Name: Tracey Morgan Elmore
Alias: Bear
Personality: Tracey’s alias is both her moniker and adequate description of her personality.
Inverted- She is soft-spoken in general and unassuming, but has a strong personality underneath. Actions are her preferred method for her expression. This can make it hard to get to know her immediately by others. However, when she’s found a long lasting friend her personality has its warm and gentle side. Whenever that friend is in danger, her aggression will surface in the form of a furious bear-like protector (figuratively and sometimes literally).
Isolation Recharge- Tracey sometimes needs to go off on her own in order to recharge her batteries. Mostly she’s locked heavily in her own thoughts or sleeping away, enjoying the lack of distractions. It is nothing personal. Everyone needs some me time to actually relax and let loose.
Modest- While Tracey knows she can hold her own in a fight or could be the strongest in a group, she won’t brag about it. In fact, she only mentions her skills when she thinks it might help in a situation. Any other time, she will shrug it off as unimpressive.
Values Actions over Words- Tracey holds little value in words. Actions, in her opinion, speak volumes and their outcome often reveal the true intentions of someone. It’s these she silently judges. If someone’s actions indicate harm or ill-will toward her, she will go to extreme measures to avoid them. On the other side of the spectrum, she will accommodate best she can to their wishes or demands. Sometimes it is easier said than done though.
Flaws
Laziness- Tracey will admit being lazy outside given tasks. Most times she rather eats, sleeps and does something she enjoys than be an adult. This can cause issues with her fellow contractors sometimes. Some fights can become bad enough she vanishes for the night and refuses to reappear until the next morning. Often the reason for the disagreement already put behind her as if nothing actually happened.
Spontaneous Impulses- She doesn’t plan anything. She lives in the moment, letting life take her along for the ride. If a mission comes along that Tracey can join than she’s all for it. During boring moments she will often find something interesting in the surroundings that can distract her. This makes the traditional conversation difficult for her often enough unless it’s critical to know.
Weakness for High Calorie or Sweet Things- This list includes honey, nuts, chocolate covered insects, fruit and junk food. If you find any of these in your possession, it’s best to share or you will find yourself being stared down by a lurking Tracey. Often she is ready to snatch up any leftovers, intimidate/guilt trip someone into sharing, or possibly snatch a stray piece from the owner’s hand when they fail to notice. She honestly can’t help it as the scent is attractive to her, even in her normal form.
Appearance: Tracey has literally two appearances. The first one described is her original form and the second one is named the ‘werebear’ form, similar to the first with only minor changes. Another note is that any wound obtained on her person while in werebear form will carry over to her original one, especially limp removal as shown with her eye.
Original Tracey stands at around 5’1” in height and of African-American descendant. Her genes give her body a soft curve with notably larger hips and small chest. Make no mistake that with her slight ‘plum’ shape, she is still in good physical condition. Faded scars criss-cross over her dark skin from her past experiences. The eye on her left side appears to have been removed and the skin is sewn closed, making a blind spot for her. To prevent stares or gawking, Tracey had let her bangs and hair on that side grow out. She then stylizes the wavy locks to cover it. Her remaining eye is a deep golden brown that feels more animal than human.
WerebearWhen Tracey transforms, most her anatomy stays fairly close to human. Only specific areas of her body change in less than a minute. (Note, I’m not going into the details of her inside changes. I would have to research the differences in biology for man vs bear, and I think it’s just easier to assume the changes happen to allow it.)
Her figure bulks up but the main muscle gain is in her arms and legs, both still retaining most of their structure. Her arms gain about a few inches to match up length with her legs. This feature allows her to walk or run easily on all four when needed for short bursts. Each finger and toe sprouts about an inch and half claw able to rip apart flesh like a well-sharpened knife.
The changes don’t stop at her limbs though.
Around her mouth and nose, otherwise known as the muzzle area, extends into a hairless bear-like snout. The single eye’s inside shift creating a reflective back for night and day vision. Her ears widen into an upside down tear-drop shapes then shift a bit higher on her head, but only a few centimeters from where they originally were. Finally, as if someone flipped a switch on her hair, the sources on her arms, legs, and head grow. The hair on her head reaches to about shoulder length, but the hair on the arms and legs drape down about an inch. Extra hair sheds when she shifts back.
History:Tracey was born the youngest daughter and raised within the Slums of Eden. It wasn’t all bad as she had a family to shared the hardships of her daily life. Her father and older brother worked long hours for a butcher house located in the business district. Every evening they would trudge home covered in aged blood and entrail bits, their clothes forever reddened by the mess. Thankfully her mother was an expert at cleaning clothes because she did it for a living working under the better off families in Centre. Alongside those duties, her fingers had developed callouses from the scrubbing and mopping throughout the day. It was a surprise they found any time to look after Tracey when she took the time to remember those days.
Since their family had four mouths to feed, rent to pay and other bills, Tracey quickly found herself in the workforce around the age of thirteen. She did simple tasks from rinsing off the blood from the butcher floor to selling papers in the streets, anything possible to earn extra money to support them.
By her sixteenth birthday, she found herself firmly employed in the butcher shop and running a stable job. It still barely managed to put meat on the table though. Walking home later than normal one day, she had gotten the sensation of being watched. It made her unease as she was still covered in blood from rinsing the floors. Pushing it from her mind, Tracey continued home only to see something shrouded in hair rush at her. It tried to hold her down as it managed to bite deep into her defending arm during the struggle. Tracey screamed into the night before the thing, smelling of blood and filth, bolted away. Likely startled by her reaction.
Still shocked and filled by adrenaline, she rose to her hands and knees. Tracey tore off the end of her apron then hastily wrapped her wound. With a wobbly gait, Tracey managed to edge her way home. When she just reached the door, she passed out on the front steps where her brother found her shortly afterward.
For the next week, Tracey gradually recovered from her wound. While she couldn’t identify the attacker, her brother logically concluded it was a starved, feral dog that had bitten her. It wasn’t completely far-fetched she reasoned in her head. However, her thoughts held deep and isolated doubts about the theory. There was no point in arguing the case because she couldn’t even recall it well now. Later on, she would regret treating the incident so lightly.
Over the years she had developed a crush Stephen Atkins, a charming young man only eight years her senior. He was charming and better off, but he had one flaw her family couldn’t overlook. He worked for the Sanhehui gang in the North Wards. That association brought nothing good from it according to her father and brother. Sadly, Tracey refused to listen. She met Stephen in secret during her brief breaks at the butcher until one day, her brother spotted them together.
The night that followed would be the last time Tracey would ever remember seeing her family alive.
During the fight over her future, the young woman felt strange and dizzy. Pain ripped across her mouth, ears, and arms. Her nose and mouth pushed out from her face, the muscles twisted into a beak-like snout. Each tooth elongated into vicious looking ones. The forehead sloped slightly while the eyes turned into beady, golden brown ones. Human ears enlarged to twice their normal size as they edged to stick on the sides of her skull for better hearing. Her once thin built increased notably in mass giving her a more burly appearance, especially centered around her limbs. Claw-like nails formed from her fingers with her hand still retaining its mostly human features.
Slowly her family’s expressions turned from anger to fear abruptly, their figures immediately recoiled from her. This was all it took to startle her into attacking. Tracey doesn’t remember exactly what happened next. Just a deep, dark regret over it all. She did clearly remember waking up in the street for the next morning. Confused, Tracey found herself covered in what she hoped was mud and slowly began to head home.
Neighbors had collected around the crime scene causing her to hesitate. As she got closer, she could see EdenPol taping the scene off and talking with a witness. Glimpses of what happened surged into her head causing her to redirect to the only person she hoped could help her. Stephen.
When she arrived, he was happy and pleased to see her safe. That enjoyment quickly left his eyes when she explained what had happened. Oddly unfazed, he reassured her everything was going to be alright. Tracey couldn’t do anything but blindly follow him. He suggested she see a man named Dr. James Schneider, then gave her directions to the doctor’s residence. The place appeared to be a run-down warehouse before she headed inside. It appeared she was expected because the moment she entered, a sharp sting of a sedative hit her neck. Her vision gradually became blurred before she crumbled to the floor.
The next two years were nothing but inhumane. She was forced to transform for live camera feeds, individuals applauding their sick enjoyment and demanding more. Naturally, these shows were blood filled affairs where ‘oddities’ were often prodded into a small, cramp arena and forced to fight each other. Sometimes until the victor ended another’s life at the audience’s whims.
Tracey could feel her humanity slowly die during her captivity, her time spent more in her ‘bearish’ form than out of it. Most nights were filled with licking her wounds, silently crying at her fate and learning about the other captives. Even if many of them looked like monsters, Tracey found most were just as scared and miserable as herself. They were all connected by a single desire: freedom.
One night, she and a few bolder ‘oddities’ plotted an escape. Tracey had been gradually working a few bars in her cage loose over the recent months. Nearly twice the men they called shepherds had almost caught her doing it. This made it dangerous to work on lately until Milo, an elderly man with a wolf version of her own abilities, offered to create a distraction. Tracey didn’t think anything about the consequences when she agreed to it. The man shifted then howled until the shepherds came. Frustrated, she flinched at the beating they delivered on Milo while she worked on her bars.
It hadn’t even registered in her head that they were beating him to death, even after Milo’s howls had turned into whimpers for mercy. When she spotted the men step back, their body gestures screamed something was wrong. The senior shepherd shouted to get the wheel barrel as he leaned down to check Milo’s still body. Tracey silently watched them haul the body away to the nearby furnace. They shoved him in like a dead log then left. The stretch of burning dead renewed to warm their cold dwellings.
With the men gone, Tracey forced her body to shift back into the girl she was once. Cautiously she twisted her unnaturally thin figure out through the narrow gap. From there, she slowly began to release a few of her fellow captives until the shepherd’s light appeared on her exposed back. All hell broke loose. Those who had been freed rushed either for the shepherds or the exit. Everywhere around her, a chaotic scene emerged. More cages were battered and more individuals were freed. During it all, Tracey somehow managed to find her way to Eden’s streets where she abruptly vanished.
A few months later, she was found by Ultralight.
She was rummaging through the trash bins in an area where a series of mysterious murders had taken place. As long as she didn’t become a victim, it wasn’t her concern. That would soon change. A man approached her for questions about the area, but Tracey just ignored him. The man didn’t take no for an answer as he followed her. Frustrated by his persistence, Tracey’s face had twisted into its bear-like appearance when she shouted at him. What surprised her most was the fact he didn’t recoil from her image. Instead, he offered a hand and a way she could find earn a living.
Warily she took it and the rest is history.
Capabilities: While Transformed her stats are based on a black bear rather than a grizzly because I felt it fits her appearance and was less OP for the RP settings.
Strength- She is about 2.5 stronger than her original form. This enables her to shove a fully grown man out of her way, break a bone or knock down a thin tree easily. She also hopes to break down a door or two in the future. The bad part about this, anything delicate shouldn’t be left for her to do. It’s more likely to break with a slip of her claws.
Durability and High Pain Tolerance- Due to her bulk and experiences, she can take a serious beating in a weaponless fight and keep going. She can take several gashes from bladed weapons before risking bleeding out, but her endurance gradually fades. Eventually, if the fight keeps up too long when she’s critically injured, Tracey risks dying. Even a ‘werebear’ isn’t immortal.
Quadruped Sprinting- Though she can run while on two legs, her additional mass affects her balance and often slows her down. To counter this, Tracey’s bearish form can hit the ground running on all fours. In a clear straight shot at a target, she can run twice fast as a human for a short distance. Parkouring or turning on a dime is not in her capability so running anything down within an obstacle course setting is not happening, no matter how hard she tries.
A sense of Scent- Tracey’s nose is able to pick up individual scents, identify them (if she knows them), and even follow them for a fair distance. She even uses her nose to help cover her blind spots through her reacting speed might be slower. As long as a target has left behind a smell, she could track it. At least, when she’s not distracted by other scents and gets some practice in.
Eyesight- Tracey has sharp and good up close vision, able to see color and even adapt to nighttime conditions. This is because of a reflective layer called the tapetum lucidum grown on the back of her eye, allowing any traces of light to stimulate the cells in the retina. It gives her eye a distinct, bright green shine whenever hit by concentrated light at night. This also means very blinding lights can hurt and distract her for various length of time depending on her distance and its intensity. Farsight is rather poor and night vision doesn’t reach, turning anything beyond a yard into shadowy shapes.
Additional skills.
Brawler-Being forced into ring fights for a good two years has taught Tracey a lot. While her style is ‘freeform’ without any formal training, it suits her brute strength and straightforwardness. It’s best described as bear-style fighting. Close range combat isn’t an issue for her, but range weapons will prove a difficult challenge to overcome.
Body Language- Tracey is damn good at reading body language, even individuals that hide it. In fact, it’s her go-to for first meetings because she can tell how open a person is about themselves, how often they lie, and other needed to know facts for interaction. If she doesn’t like what she sees, her behavior will reflect it.
Adequate Climbing Skills- Though there are few trees, Tracey has developed an enjoyment of climbing whatever she can. As a human, her options are limited and often result in her being unable to get a proper foothold in some surfaces. However, when she goes full-on werebear her feet and hand claws can find little niches strong enough to push her upward easily. If the structure can hold her weight is a completely another story.
World Class Snorer- Tracey can drill a hole into a log when she snores, according to outside sources’ exaggerations. She completely doesn't believe it even when told otherwise.
Equipment: Brass Knuckles- Due to paranoia about her situation, Tracey carries a set of concealable brass knuckles. Just because she can transform, doesn’t mean she will all the time and these pack enough power to discourage anyone from messing with her.
Other: Larger bulk equals higher dosage if you try to put her down for any reason while in her werebear form. This also explains her large appetite since shifting requires a lot of calories.
With her left eye gone, Tracey has a blind spot while in human form. This blind spot is less of an issue while in her transformed state because of her sensitive nose but this is subjected to the whims and needs of the story. If a situation hinders that, I’m all for it as long it doesn’t make her look like a fool and is logically plausible. Examples are too many scents in her locations, the target doesn’t emit one she has prior knowledge of, etc.
Tracey has a dislike and slight fear of needles. Try to use one on her and she becomes fully aggressive in a blink of an eye, either threatening to punch someone or shove that needle where the sun doesn’t shine. This stems from her days in captivity where those who didn’t settle down were sedated against their will. Some even die from it.
