of the Library's pawns, she failed to protect her allies, whom perished in the mission. Regretful and pained by the sight of her allies' corpses in the morgue of the research division, she resolved to orient her tactics and powers to protecting her allies, and set forth on her second mission.

This second mission was also a bloodbath, though some of her allies survived, there were some who refused to listen to her, who stubbornly went off on their own, and perished. Jester himself even committed suicide and ended up injuring her in the process, for all that was worth, she started to wonder if it was possible to keep those around her safe, if it was simply her fate to be trapped with Trickster and drowned in a sea of blood.

The third mission finally broke her.

After being captured and interrogated by her own father, rescued only in the nick of time by her comrades whom she had ordered to retreat to safety, she became emotionally crippled. She grew more reclusive than she already was in the research division, pushing away people she had hardly spoken with before, and grew colder. She has denied not one, but two attempts by the psychological division of the medical branch were denied, not by her, but by her superiors, whom had taken to incorporating her more and more in their plans, and couldn't afford to have her be diagnosed with some inconvenient disorder.

Throughout all of this aftermath, Trickster has remained silent. Auspiciously so or suspiciously so, nobody knows yet, though surely this will change as she moves onto her fourth mission...

Branch: Research (Major Theoretical Sciences, Minor Biology), Mercenary.

Holder: Bishop.
Spirit: Trickster/Jester.
Whichever name Trickster goes by, his original form is perhaps unknown even to himself, constantly changing to fit whatever form he pleases for that moment. As discovered throughout the role play and across its missions, Trickster/Jester is a random, carnal being, whom is addicted to the most base of human emotions and the sheer unrelenting power that comes with them, negative or positive. He contrasts against McKenzi Bishop in every possible way: Where she thinks, he feels, where she is cautious, he would act with wild abandon, where she protects and preserves, he molests and marauds.

This, however, does not make Jester stupid by any means. Repeatedly he has spotted things nobody else can even conceptualize, and perhaps the one point that the both of them can relate to on is forming strategies against their opponents. He simply has a hard time translating what he thinks to something coherent and sane, and while openly callous and mocking of others in trouble, he does go out of his way to keep McKenzi Bishop out of physical harm's way if he can.

So, does that make him good, or evil? And why pick Bishop, someone completely against his own will and personality? Who knows, with one of the oldest beings of the universe, it could be anything.

Weapons/Spells:

Mind Play: This ability allows Trickster/Bishop to take control of a person through dominance over their mind. The resistance stat is always the strongest stat of the target. When calculating resistance:
Attack = Bishop's SPI + 2, Resistance = Strongest Stat. If Bishop's SPI is equal to or greater than the strongest stat of the target, she succeeds. If the + 2 is required for Bishop to defeat the resistance of the target, Trickster takes over. If Bishop's SPI + 2 cannot overcome the resistance rating of the target, Bishop & Trickster will be unable to comprehend the sheer power, agility, or spirit of the target and will fail altogether.

If Bishop is in control: Bishop can continue to control herself as well as the target. Any wounds taken to the target will be taken by Bishop as well, to a lesser degree. If the target dies while Bishop is in control she will feel the pain of its death. The more powerful the target, the more debilitating these effects will be. If Bishop opts to drop control of a target she can take control of another target in the next post. If the target dies while Bishop is in control of it there is a one post cooldown period (not including the post where Bishop acknowledges the target's death) before she can use Mind Play again.

If Trickster is in control: Bishop cannot continue to control herself and will remain unaware of her surroundings, a puppet without anyone to control it, and incredible vulnerable in order to control Trickster. The same rules apply to when Bishop is in control concerning injuries to the target. Bishop can opt to leave Trickster in control, but Trickster is a random, violent being with no empathy and will often cause as much or even more harm to Bishop's allies as he will to Bishop's enemies. Trickster will never intentionally harm Bishop, however. If Bishop opts to drop control of a target through Trickster she can take control of another target in after a one post cooldown period (not including the post she drops control of the target). If the target dies while Bishop is in control of it there is a three post cooldown period (not including the post where Bishop acknowledges the target's death) before she can use Mind Play again. The damaging effects from Mind Play can kill Bishop if she is already injured moderately prior to the target taking additional injuries.

Bishop and Trickster can opt to take control of two targets simultaneously. However Bishop will not have control over her original body, she will not have control over Trickster's actions, and a duel takeover causes all resistance rolls against them to be doubled. Essentially, a duel takeover would only really work on weak enemies or humans. The cooldown for a duel takeover is the same as for Trickster's takeovers.

Bishop can take control of allies to force them to ignore their wounds and continue fighting only with their permission, regardless of resistance rolls. This is however ill advised as Bishop will then take on lesser versions of their wounds and is liable to get them killed. This should only be used as a last resort, and usually only to force a severely wounded ally out of immediate danger as opposed to throwing them back into danger.

Fickle Insanity: Bishop can cause a randomized bout of insanity out of a target, either minor or major. Anywhere between one to three random effects are applied and it is up to GM discretion which effect is applied to a target and how many. Upwards to three targets may be inflicted at a time, but each successive target causes the effects to be weaker and less in number. Unlike Mind Play, there is no real defence to fickle insanity but dumb luck.
A: Dementia.
B: Psychosis.
C: Hallucinations.
D: Panic Attack.
E: Mania.
F: Effects of being drunk. (minor or severe).
G: Effects of being on drugs. (minor or severe).
H: Sudden and uncontrollable laughter. (Major version making it outright debilitating.)
I: Sudden and uncontrollable rage towards everything and everyone. (Major version making it outright impossible to differentiate regular living things from, say, a tree, a box, a patch of dirt.)
J: Complete loss of logical functions--purely emotional with no ability to control even the most minor of emotions. Essentially being completely and uncontrollable random.

Surprise Party: Bishop can make herself appear invisible to anyone attempting to see her. She can apply this effect on one ally instead of herself. Enemies with a superior SPI rating (1-2 points above Bishop's SPI rating) can see through this effect at close range. Any enemies with a vastly superior SPI rating are simply not affected by this ability at all. (3+ points above Bishop's SPI rating.)

Skills: A list of the skills you've got.

SCAN (level 2, CD 3, target(s) 1, requirements 2/2/2) Know the power level of an enemy. "What nine thousand?!"

PUNCH (level 2, CD 1, requirements 1/3/1) FALCOOO, PAWWWNCH!

Stats: What are your stats, how much POW, SPI and AGI have you got?
* POW
* SPI
* AGI

Name: Kurotori Uekira.
Appearance:


His eyes are brown, and his skin tanned. His body is lean and muscular, free of scars as his armour actually does its job in protecting the user save for a small scar down his right cheek from an accident in his youth. In battle he dons a helmet with a neck guard, letting his pony tail free from its bonds so that it might flow freely down the back of his armour and out of the way of his helmet. His armour has a red and black colour tone, his kimono is exactly as it looks in the picture.

On missions he brings a large traveler's bag with him, of "western" design as he calls it. Whilst he dislikes it, he is slowly growing fond of its uses in packing his kimono and other, more religious artifacts.

Around his neck he wears a necklace with a silver cross, which upon closer inspection is easily discernible as not being a religious icon of his people. Nobody knows, exactly, why he wears it. Just that he does, much to the ire of his clan and family.

He also carries with him a traditionally forged steel Katana with the symbol of a tiger embedded in the hilt of the blade. Whilst useless in combat against any foes stronger than a normal human, he absolutely refuses to part with it under any circumstances, even death. When asked why, he merely replies "it is the my way" and leaves it at that.

Bio: In his childhood, Kurotori Uekira was an adventurous soul. He sought out 'quests' and 'bravely resolved' them. Things like retrieving pets from trees, or one of his most infamous exploits: The legendary sacking of the orange ninja's favourite noodle shop. When asked why, Kurotori merely grins and replies "he was annoying and deserved worse, believe it." Regardless, his exploits were typically harmless, though attracted great ire from shopkeepers whom wanted nothing more than a little peace and a few coins by the end of the day.

He often mocked battles with other children, imitating their elders whom would go off on boring patrols, or whom occasionally would leave for several months at a time to go on short military campaigns.

One day, Kurotori's father left, and two years later, only his blade returned.

Where most would fall to despair, Kurotori's heart hardened. He picked up his father's sword and trained with it, day in and day out, well into nights and then early mornings. At first he was beaten around like a toy... Then, slowly, he grew better, first beating those whom others considered his equals, then those whom others considered his superiors. Eventually he even defeated the village's provincial champion in one on one combat. Albeit he only defeated him in one out of ten rounds, but the fact that he had defeated him even once was astonishing enough to have him immediately conscripted. It also helped that they didn't need to forge him a weapon. He already had one, after all things practical were put into practice, and so Kurotori was marched out to war to face his first battle at the meager age of seventeen. A boy in the eyes of some cultures; a man in his own.

He was instrumental in winning several key battles for his small faction, though those "key battles" later turned out to be primarily border skirmishes and a few town raids. His last battle was one such town raid. He caught his superiors murdering unarmed women. There was a boy with short black hair, tied back in a pony tail, no more than the age of ten attempting to stand his own against a well trained warrior using... A wooden training sword. A toy, really, in all honesty. Kurotori stepped in on the boy's behalf and attempted to warn his superior off of his foolish, dishonourable course. His superior refused to listen. And so ended the life of his superior in one fell blade stroke.

The world would not miss him.

It was in this moment that he gained his powers, as an ethereal tiger leapt to his aid and slaughtered a man behind him. To this day, he has never been able to replicate it, nor has he ever even been able to make "his" ethereal tiger corporeal again. Whilst others fled the scene, the boy merely stood, shaking a little, attempting to defend his mother's body from any intruders that were making their way into his burning home.

The town was razed to the ground even after the leader of the raiding party fell, and the boy was left without parents. So Kurotori took him in, and named him Yūkanhito. Roughly translated it means "Brave Person." Yūkanhito and Kurotori returned to their home town to formally adopt him into the family, however, they were intercepted by a Daimyo who had become interested in local tales of Kurotori's exploits, and of course of his ethereal tiger, and whom was passing through the area anyway to oversee the assimilation of a new city into his empire. He officially made Kurotori a Samurai, and quickly signed a document to make Yūkanhito a part of the Uekira family, hoping to gain Kurotori's favour later on as "skilled warriors with ethereal tigers" were few and far between obviously. He was a "small fish" in terms of Daimyos, but, he was a Daimyo nonetheless, which meant that his word was law... And Kurotori now had an adopted son.

Finally, Kurotori arrived home, and he began to truly study the ways of Bushido and Chi. He had known of them, attempted to live by principles from these beliefs, but he had never sworn an oath to them, nor had he ever needed to... Now he did, as a Samurai. A year of peace and serenity passed in Kurotori's life before he finally left his home under mysterious circumstances with Yūkanhito, paying for passage out of his homeland to reach a new, strange land. He spent a year in these strange lands before discovering The Library, and upon discovering his talents with a blade, found him a suitable recruit in exchange for free room and board for himself and Yūkanhito... Though, more importantly, free room and board in a safe place for Yūkanhito, as these lands were strange, random... Barbaric, almost by Kurotori's standards.

On his first mission, things went terrible wrong and he was forced to retreat, managing to take captive his the target of the mission with the help of but a "lowly" chef known as Diane. Aside from some respect for her as a woman in the right profession, his opinions otherwise remained unchanged, and were perhaps even reinforced.

On his second mission, things went well, and after being exposed to a more extreme and ridiculous form of xenophobia towards women than even his homeland showed, he couldn't help but question a few things. Still. He completed his mission and returned home to his son, ego and all perfectly intact.
Branch: Culinary as of yesterday. No, really. Go ahead and ask him.

Holder: Rook.
Spirit: Harunobu (晴信), a spirit of a long dead but brilliant strategist that often takes the form of a powerful, ethereal tiger when in battle and not "imbued" within a weapon. His words are short, however his insight is valuable to Kurotori, both on the personal level which Kuro pretends to ignore, and on the battlefield which Kuro depends on for dear life. Harunobu once led a great army with many generals. Beyond that, Kurotori knows nothing more except that he was simply lucky to have such a spirit watching over him, at this point he is convinced that it is an ancestral spirit guiding him. Whether or not Harunobu is, however, is unknown, perhaps even to Harunobu whom simply has no idea where his bloodline went after he perished.

Weapons/Spells: "Passive" means it is persistent so long as the weapon is equipped. "Active" is a usable ability that the weapon has, which may or may not temporarily cancel out the passive whilst in effect.
Kyudo: His summon-able war bow, a Yumi, literally translated to "Way of the Bow", is a heavy, armour piercing bow. He is able to use it while on the move, but cannot get full string tension whilst moving and loses some accuracy. This is best used on horseback, or in/on a vehicle, or where he is in a position to stand still and load and fire the bow uninterrupted as it takes a lot of strength to pull back a war bow, and concentration to fire it accurately.
(Passive) Hawk's Eye: While Kyudo is equipped, Kurotori's ethereal tiger increases the potency of his sight, making him able to spot enemy weaknesses easier than before. This however comes at the price of decreased awareness; whilst focusing on a target, he is unable to know what is going on around him, such as an enemy charging at him from behind, or an incoming piece of debris falling his way unless he can catch it out of the corner of his eye.
(Active) Shima's Flight: While Kyudo is equipped, if Kurotori spends one post do nothing other than lining up a shot and firing, he can choose to imbue the spirit of Harunobu into the arrow. When fired, Harunobu increases the POW value of the shot by 1.5x normal. (ex: 10 turns to 15, 15 to 22.5, and so on.) In exchange, Kyudo is immediately dispersed and Kurotori cannot summon any of his weapons for two posts. After all, Harunobu is the one who grants him his mystical weapons, and he just fired Harunobu...

Kendo: His summon-able Katana, literally translated to "Way of the Sword", is a steel-forged blade of an eerily similar look to his father's Katana, right down to having a tiger's insignia imprinted upon the hilt of the blade.
(Passive) Bushido: His blade is indestructible. If you put it underneath the power of a nuclear bomb, the worst it might do is have a creepy orange glow to it. Mostly aesthetic, as the opportunities for his blade to break would be very few and very far between anyway.
(Active) The Challenger: With Kendo equipped, Kurotori can choose to challenge an opponent. Harunobu then causes both Kurotori and his target to become ethereal--still visible, but with the inability to affect or be affected by the outside world for three posts. During this time, Kurotori receives a 1.2x bonus to Agility. Kurotori can switch to other weapons after the challenge has been made and the challenge will remain. If Kurotori defeats his target, or his target defeats Kurotori (either through K.O., execution, or surrender) the winner gets to keep the agility bonus for the remainder of the rounds that they would have been ethereal for. The challenge lasts three posts--three rounds.
As a note: Surrendering causes the target to be knocked out by Harunobu, whether that be Kurotori or his opponent.
Second note: This ability has a usage limit determined by Kurotori's POW. Every 4 points of POW unlocks another use of The Challenger. (4 POW = 1 use per mission, 8 POW = 2 uses, 12 POW = 3 uses, etc.) Beyond this and Kurotori would physically maim himself.

Kaginawa: A simple grappling hook, the Kaginawa was used by Samurai to climb walls, tie horses down, tie boats down, hook two boats together, etc. In Kurotori's case, it's weaponized, and able to bring an opponent to him if he has the sufficient strength to do so.
(Passive) Lock n' Key: The grappling hook "locks" around a target, only "unlocking" when Kurotori wills it to do so.
(Active) Electric Shock: Harunobu forms a series of electric shocks which run down the line and assault the target's nervous system, causing muscle spasms and intense pain. In the case of giant targets it merely affects the area in which the chain is attached. The intensity of the shock is 0.5 SPI, 0.5 POW. While using Electric Shock, Kurotori cannot move, as he has to concentrate on shocking his victim, though others can carry him, such as a horse, or an ally if they're desperate. If the POW-SPI combo exceeds the target's higher resistance stat (POW or SPI), their system is overwhelmed and they're knocked out.
NOTE: Kaginawa can be used to snap a target's neck at long range.

Skills:

Stats: What are your stats, how much POW, SPI and AGI have you got? 0
POW: 12
SPI: 2
AGI: 8