Personality: In short, Daichi is a relatively laid-back individual who only puts in effort where he deems it necessary. This, of course, includes work in the Rifts (because, well, work is work), but also extends to juggling lectures, projects, and making himself known in the working world. He isn't particularly confrontational, but does have a tendency to clash when people take greedy risks out in the field. With that in mind, though, Daichi is also notably resourceful and studious, which comes at the cost of having neutered his social life. Social cues don't always click for him, and he's definitely a bit more 'book smart' than 'street smart' overall.
Attribute (If any): Pressure [Concept]
Abilities: With a primary focus on using his Attribute, Daichi is able to manipulate pressure—mainly air and water—around him. Any other applications. such as compression of objects, require far too much focus for him to make any use thereof in combat. With regards to water and air, Daichi can fire out pressurized bursts of either material, provided he has a source to draw from. In the case of the latter, Daichi can also manipulate barometric pressure to a lesser extent. Aside from that, Daichi is more of a ranged combatant, preferring to stay out of the line of fire if possible and sniping at enemies from afar. Even when put under mental duress, he is able to rationally think of the best ways to utilize his and his partners' capabilities—or, at least, enough to overcome the situation at hand in his head.
Skills: Placing his own manipulation of pressure aside, Daichi is rather skilled in tinkering, having been able to mess with far more pieces of technology in his life than most others might have access to. On top of that, due to being made to travel a lot while growing up, Daichi is able to comfortably speak in a variety of languages the world over. That being said, he doesn't particularly stand out otherwise; with all of the skills one might expect out of a university student in his second year dorming, Daichi's skills everywhere else range from 'passable' to 'disaster in the making'.
History: Born from the union of a foreign mechanical engineer (his mother) and a medical researcher (his father), Daichi's upbringing was, for the most part, normal. The sudden appearance of Rifts all over the world simply meant that they had a far larger workload on their hands, especially with the influx of new materials that came about in the next few years thereafter. In their stead, the young Daichi found his solace in the news, watching as the world around him began to look like something out of a comic book or video game. For the most part, though, he was content, as with all of the new and interesting came the dangerous, and more than once did he pass by a Rift surrounded by ambulances and paramedics. Here, simply seeing everything from afar would be more than enough. Daichi was ten years old when he was first brought into a Rift; a mistake, as it turned out, had sent a bunch of people (himself and his family included) to the wrong Rift when they were planning to travel to South Korea for vacation. Though the Rift itself had ultimately been harmless (given the other adventurers planning to travel with them) and everyone present properly compensated for the mistake, Daichi came out of the incident with a little bit more than that. As it turned out, the young man had an Attribute—and a particularly useful one, at that. Word spread quickly, the means by which neither he nor his parents knew, and soon enough the small family of three was being bombarded on all sides by people vying for his power. With the power of political ties, though, Daichi's family managed to stave off all of the people wanting to use him to their own ends, and Daichi himself was able to live a life free of as much turmoil as it might have otherwise due to their efforts. By the time he reached college, though, those favors had all but run out, and the offers once again began to roll in. Now, though, Daichi was able to make his own choice to decline any direct ties to any one group. That being said, though, the only real obligation he had now in that regard is to Tokyo University; given how useful his Attribute is to aiding in physics experiments and his possible future prestige, Daichi was offered a scholarship in exchange for running tests whenever needed and, as it turned out, building up a name for himself outside of academics. With a full scholarship on the line, of course, the young man finally caved; technically, he was still not bound to any one given group, and with the University backing him, there was no safer option in his mind.
Other: Like a good chunk of the population of Japan, he plays mobile games during his downtime. A lot.
|| | || ||||| | Personality Xu Jian is, for lack of a better term, mellow. Someone who has incredible debt and has to slave away to barely chip away at it would usually be stressed out of their mind, but Xu Jian is rather calm about the entire ordeal. After all, she either pays it off or she dies. Both are viable ways of clearing it. She's often relaxed to the point of barely making an effort. While she does go hard and does things at maximum effort sometimes, it is only the result of rigorous discipline that she is able to do that. If she isn't forced to, she makes the absolute minimum amount of moves possible.
Money is constantly on her mind. After all, she has to take care of herself and a massive pile of debt. She can't afford (in both senses) to not think about it.
Despite her unapproachable face which constantly signals 'I am tired, do not talk to me', she's surprisingly friendly. She has an extremely bizarre sense of humour that almost never gets a laugh, but she still tries to make jokes on the reg. She's also a massive weirdo who wears bags and backpacks on the front. Who does that?
|| || ||| | || Attribute Xu Jian is blessed with an affinity of metal. With this attribute, she can create weaponry, armour, tools, and everything in between. While she can freely augment pure metals, the speed and accuracy of her abilities relies severely on the purity of the metal she is augmenting. Range is also a notable consideration. While she can bend things that are farther away, altering what she can touch is considerably faster than anything long ranged. Things such as high carbon steel bend to her will significantly slower and less accurate than something like pure iron.
Because of the more physical composition of metal compared to things such as fire, Xu Jian's ability to create metals from nothing is considerably slow. For her, it's much more efficient to alter preexisting metal rather than create some from nothing. Metal that is blessed by a supernatural force, be it of the rifts or of attributes, are unable to be altered in any way. Metal she does create, however, is ethereal. It only lasts for days before crumbling into nothingness.
| || || | ||| Abilities Xu Jian's combat talents lie in her ability to stay within the 5 Cs: calm, cool, collected, composed, and capable. Admittedly, those are all the same thing. Her ability to stay rational and act without panic is astounding, even compared to the most veteran explorers. She can make sound judgements based on her own capabilities. Besides that, she's incredibly mobile and has precise control of every movement her body makes.
| | | || || Skills With a talent and history in gymnastics, Xu Jian can pull a sick floor routine. Besides that, she has all of the skills of a functional adult. Cooking, minor sewing, cleaning, budgeting, and everything in between.
| || |||| |||| History Born to a new money family that had extremely high expectations of her, Xu Jian was destined for a life of effort and studying. Throughout her upbringing, she followed that lifestyle to a tee. Every waking moment was spent studying and otherwise preparing to be the perfect daughter. Her youth was punctuated with gymnastics in order to cultivate patriotism to curry favours with the government and schooling to eventually take over the family business. Either fortunately or unfortunately, her parent's family business had crumbled to nothing but mountains of debt after a series of scandals. Her parents, siblings, uncles, and everyone else related to her were forced to take on some debt and practically vanish off the earth. Xu Jian was free of her family, but she was alone.
So she escaped. Money made the world go 'round and she needed enough to survive. Her family's connections were useless and no regular job could help surmount the massive amount of debt she had. She was forced to do what she had to do; enter the rifts to make any sort of coin she could. Turns out, having a gymnast background helped considerably. Her first foray had filled her with an unknown power; she could control metal. While her aptitude wasn't great, her ability to properly move and stay calm under pressure helped. Days of entering rifts turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years. While her insurmountable debt is still there, she can at least make the minimum payments each month.
|| | ||| | | || Other She dreams of getting a puppy, but can't afford it.
Albrecht is an excellent shot caller who can improvise on the fly, with a natural combat sense that doesn’t truly fit his age or actual experience. He’s also a fuckboi who goes dungeon crawling cause he already has enough money to live a long life off of and wants to become famous as an explorer of extradimensional space. And to make things worse? Albrecht is terrible with women in the way that, if they’re even slightly attractive, he’ll go out of his way to be super-duper friendly, often bending over backwards to accommodate their needs. He also won’t hit them, even if they’re literally the incarnation of Satan, and he definitely won’t say ‘no’ if they ask him to carry their bags. Some sort of immature sense of chivalry, perhaps. Or maybe it’s because he went to an all-boys high school, and his own steady interaction with those of the opposite gender was his mom and his aunt, both who are figuratively dragons in the business world.
Of course, if any guy calls him out on that, they get the full all-boys high school treatment: a haymaker in the face followed by a German suplex before finishing in a rear naked choke. But that’s just guy stuff, ain’t it?
Attribute: Immolate [Conceptual]
As far as he’s aware, Albrecht has a Fire Element Attribute, being able to set target on fire when he touches them. This fire is incapable of harming anyone outside of the target and cannot spread or be put out the same way that normal fire can. Once the target dies or is destroyed, both the target and the flames disappear, leaving nothing but a shadowed outline of their body on the ground.
Abilities
Outside of his remarkably sharp decision-making skills in the heat of battle, Albrecht practices a form of mixed martial arts that focuses largely on footwork and quick strikes, as well as the occasional throw and low kick. His Attribute only works on physical contact and can’t spread, after all, so Albrecht naturally prefers using hit-and-run tactics: tagging one enemy before moving onto the next.
Skills
Having graduated from a fairly intense private high school with flying colors, Albrecht has a solid foundation of knowledge and physical skill. He can swim, he can run, he can do calculus, and he knows how to triangulate shit with two points of reference, among other relatively mundane things. Outside of that, Albrecht also has a fairly solid understanding on business, and is especially aware of how his own parents’ conglomerate functions. Long nights spent in dorms have given him both excellent sneaking abilities as well as a godly gift when it comes to playing Little Mac on Smash, while the morning after had granted him the ability to sleep anywhere. Naturally, being a guy with no actual taste when it comes to food and fashion, Albrecht can shamelessly eat and dress up in anything, all with enough confidence to convince people that, yes, this outfit is totally in vogue.
History
The Dietrich conglomerate spans the globe and has their fingers in every industry imaginable, a veritable powerhouse in the world of business, and growing up, Albrecht never wanted for anything and was always expected to be generous with everything. He tossed money at panhandlers, threw stupidly expensive gifts at his friends, literally didn’t give a shit when people lied in his face to get him to pay for their lunch, and overall was the sort of weird rich boy who was most definitely spoiled, but never actually let it get to his head.
Really, the biggest problem he had in life was the fact that his mom was insistent on making him do chores even when that was the job of their maid, and, thinking retrospectively, Albrecht thanks her for that. He’d hate to become an irresponsible adult incapable of washing his own dishes, after all.
Regardless though, life went on. Rifts happened, but after a year or so, it just became a business opportunity that the Dietrich Conglomerate capitalized on. His family got obscenely rich, set up a savings account that ensured Albrecht could live with minimal effort doing whatever he wanted, and soon, he realized that he had nothing that he really…wanted to do? It was easy enough to coast through elementary school and high school just doing homework and keeping up with punishingly fast-paced courses, but as graduation drew near, Albrecht realized that, without any external pressure pushing him to do anything in particular with his life, he had nothing he actually wanted to do.
So he dipped into a Rift, came out with a power, and became a self-styled adventurer that more or less already has more money that he’d ever need to use.
After all, people always say that they never feel more alive than when they near death. Maybe taking on the most dangerous job on the planet will be sufficient in giving him a reason to do more than eat, sleep and breathe.
Or maybe he’ll just die, unfulfilled and unsatisfied.
* Personality: Like most kids Paul spent his childhood wanting to be a hero or adventurer, though he was also realistic enough to know it just wasn't possible. Still he got his parents to sign him for boxing classes just in case he would get a chance to show said skills off. However he slowly focused more and more on regular life skills.
The appearance of the Rifts briefly reawakened Paul's old fantasies but the dangers involved as well the corporations claiming them for themselves meant he never had a chance to explore one.
* Attribute (If any): Ax [Item] While the ax summoned is both incredibly tough and sharp, it's unfortunately too heavy for to use easily. As a result he mostly uses it as an improvised shield, to finish the fight or as a last resort, though he is trying to overcome this weakness. * Abilities: He is by no means a pro but he knows some boxing moves and carries a metal bat as a weapon * Skills: He has the skills expected for his age, but he also knows to read a map and has some minor knowledge of edible plants and mushrooms * History: Paul's life really was pretty normal until about three months back when some friends took him along on a trip through a public no risk Rift. Of course anything valuable had already been claimed before the Rift became accessible to the public but traveling through it did gave him his attribute. While showing his ax off Paul quickly realized it was too heavy for him and spent time to un-summon it. That was the most exciting thing that happened to the group and it was clear the others were jealous of Paul's attribute, even with the issues he had with it.
Still he saw it as a chance to fulfill a childhood dream of becoming an adventurer while also making enough money to live off. Knowing the ax wouldn't be enough he returned to the boxing training he did in school and pretty quickly regained his former skill level leading him to decide he should be able to handle exploring Rifts as long as he had help.
Laissez les bons temps rouler! Kirk is at heart a very jolly and friendly soul, hailing from a from a humble home in the heart of Lafayette, Louisiana. Despite being one of the larger cities in the state not named New Orleans (pronounced, of course, "Nawlins"), essentially every bit of his large extended family hails from more rural towns such as Opelousas or Laplace, and they've imbued him with that small-town southern kid politeness and humility. Like many Cajuns, he's a practicing Roman Catholic whose worship celebrates the life God gave him and the community he grew up in, and so he intends to live in an honest way that does both proud. He's as hard a worker as you'll ever meet, and though he does carry that classically fiery, long-lasting temper if you cross him, even a Ragin' Cajun would scarcely stoop to underhanded reprisal. If it's a matter of honor between men, you fight it out and settle it, otherwise find somebody to mediate. For as hard as he works, he's every bit as willing to play hard, and will extend his own joie de vivre to all comers. Nobody's unwelcome here at the dinner table. We all live this life together, may as well have fun doin' it. To echo our beginning: Let the good times roll.
Attribute: Adhesive [Element]
Kirk has yet to discover his Attribute, but it is primarily control over and the creation of adhesives, binding agents that he can theoretically dial the strength of up or down as needed. As such, he could bind objects together through the use of these substances, coat a surface with a thin layer to catch things upon them, or potentially even "catch and release" to the point where he could scale sheer faces. A weaker glue could simply add an extra boost to his grip strength, he could revive an old sticker's stickiness, and maybe even remove something you glued on wrong.
But first, he has to figure out that he can do it.
Abilities
Being a Collegiate Wrestler for Louisiana State University's recently-revived (as of 2021) Division I Wrestling Team, Kirk is something of a minor deity on the mat compared to most men in the world, with a technical arsenal of trips, throws, body locks, blast doubles, high-crotch singles— the list is exhaustive. A lifetime of Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestling has granted him a number of physical gifts, including a fully-developed athletic profile: he's strong as an ox, quick on his feet, he has amazing balance and flexibility, and above all else, he is as hard-nosed as they come. A wrestler embraces the grind, and to compete at the highest level outside the Olympic Games, the Cajun has an unfathomable mental fortitude and toughness.
Additionally, while he has no appreciable striking training, he is every bit as aware of the UFC as any honest man in his sport could be, and understands punching mechanics well enough to not break his hand in a fistfight as well as hit with that classic "Wrestler has a wicked Overhand Right" power. Should one attempt to teach the Lafayette boy boxing or kickboxing or some other such art, they would likely find that he has an easy time applying underlying principles that exist between both realms of hand-to-hand combat (e.g. timing, misdirection, feints— fighting is a game of lies), and could potentially make great strides in his skill in that area.
Owing to childhood winters spent with Poirier family both to the north in Opelousas and south in Reserve, Kirk is also a fair shot with most long guns— he's been on Deer hunts for food and Nutria hunts for pest control. The little bastards tear the fuck up of the swamp, nahmean?
Skills
As mentioned above, Kirk is in tremendous physical condition, even moreso when he gets to be fully hydrated and not shave his weight down to his weight class. It's not always a tremendous cut to 174, but his natural weight is somewhere closer to 190 or possibly even 200 pounds (during Mardi Gras), and he has the build to reflect it. He is an all-around athlete that is every bit D1-caliber, but owing to his rural community ties he also has some skills one might not expect from such a man. He's stealthy, able to limit the noise of his movements through both forest and swampland. He's good at fishing and cooking, excelling in his grandmother's recipes for gumbo, anything that needs a roux, jambalaya, and other Cajun delicacies. He has a decent grasp on French, it being the natural Foreign Language credit of just about anyone growing up in Louisiana's schooling system. That said, he has every bit as thick of a Louisiana accent as he does in English. Finally, he could likely operate a boat and navigate the bayou in a pinch, but is not licensed.
History
Lafayette, Louisiana has proven itself to be the home of champions. Despite being overshadowed by the state's cultural titan in New Orleans, or the most prestigious University's seat and state capital in Baton Rouge, the comparatively small town of a couple hundred thousand is alive and well, and is with no doubt dominated by the Acadian-American culture. Descended from the French expatriates kicked out of Nova Scotia by the British, they're a people full of hard work, hard play, and hard ties to their fellows. It was this atmosphere of family and love for life that Kirk Dean Poirier was born into, and his life has been steeped in it ever since. He had a childhood full of visting and visits from extended family, grandparents, aunts, and uncles alike all in pretty consistent contract with the boy in his formative years. If the saying is that it takes a village to raise a child, the Poiriers were roughly a village's worth all on their own, taking Kirk into their lives just as much as they entered his. From an Uncle in Opelousas, he learned to fish. From an Aunt in Gramercy, he was taught to make his first biscuits. His Grandfathers took him hunting. His Grandmothers helped him with his times tables. It was this type of life that the young boy had, steeped in tradition, and like any good Cajun upbringing, it instilled a profound sense of honor and pride in your work into him.
He would take this ethic not only to academia, where he proved himself fully capable of staying on top of his grades, but also into athletics. A bit small as a child and somewhat bored by football, he instead began an after-school wrestling program in the third grade— and by the time he could try out for the middle school team, it was little more than a cinch. Kirk was fully hooked. He began placing well in local tournaments right away, something that would prove true all the way through puberty and well into high school. He would be a regular face in the State Championship bracket from Freshman year onward, and this blossoming mixture of talent, training, and athleticism caught the eye of none other than Mike the Tiger. After his senior year, he was offered a scholarship into the LSU Wrestling program— itself having little more than a decade to its name as the second iteration.
He accepted after some deliberation. While it wasn't a titan of the sport like Oklahoma State, when it came right down to it? LSU was at worst an afternoon's drive away from home. A home full of proud purple and gold fans, no less. It wasn't a big move so much as a bold one, to ignore truly established venues such as that, but, hell. This way if anything ever truly went wrong, he'd have someone he could turn to close by. He wouldn't have to give up on his way of life that he'd known for eighteen years, the fais-do-dos, the crawfish boils, the boudin, and besides—
Who'n the hell was to say he wouldn't be the one to put Louisiana back on the map in the Wrestling world?
Geaux Tigers, baby.
Now he is fully entrenched in the LSU campus as one of their athletes, even jovially participating in the athletic program to assist new students move into their dorms— after all, even the football players know to respect just how used a wrestler is to picking up heavy, awkward things. His training and studies both are reaching their zenith, and honestly, it is for the first time in his life starting to really catch up with him. Like many a wrestler (due to the lack of post-collegiate opportunities outside of the Olympic Games or a transition to MMA), he doesn't have the luxury of not pursuing a degree of some form, and as such is majoring in Kinesiology, and eyeing a minor in either psychology, anthropology, or maybe even biology. The combination of schooling and sport is deadly for a mind that doesn't have some release, and as such, Kirk Poirier has gotten quite good at kicking one back.
Or kicking two back. Or three.
Or however many it takes to wander into a rift at "dumbass o'clock". It was one of those very short, very small manifestations, the kind that didn't even send you anywhere and disappeared by morning— but it appeared somewhere on campus, and he managed to make contact. That's about all he remembers, and while the subsequent hangover has made him consider swearing right the fuck off of booze for a good long while, the thought of exploring a new world as his getaway, to at least once in a while to have a think for himself...
✣ Personality: Laidback and upbeat, Katie’s optimism reflects her powers. At times it often seems she’s full of boundless energy, always ready to take on the next challenge and bring about new experiences. So too then does she have an innate desire to help others when she can, eager to supplement kindness where it needs to be used. Hidden among the positive disposition is the burning fire of protection. Friend or stranger, she’s not above foolishly putting herself in danger for other’s sake in the face of injustice and cruelty.
But with all thunderstorms, there is a collection of calm and quiet. Despite her bright demeanor, that energy can get burned out all the same. Sometimes a moment of peace and quiet is appreciated lest she overwhelm herself. Of course, she’ll often have to be reminded of this by her peers lest she try to shoulder any challenge alone. Even so, regardless of her own feelings, she’ll continue to try and put others before her even at the cost of her own wellbeing.
✣ Abilities: As expected of an Elemental Attribute, Katie can produce the element of electricity. It naturally runs its course through her body, shooting up her veins, and can be unleashed in a variety of different ways. From sparking her fingers, to coating her limbs in electricity, and even discharging bolts and waves of the Element, the application for her Attribute is various. That said, insulation and rubber counters her powers for obvious reasons.
Katie can also manipulate electricity that isn’t her own. Often this translates into her short-circuiting technology with a touch or pranking people by flickering their lights on and off. The environment isn’t something to be relied upon too much so she tries to utilize her own power when she can. However, if a thunderstorm just so happens to be present, Katie can utilize this great source to fully enhance and bolster her powers to a shocking degree of potency.
✣ Skills: Due to all her time exploring and traveling several Rifts, Katie’s come to have a grasp of basic hand to hand combat. She’s fond of using flashy kicks for both defense and to show off. Usually, her electricity will coat her limbs to add a punch to her moves and a surprise for anyone against her. Furthermore, as a gymnast in her high school days, she’s quite flexible and athletic despite her size. And of course, thanks to her Attribute, she’s handy when it comes to messing with most of any sort of technology.
✣ History: Katie’s background isn’t all that amazing nor is it particularly seasoned. At the ripe age of nineteen, she’s only just barely graduated from high school and can be considered green when it comes to the business of Rift traveling. However, age and experience doesn’t stop her from scratching an itch that demands for adventure. Ever since she was young, she had been enamored and fascinated by the Rifts of their world, seeing them as portals to new possibility.
It probably didn’t help that her own parents were something of world travelers themselves in their own youths. And while although neither of them had the opportunity to explore the Rifts, their stories of countless adventures inspired the young Katie to follow in their footsteps. It was probably why, to no real surprise, they encouraged their daughter to travel into a Rift of her own, resulting in the Attribute she possesses today.
High school was high school and frankly, a meager chapter in her life. The most she got out of it was the gymnastics team of which she excelled at much to the awe of her peers. But while most girls assumed she would take her skills to apply in world championships, those who knew her best saw the real usage of them. Katie would no doubt take what she learned and apply them to survivability in traveling the Rifts.
Her parents continued to encourage her to pursue her own actions out of high school rather then feel obligated by anything else. With this support in hand and her own confidence driving her forward, Katie seeks out thrills and a carefree life filled with exploring the Rifts. Granted, she’s only really been traversing them for a short time out of high school-more if one counts the amount of times she’s snuck out in her youth-but a learning curve is better than none at all.
✣ Other: As a fresh and beady-eyed high school graduate, Katie chose to skip a year of college for the sake of traveling Rifts. Although she’s open to new encounters, most of her knowledge is, for better or worse, grounded in high school logic to a certain degree. In any case, she carries on her person a small locket containing a picture of her mother when she was her age.
Kay is a shortie at five-foot nothing, a full head shorter than 90% of people going into rifts these days- but she makes herself stand out with bright smiles and even brighter colors. She is almost always wearing something eye-catching to keep herself from getting lost in the crowd. And, if all else fails, just tie a balloon to her wrist.
Personality: Kay is a hyper little ball of excitement and energy and joy, 24/7. She seems to run more on coffee and solar power than sleep, but that never seems to affect her mood. She's pleasant to be around, and always treats others with respect and compassion, even when they haven't shown her the same respect in return. She tends to tackle problems before they're really even problems, and when something does go wrong, she throws herself at it twice as hard. She's always there to lend an ear if you need someone to vent to, or to offer you a hug when you feel down. Yes, she is a hugger.
She loves to be around people and thrives in a team environment. In the rare moment when she does show her own sadness though, she tries to be alone. She believes very strongly that what you put into the world perpetuates itself, so she only tries to show the world the best parts of herself, saving all the bad for the paperwork that needs filling out and file folders at her desk at home. Professionally she composes herself just a little bit more than usual, but tries to make sure there is always still a smile on her face. In private, she is much more relaxed, as she realizes the happy-go-lucky attitude can be overbearing when it's only herself and one or two other people.
If you said you'd never heard of Biotech, Kay would have an hour long conversation with you just pointing out all of the things you do in your daily life that wouldn't be possible without biotech. She's extremely hyper-focused on how she can use her skills and knowledge to better the world, and sees Biotech as the best way to get that change out, into the world as quickly as possible. She wants to help people, even if they don't feel like they want or need her help.
Attribute: Consciousness - Concept Kay has no idea if her attribute is tied to an Item, if it's something like "the element of Mind", or if it's a concept. What she does know is that one time while she was in a rift, she found a weird feather necklace/amulet thing, and she gained these powers at about the same time as when she decided to put it on. She's never taken the amulet off since.
The different aspects of her power are as follows: Empathy - She can sense and feel the emotions of those around her. Mind Reading - She can read surface thoughts passively, and read into memories if she focused on one person. Mental Communication - She can directly communicate with anyone nearby through thoughts alone. It's an open 2-way connection. Mental Projection - She can project her consciousness out of her body in a ghost-like form and travel through walls and other objects up to a certain distance away from her body. She still feels what happens to her body, even if her mind is miles away. Her other powers follow her consciousness, so she can't still sense the emotions or thoughts of those around her once her mind moves far enough away. Dream Manipulation - If someone near her is sleeping, their mental and emotional state just appears as "calm" to her, but if they are dreaming, she can read their mind and see their dreams, and can communicate with their dreaming mind to leave messages or to change the dream itself. (For example, she planted the thought "Cat" in her friend's dream once, and the dream immediately changed to be about cats, just a sea of cats. He wanted to pet a cat when he woke up.)
Abilities: Considering her attribute is not very physical, she's had to train extensively in hand-to-hand and short range firearms to get where she is now. She's a pretty good shot with any gun you could hand her, minus those big ol' sniper rifles, and she's held her own in many close-quarters fights. She's not the best, obviously, but she can take care of things herself if she has to. Her strategic planning ability all but flies out the window when she's actually in combat, so foresight and planning ahead are the way to go for her. Flying by the seat of your pants may be fun for a moment, but the amusement dries up pretty quickly when giant bees swarm around you and your team and nearly completely block out the sky.
Skills: This is where she shines. Her attribute's ability to let her see into the minds of other sentient creatures makes intelligence gathering a breeze, and her hyper-focus on Biotech makes her a shoe-in for leading scientific investigative companies to try and get her on their rift exploration teams. She knows the chemistry of all Earthly biological systems like the back of her lab gloves, and with every trip into a rift, she understands more and more of what's possible. Outside of physical science, her knowledge of psychology and the human psyche is also pretty good, even more so now she has this attribute. Her investigative skills are pretty good, but more than anything she just tends to notice things that others always seem to miss at first glance.
Outside of science, she's a skilled communicator and thrives in a teamwork environment. Because of her involvement in so many clubs and teams in the past, She has a wide array of skills that have proved useful to her in the rifts. Strategy and large-scale tactical planning, Resource and time management, High endurance from sports like swimming and cross country, and more random things. She also has a deep knowledge of how to make different types of great tasting, low-budget foods.
History: Kay hates talking about her past. Mainly because it's not a very happy story, or a story that she's proud of.
Shortly after Kay was born, Kay's mother was diagnosed with cancer. Expensive treatments and the knowledge that none of them were really working made her parent's relationship fall apart, and by the time Kay was in middle school, she didn't even want to come home once school was over anymore. The constant fighting at home made her feel like she was dying too. So, she started joining after school clubs. Science club. Chess. DnD. Homework and Tutoring programs. Volleyball. Swimming. Cross-country. Yearbook club. School newspaper. Anything to keep her away from home for a few extra hours each day.
By the time her mother actually passed away during her last year of middle school, Kay was well known throughout the community. And so she began looking for opportunities to move up in the world, and hopefully get away from this little city she felt so trapped in. This was about when the rifts first started appearing. In high school she continued her tradition of balancing as many clubs and teams as possible, but because home was so quiet now she wasn't quite sure why she still wanted to do it. Maybe she liked being around people? Or maybe it was the easiest way to make sure she qualified for the types of opportunities that would get her out of this place.
To her surprise, once the world realized the rifts could be used to gain awesome resources, information, and powers, a club popped up at her high school that was backed by a locally based Biotech company- Suivu>Sev. Their sole purpose was to explore and catalogue the types of rifts that appeared in their area, and to report this information back to S>S. In return, S>S would provide high schoolers with a "Superhero" Scholarship to cover their first two years of college- enough to get a technical diploma and an associates degree. Of course the only requirement other than being in the club, getting good grades in science and math, and accurately reporting on any rifts they explored, was more of a fluke to get than anything. She had to get herself an attribute to fully qualify.
Kay was well on her way to her goal of earning that scholarship, but the attribute problem almost didn't fall into place at all. Then, finally during her senior year, it happened. Luckily (or not), a new rift had opened up earlier that day, and there wasn't anyone from the company or Government poking around it yet to stop them from going in to explore on their own. So, Kay went in with three of her friends from the club- and of the four of them only two came back out.
While she was in there, Kay had found a necklace with a amulet of feathers, and almost as soon as she picked it up she'd begun to feel, different. Suddenly she could tell what her friends were thinking and feeling- and when she saw the giant feathery-bee looking things coming towards them, the one friend that made it out of the rift alive with her started running as if he'd heard Kay say "GIANT BEES" out loud.
Needless to say, she regrets that experience. That was the last push she needed to start taking things more seriously in life- and that was also when she adopted her happy-go-lucky demeanor, because she was damned if she was gonna put any more negativity into the world. In the aftermath of that tragedy, Kay threw herself into her studies even more, and after graduating she began to work at Suivu>Sev while going to college. She's graduated now, and in her work at S>S she helps search the rifts for new scientific discoveries and amazing revelations about humankind as a whole.
S>S main focus is on the biotechnological innovations that can me made using knowledge and resources from the rifts. As such, Kay goes in to as many rifts as she can on their behalf, discovering and documenting as many things as she can about the strange biologics on the other side of the rifts. Kay is often traded to other companies so she can have access to rifts that S>S couldn't claim.
Other: Greatest Dream: Kay wishes that she could take all the knowledge she has, and make her own company focused on making so Humans could not just survive, but thrive in alien environments like those of the rifts- without the need for an attribute. Space and the colonization of other planets might happen first, but the rifts are a tantalizing idea for new worlds.
Biggest Fear: Being inside a rift when it suddenly closes.
Lizzie is a silent person with a business-like disposition. She may seem to be shy or socially inept to onlookers, however, she simply believes in speaking only what's necessary without any manner of window dressing. While it would be easy to think that she would get irritated by others with conflicting personalities, the truth is that she's mostly neutral towards everyone and tries to always keep a cool, levelheaded attitude. Her behavior could be summed as "Do only what's necessary and do not worry about things that are beyond your control".
𝙰𝚝𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚎
Erasure「"Sensory Concealment"」The ability to vanish from others' perception, completely camouflaging you against any manner of detection and even making others forget about your existence temporarily. While this effect doesn't work on machines, it does work on people that may be making use of those machines. For example, she can be recorded by cameras and detected by sensors but someone looking at the footage will not notice her. However, an automatic security system would still be able to engage in the proper measures in case she triggers it.
𝙰𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜
CQC, infiltration, sneak attacks, and guerilla tactics. Lizzie is especially an expert in short-range weapons like knives, and handguns, using techniques from practical self-defense systems instead of regulated martial arts.
𝚂𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜
As part of her training, Lizzie is very skilled in all manner of physical and athletic activities such as swimming, climbing, freerunning, etc. Even though she's not inept at doing anything else -- Lizzie's a normal functioning human being, after all -- doesn't have any other specific talents since she never bothered to develop superfluous skills and abilities.
𝙱𝚒𝚘
Lizzie's life isn't remarkable at all at. She came from an average family from an average city tucked in the mountains of Western Virginia with a couple of working parents, a younger brother, and maybe a dog or perhaps a cat over the course of her early life. Perhaps thanks to this excessive normalcy, she always had a desire to see the wide world with her own eyes, which led to her joining the military as soon as she graduated from high school. She spent the next couple years of her life training constantly she even got deployed abroad a couple times. However, she never saw any actual action until she was assigned to a new squad formed to explore the Rifts that her life changed for real. Everything went well until right about the end of the end of the mission when they got ambushed by an unknown force of Rift-dwellers. After this mission went completely FUBAR in a matter of hours, with Lizzie being one of the few survivors, the military decided to abandon the idea of exploring the Rifts by themselves, handing the matters to private contractors. Following this experience, Lizzie spent another couple years in the military, but she never got to forget the experience she had in the Rifts that day. As soon as she got a chance, she arranged a job at one of the Rift exploration contractors and asked for a discharge from the military. sure, seeing the world was nice, but nothing could compare with what lay beyond each of the mysterious Rifts. Lizzie knew that exploring them was the dream she pursued her whole life and she wouldn't let it escape from her hands.
Personality: When in an immediately life-threatening situation, she displays a calm and no-nonsense attitude. The keyword being immediate. If there's only the promise of danger, then Charlotte is somewhat lackadaisical about the risks--her eyes might be peeled and she might be ready to respond immediately but she'll probably be joking the whole time. Her rather black humour can be troublesome for more concerned explorers.
Attribute: Immortality [Concept]
Abilities: From her attribute, Charlotte derives the incredibly obvious ability of not dying. Her body will also return to what she views as its default state fast enough to be visibly regenerating--a particularly useful distinction as it both avoids the risk of being caught in an infinite return-to-injured loop and maintain her current status. To make up for having the most purely-defensive attribute possible, and overcome prior weaknesses, Charlotte is also... well, exactly as she appears--half man, half machine. She's enormously strong, as the ability to wield a sword that massive might attest, and pretty agile--not the best sprinter, but her reactions and standing jumps are something to behold. As former military, her combat skills are pretty wide, if inclined towards the "rusty" due to the strangeness of rifts and her own durability. Except actually using other weapons; you can't take a 9' long sword into places.
Skills: She can cook, sew, clean things up, swim, gush over cats... really, her skills are mostly that which gets you by in daily life, or necessary for military action.
History: Charlotte's early life couldn't be said to be anything super unusual for a British child of the era--not really the most academically inclined, but not particularly distinguished. In the end, she wound up choosing a military career, ending up in the Royal Marines. Perhaps it wasn't so surprising that she was thus in one of the first groups to actually start probing the rifts before it became an almost normal thing... Whilst she was therefore one of the first to show up with a Conceptual Attribute, she also became one of the first actually severely injured in the process--something that kept her out of commission for an annoyingly long few years, as Charlotte was still trying to grasp the extent of her own abilities and not wind up halfway back to being incapacitated on a regular basis. But once her own grasp of her ability firmed up, it opened a lot of possibilities... after all, who better to test and employ dangerous cybernetics based on Rift materials than the person who could revert any damage they might do until things could be replaced? And at the same time, it would let her make up for her earlier disaster... and keep exploring the worlds that had captivated her from the first sight.
Personality: ARI-001, or Alice as her creators most often refer to her, is a very quiet, expressionless individual. Indeed, in most respects she seems to be completely emotionless. One could easily be forgiven for believing that to be the case. However, closer observation will reveal that Alice does indeed possess emotions, albeit they are usually extremely subdued. Due to her extremely advanced artificial intelligence, Alice's behavior is remarkably humanlike, though still stilted as she does not truly understand how to express herself. Alice does not understand many human social conventions, but she is highly curious and possesses an interest in learning about the world and people around her. While she is unlikely to voice her questions, she is highly likely to observe the world around in in a rather intense fashion, which may seem a little disconcerting given how often this leads to her staring at people. Alice also possesses an interest in animals, particularly small, fluffy ones. In spite of her curiosity, Alice will do little to encourage interaction with herself, still having a viewpoint that she is a 'tool' made for the purpose of rift diving. Tools don't often talk with humans. She will immediately prioritize the lives of others over herself, up to the point of causing extreme damage or even catastrophic damage to herself if it means protecting others. It can be said that any sense of self-preservation she possesses is immediately lost when the lives of others are in danger.
Attribute: Alice is not human and therefore is incapable of possessing an attribute. However, a prototype 'Artificial Concept Engine' was installed within her during her creation, allowing her to mimic the attribute 'Light'. This is mostly for the purpose of generating infinite ammunition for her directed mana weapons and has little use beyond this as of now.
Abilities: Alice is not human, nor is she organic. As such, her body is considerably more durable then it would appear, and she is not at risk of blood loss or injury in the same manner as a human. However, as a system intended to avoid her unnecessarily causing serious damage to herself, she is capable of feeling pain. Alice is an artificial human, a robot created for rift diving with the use of advanced technological and magical systems. These manifest in the form of her armament and equipment. There are three stages of deployment of her weaponry, each unlocked with an incantation and confirmation code. The default stage is Argent Gamma. In this stage of deployment, she is equipped with a set of mana-based laser cannons fueled by her Artificial Concept Engine that can also serve as a shield, and a chain-blade weapon inscribed with 'fairy letters' discovered in one rift that allow it to damage magical defenses. This is her default combat stage. The second stage of deployment is Argent Beta. This stage of weapon deployment combines her smaller laser weaponry into a single cannon, and creates a hard-light mana blade projected from her chain-blade. More potent, but less versatile and slower, as well as consuming more power. The final stage of deployment is Argent Alpha. This trades her melee capabilities away entirely, in order pour all her energy into an overwhelming ranged attack. All her equipment is transformed into a single enormous magical cannon, a high-grade anti-fortress weapon capable of vaporizing solid manner with a single shot. Known as Vorpal Cannon, it taps directly into her core energy supply, and firing it can cause enormous backlash damaging her internal systems. A weapon of last resort that can cripple her operations or even destroy her entirely.
Skills: Alice has absolutely no skills practical for survival. However, she would like to learn how to cook, in spite of never mentioning this to anyone.
History: ARI Unit-001, or Alice, is the product of a collaboration between the Shiokawa Institute of Magic-Technology Hybridization, based in Japan, and the Robertson Institute for the Advancement of Robotics in the United States. The goal of the collaboration was to make an artificial being capable of performing action within the rifts. Indeed, they wished to create an artificial Rift Diver. After many years of development(and a not-insignificant number of failures), the ultimate product of this effort, ARI Unit-001, was created. Designed in the form of a young girl(due to the influence of the Shiokawa Institute and one of the notable scientists designing her schematics, as the Robertson Institute was initially intended to create something decidedly more manly), her creators began to refer to her as 'Alice' due to both her appearance and the idea that she would be 'entering wonderland'. She has only recently been cleared for experimental deployment, though she has entered rifts prior to this point she has never done so with others.
Name: Edison Wright Age: 42 Appearance: Because of a small amount of vanity and a sense of loss from the years spent behind bars, he has reverted his appearance to that of his 30 year old self.
Personality: Edison Wright was always a private individual, reluctant to talk about himself. He likes to make jokes, even at the expense of others but his constant good mood and frequent compliments take away the sting of his comments. He is a man of his word and tries his best not to outright lie but will withhold information to spare someones feelings.
Attribute: Self [Concept] Edison's Attribute is himself. He has gained the ability to manipulate his physiology from outward changes to his appearance down to blocking pain and causing changes on a small scale. The applications are numerous and limited only by his knowledge but there are a limited number that he has a good deal of practice at that can be put into effect very quickly. He is also supernaturally aware of the workings of his body and any abnormalities that may occur.
Healing: Edison can accelerate his rate of healing given time to rest. In the short term he can simply control the flow of blood and stop bleeding at the source. He can also shut off pain.
Sensory Enhancement: He enhances one or multiple of his senses. Care must be taken as over stimulation of a single aspect can overwhelm or incapacitate him.
Adrenaline Burst: Full control of his adrenal glands let's him activate them at will, giving himself a burst of energy, strength and clarity at any time.
Strength: Edison can effortlessly build muscle without the effort required to do so. This requires a large amount of raw materials and leaves him ravenously hungry.
Abilities: In the past he used firearms and now is no different. Instead of being a calm and collect gunman with a rifle he is an aggressive attacker with a shotgun that overpowers enemies at close range with vicious rushing attacks.
Skills: Lately his interests have leaned towards learning as much as he can about anatomy. He has little free time between jobs. Previously he enjoyed detailed oriented hobbies such as woodworking and welding.
History: Edison was once a career soldier specializing in assaulting buildings and clearing rooms. He worked long deployments and inevitably it put strain on his marriage, especially with a young daughter in the equation.
His wife filed for divorce and won custody of their child while he was overseas. He returned to find his life turned upside down. Edison moved into a small apartment of his own and applied for a training position so that he could stay at home and possibly win back some visiting rights for his daughter.
His mistake came when he made a misguided attempt to surprise her on her birthday, picking her up from school to take to dinner for her birthday. His daughter was happy but her mother was not and called the police. He was arrested and found guilty of kidnapping. He was sentenced harshly.
Shortly after beginning his time in prison a Rift appeared in the jailyard, pulling him in along with two guards. The three emerged changed and the prison system was given a problem to solve. Edison was given an opportunity. Sign a contract and explore Rifts for the remainder of his prison term and at the end his entire record would be expunged. He might even be able to see his girl again.
Edison was on his best behavior going forward and the two guards that had gained their powers alongside him became his handlers between jobs. More than that even, they became his only friends. He earned a reputation for integrity on the job, dependability and a legendary effectiveness. Missions that included him had a much lower casualty rate than was normal.
Personality: Though quiet, Reese keeps an observant awareness on at almost all times. Her tongue is sharp, her words swapping between foul and honest, and she is willing to take advantage of opportunities, even if it demands risks with heavy prices to pay. Despite having yet to put someone under grave danger, she doesn’t mind using others to make things easier for herself when she could. She may not get angry often, but when she does, she uncharacteristically explodes into a fit of anger. A bit of an unreasonable character.
She also hates nacho cheese.
Attribute: Bludgeon [Conceptual]
Abilities: Every strike Reese consecutively lands on a physical entity with any physical weapon gains increasing damage against it. If she stops, then the effect of her attribute decays quickly. The first strike is identical to a typically built fighter’s strength, but a few more strikes lets her be able to tear through organic and non-organic materials alike. Reese usually uses an iron pipe, but frequently switches melee weapons with anything around her. To make up for her lack of flashy ranged combat, she wields an old Beretta Px4 Storm with limited ammunition.
Skills: Reese lies in the awkward position of having no true talent in anything, and resorts to possessing a myriad of decent skills from her old part-time jobs, including- but not limited to- cooking and doing laundry. She barely qualifies for having above average flexibility as a result of her physical capabilities, but she is terrible at being stealthy. Reese is atrocious at playing video games. The only thing she's notably good at is singing, but she never does it where someone could hear her- and it's also pretty useless for her in the long run.
History: On her 14st birthday, Reese received a note from her parents in their living room. The word “Sorry” was written on it.
Born in Chicago and living most of her life in New Jersey, Reese mostly lived a mundane, but normal life. The first fourteen years of her life generally remain shrouded in silence from others, though she isn’t against telling anyone how disappointing it sounded. After her parents ran out on her due to unpaid debts, she was taken in by two foster parents for the rest of her high school days. Her foster father frequently entered Rifts, which usually left Reese and her foster mother on their own for a handful of time every day. Reese eventually moved out to work on her own with various part-time jobs, making a quiet promise to return with a better job.
She worked with part-time jobs, lying about her age to acquire more jobs at once. Some found out and kicked her out, never allowing her to work again, but others never did. Though she was a terrible liar, her terrible attitude usually eased the annoyance of having to coerce people around her.
On her 23rd birthday, she was informed her foster mother had been sent to the hospital due to a physical illness.
Her foster father reportedly died inside a Rift a few days before.
Though she was later discharged three months later, her mother remained ill. Reese refused to acknowledge that she could help her mother due to her own poor income, but the thought of running out on her mother infuriated her. She absolutely seethed at the very idea. After all, only a certain two could piss her off just by remembering them.
Unaware of whether she acted out of kindness for her mother or pure arrogance against injustice, she swore to enter one of the Rifts and get her act together. She eventually dropped her part-time jobs and immediately headed into a Rift- and out of it.
She would make sure to bludgeon everything that got in her way.
Appearance: Standing at just five foot four, what Soraya lacks in physical impressiveness, she makes up for with the confidence she carries and her looks. Or at least, she thinks that's how it works. Long black hair, dark skin with bright golden eyes. She usually dresses in the latest fashions, as eccentric as they might be, and tends to stand out in a crowd.
Personality: Soraya is a rather...sheltered, and somewhat entitled person if one would take her at face value. Lets face it, she is definitely not the most friendliest sort in existence. She has spent most of her life being waited on hand and foot, after all and still has trouble coping with the fact that not everyone will bend to her every whim or acquiesce to her demands. That said, she is friendly enough, though as she has no concept of social norms, it can be difficult to tell if she is being intentionally antagonistic or simply oblivious.
She tends to be incredibly passionate about her interests, and actively seeks new enjoyment in life and new experiences. She often seeks rarities, and can be somewhat overbearing on people and things she likes. Her hobbies, just as one may expect are a bit eccentric and don't seem to line up. Robotics, history, and deep sea life.
Has a huge thing for medieval plays and Renaissance fairs. Will often attend tech demos and always keeps herself up to date on new stuff.
Attribute: Armor (item) A rather simple looking suit of armor, mimicking what a knight of old might wear complete with a simple knightly sword. It honestly isn't very impressive upon first glance. The armor itself, while not overly impressive looking has the effect of being extremely durable, able to even deflect bullets without causing the wearer to flinch, as well as increasing their physical strength and stamina by a good amount. It also grants one an innate understanding, though small, of swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat. Abilities: Yea, you see that sword? She has no idea how to use it. The armor seems to help, but its purely instinctual. Perhaps some actual combat experience could help. Skills: Non-combat wise, Soraya has few skills that may be of use. She can tell you a bit about robotics and computers from her hobbies, as well as random history facts. That said, if presented with a situation she must do something she's never done before, she shall attempt it with the best of her ability and the knowledge her education brings her. History: Soraya's history is rather normal, for a person of wealth and status. Born to a wealthy fashion designer and CEO, she was quickly spoiled rotten by her parents. All she had to do, was excel in her studies and be a perfect little starlet. Which of course, she quickly took too. Being the center of attention has become one of her favorite pastimes, and she's not shy in the slightest. As one might expect, this colored her personality for the worse. She's selfish and entirely only does things she enjoys or feels as though she should.
Such a personality, carried her through most of her life. She played the part of a good little girl all the way up to her third year of college. Robotics, fashion and all of that was fun and all...but it had all gotten so boring. Nothing new. She wanted something else. Something a little more exciting. When she was little, she always read fantasy novels as a guilty pleasure...and with the rifts opening up - well, adventure seemed like the appropriate course.
So with only a brief letter to her parents stating her intentions, she found a rift and came out with an attribute. Other: N/A
A man of strong physique, standing at 6'1” and weighing 200 lbs. Has platinum-blond hair cropped short, especially on the sides, with a longer ridge down the middle. On his chin is a short goatee. He wears eyeglasses with rectangular black frames. His hazel eyes are almost gold in coloration, particularly right around the pupil, and he has golden open-faced grills on his teeth. Marxion often wears collared button-down office shirts, usually blue, yellow, or gray, along with black slacks, shoes, belt, and suspenders, though given his line of work he typically keeps the sleeves rolled up and swaps the shoes out for boots. He's of only average attractiveness, giving off a faint goonish impression.
Personality:
'Passionate' is a word that describes Marxion very well. He's confident, outspoken, boisterous, and outgoing, but at the same time a fairly dedicated nerd and workaholic. Whether it's hammering away at a keyboard for hours on end on going a few rounds against fellow fighters at the nearest gym, he commits himself fully to his endeavors. This 'full speed ahead' sort of mindset also makes him blunt and at times insensitive or obnoxious, less than patient with fools, introverts, and anyone acting duplicitous; he can also be cocky and hardheaded. Still, as his friends can attest, he's a reliable pal and a force to be reckoned with. Most of all, despite his enthusiasm in various areas (and his grills) he's still a pretty down-to-earth and normal dude.
Attribute:
Save (Conceptual) – Marxion's attribute allows him to make a record of something at a point in spacetime, a 'save point'. A save point is made when Marxion willfully touches or nearly touches a target (defined as someone else, an object, or himself), creating a small golden mark on the contact point resembling a clock face with an X across it. Once a save point is made, Marxion can -at will- send the target back to the relative point at which the save was made, restoring the target to the state it was in at that time. This position is relative rather than absolute because, most basically, since the planet itself is moving, an absolute position would result in the target being sent to space and not be saved in any real respect. However, the relative position would also, say, allow a wallet to be returned to the pocket it was in when the save point was made even if the person with the pocket moved somewhere else.
Abilities:
Bruiser - Marxion is a skilled and brutal brawler, clearly trained in technique but preferring raw power to refinement, and most comfortable using his fists but not afraid to throw a knee or go for a grab every now and then.
Brainy – Though Marxion loves raw strength, he fights smart. He's observant enough to get an idea of what his opponent is doing and defend himself appropriately, and cunning enough to employ strategies like feints, conditioning, and out-positioning while keeping his head in the game
Skills:
Computer Whiz – While he doesn't exactly look the type, Marxion's more than competent when it comes to computers, though more on the software side than hardware. He's a pretty good programmer, and in general very handy with a keyboard and mouse
History:
From an early age in the city of Melbourne, Australia his father drummed two things into his head: ambition and achievement. Those principles drove him from his first day of school to his last and beyond, into the working world where his labored as a software developer for a high-profile banking corporation during the day and an up-and-coming MMA fighter in the evening. All the while his intensity cooled, leading to a rather ordinary remarkable life. Yet, he could never tame the urge that ran through his veins for so long: to do and be more. The advent of the Rifts, at long last, provided just that.
Unable to escape his responsibilities for the time being, he waited for the world to make sense of the chaos while filling his off-time with study of the incredible phenomena that arose from the relevatory occurrence, and of those most interested in them. Through his observation, the keen-eyed and sharp-witted overachiever kept tabs on not just the actions of public organizations in response to the Rifts, but on the vague entities moving in the shadows as well. He knew that he couldn't wait for the rule of law and due process to make these extraordinary anomalies open to ordinary folks like him, and in doing so dull them down to mundane, everyday occurrences; as such, he looked to those shadows to find his ticket to greatness.
After a while he found it: a small organization of unique individuals, already bearing Attributes from their ventures into the Rifts and putting them to good use in the underbelly of this brave new world. Boldly, he pinned them down and approached them, demanding to put his considerable skills to use for the sake of the group—after all, he'd done what countless others had failed to: finding and confronting them. Their leader considered his request, and after a trial by combat, agreed to take him in. Soon after, he faded from the book of history, and Marxion took his place.
Operating on his Organization's behalf, Marxion continues to take great interest in the Rifts, working with companies and other groups when possible to explore them as much as possible.
< 19 | 4 ft. 9 in. / 6 ft. 4 in. | 94 lbs / 225 lbs >
Personality
An optimistic sort, Jules's personality compliments his attribute. He is talkative, supportive, and all around a person most want at their side in a rift- if not for his powers, but for his willingness to collaborate. The most professional and orderly thing about him is his style of clothing, as he is a spontaneous individual that thinks only in the now. Charitable with his boons and support, he can be overbearing for those that wish to be left alone.
Attribute
Vigor [Concept]
Jules bears the ability to enhance the preexisting qualities of people and attributes through filling them with a supernatural vigor. When people are enhanced, they heal wounds more quickly, are more durable, and have increased strength and stamina. When an attribute is enhanced, a quality of the user's choice is strengthened for a duration. Jules can also choose to heal wounds and restore stamina instead of enhancing any qualities or attributes.
Normally diminutive in stature, Jules bulks up and physically changes when he enhances himself. When in this state he receives superior strength, stamina, and durability until he tries to enhance or heal someone else.
Abilities
He understands his place in combat despite his cheery outlook on life, and is situated in the back lines of any encounter, slinging his vigor to those that need it. Jules is also proficient in most maneuvers relating to stealth, and can commonly be found sneaking during combat to find a better place to invigorate from. When push comes to shove, he is below the average skill levels of other fighters, but makes up for it when invigorating himself through his sheer augmented strength and durability.
Skills
For what it is worth in the rifts, he is quite good at talking and playing parts- a history in drama classes would do that to anyone worth keeping in the class. Other than that he is exceedingly average in most other regards, and below average in his understanding of maths and the sciences. His hobbies include: people watching, sketching, and reenacting stories and scenes from his times in the rifts in dramatic fashion.
History
Jules's story is a rather bland one until it gets to the middle parts, and he typically starts there when describing it. To cover the bits that he forgets to bring up: he was born in Paris, France and was the kind of kid that could easily be tricked into doing the chores and homework of other kids. He was always a small kid, and was bullied. Skip up to 2024 and the rifts appear. His father was on one of the teams sent in shortly after their appearance, and that inspired him to do the same thing later in life. Until then the world had become one filled with wonders, and Jules was ever eager to tell everyone he came across that his dad was a hero.
Later in life he would get his wish as a rift opened while on a class trip in high school, and his life would be forever changed. He and a few others that developed attributes were snapped up by some company that he manages to forget the name of and set to go into rifts. His attribute proved extremely useful in making sure that people came back alive, and he was set to go on any expedition they could fit him into.
Work kept him increasingly distant from his family, much to his chagrin. He occasionally wrote them and got written back to, and that, it seemed, was enough for him to keep going.
