1. General RPGuild rules
2. One character per player at this time
3. Your character must have a particular type of plant that grants them a reasonably related superpower(s). It can be on-the-nose or less so, as long as I decide your line of reasoning is valid. For example, a jalapeno could grant fire-breathing powers.
4. Plant powers are very new. Your character has had this connection for three months maximum as of the official start date of June 19, 2021. There is no minimum. As such, please keep your powers small-to-medium to start. If this goes well enough we can level up to god-mode later. :D
5. If your character has a certain power upon character creation, you may increase or decrease the strength of that power at any time, within reason. If you want your character to gain a whole new power that wasn't mentioned at creation, you must put your idea in OOC chat or PM me for approval. You must also post three more times after approval before you can use that power. This is to prevent situations where a player magically creates a new power to get out of any random situation. (Now, if a character does that on occasion, it could be BADASS. I just don't want it to come cheap.) If you have ideas now for way into the future, you can mention them now. That way, your three posts after approval will be done long before you actually want to start gaining that power.
6. The plant or animal essence that bestows a power typically reveals itself as an image in a dream. The dream could happen before or after the powers emerge. The dream and powers usually happen within a month of each other, but sometimes a greater length of time passes for reasons unknown. (Or perhaps the person didn't realize the significance of the dream and had to be reminded multiple times, lol.)
7. Your character may come in with NPC tag-alongs, but NPC's you play can't have a plant or animal essence.
8. This story takes place in an AU 21st century. The technology, customs, etc. are mostly similar to the real world, though the influence of animal essences has changed some things.
9. I don't have much of a length expectation for posts - it can be one short paragraph as long as that paragraph moves the plot or conversation along. I do have a frequency expectation. I expect a post at least once a week and may move the story along without you if you don't post anything for two weeks.

Please post your CS to the OOC for approval.

Name:
Appearance: (this can be a picture, written description, or both)
Gender:
Age:
Occupation:
Plant Essence: (what kind of plant has connected with your character and given them a superpower)
Superpower(s): (aim for a 2 or 3/10 on the powerful scale with a potential to scale up over time)
Personality:
History: (should include when their plant connection started)
Miscellaneous: (optional)

Appearance:

Gender: Female
Age: 21
Occupation: Nighttime Waitress
Plant Essence: Rafflesia kerrii
Superpower(s):

Scent Creation: This has two applications, one passive and one active:

Passive: By exposure of bodily fluids - such as sweat, blood, or saliva - Kerri releases the scent of rotting meat, unwillingly, as the fluids evaporate upon making contact with the air. As her body heats up, or the most time she spends in an area of extreme heat, the worst the smell becomes; easily nauseating all but the most iron-willed or those without a sense of smell.

Because of her current lack of control, she habitually chews flavoured gum and sleeps in a shower.

Active: By forcing the growth of the parasitic Rafflesia Kerri flowers on her own body, she can set the bulbs to bloom, or detach the bulbs, and use them as a biological grenade to take root in another living being - using their flesh and blood to bloom.

Regardless of how it is done, drawing on multiple blossoms can cause downright bio-hazardous levels of smell that can trigger intense nausea, cause unconscious, and other physical reactions without an extreme strong resistance or no sense of smell.

However, because this takes Kerri’s flesh and blood as nutrients, she is unable to support more than five blossoms at the moment.

Vermin Control: This is an Active power, as Kerri focuses on a singular command, while heating her body up or producing a bulb, which then becomes a scent that attracts a species of vermin within the area, such as rats or flies. Because this isn’t direct control, but instinct influence, Kerri can only issue very simple commands, such as: Swarm, Attack, and Seek.

Because of Kerri's immense dislike of her power, Kerri tries to avoid using this power until she is unable to handle the situation. However, vermin are instinctively drawn to her, as she reeks of rotten flesh and blood, and can be commonly found tracking her down whenever she starts to sweat.

Personality: Prior to developing her Powers, Kerri, while not the brightest flower in the patch, was personable enough, and open to conversation with her nighttime regulars as she was trapped in her dead end job as a waitress. However, once her Powers bloomed, ironically, her personality wilted with it. Socially withdrawn due to her smell, Kerri finds it hard to attempt to converse with even her regulars, as she focused on staying cool, and almost impossible to make new contacts.

History:

A sickly child, Kerri was never one of high spirits, but was never starved for attention. Private schooled through most of her childhood, Kerri didn’t do the teenage rebel phase with any true passion, but simply to pass through peer pressure, and the look stuck. Although her health recovered as she reached adulthood, but, the damage done would stay with her, making her prone to sickness with the weather change, as well as having impacted lung capacity, so she becomes easily winded.

Uninspired by much, Kerri dropped out of her private college in the middle of her first year of a “recommended” degree in Literature Studies for a dead end job - waitressing for a Mom n’ Pop dinner - and vanishing from existence, as far as her friends and family could understand. For five years, Kerri bussed tables and took orders for nights on end, until she started to get a summer cold...

At least, that’s what she assumed.

A week of the scent of death and decay took her in a nightmare, as her Flower Power developed without any more warning; uncontrollable growth of rotting smelling flowers covered her skin, vermin of all form invaded her motel flat like a plague, and her sweat was becoming a slimy goo. By time her fever broke, Kerri’s power had solidified in its current state.

Through only the effort of living in a rundown motel flat, some serious deep cleaning, and a routine of sleeping in her shower, perfumes and deodorant, was Kerri even scraping back some of her substandard lifestyle. However, she withdrew even further into herself...

Miscellaneous: Kerri never goes by her first name, Rachael, with strangers or ever close friends, and always makes a point to emphasize, “It’s Kerri with an I, not a Y. I’m British, mate, not Irish.”

She's had two months of "practice" with her power, thanks to her living arrangements and generally unfriendly disposition.

Name: Arthur Luna

Appearance: Arthur is quite small, both in height and build. Standing at 5’5’’ and weighing 130 lbs, Arthur is something of a shrimp. This isn’t helped by his total lack of toned muscles, with his torso being completely flat and his arms and legs being small and stringy. Arthur’s skin is a pale white as he tends to avoid the sun. Arthur’s oval like face is covered in long black hair that goes all the way down to his neck. He also wears a pair of black glasses over his hazel eyes.

Arthur tends to dress eclectically as he doesn’t subscribe to any one style. As such he can been seen often in a variety of colours, fabrics, and other styles of dress. Usually multiple shirts are worn at once and a sweater as well most times. Arthur tends to prefer long pants rather than shorts, as well as running shoes instead of dress shoes. Arthur has also been experimenting with gender non-confirming clothes, mostly keeping to feminine colours and styles of shirt at this time.

Gender: Male

Age: 20

Occupation: Receptionist/Hobbyist Podcaster

Plant Essence: Ipomoea alba aka Moonflower

Superpower(s): Moonflower is a species of flower that blooms at night and closes back up during the day. In relation to this Arthur now possesses an involuntary transformation during the night. Currently this causes Arthur to become even more pale in skin pigment, for him to grow an inch in height, and possess heightened speed, strength, and reflexes. Once it becomes day again Arthur loses the enhanced abilities and returns to his default body. In the future Arthur will get taller when he transforms, with maybe even more visual changes, and his enhanced abilities would increase to a superhuman level.

Personality: At first glance Arthur seems to be the quiet guy, mostly falling into the background in most situations. However, if you get to know him he begins to bloom, revealing a very passionate and talkative individual. Once a conversation begins with Arthur it tends to go on for a long time as he sometimes doesn’t know when to stop.

Coming out of a sheltered past, Arthur is always trying to experience new things. To that end he associates with a varied type of people. He has also been experimenting with his sexuality, but currently does not want to use a label. He has also gotten into many fandoms, which has helped him meet new people, and given him a lot of references to use in conversation.

Arthur also has a tendency to help out others in need. This could be as simple as buying groceries for the struggling single mother next door, to helping a friend get sober. Arthur also would like to think that he would defend someone in a fight, but he questions this with his current physique, leaving that up to the realm of superhero stories.

History: Born in a small town of which his mother was mayor, Arthur had a sheltered childhood. Arthur was the middle child of three, and was quite often expected by his parents to both follow in the footsteps of his older brother and be a good example for his younger sister. For the first few years Arthur did as his parents asked, only engaging with others they approved of. But as Arthur got older it became harder for his parents to control him.

It was at the age of eight that first saw someone with animal powers. In his small town no one had powers, and the adults didn’t talk about it, so mention of powers was restricted to stories traded by the children. Because of this Arthur was sceptical of their existence. But that was changed when he saw a man who had just been kicked out of the town’s only bar, launch into the air and fly away on wings that appeared out of nowhere.

Arthur decided to keep this sighting from his parents, figuring it would just get him into trouble. Wanting to learn more about the animal powers, Arthur turned to the public library for information. Going on the public computer, Arthur looked up all he had wanted to know, wondering if he could give himself powers, maybe get rid of his nearsightedness and sensitivity to light. Noticing what Arthur was searching, the librarian approached him, offering his assistance. Arthur accepted, quickly learning that the librarian was different that the other adults in town.

Arthur would spend a lot more time over the years at the library, looking up topics that he wouldn’t dare search on the computer at home. His view of the world began to expand, as he started new hobbies like rollerskating, playing board games, and working at the town’s community garden. It was quickly becoming apparent to Arthur’s parents that he was a free spirit, so they worked to corral him in. As Arthur’s brother left for college in the city, his parents encouraged him to follow suit. Arthur said he would think about it.

When Arthur finally graduated from his local high school, the issue of college was raised again. Arthur declared that he too would move to the city, but unlike his brother he would take a year long break to discover himself before applying. This made his parents irate, but Arthur’s brother was more of the mind that at least he is planning to go to college. Thus he helped Arthur moved to the city.

Once Arthur made it to the city he quickly became a part of the community. He made friends with the other tenants in his apartment complex, he found a local gaming group, and found a new community garden to work at. Job hunting did not go well initially, but after two months Arthur got a position as a receptionist at a doctor’s office. Things were going well, so well that Arthur pushed back attending college by another year. In the mean time he started a podcast with a few of his friends, hoping to make it big.

Arthur’s family’s patience was quickly running thin, eventually running out when Arthur postponed another time. His parents stopped talking to him, his brother questioned if he had any intention of going to school, while his sister just did what her parents said and didn’t speak to him.

This sent Arthur into a bit of a spiral. He began to question all of his choices, hoping that he was making the right ones. It was a few weeks later when Arthur was working in the community garden by himself around twilight. He had just finished watering the vegetables and was sitting down on a bucket, watching the moonflowers. Arthur had always liked watching them bloom as the night came. However this time, something else changed beside the flowers.

Arthur felt a slight pressure as it seemed liked his body was getting taller. The feeling ended just as the moonflowers finished blooming. As Arthur got up to leave the garden, he noticed that his skin was paler than usual. Not thinking much of it, Arthur began to jog back to his apartment. Without thinking, he immediately began sprinting, making it back home in record time. He then went to bed, and when he woke up the next day, found that his skin had gone back to normal.

For the next few nights Arthur would notice the skin pigment change, the increased height, and stronger physical abilities. After a week Arthur began to question what was happening to his body at night. At first he considered that he might have animal powers, but he couldn’t think of an animal that would match his powers. So he went into researching animals in his free time, trying to see if that could answer his question.

Miscellaneous: Arthur is queer, but is still figuring things out and as such isn’t using labels yet. Arthur has been sensitive to sunlight since he was a child, causing him to prefer to remain indoors. He also tends to revamp his wardrobe every few months, as he loves buying a lot from thrift stores. Arthur also hosts a podcast with two friends. What the topic of the podcast is, I currently don’t know. I welcome any suggestions.

Name: Mara Harrington

Appearance:


Gender: Female

Age: 22

Occupation: Cafe waitress/assistant

Plant Essence: Lemon tree

Superpower: Mara's plant affinity, oddly enough, granted her electric powers. This is because lemons are high in electrolytes, and can be used as simple batteries. Since she's at a low level right now, she can only produce a weak charge, and she doesn't have great control; when she's particularly angry or afraid, she tends to spark accidentally. With practice, she'll be able to produce electricity at a higher voltage, and gain better control over it.

While shocks from external sources don't injure her, they do disrupt and weaken her power for a short time.

Personality: As you'd expect, Mara is more than a little sour. She's long since given up trying to please people, and doesn't suffer idiots well, responding with a glare and a snarky comment. She particularly dislikes people who brag about their abilities, and who act like they're better than others.

Grouchy as she is, that isn't to say she lacks energy. If something needs to be done, it's best to do it oneself. That and, instead of dwelling on problems, she prefers to either fix them or keep distracted. She advises others to do the same, albeit in a heavy handed way.

Although she claims to look out for herself first and foremost, on occasion her actions prove otherwise. If someone's being picked on, she won't just sit by. Anyone who can get past her cynical exterior will have a loyal friend, although her protectiveness can prove a good or bad thing depending who you ask.

Unknown to most, she has a soft spot for animals, and a passion for gardening. One of the few times she's completely relaxed is when she's tending to plants, especially fruit ones.

History: The youngest of three siblings, Mara was the only one who never developed an animal affinity. From a young age, her sister could breathe underwater like a fish, and her brother could grow bird wings at will. Mara did everything she could to connect with animals, from feeding birds to befriending stray cats, but years went by with no sign of her manifesting an ability.

Envying the praise her siblings received, she tried to earn the same appreciation, to no avail. She'd sell lemonade in the summer, homemade thanks to the family's fruit trees. She'd bake goods using homegrown produce. Yet, surrounded by talent as she was, it wasn't enough. It didn't help that her siblings bullied her relentlessly, and her parents didn't do a great deal about it. Eventually, she stopped trying to please others, since her efforts didn't work. Better to focus that effort on herself, and on living beings besides humans. Not just animals, but plants, since they couldn't judge at all. The fruit she harvested seemed like a thank you for caring for the trees and shrubs, which was more than what she got from anyone else.

She remained the only one seemngly not destined for greatness. Her brother went on to work in search and rescue, and her sister found a calling in marine conservation. Mara, meanwhile, struggled after moving out, and ended up with a low paying job in a cafe. At least it was a change from family life, but the inevitable reunions were stressful at the best of times.

It was during one such gathering that Mara's essence finally manifested. An argument broke out over dinner. Mara tried to rein in her anger to keep things from escalating, but they did, in an even worse way than she expected. Sparks flew around her, literally. The next thing she knew, a fire was spreading through the dining room. Luckily everyone got out in time, and the emergency services put out the fire before it could do extensive damage. Still, it wasn't exactly how Mara envisioned gaining a power, or what her family had hoped for.

Especially as it wasn't an animal essence. At first it seemed like an electric eel affinity, but there were hints that it wasn't. One was that her power wasn't necessarily touch-based. The other was, as well as the smell of ozone, using it left a distinctive zesty scent. It reminded her of a dream she'd had two weeks prior, that she'd brushed off as random wackiness - one where she'd watched lightning strike the ground, and a lemon tree spring up from the spot where it had hit. Considering her brother and sister had reported dreams hinting at their powers, was this just a coincidence?

The event Mara yearned for her entire life has left her in a difficult situation. Since plant essences were unheard of until now, she must turn to others like her for help. The problem being, any further control lapses won't mesh well with people who can summon vines, branches, and other flammable vegetation...

Miscellaneous: She's only known about her power for a month and a half.

Name: Alonzo Solandis
Appearance: Alonzo is fairly tall and lanky giving him a permanently teenager look. He looks as though he never really grew into his limbs, and can be slightly clumsy at times. He has bleach blond hair, cropped close at the sides and longer on the top that he claims as natural, but his dark brows and the peroxide on his bathroom cabinet say otherwise. He has piercing blue eyes, that are occasionally obscured behind a pair of large, round glasses.
He can usually be seen dressed in comfortable hoodies, sweaters and jeans - usually in shades of blue and beige.
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Occupation: Artist
Plant Essence: Lavender
Superpower(s): Alonzo has a healing aura about him. He can heal minor wounds with a well-spoken word. He’s tried this power on most scrapes, scratches, even a stomach ache or two - but he can’t figure how to make it work for himself.
He can also calm situations by speaking, although this doesn’t work as well as he often hopes - he’d much rather no one get hurt in the first place.
Personality: Alonzo is incredibly soft spoken. He is rarely confrontational and is kind to a fault. He sees the best in people even when they don’t necessarily deserve it - this causes him to become a bit of a pushover in certain situations and is often walked over in arguments.
History: Alonzo grew up with his grandmother in a quiet part of town and to most he was a pretty unassuming and inoffensive kid - but he was his grandmothers world. His parents wanted nothing to do with him when he was born so he was handed over to his closest relative. His grandmother was a pagan, and taught him all she knew about herbs and spices and what they could do for him if he set his intentions right. She passed on her love of cooking and Alonzo tried to incorporate what he’d learnt - setting intentions in his cookies and sigils into his bread.

When she passed away, Alonzo was untethered. Lost and without direction. He threw himself into his passions, often disappearing for weeks at a time and barely speaking to anyone. He discovered his powers in the months after his grandmothers death; he was on his way to the art store when he watched a small child slip and fall in front of him. He rushed over and was greeted by teary eyes, with grazed knees and sore palms from the pavement. He murmured his sympathies, brain whirring with how to find the little boys mother when the tears stopped, palms lost their redness and the grazes all but disappeared; leaving behind a smudge of dirt and the faint smell of lavender.

The encounter stuck with him for weeks afterwards and no research could be found. His first thought was maybe animal essence but it didn’t match up to anything he could find online about animals that could heal themselves. And it still didn’t explain the lavender.

He kept it quiet until the broadcast on tv. He stood in his living room with painting forgotten on his easel, listening quietly before making a beeline for his laptop and his grandmothers notebook. He flipped the page open to lavender, one he knew all too well but had never thought to check before. He bought the conference ticket with money he made from selling a few of his paintings, finally freeing up some space in his spare room and jittery with anticipation for meeting others like him.

Miscellaneous: Solandis means ‘delicate flower’ in Old English!
He’s also super queer but doesn’t shout it from the rooftops.