Respite is one of the few bastions of mankind that remain. Built in the ruins of old world Detroit, large walls aid in protecting the city from abomination attack. Though the main defense of the city lies in the enormous piece of respite that sits in the near dead center if the settlement. The enormous piece of respite also acts like a power source for most of the city, ensuring that basic old world electronics can still function.

The streets of Respite contain no vehicles, as most gave up on finding usable fuel long ago. 95% of the population of Respite is forced to walk everywhere, while the lucky few have managed to get their hands on bicycles or other manpowered or electric forms of transportation. Respite boasts a population of nearly 600,000, making it likely the largest remaining human city. However, this has also led to over crowding in recent years, as desperate people seek safety in numbers. Some desperate people have began to settle the areas directly outside of Respite's wall. While still dangerous, the close proximity to Respite seems to keep most abominations away, and being close to the city means they can run to safety in case of an attack.

The city has a large force of well armed guards that act as another layer of defense for the city. Though they are not Guardians they can still ward off some of the smaller or weaker abominations. They also attempt to keep a handle on crime in the city, though they have been known to turn a blind eye for the right price.

Most currency within city is done in trade, food being the mostly commonly traded for commodity, although old world electronics, ammo or the rare piece of respite are also quite popular.

The city is largely governed by a small council of influential individuals who try to make sure that the power stays on and that people have food and...relatively, clean water. Though the council is able to dictate what the city guard does on a day to day basis, they have little control over what the Guardians do, thanks mostly to Captain Alias' refusal to listen to any demands that he finds 'annoying or stupid'.

Guardians are the main and only true defense against the abominations, and as such are generally respected and feared by the populace. Though the largest known force of Guardians reside within Respite City, they can usually be found in most large settlements. A few Guardians are known to roam the wasteland of the world, looking for survivors in need, valuable loot, pieces of respite, or abominations to kill.

Guardians come in every shape and size imaginable, mostly due to how the bonding process effects every person differently. While some may remain physically unchanged, others may become nearly as horrifying as the abominations that the Guardians are sworn to fight. Few manage to escape the Bonding unharmed in one way or another.

The Bonding is a process in which a piece of radiant is physically placed into a persons body, either through incision or digestion. The process is almost always painful and can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks to complete. The Survival rate is only about 25% on average. What causes a person to survive or die from the bonding process is almost entirely unknown. Genetics, age, gender, even psychological profile have all been studied as possible causes for a successful bonding, but as best as most researchers are able to tell, the process is entirely random.

New recruits are forced to undergo a year and a half of intensive physical and psychological training BEFORE the bonding to ensure that they can survive as guardians. They are taught to shoot, fight in close combat, and survive off of the land. The theory is that the Guardians have to make sure someone has what it takes to live the difficult life of a guardian. No one is ever forced to partake in the bonding if they get to scared, as Captain Alias has put it, "Cowards are not needed, we have thousands of those." After a successful bonding, new guardians are required to fulfill a five year contract with the Radiant City Guardians, after which they can stay, or go find their own way in the world.


The Guardians of Radiant city are led by Captain Alias Grey, considered by many to be the most powerful, laziest, asshole on the planet. Why the Captains attitude may enrage some and annoy others, no one can deny that Captain has saved Radiant City on more then one occasion, and usually single handedly. The Guardians have somehow managed to thrive under the Captains command, though they never seem to have as many fighters as they need.

Abominations are the bane of all life on earth. Little is understood about them, as they are incredibly difficult to study up close. Almost nothing is understood about where they come from and less is understood about why they came to earth in the first place, although most theorize that it was to devour all life they could find.

Abominations range wildly in size, shape, and form. In fact there is rarely two abominations that look alike. Their intelligence also seems to range wildly. While some seem to act purely off of instinct, others have been shown to have near human or greater intelligence.

Most abominations seem to work as solitary individuals, only caring for themselves. They do not attempt to protect each other and in general only seem interested in fulfilling their own needs. Luckily, Abominations will almost never work together, unless an Alpha is present...



Alpha's are abominations with high intelligence and generally incredible strength or abilities. They do not seem to warded of by respite and seem to exude some control over other, lesser abominations. Whenever a major settlement is destroyed, it is almost always the work of an alpha abomination. Because of how dangerous they are, Guardians will almost always attempt to stamp them out as soon as they can. If an Alpha is allowed to accumulate to many lesser abominations they become known as a Horde, few settlements can survive a direct attack from a Horde.

It is unknown how, or even if abominations are able to reproduce. Their numbers have seemed to swell and deplete randomly. There are currently no good theories as to why.

Name: (What we call you)

Age: (How long you’ve been alive. Ages of guardians range from 14-60, although the average age of a new recruit is somewhere around 20)

Gender: (Whatever gender your character identifies with)

Appearance: (A picture and description is ideal, but if you can’t find a picture that you feel works then just a detailedish description. The world is pretty much all human; however, the bonding can cause a host of physical changes, from pointy ears to extra animal appendages to disfigurement.)

Personality: (How your character acts, thinks, and feels)

Abilities/Powers: (A good description of your characters abilities. These can range wildly. There is a max of three different powers, and the general rule is that the more abilities an individual has the less powerful each ability is. Although its still possible to have one main, more powerful ability, and one minor ability that is harder to control. If you’re unsure about something don’t hesitate to ask.)

Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities: (This does not necessarily mean a physical weakness to green space rocks. Maybe your character is in a constant state of depression, maybe they have a drug addiction. This might not even be something that is brought on by the bonding process. Or maybe they do have an extreme allergic reaction to the color yellow. This is an apocalyptic world where every day is a struggle so put here anything that might make it hard to survive.)

Specialized Equipment: (This will include any specialized weapons, armor, or other gadgetry your character may use. For really special equipment that uses respite, think fallout type weapons. Energy weapons might be possible, but it would require a constant flow of respite as ammo, which would be incredibly rare.)

Biography: (Your character’s history, how they ended up in respite, and why they decided to try and join the guardians.)

Fun Facts: (Anything strange, interesting, or fun about your character that you want to establish early on)

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Name: Zoe Pelletier

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Appearance: Zoe is a thin young woman of average height with shoulder-length charcoal black hair and pale skin. Her most notable obvious feature are her eyes, which are an unusual shade of light red, and abnormally bright, as though overcharged with some kind of unnatural electricity.

The rest is hidden beneath a flexible, durable full body suit that she is almost never seen without. Specifically, almost her entire body save for her face is covered in jagged, zig-zagging marks the same color as her eyes, like the scars left behind by a lightning strike. They pulse with an inner light, increasing in frequency with Zoe's heart rate. Few ever get to see these, though, hidden as they are beneath her suit, which features two moderate canisters fixed to her upper back, constantly operating with a soft whirring sound.

When out and about around Respite Zoe sometimes wears normal clothes over this suit, typically baggy and oversized, but she's stopped bothering with that around the Guardians, who know of the condition the Bonding put her in.

Personality: Zoe is thoughtful and caring, a much better listener than she is a speaker. She deals with her fair share of problems, among them feelings of loneliness and regret, but she much prefers helping others rather than helping herself when it comes to emotional issues. She'll quickly attempt to change the subject when forced to talk too much about herself, unless she's pressed and cornered into it, which isn't likely to earn her favor.

She has quickly grown averse to physical contact with other humans, after the first few accidents that happened. She still hasn't forgiven herself for those. To compensate, she is devoted to her new line of work, determined to make something worthwhile out of the rushed decision she made to join the Guardians.

Abilities/Powers: Zoe's bonding placed, at her core, a powerful and chaotic energy that builds and builds without any natural means for her to dissipate it in a safe manner. It appears as crimson light blasting out in shockwaves with potentially tremendous force. It has no effect on her when released, but for everything else, carries enough force to obliterate entire rooms and people. Needless to say, it was paramount for the Guardians to find a way to harness her abilities, for their own safety.

Her suit was designed to do just that, and while it's not perfect, it works. The canisters on her back are actually plugged into her body, drawing and releasing the power in her blood to maintain a stable level. The rest of the suit works to contain her ability, all save for the palms of her gloves, which she has learned to direct the force out of. Abominations seem particularly weak to her energy. She can blast the smallest of them to pieces from a short distance with a well placed shot, while a larger one would require her to place her hands directly on it, releasing her power in order to damage, destabilize, and weaken the creature, rendering it more vulnerable to normal weaponry.

Problem being, of course, that she has to get pretty close to make any of this work. She passed her training courses, but is still largely human in terms of her mobility and physical toughness. The Guardians are working on the means to properly harness her power in easily portable means, but with little luck so far.

Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities: Her suit allows her control of her abilities, but she is utterly dependent on it. She can only spend around two hours a day outside of it without serious risk of detonating whatever room she's in. It's durable, but if it gets damaged enough in combat it can cease to function. She knows how to fix it if anything goes wrong, but it makes things complicated.

Her power is still unstable, even with the suit, which isn't perfect. Physical contact with her palms against anything can result in serious damage, so she has become extremely averse to touch.

Specialized Equipment: Apart from the aforementioned suit, Zoe always has a set of tools needed to fix it should it become damaged or require maintenance. She's working with the Guardians to develop a type of bomb that works with her ability, but as of now it isn't ready for field testing.

Biography: Everyone's got a sob story in Respite, and Zoe doesn't think of herself as being any different, though she used to think she was special, meant for great things, that the loss in her life was the first step on her hero's journey.

She came from a community near Toronto, Canada, the only child of a loving mother and father, the latter of which was in a position of leadership in the town. Her story is like many others: for a time she grew in peace and happiness, then the abominations wrecked what semblance of civilization she knew, and her mother didn't make it out. Both Zoe and her father made promises to themselves to carry on, make the loss mean something.

For her father, that meant working his way onto the city council in Respite, where they managed to relocate. He's close to his goal, cunning as he is, growing in influence every day. As for his daughter, she went and did the thing rash teenagers looking to make a difference do: she joined the Guardians. The training was rough, the Bonding rougher; Zoe's lasted a full two weeks, and the other Guardians believed she was done for.

But she pulled through, developed strange and mysterious powers, and promptly exploded the right arm of the man that first came to shake her hand. He wasn't the last person she hurt with her powers, but he was the first. Thankfully she never killed anyone, but there were a few very close calls, and a lot of property damage.

The Guardians contained her damage, got her the means to turn them on the abominations instead, and have started setting her loose. She's only taken down a few of the smallest ones so far, but it's clear to everyone that she has potential. The would-be councilman's daughter, with the power to fell giants. If she doesn't obliterate the city first.

Fun Facts: Zoe has terrible posture. She plays the guitar, but her last one blew up in her hands. She's more scared of touching cats and dogs than she is of people. She used to sleep on her back. Can't anymore, so now she sleeps terribly instead. Her suit keeps her at least somewhat clean in the event that she has to go on a long mission or something, but her absolute favorite part of any day is when she gets to take a shower. Still, she takes very quick showers.

Name: Rick 'Cyber' Wheeler

Age: 22

Gender: Male

Appearance: Rick constantly looks like he's been through hell. A side effect of his bonding process created facial scarring around his eyes that - from a distance - resemble lines on his face from a lack of sleep. In addition, the process also cost him his right arm. He considers this a minor loss however since he was able to get a cybernetic replacement thanks to his newfound abilities. He keeps his silver hair messy and unkempt, often finding the process of grooming and self-care to not be worthwhile. He maintains a decent figure due to his brain having an enhanced calorie intake after being enhanced through the bonding process. In terms of clothing, he typically chooses to keep to the bare essentials. Cover up the vital areas with a tank top, pants, and a pair of combat boots. One personal item is a small chunk of respite that Rick keeps on a necklace which he calls his 'retirement plan'. If things ever start to get worse than they already are, he has no problem popping that thing into his body and waiting for the end.

Personality: To say Rick is depressed is an understatement. After losing someone close to him during an abomination attack, his normally casual and cheerful personality did a complete one-eighty. Now, he's a much more cold and calculating person, a trait that is amplified by his increased intelligence from the bonding. He sees everything as a matter of statistics and data, and he refuses to take a risk if the costs outweigh the rewards. In spite of that, he still can't fully repress his old nature and will more often than not continue to search for a solution to the problem even if others have given up. The only way to get past his cold exterior is to get him to open up about his past, which he is rarely willing to do, instead choosing to focus on his work and the task at hand.

Abilities/Powers: The main power that Rick acquired was Technopathy. In short, he has the ability to manipulate and control technology with his mind. In addition, the respite stimulated his brain cells, allowing him access to IQ levels that even some of the worlds' foremost scientists could only dream of. Thanks to this combination, Rick has found a place in Respite City both as a weaponsmith and an engineer, building and utilizing tools for the resistance to fight back the abominations in addition to the respite powers. He was even able to build a new arm for himself and a containment unit for smaller abominations which he uses for study. He hopes of devising some sort of way to utilize the abominations against themselves in the hopes of turning the tide against the monsters.

Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities: As stated above, Rick has been permanently scarred by the loss of someone close to him. This has caused him to have a grim/bleak outlook on the world and he constantly views things in terms of values and statistics rather than human life. One of the major drawbacks to his abilities are the increased calorie consumption required by his enhanced brain. He's almost constantly seen eating or drinking in order to keep up his energy. The other weakness is the cybernetics he placed within himself. Despite the respite enhancements, the mechanics aren't 100% compatible so he sometimes has to drink oil in order to keep it from locking up.

Specialized Equipment: Rick has a mechanized arm that can convert into a variety of weapons depending on the situation. Among them, he has an electrified blade, an energy rifle, and a plug-in for connecting to computers and other terminals. On his back he keeps a storage tank which he's modified to hold smaller abominations. After he catches them, Rick's goal is to find ways to utilize their power against the other abominations.

Biography: At one point, Rick had been living a meager existence on the outskirts of Respite City with his wife Jenny. They ran a small business collecting scrap and small pieces of respite from battlefields and converting it back into weapons and armor for the people unfortunate enough to live outside the city limits. They didn't have much money, but the two of them were happy being together. It was during 'The Attack' that everything changed. While attacks by abominations on the city were nothing new, this one was different. The biggest abomination people had seen in decades had appeared and began attacking the outskirts. Rick and Jenny had tried to fight so some of their neighbors could escape to the city, but Jenny was killed in the attack.

In a blind fury, Rick attempted to charge the abomination before someone pulled him back and carried him through the gates of the city. The guardians eventually killed the monster, but Rick was a changed man. He lost the only thing he cared about, and now he was little more than a shell of his former self. With nothing else to live for, he signed up to join the guardians. He reasoned that, if his love was gone then he could at least kill the things that had taken her from him. After his bonding, Rick awakened his abilities as a technopath, greatly increasing his skill with building and developing weaponry.

During an assault on an abomination nest, he discovered a collection of abomination eggs. Before the other guardians could destroy them, he held them off and made a case for keeping the eggs for study. If they had live specimens, then the humans could find more effective ways to both deal with, and turn the abominations into tools rather than live in fear of them. When he's not working for the guardians, Rick managed to use his paychecks to open a weapons shop within the city where he conducts new R&D on anti-abomination weaponry.

Fun Facts:
- Rick has gotten so used to drinking oil to maintain his cybernetics that it's second nature to him. He's also a compulsive coffee drinker to stay awake.
- Despite losing many of his emotions after losing Jenny, Rick still regrets that he never had kids. They are the only people he'll let his guard down around.
- Rick has a bionic heart which keeps him from tiring out when in combat situations.

Age:
23?

Gender:
NONE -- He/They

Appearance:

That's right. Due to the Bonding, nothing remains of his flesh, but for a skeleton which has been colored neon hues, and a skull which holds three eye sockets. In the dark, the illumination from those empty eye sockets is a soft green. Oh, make no mistake, Bones tries to wear clothing but it gets expensive, due to the fact that anything in long-term contact with his bones degrades rapidly- becoming a tattered mess in two days. This is due to his constant state of "telekinetic repulsion."

Personality:
Madness? For quite some time, it was thought that the Bonding had failed- that he had been driven mad by it- yet. In the midst of their newly moody personality, the extreme amnesia which rendered them temporarily unable to communicate, and the occasionally violent moments of him throwing things around, it became apparent that he wasn't mad- no, well, not that kind of mad- but he was sane! Sort of. Bones- as he absolutely hates to be called- can be described as quiet, because manifesting a "sound" voice is an exhausting task. He's adept in several sign languages, though the missing face has thrust him into his own dialect, and will often make a lot of effort to communicate, as he's actually rather friendly- sometimes. Their moods can swing from friendly to hateful on a whim, but staying on his good side isn't difficult. Mostly. Their personality has dissolved into chaos that tends to be mostly functional but sometimes isn't.

Abilities/Powers:
ASCENDED Skeletal Body
Bones has become a skeleton! However, the skeletal remains have turned into a substance far harder than actual bone- possibly the toughest substance on the planet currently- and it is the only known substance immune to his primary ability. He feels no physical pain, no temperature changes, and no physical fatigue.

Telekinesis
The entire reason why Bones is well.. bones.. is due to his flesh having flown off of his body, due to the contact it had with his skeleton. The closer he is to something, the more powerful his ability to control the object with his mind, and the more powerful his telekinetic repulsion field. This unfortunately meant that the closest thing to his "self" which apparently is his "skeleton" was everything else attached to him. Most of his Telekinesis is based on throwing things away from him, but he is also able to pull things closer, and crush objects with his mind. Using such a power is extremely exhausting, depending on mass, quantity, how far something is moved, and for how long it is moved. He always has an "active" repulsive field that can be felt if his bones are touched- felt as in, will probably fling someone's hand away at best, and fling them across the room at worst.

Telepathic Reception?
Could be psychosis - could be something else - but he is capable of receiving memories that aren't his. They have absolutely no control over this and he rarely understands these are not his memories to begin with. There's something to that third eye that will probably remain a mystery. Either way, sometimes this "reception" can make him a master chef, an incredible engineer, a wonderful musician, a really great mother- it's completely random what ability he may "receive" but it's never a secondary power and can often be a delusion entirely. No, really- he once was a High Wizard of the 9th Circle and cast "spells" and none of them did anything. How. Embarrassing. The receptions and memories happen at random and leave just as quickly as they came. It's still very unclear if this is real or not.

Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities:
Telekinetic Exhaustion
Using his ability for too long will result in the loss of his ability temporarily. His personal telekinetic field will remain active, but he can't manipulate things that aren't himself, when tired. It will also result in more rapid memory loss, especially if he's pushed beyond his limit by moving something HUGE or crushing something very tough or too many things. He will flat out forget what he was doing and why, in such a case, with more severe cases resulting in the loss of the entire day's memories in an instant. The "recharge" time is six hours but can be longer depending on what caused the exhaustion. This can, in extremely severe cases, result in his skeleton becoming... disassembled, partially. How embarrassing.

Rapid Memory Decay
His memory is fourteen days long for minor events; one month for major events; and three months for people he's met. Without constant reminder he cannot remember things. This does not apply to physical tasks, abilities learned, or progress made toward learning things. Interestingly, he will often be able to recall information that he should never have in the first place- languages that have died or places that used to exist- with great detail. Could it be that his memories are replaced? Perhaps.

Spooky Scary AGONY
His entire body is a Phantom Pain. Sometimes the agony is so intense it is completely and utterly debilitating. This pain can happen at any time, can be his full body, or a limb, or multiple limbs at once. This pain is part of the cause for his moodiness, as who could possibly live with such chronic pains- without any means of relief- and not be kind of irritable? Then there's the matter of their appearance: it truly takes a special person to be comfortable around a walking skeleton. His social life has suffered as a result and he's rather bitter about it. The only people that remember his true name and identity won't tell him, but he's forgotten about that, because he's so lonely without friends or family, that all he wants is a HUG- but he can't have HUGS because he might send the person INTO ORBIT ACCIDENTALLY-

Can't Heal, Can't Swim, Limited Strength
If something actually ever manages to fracture or break his bones, there is no way he'll be able to heal. Of course, this means the bones will have to be reattached somehow- likely by metal- or scrapped altogether. He also can't swim anymore, due to the lack of all the physical surface area, and inability to build up the physical strength to swim. They posses the strength of an average adult without physical training.

Glowing Weak Point
Those glowing eyes of his give away the fact that the Radiant within Bones has coalesced within his skull. Destroying his skull, then scooping out the Radaint within, and destroying it thereafter, will absolutely kill him. And, of course, the option of not destroying the Radiant and keeping him simply removed from his body is a hell he doesn't want to think about...

Specialized Equipment:
Everything Breaks
So whatever he's given, it is generally not expected to return with him, but it is usually experimental. So far, the experimental "bodysuit" which boosts the range of his control has seen frequent use.

Biography:


Fun Facts:
Look at him.
Any number of insane rumors about what he is, what he does, and where he came from could have been heard. Of course, the main one being, that they may as well be an abomination, and can't be trusted.
... and also that they can help anyone hide a body.
Eugh, and he's so desperate to be liked, it's disgusting.
He sometimes reaches out toward people like a dangerous zombie and it's strange.
He's already out of his mind, why would anyone let him be a Guardian? Likely to turn traitor at any given moment, for sure! More of a liability than anything.

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Name: Dr. Devlin O'Dwyer

Age: 26

Gender: Male

Appearance: Devlin's elongated stature can be a bit intimidating at first. He is tall and slightly imposing, although his limbs are thin and his muscles lack the tonality of an athlete. Standing at about 6'7" (or roughly 200cm), Devlin often looks wraithlike as he typically wears long dark coats, a wide brimmed hat and a porcelain mask that serves to cover his facial disfigurement. His skin is pale; a result of his bonding and reclusiveness. Were he to disrobe, one would see a thin, white hairless body decorated in black, branching veins. Were one to remove his mask, the regret would be almost instantaneous.

Personality: Devlin's personality could be described as borderline bipolar. There will be moments when he is quiet, introspective, introverted and calculative. And, yet, there are other times when he is just the opposite: sarcastic, jovial, humorous and full of zest. The switch often depends on his level of adrenaline or sobriety. The mild mannered, sober Devlin is a far cry different than the Devlin you'll meet in battle or after imbibement.

Abilities/Powers:

Tendril Generation
Devlin has the ability to generate black tendrils from his body that can serve a variety of applications. Offensively, the tendrils can be used bluntly to bludgeon a foe or the tips can be focused and hardened like the tip of a needle to puncture an enemy. Defensively, they can be used to protect Devlin in a manner similar to a boxer covering his body with his raised fists; the tendrils can cover Devlin as a form of protection, though the effectiveness of the protection is hardly impenetrable. Additionally, these tendrils can aid Devlin's movement, allowing him to climb heights he otherwise wouldn't be able to or to traverse distances at speeds beyond his natural legs' capabilities. Each tendril can stretch out as far as 25 ft (or 7.62 meters) and the number of tendrils he can generate at once is indefinite. While the tendrils do not immediately heal from damage in real time, a damaged tendril can be recalled and a new, fresh tendril can be produced to take its place. Any damage taken by the tendrils are felt by Devlin in a similar manner as he would feel if any of his other appendages were harmed.

Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities:

Human Core Physiology
Tendrils or not, Devlin is still wholly reliant on his skills and training to be effective in combat and to survive. His ability does not make his core body any less fragile than it was before the bonding process. In concept, he's just a humans with extra limbs that he can call upon and therefore has all the same physical vulnerabilities.

Warped Psychology
Devlin isn't exactly a loose cannon, but in the heat of battle his adrenaline can raise exponentially which, in turn, leads him react in a far less predictable manner as his endorphins send him into a state of chaotic glee. Once in this state, his actions become less calculated and more instinctual which can, at times, be a boon.

His resting psyche isn't much less fractured. Often appearing stoic and uninterested, Devil has historically found it particularly challenging to gain trust and kinship, even from fellow guardians.

Specialized Equipment: While Devlin's ability certainly has its uses, if an enemy were to get within close combat range, Devlin would potentially lose his advantage. It is because of this that he keeps twin barong machetes on his person.

Additionally, Devlin's experience as a chemist has led to several formulas and concoctions that produce varying results. The inside of his overcoat is lined with several pockets, many of which house vials of useful ingredients or cocktails capable of chemical or medicinal reactions.

Biography: Popular, handsome, respected, the life of the party... Devlin was a man who thrived in any social circle that he stepped in. A chemist by trade, Devlin was very smart and inquisitive as he tried to find creative solutions to the world's Abomination problem.

A naturally gifted academic, Devlin soared through medical training, earning his degree and immediately putting his training to work to help with the frightful foes that has made our world their own. His various experiments had mixed results across the board and led Devlin to the only true conclusion: To help understand how to end the Abominations and harness the power of respite, he would have to risk everything and go all in.

He submitted himself to The Bonding in order to become a Guardian and get a more intimate understanding of the alien presences. Though he survived the process, it came at a cost. His mood had changed, his body had morphed and his face... his face had been ruined. Horror, shame and determination motivated Devlin to keep going. If it wasn't for the protection of mankind, it was for his own personal vengeance against the monsters.

Though parts of his scientific mind remained intact, his base psychology was forever changed. He was a monster now, just like them and he would punish the Abominations for it until his dying breath.

Name: Josefa "Jackrabbit" Juárez

Age: 27

Gender: Female

Appearance: At first glance, Josefa appears to be pretty normal, one of the lucky Guardians who managed to survive the Bonding without suffering some sort of horrible mutation. She's pretty average in fact, neither particularly tall nor noticeably short at 5'5" with dark hair and delicate features. While she does have scars across her knuckles this is hardly surprising to see on someone who grew up sparring with her family and then went into a workforce where combat was common.

Beneath her clothes things become more unconventional. Over her right shoulder is a simple tattoo of the crucifix while her left bicep shows a dove in flight, in memory of her father. Her back is marked not by ink but by injury, the scars there more serious than those on her hands. She sports dozens of healed-over pockmarks, left over from the time she was blasted in the back with a load of birdshot.

The most eye-catching part of her body is scattered across her limbs and torso, a side effect of the Guardian process. Josefa has several milky-white crystals embedded in her skin, near flush but protruding ever so slightly. They are usually hidden by clothing but if one were to look carefully they'd be able to see the outlines.

Personality: Jackrabbit is above all else, a professional. She spent years defending Respite against threats internal and external, a job that required her to be quick to focus and observant of the smallest details. While she's more than capable of acting friendly with her comrades sometimes this slips into a more reserved, almost cold attitude.

This is a reflection of her self-doubt. While she's unlikely to ever say so aloud Josefa worries that she might not stack up against the other superpowered freaks she works with. If she were to become the weak link she'd up endangering both herself and the team, to say nothing of Respite itself. She can't seem to shake the feeling that she became a Guardian to get out of her familial duty to "proper" law enforcement.

The stress of her duties and esteem issues drives her to blow off steam whenever possible. With her entry into crooked policing came the introduction to various vices. Josefa is a gambler, a binge drinker and a philanderer, a common sight in dive bars and other businesses with less than stellar reputations. Her commitment to duty keeps her in check when on the job but enough downtime will send her back to cards or into the embrace of prostitutes.

Abilities/Powers: -Speed: Jackrabbit's main ability. The Bonding process strengthened her legs and her core so that they could perform far past human capability. Her average running speed caps out somewhere around a hundred miles an hour but if she were to push herself to her limits she'd reach a hundred and fifty.

Along with this incredible speed comes the ability to make truly impressive leaps. While she doesn't have the maneuverability granted by proper flight Jackrabbit can clear buildings and other obstacles with little difficulty (although she runs the risk of landing in a sticky situation she hadn't been able to see.)

-Endurance: Running so fast for any extended period of time requires that Josefa be much more durable than a normal person for two reasons: so that her joints don't pop out of their sockets, and so that she can bound off walls without being reduced to a broken pile of pulp.

It's important to note that Jackrabbit's enhanced endurance applies purely to her speed and its potential side effects. She can run into a brick wall at top speed and be fine but if someone were to stab her in the back she'd bleed just like anyone else. She assumes that it's based on intent; someone intending to hurt her still can.

Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities: -Ridiculous Metabolism: In the wild a hare can eat up to a pound of food per day, an amount that might be somewhere around an eighth of their weight. Likewise, Josefa needs to consume about ten thousand calories a day, more than triple the amount recommended for an adult man. While she can survive on more human levels doing so will leave her in a greatly diminished state, her powers weaker and her energy levels lowered.

-Primal Fear: The two most common predators that a desert hare has to watch out for are snakes and birds of prey. Fittingly, Jackrabbit suffers from both Ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes, and Ornithophobia, the fear of birds. The latter condition is limited to large hunting birds, hawks and falcons and the like, but any snake is enough to set her off.

Manageable situations, such as when the source of fear is caged or far off, will make her visibly nervous but being near to either category will cause her fight-or-flight reaction to kick in.

Specialized Equipment: "Wolpertinger" Armor: Designed in part by her brother Marcos. Flexible enough that Jackrabbit can move at full speed and sturdy enough to withstand some punishment. Unless that punishment is coming from an Alpha abomination, then it's going to break very quickly. The Wolpertinger is always on Josefa's person, the diamond-like nodes across her body reacting to the Respite embedded in her in such a way that she can mentally activate it. Upon activation the armor "unfolds" from those nodes to rapidly cover her.

It comes with a shield because the only thing better than letting your armor take the hit is not letting it get hit at all.

-Harmonic Swordstaff: While an armored fist hitting something at a hundred miles an hour will do some serious damage there is always a way to improve it. The Harmonic Swordstaff combines Renaissance-era weaponry with modern-age technology, the blade of the weapon infused with Respite so that it functions as an oversized harmonic scalpel, vibrating at around 55,500 Hz. Usually this rapid vibration wouldn't just cut through flesh but also cauterize it by the energy generated by the Respite keeps the wounds bleeding.

-Dad's .45 Josefa's father carried this relic during his time in Fort Worth PD, It passed down to her mother upon his death. When she joined the Respite guards the pistol was then given to her for use as a service weapon. It's not as flashy as her ultrasonic swordstaff and ammo is finite but it's served Jackrabbit well enough thus far. She uses it in her role as a Guardian while she's fast a bullet is always faster.

-Knife: Just a simple, solid knife for those situations that require something less over the top than the Harmonic Swordstaff.

Biography: Josefa Juárez was born in the district of Haven, a small borough in the wider Fort Worth area. Her parents, Mateo and Elena, had not intended to have children and they really didn't intend to have three of them but intentions aren't enough to avoid triplets. Alongside Josefa were Marcos and Gabriela. Now stuck in a too-small home with little in the way of support the parents did their best to raise two daughters and a son, just about managing to keep them as healthy as any other child in the post-respite world.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Juárez were members of the FWPD but while Alena's duties were mostly investigative Mateo was directly involved with the frontline defense of the city. Mateo was killed in action while his squad was hunting a pack of abominations that had strayed too close to Fort Worth's water supply, leaving his widow and seven-year-old children.

Another day, another corpse for the pile. Alena refused to show weakness in front of her children, packing up little the family owned and setting out for a new town with less painful memories. The journey to Respite was tricky but manageable, the family settling into a small apartment while the mother went to work with the city guards.

With one parent dead and the other working a full-time job the triplets lacked stability, picking up different coping mechanisms. Marcos threw himself into his studies, working with Respite in order to improve the weapons and armor used to ward off the abominations. He had a sense of duty, determined to make a difference in the world. Gabriela was the delinquent, getting picked up time after time for vandalism and petty thefts to the chagrin of her mother. These minor crimes led to major ones, Gabriela leaving home in her teens and falling into Respite's criminal underworld as an enforcer, smuggler and occasional paid killer.

That left Josefa, the most aimless of the trio. She joined the city guard out of a sense of obligation to her parents as well as not having any better ideas. She was partnered with her mother as a rookie but began to branch out once she learned the ropes, given her own assignments with a series of partners. Josefa was a decent enough guard but still felt like she was without real purpose, walking her beat out of obligation. When Gabriela came back into her life with others of valuable tech and other resources in exchange for tip-offs and the occasional get-out-of-jail-free cards Josefa was easily swayed.

The now dirty cop was a middle ground between her law-abiding brother and criminal sister, existing to play beige between black and white. This was not the existence she wanted. One night after a long shift and an even longer one at the bar she came to a brilliant conclusion: she would go sign up to be a Guardian.

The training was difficult, but she'd damned if she was going to wash out when there were teens going through the same program. With her combat experience, Josefa had an easier time getting through than others, making it to the crucial implanting process. The Bonding went relatively well, the side effects were definitely manageable. Instead of horrifying disfigurement or some sort of crippling madness Josefa instead had to learn to manage her increased appetite and new revulsion to snakes and birds.

She was a Guardian, and hopefully, that would give her the sense of purpose she craved.

Fun Facts: -Josefa's favorite part of being a guard was getting to play with the fun toys stored in the armory and that holds true now that she's a Guardian. She spends much of her free time on the ranger and will supplement her usual kit with an additional weapon or two when given the chance.

-Jackrabbit has never cared much for her namesake. Instead she keeps rats.

-She maintains an apartment away from the usual barracks, preferring to live in her own space where there are fewer people around to judge her.

Name: Josefa "Jackrabbit" Juárez

Age: 27

Gender: Female

Appearance: At first glance, Josefa appears to be pretty normal, one of the lucky Guardians who managed to survive the Bonding without suffering some sort of horrible mutation. She's pretty average in fact, neither particularly tall nor noticeably short at 5'5" with dark hair and delicate features. While she does have scars across her knuckles this is hardly surprising to see on someone who grew up sparring with her family and then went into a workforce where combat was common.

Beneath her clothes things become more unconventional. Over her right shoulder is a simple tattoo of the crucifix while her left bicep shows a dove in flight, in memory of her father. Her back is marked not by ink but by injury, the scars there more serious than those on her hands. She sports dozens of healed-over pockmarks, left over from the time she was blasted in the back with a load of birdshot.

The most eye-catching part of her body is scattered across her limbs and torso, a side effect of the Guardian process. Josefa has several milky-white crystals embedded in her skin, near flush but protruding ever so slightly. They are usually hidden by clothing but if one were to look carefully they'd be able to see the outlines.

Personality: Jackrabbit is above all else, a professional. She spent years defending Respite against threats internal and external, a job that required her to be quick to focus and observant of the smallest details. While she's more than capable of acting friendly with her comrades sometimes this slips into a more reserved, almost cold attitude.

This is a reflection of her self-doubt. While she's unlikely to ever say so aloud Josefa worries that she might not stack up against the other superpowered freaks she works with. If she were to become the weak link she'd up endangering both herself and the team, to say nothing of Respite itself. She can't seem to shake the feeling that she became a Guardian to get out of her familial duty to "proper" law enforcement.

The stress of her duties and esteem issues drives her to blow off steam whenever possible. With her entry into crooked policing came the introduction to various vices. Josefa is a gambler, a binge drinker and a philanderer, a common sight in dive bars and other businesses with less than stellar reputations. Her commitment to duty keeps her in check when on the job but enough downtime will send her back to cards or into the embrace of prostitutes.

Abilities/Powers: -Speed: Jackrabbit's main ability. The Bonding process strengthened her legs and her core so that they could perform far past human capability. Her average running speed caps out somewhere around a hundred miles an hour but if she were to push herself to her limits she'd reach a hundred and fifty.

Along with this incredible speed comes the ability to make truly impressive leaps. While she doesn't have the maneuverability granted by proper flight Jackrabbit can clear buildings and other obstacles with little difficulty (although she runs the risk of landing in a sticky situation she hadn't been able to see.)

-Endurance: Running so fast for any extended period of time requires that Josefa be much more durable than a normal person for two reasons: so that her joints don't pop out of their sockets, and so that she can bound off walls without being reduced to a broken pile of pulp.

It's important to note that Jackrabbit's enhanced endurance applies purely to her speed and its potential side effects. She can run into a brick wall at top speed and be fine but if someone were to stab her in the back she'd bleed just like anyone else. She assumes that it's based on intent; someone intending to hurt her still can.

Weaknesses/Vulnerabilities: -Ridiculous Metabolism: In the wild a hare can eat up to a pound of food per day, an amount that might be somewhere around an eighth of their weight. Likewise, Josefa needs to consume about ten thousand calories a day, more than triple the amount recommended for an adult man. While she can survive on more human levels doing so will leave her in a greatly diminished state, her powers weaker and her energy levels lowered.

-Primal Fear: The two most common predators that a desert hare has to watch out for are snakes and birds of prey. Fittingly, Jackrabbit suffers from both Ophidiophobia, the fear of snakes, and Ornithophobia, the fear of birds. The latter condition is limited to large hunting birds, hawks and falcons and the like, but any snake is enough to set her off.

Manageable situations, such as when the source of fear is caged or far off, will make her visibly nervous but being near to either category will cause her fight-or-flight reaction to kick in.

Specialized Equipment: "Wolpertinger" Armor: Designed in part by her brother Marcos. Flexible enough that Jackrabbit can move at full speed and sturdy enough to withstand some punishment. Unless that punishment is coming from an Alpha abomination, then it's going to break very quickly. The Wolpertinger is always on Josefa's person, the diamond-like nodes across her body reacting to the Respite embedded in her in such a way that she can mentally activate it. Upon activation the armor "unfolds" from those nodes to rapidly cover her.

It comes with a shield because the only thing better than letting your armor take the hit is not letting it get hit at all.

-Harmonic Swordstaff: While an armored fist hitting something at a hundred miles an hour will do some serious damage there is always a way to improve. The Harmonic Swordstaff combines Renaissance-era weaponry with modern-age technology, the blade of the weapon infused with Respite so that it functions as an oversized harmonic scalpel, vibrating at around 55,500 Hz. Usually this rapid vibration wouldn't just cut through flesh but also cauterize it by the energy generated by the Respite keeps the wounds bleeding.

-Dad's .45 Josefa's father carried this relic during his time in Fort Worth PD, It passed down to her mother upon his death. When she joined the Respite guards the pistol was then given to her for use as a service weapon. It's not as flashy as her ultrasonic swordstaff and ammo is finite but it's served Jackrabbit well enough thus far. She uses it in her role as a Guardian while she's fast a bullet is always faster.

-Knife: Just a simple, solid knife for those situations that require something less over the top than the Harmonic Swordstaff.

Biography: Josefa Juárez was born in the district of Haven, a small borough in the wider Fort Worth area. Her parents, Mateo and Elena, had not intended to have children and they really didn't intend to have three of them but intentions aren't enough to avoid triplets. Alongside Josefa were Marcos and Gabriela. Now stuck in a too-small home with little in the way of support the parents did their best to raise two daughters and a son, just about managing to keep them as healthy as any other child in the post-respite world.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Juárez were members of the FWPD but while Alena's duties were mostly investigative Mateo was directly involved with the frontline defense of the city. Mateo was killed in action while his squad was hunting a pack of abominations that had strayed too close to Fort Worth's water supply, leaving his widow and seven-year-old children.

Another day, another corpse for the pile. Alena refused to show weakness in front of her children, packing up little the family owned and setting out for a new town with less painful memories. The journey to Respite was tricky but manageable, the family settling into a small apartment while the mother went to work with the city guards.

With one parent dead and the other working a full-time job the triplets lacked stability, picking up different coping mechanisms. Marcos threw himself into his studies, working with Respite in order to improve the weapons and armor used to ward off the abominations. He had a sense of duty, determined to make a difference in the world. Gabriela was the delinquent, getting picked up time after time for vandalism and petty thefts to the chagrin of her mother. These minor crimes led to major ones, Gabriela leaving home in her teens and falling into Respite's criminal underworld as an enforcer, smuggler and occasional paid killer.

That left Josefa, the most aimless of the trio. She joined the city guard out of a sense of obligation to her parents as well as not having any better ideas. She was partnered with her mother as a rookie but began to branch out once she learned the ropes, given her own assignments with a series of partners. Josefa was a decent enough guard but still felt like she was without real purpose, walking her beat out of obligation. When Gabriela came back into her life with offers of valuable tech and other resources in exchange for tip-offs and the occasional get-out-of-jail-free cards Josefa was easily swayed.

The now dirty cop was a middle ground between her law-abiding brother and criminal sister, existing to play beige between black and white. This was not the existence she wanted. One night after a long shift and an even longer one at the bar she came to a brilliant conclusion: she would go sign up to be a Guardian.

The training was difficult, but she'd damned if she was going to wash out when there were teens going through the same program. With her combat experience, Josefa had an easier time getting through than others, making it to the crucial implanting process. The Bonding went relatively well, the side effects were definitely manageable. Instead of horrifying disfigurement or some sort of crippling madness Josefa instead had to learn to manage her increased appetite and new revulsion to snakes and birds.

She was a Guardian, and hopefully, that would give her the sense of purpose she craved.

Fun Facts: -Josefa's favorite part of being a guard was getting to play with the fun toys stored in the armory and that holds true now that she's a Guardian. She spends much of her free time on the range and will supplement her usual kit with an additional weapon or two when given the chance.

-Jackrabbit has never cared much for her namesake. Instead she keeps rats.

-She maintains an apartment away from the usual barracks, preferring to live in her own space where there are fewer people around to judge her.